GEAR REVIEW
MAESTRO INVADER DISTORTION | Doug Doppler
KEY FEATURES
• Gain , Tone , and Level Controls
• Gate On / Off Toggle Switch
• Internal Trim per Gate Threshold
• 9v Battery or DC Powered
• Classic Rock Tones
The rebirth of the Maestro line of effects is well worth celebrating , hence why review each of them in successive issues of [ WM ]. The Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz was literally the first-ever drive pedal made for guitar , and the FZ-M reissue nails the essence of the pedal , but with all the modern amenities we ’ ve come to expect like 9v DC power and a pedal board friendly form factor . If back in the day the FZ-1 had a sibling Distortion pedal , the Invader would be it . While this might not be the right pedal for Sunday morning , if you love Classic Rock and chugging some Drop D , then read on !
DISTORTION vs OVERDRIVE As we all know , Worship guitar players are fanatical about stacking Overdrive pedals , and in so doing are creating multiple gain stages which work particularly well for building dynamics over the course of a song ’ s arrangement . Where Overdrive pedals tend to recreate the sound of a cranked non-master volume amp , Distortions pedals tend to reflect their master volume counterparts . While stacking Overdrives comes close to getting you ‘ there ’, Distortion pedals tend to live in the ‘ in your face ’ zone , which is another reason why we don ’ t tend to see them on Worship guitar players ’ boards . So , “ Why are we reviewing it ?” you might ask ? Simple , as I ’ ve said many times , not everyone who plays at church , just plays at church .
GREAT DISTORTION My favorite Distortion pedals distill the dynamic essence of master volume amps into a stompable form factor , and the Invader Distortion does
precisely that . Noting the plethora of master volume amps on the market , this one falls into the vintage Marshall vibe .
CONTROLS The Gain control delivers a broad range of tones , once you get above 9:00 . While I initially hoped it would sound more like an Overdrive pedal at lower settings , I was pleasantly surprised to find it sounded more like a master volume amp with pre-amp control pulled back . At 11:00 you ’ ve got plenty of gain for rhythm and solo work , kind of in Angus country . At 3:00 you ’ re well into lead territory with notes that sing and feel great under the fingers . There is something very unique once you get to 5:00 ( cranked ) that is almost like an extra gain stage on an amp . While lower settings deliver great lead tones ( especially if you love Classic Rock ), this setting is where the Invader surprised me with lots of tight chunk doing some Drop D , which I had not expected . While this tone was cool for leads , the markedly modern rhythm feel I got at 5:00 was an unexpected surprise !
I found that no matter where I was on the Gain control , leaving the Tone control right around 11:00 yielded the best results . Noting that the flavor of this pedal is largely vintage other than the aforementioned Drop D setting , I found that when using the bridge pickup on Teles , Strats , and Gibsons , backing off the on the guitar ’ s Tone
control , filtered out an extra layer of top end that really made the pedal more musical . In general , this is the case with more modern amps as well , so I don ’ t see this as a hindrance , but it is worth mentioning . Lots of smooth neck position work on all the aforementioned instruments , with no Tone control adjustments necessary .
Per the Deluxe Reverb I did most of my testing on , I found that setting the Level control a little above 10:00 was unity gain level wise when the pedal was either engaged or off . Unlike the ‘ SRV method ’ of using an Overdrive pedal to goose the front end of your amp , I ’ ve found that the added drive built into a Distortion pedal actually suffers when you start goosing the amp . As odd as it sounds , you generally need a pretty clean amp for Distortion pedals to work their magic .
If you play single coil instruments there ’ s a lot to love about the Noise Gate which you can engage via the mini-toggle on the face of the pedal . There ’ s an internal adjustment for the sensitivity as well . My only complaint is that you can ’ t make the Gate shut faster , especially when at full Gain per the Drop D thing . But overall , this is a great feature that clearly adds benefit , especially for single coil instruments .
CONCLUSION While this is not a ‘ Sunday morning ’ pedal , I love what the folks at Maestro have done here . If you love Classic Rock and the ability to chug some Drop D on your Fender amp , the Maestro Invader Distortion delivers the goods !
$ 149.00 MAP MaestroElectronics . com