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Electro-Harmonix SOUL FOODplay button

Electro-Harmonix SOUL FOOD

Electro-Harmonix

collapse expand iconDescription

EHX's Soul Food overdrive pedal delivers transparent overdrive with great touch and response for guitarists wanting to push their tube amp into overdrive or create distorted lead tones without losing the inherent qualities of their instrument. The Soul Food, which features boosted power rails to provide abundant headroom and increased definition. Its compact, rugged design includes a treble control to boost or cut high frequencies, perfect for taming single-coils or adding bite to humbuckers. Switch between true bypass or buffered bypass and power the Soul Food with the included 9V power supply or a 9V battery.

Transparent Overdrive Circuit Preserves Your Core Tone

The Soul Food's overdrive circuit provides a range of overdrive, from a clean boost to fully saturated distortion, while maintaining the tonal characteristics of your guitar and amplifier. Higher gain settings increase midrange frequencies for a richer, fuller tone that cuts through the mix. Whether using single-coil or humbucker pickups, the Soul Food enhances your tone without masking it.

Treble Control Fine-Tunes Your Tone

Easily adjust the treble frequencies of your overdriven tone with the Soul Food's treble control. Turn it clockwise to add shimmer and definition to humbuckers or tame shrill single-coil pickups. Turn it counterclockwise to get a warmer, darker tone from any pickup. The treble control, combined with the overdrive and gain controls, provides a wide range of overdriven tones to suit any guitar and playing style.

Compact, Rugged Design is Built to Last

Measuring only 2.75"x4.5"x2", the Soul Food is a compact overdrive pedal that won't take up much space on your pedalboard. Its durable metal chassis is designed to handle the rigors of travel and performance. Power it with the included 9V DC power supply or a 9V battery for convenience in any live or studio situation.

Selectable Bypass Modes

Choose between true bypass or buffered bypass modes to suit your needs. True bypass provides the cleanest signal path when the pedal is disengaged. Buffered bypass has a slightly colored tone but prevents signal loss, which can be useful in complex effect chains. Select the mode that works best for your rig and playing style.

Electro-Harmonix Soul Food Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal

collapse expand iconFeatures

  • Transparent overdrive
  • Boosted power rails for extended headroom and definition
  • Super responsive
  • Compact, rugged design
  • Selectable true bypass or buffered bypass modes
  • 9.6DC-200 power supply included. Also runs on 9 Volt battery

collapse expand iconWarranty

One year warranty on pedals. 90 day warranty on all other products.

Featured Articles

collapse expand iconReviews

4.65

43 Reviews

92%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend

Can be also used as a Pre-Amp
Wow! Extremely transparent overdrive
Great clean boost pedal

Most Liked Positive Review

5

Great clean boost pedal

I use the Soul Food as a clean boost on the recommendation of a GC employee in Nashua NH. I mentioned that I wanted a clean boost to my signal so that I could overdrive my amp a little more without having to change the gain I had setup. The Soul Food was recommended over a TS9, a Boss Overdrive and a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster. I am very happy with the Soul Food recommendation. The pedal is a great clean boost for my amp (Marshall TSL122). I put the pedal in the effect loop and set the pedal volume up to about 3:00 and the gain as zero, treble to taste (12:30). Then I dial in the effect loop percentage (its a parallel loop) and with the pedal engaged I get a nice, fat, sweet drive into the power amp section of the amp. This drives those big power tubes a little harder without having to turn up the volume. Thus, I get a heavier, fatter crunch compared to straight pre-amp distortion. This is the exact effect I was looking for. Now I have my pre-amp gain set pretty low and I typically drive most of my crunch from the power amp. Using the Soul Food in the effects loop in the manner in which I described, setup as such, I get what amounts to more 'power amp' crunch without having to dime the amp's volume. Of course with the pedal engaged the volume is louder but because the effects loop is being driven harder on the return, the signal going to the power amp is hotter, thus driving the power tubes harder, without having to open the amp volume any more than I have it set at. Even if this is not the preferred way to get more power amp distortion, using the Soul Food in this manner gives me the effect I want, and its sounds AWESOME, and that's really the bottom line. As a clean boost it works perfectly. I was not very impressed with the pedal's actual distortion, it sounded a little fuzzy to me. Maybe that what its supposed to sound like. I wanted it for the clean boost feature and the pedal works great for that. It came with a power supply, nice!

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

3

Try it before you buy it... or return policy (thnx GC!)

First of all, my amp does not have a full EQ. Nor do I have an EQ in my signal chain. I use my overdrives for EQ to scoop mids. This pedal can't do that. So, you get a fat, vintage distortion sound, but--- I dunno. It didnt add to the mix, and it certainly didnt push my OD into a lush, scooped sound. You really cant go cheap on distortion--- it makes or breaks your tone. So, for the money, I'd check out Wampler or my personal fave- Catalinbread -- I use a Catalinbread primary OD into a Wampler distortion (when I want even more gain). This pedal cannot compare with the pedals that are, admittedly twice the price.

Filters
Best Uses
  1. Performances17
  2. Home Studio15
  3. Amateur Recording9
  4. Outdoor Events / Games9
  5. Professional Recording8
Cons
  1. Limited Selection Of Effects2
  2. Difficult To Use1
  3. None1
  4. Poor Sound Quality1
  5. Switch Is A Little Noisy1
Describe Yourself
  1. Experienced20
  2. Novice3
  3. Professional Musician3
Pros
  1. Excellent Sound Quality23
  2. Responsive19
  3. Versatile16
  4. Compact14
  5. Good Selection Of Effects9

Reviewed by 43 customers

  • Best pedal for clear and crisp bite!

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitteda year ago

    byShawn

    fromPittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    This pedal is supposed to be a clone of a specific pedal with a horse on it. Having never played an original I can't attest to whether it does that. However, it is clean and clear and adds a nice boost to your signal. Its tone sculpts very nicely with easy to use controls. Basically bolume, treble (tone) and drive. Works awesome for classic rock and blues to 80's rock. I do not recommend for metal unless it's just to boost your lead tone. Repeat, it will not turn your clean tone to a metal tone but that's not what it's designed for. #sweepstakes .

  • Great transparent overdrive

    5

    submitted3 years ago

    byWoog

    fromPueblo, Colorado

    I use this and a Dark Matter and get every level of overdrive I need. Oh and an octave/fuzz on one song,

  • Better Options Exist

    3

    submitted4 years ago

    byCoopDbomb

    fromTaylorsville, UT

    This is a decent overdrive pedal, but I just couldn't get myself very stoked about it. It's extremely transparent, and it goes from a great clean boost all the way to a heavy overdrive, and if you're a big fan of the Klon Centaur, this is a pretty close clone. However, if you're just looking for a good old fashioned overdrive pedal, then I'd suggest the EHX Crayon or the EHX East River Drive. The East River Drive is a Tube Screamer clone, while the Crayon seems to be more of an original of EHX's. They're about $20 cheaper than the Soul Food, and they sound a whole lot better to my ears, but every rig is different.

  • A great clean boost, overdrive, up to light distortion

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byAdam

    fromCalifornia

    Truly a versatile pedal. I use it with other pedals or directly with my tube amp as either a clean boost or overdrive. It interacts with the tube amp like having an additional gain stage with a treble boost/filter. With drive all the way down, it is totally clean, not compressed or altered in any way. Depending how high you have the gain set on your amp, this drive will respond differently. I find it provides different ranges of natural tube overdrive up to about noon or 2 o clock and can start getting some light distortion but without any harshness at higher settings. It does not suck tone, or cut highs and lows from your signal like other overdrives. The treble knob works to boost or cut the highs. I find this pedal interacts well with other distortion and fuzz to add clarity, or if you wanted to boost your solo. I had trouble finding an overdrive that didn't change the sound of the guitar, or that worked well with my modulation and delay pedals, and this is the one! Sounds good with single coils and humbuckers. I would be curious to stack 2 of these together...

  • A gem of a pedal. Destined to be a classic.

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byE

    fromModesto, CA

    I have experimented with a handful of overdrive pedals. I found a used Soul Food at my local Guitar Center. I bought it. A-B'ed it with my other pedals during band practice. Loved it. I really liked the musical voice it had. It was punchy without being muddy or shrill. I think EHX got the frequency spectrum just right on this one. Adjusting the highs on the treble knob helps you cut through the mix, but very smoothly; not shrill. So I Had it. Sold it. Then I realized how much I missed it. Recently bought another one. It will stay this time for good. I mainly kick on the Soul Food for solos when I need the extra boost. Reflecting a bit: I just realized how "soulful" sounding it was during last week's band practice. Appropriate name for the pedal! If you come across one, demo it for yourself. You might agree with the numerous happy Soul Food users. And for the price? I really feel it can't be beat. Thank you EHX for putting out another winner without robbing us poor gear addicts that are always searching for tone. Regards ...

  • Very complimentary

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byCman

    fromCincy

    I can use with any effect and it just sounds great.

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