size pedal with a lone gain knob ; this new one features Gain , Volume and a third control marked Heat .
Gain and Volume are fairly standard , though I personally found the Volume just a bit lacking as there wasn ’ t much room above unity . That said , the Gain control has a very pleasant range of snarl in it . Cranking both of these first two controls is a great place to start and yields a fairly balanced tone with plenty of bite and shades of Tweed-like sag .
Heat is where the real action happens though . Increasing this control adds saturation , sustain and harmonic complexity . Cranking all three knobs gets you into slightly fuzzy territory that , if you ’ re like me , might make you wonder if the name of the pedal actually refers to its lowest knob ( as it seems to kick things into high gear ).
My favorite tones were found with the Volume and Heat knobs nearly cranked and the Gain knob backed off a tad , closer to 2:00 on the dial . This allowed me to flex between a gritty boost and a searing lead tone — with many stopping points in between . ( Something that worked equally well with a fuzz placed in front of the Fifth Gear , a platform overdrive placed after it , or even both .)
Overall , the Fifth Gear is a delight to play . Pair it with a delay or reverb and your grab-and-go board is complete . Or , load it onto your bigger board for a wonderfully simple ( yet versatile ) drive experience .
For once , the marketing blurb actually pays off on its promise : an overdrive that ’ s fully capable of being the only drive pedal on your board . Of course , that mostly applies to players who prefer to ride the volume knob on their guitar , but even if that ’ s not you , the Fifth Gear is a joy to play .
As much as I like the Fifth Gear , I did miss having a traditional tone control . And while the Heat control brings something interesting to the mix , I can ’ t help but wonder if it wouldn ’ t be better implemented as a footswitchable option . But hey — maybe we ’ ll see both additions in a deluxe third version .
size pedal with a lone gain knob ; this new one features Gain , Volume and a third control marked Heat .
Gain and Volume are fairly standard , though I personally found the Volume just a bit lacking as there wasn ’ t much room above unity . That said , the Gain control has a very pleasant range of snarl in it . Cranking both of these first two controls is a great place to start and yields a fairly balanced tone with plenty of bite and shades of Tweed-like sag .
Heat is where the real action happens though . Increasing this control adds saturation , sustain and harmonic complexity . Cranking all three knobs gets you into slightly fuzzy territory that , if you ’ re like me , might make you wonder if the name of the pedal actually refers to its lowest knob ( as it seems to kick things into high gear ).
My favorite tones were found with the Volume and Heat knobs nearly cranked and the Gain knob backed off a tad , closer to 2:00 on the dial . This allowed me to flex between a gritty boost and a searing lead tone — with many stopping points in between . ( Something that worked equally well with a fuzz placed in front of the Fifth Gear , a platform overdrive placed after it , or even both .)
Overall , the Fifth Gear is a delight to play . Pair it with a delay or reverb and your grab-and-go board is complete . Or , load it onto your bigger board for a wonderfully simple ( yet versatile ) drive experience .
WHAT WE LIKE
For once , the marketing blurb actually pays off on its promise : an overdrive that ’ s fully capable of being the only drive pedal on your board . Of course , that mostly applies to players who prefer to ride the volume knob on their guitar , but even if that ’ s not you , the Fifth Gear is a joy to play .
CONCERNS
As much as I like the Fifth Gear , I did miss having a traditional tone control . And while the Heat control brings something interesting to the mix , I can ’ t help but wonder if it wouldn ’ t be better implemented as a footswitchable option . But hey — maybe we ’ ll see both additions in a deluxe third version .