DICKINSON
D1 OVERDRIVE
REVIEW BY FLETCHER STEWART
STREET PRICE £399.00
CONTACT DEALER FOR USA PRICE
TUBE TONE
EMISSION MACHINE
Every once in a while in
this gear review business,
something (or indeed
someone) emerges from
the hordes of boutique
builders and production
pedal pushers with a
musical device that simply
commands attention. In this
case, we are referring to
Jon Dickinson and his first
production pedal—the
D1 Overdrive.
Dickinson Amplification
has built a name over the
years with point-to-point
wired, overspec amps,
preamps and pedals that
50
GEAR REVIEW
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are sustainable, beautiful
and bombproof (Dickinson
amps are housed entirely in
aluminum). The Dickinson
name revolves around the
axis of simple operation,
tonal flexibility and
musical machines that are
built to top specification,
not to a price cap. This
new production version
of the D1 Overdrive is
no exception.
The first thing one needs to
understand about the D1,
is that it operates at proper
high voltages and employs
two 12AX7s (or ECC83s as
they are known in Europe)
much like an amplifier
preamp section. The D1 is
Dickinson D1 Overdrive
capable of slight clean tube
compression, beautifully
dynamic overdrive, and
full-on furry flurries of
full frequency saturation
with the on board boost
engaged.
EARTHY GIRTHY
AMP EXTENSION
There are so many uses
for a device of this caliber.
Toting around a D1 opens
up so many toneful options
to the player, the most
obvious being a proper
bridge between guitar,
pedal and amp. Most
overdrive-addicted pedal
hounds spend a lifetime
(and a ton of money) sniffing
at the trail of transparency.