Aclam Cinnamon Drive

The designs and sounds contained in the first two pedals we saw from Aclam were impressive and extremely specific. The Dr. Robert had a major Beatles influence on its sound, while the Windmiller was focused on The Who and Pete Townshend’s rig. Today, we’ve got the third pedal in their current lineup, the Cinnamon Drive, which recreates the essence of vintage tube amps pushed to the max volume. Great for any musical genre, this one is a beast…

The Cinnamon Drive is an original overdrive circuit, created from the ground up. It contains a combination of soft and hard clipping circuits, going from a clean preamp to a light overdrive, which leads to a highly saturated distortion when cranked. Covering a wide range of tones, this pedal is extremely versatile, while containing a mild and unassuming control section.

Gain controls the amount of gain in the first clipping stage (Soft Clipping), acting as a clean preamp, building into a light crunch to finally producing a rich and dynamic overdrive. The Boost knob sets the amount of signal boost before reaching the hard-clipping circuit. This way the guitar signal is affected by the two circuits (Soft and Hard Clipping) at the same time and you can control how much of each type of saturation you want. At minimum setting it adds a subtle effect to the first stage, but as you increase the knob it starts to add compression and distortion, a desirable effect when you need a defined and tight tone to cut through for riffs or solos.

Tone is a simple but super effective passive treble cut control affecting both sections. Turn it counterclockwise to soften treble frequencies. There’s also a separate Boost footswitch, which activates the 2nd gains stage (Hard Clipping). The Volume Boost knob sets the volume of the Boost section, giving you separate levels for each gain section. That way, you can pre-set a rhythm tone on the first stage and a more aggressive sound with a volume increase for solo work or parts where your guitar needs a bit more of presence.

Essentially two pedals in one, the Aclam Cinnamon Drive will free up some real estate on your board, while bringing the amp-driven tones you’ve been longing for to the table. Simple yet effective, stripped down but full of range, this one will surprise and delight you for years to come. We’ve loved the first three effects that Aclam has released, and can’t wait for what’s next. Be sure to head to their website for more info and ordering for these pedals, and don’t miss out on hearing the Cinnamon Drive in action in our demo on YouTube!

Use this link to purchase this pedal on Amazon and support us: Aclam Cinnamon Drive Dual Stage Overdrive Pedal

If you’re in the UK, grab this pedal at Spartan Music here: https://spartanmusic.co.uk/products/aclam-cinnamon-drive