Although I’m not much good with a soldering iron, I’ve always been fascinated and amazed by the intricate detail, precision and care that goes into building an effects pedal – circuit board, jacks, power supply, LED, you name it. It really boggles my mind the way these magnificent things come together to form an awesome noise machine. For those who are much more inclined electrically speaking, the folks at OLCircuits offer the option of a pedal kit that you can build yourself, or they sell pre-built pedals for guys like me. One of these such effect is the subject of today’s review: the Matchbox Overdrive.
This pedal comes to OLCircuits via Runoffgroove Kits, who make available schematics to a bunch of different effects and amp circuits to be used in creating both kits and pedals. The Matchbox Overdrive is meant to emulate the sounds and tones of the classic Matchless DC-30 amp series, their first design and their most popular line. The Matchbox features Volume, Tone, Cut and Master controls, similar to the DC-30‘s second channel. The Tone isn’t your regular eq control, as it features 5 separate settings (each discernible by clicking through the rotation), similar to the FAC (Frequency Analyzing Control) on vintage Orange amplifiers, that acted as a mid-range sweep. The Cut knob is just your basic low-pass filter, allowing you to mellow out some of the harsher, unwanted high-end frequencies, and uses a 10n cap instead of the 2n2 used on the original amp.
Sound-wise, the Matchbox has a nice amp-in-a-box sound, acting more as a booster for you amp, able to push it into high gear with ease. Not too high, though, as the Matchbox could use just a touch more power, but that’s really it’s only flaw. The one we reviewed sadly didn’t have all the Tone settings working, but I’m sure the one that wasn’t working isn’t going to make or break this pedal. If you’re looking for some excellent amp and effects sounds, or want to try your hand at building your own pedal, make sure to check out OLCircuits, and see what’s waiting in store for you. Who knows, it might just open up a whole new career path for you…
Submitted by Mike B, Website
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
