There are a lot of “Screamer” pedals out in the world, being manufactured by a ton of different companies, and rightly so, as it was one of the first truly awesome overdrive pedals in existence. However, with so many floating around, it’s sometimes hard to decipher which one is from where, as they can tend to all start to sound fairly similar. Enter today’s pedal, the Relic Drive from our friends at Greer Amp in Athens, GA. Certainly a take on the big green monster, this pedal has a few differences, as well as a couple of tricks up its sleeves.
The controls are basically what you’d expect to find: Volume puts out the overall loudness of the Relic Drive, Gain adjusts how heavy the pedal’s sound is, and Tone moves the frequency from low to high and everywhere in between, with a wide frequency response to go from Dark and brooding to bright and sharp in a second. In contrast to most of these type of overdrives, however, Nick and crew have moved the mid hump to a warmer, more guitar friendly area, making the overall tone a bit fatter. Plus, there’s more Gain than usual on tap with the Relic Drive, making it perfect for both a boost/light drive function, as well as a bigger, louder but harmonic overdrive sound.
These improvements and additions really bring out the power and pizazz of the Relic Drive, and truly launch it into a new category of screaming overdrive. As with all Greer Amps pedals, this beauty is true bypass, and built with lots of high-quality components and love in Athens, GA. If by some slim chance you’ve never had the pleasure of playing any of Nick’s pedals, do yourself a favor – go to their website and pick anything to try, I promise you won’t be disappointed that you did!
Submitted by Mike B, Website
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
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