This thing really DOES scream.
I play lead guitar in a melodic metal band (Think August Burns Red, We Came As Romans, and A Day to Remember). Since acquiring my first all-tube amp (Blackstar HT50), I’ve been searching for the best way to squeeze more gain out of it and tighten the tone up for more attack on chugs, and better sustain on leads. Man does this thing deliver.
After reading reviews from some of the best bands in the biz, like August Burns Red, Killswitch Engage, etc, I settled in on a Maxon OD808 or a copy of it would be the best pedal for what I was searching for. About this same time, a friend in another band we play with often turned me on to FoxPedal. They is a superb boutique pedal company specializing in overdrive and delay/reverb pedals. It so happens they occasionally make one-off clone pedals, and I stumbled across this gem on their Instagram page, and I emailed them right away and got hooked up with The Scream.
This thing works just like the real Maxon – the sustain has improved on both my guitars, including one low-end Schecter I have that has less than amazing pickups. The crunch from my Blackstar now has a nice tight low end… with less of the rattle and fuzziness it had before. Pinched harmonics are now a breeze, and my passive Seymour Duncan pickups have all the gain of a good set of EMGs or Blackouts but with more character and personality.
Did I mention it looks freaking awesome?
I don’t know if FoxPedal is planning to make any more of these units or not…but, if you’re looking to tighten up your tone and increase your sustain for high-gain metal, you can get the same sound by having an OD808 modded for true bypass, as this clone has that feature. This is seriously my favorite pedal on my board, and I can’t wait to use it in recording our next record.
Users: JB Brubaker, Adam Dutkiewicz, James Smith
