The folks at Free The Tone are known for their extravagant, options-laden effects pedals, many of which we’ve had the pleasure to review and demo. That said, when today’s pedal arrived in the mail, we were a bit shocked to discover that it had just THREE control knobs, and didn’t have any of the thrilling digital fun that usually accompanies their gear. In typical fashion, however, they have managed to surpass our expectations once more, with a classic-sounding, modernized overdrive that’s sure to turn some heads.
The String Slinger SS-1V takes on the challenge of replicating the sounds made popular by the old Fender Blackface amplifiers, which is no easy task. There’s a TON of headroom available, making it a perfect clean boost if you need, but also able to produce creamy, tube-amp overdrive with ease. There’s a broad spectrum in the Volume, Tone and Drive controls, giving you extended dynamic range, brilliant overtones and long sustain throughout its settings.
As far as the actual sound is concerned, it feels like you’re playing through an amp, really. The Tone balances everything out, there’s little to no coloration of your original sound and you get crystal clean note definition with lead runs and chords alike. You can manipulate your guitar’s volume knob to clean things up to taste as well, giving you a large array of American Blues-types of tones to play and experiment with.
The String Slinger also features Free The Tone’s HTS (Holistic Tonal Solution) Circuit, providing ideal sound and low noise. In addition, there are custom-made knobs to reduce vibration, a special enclosure design, the unique IC Tone Plate for dampening and shielding the IC chips and a Passive Tone Circuit to minimize phase shifting in the circuit. All this in a 3-knob overdrive pedal? Absolutely. Free The Tone has never cut corners on sound or quality, and they’re not about to now just because of a different style of pedal. Painstakingly researched and restructured, the String Slinger SS-1V Overdrive is a modern masterpiece and marvel in the effects world. Be sure to visit the FTT website as well!
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