Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal (Used)
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- Product #H71562
True-bypass switching combined with adjustable Level and Drive knobs.
The Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal is an essential ingredient in the Analog Custom Shop product line. Blues Overdrive's heavy-duty polished stainless-steel housing is deceptively simple in appearance, wonderfully deep in appealing, warm tone. True-bypass switching is combined with adjustable Level and Drive knobs for just the right amount of precision control.
Overdrive pedals may be difficult to master, however, with only two knobs Blues Overdrive allows guitarists to easily dial in a precise combination of volume and overdrive effect. Subtle adjustments allow guitarists to sculpt a tone that is customized to their rig, band or specific song. Warm up your sound, add some grit and play with the emotion-stirring Blues Overdrive from Akai Professional's Analog Custom Shop.
Blues Overdrive is powered by the included 9-volt battery or 9v AC adapter (sold separately).
As with previous Akai Professional guitar pedals like the E2 Headrush and SB1 Deep Impact Bass Synth, the Analog Custom Shop line is a collection of pedal effects designed to exacting standards, using the highest quality components. Analog Custom Shop pedals provide rich tone, texture and character to immediately enhance and inspire players of any musical style.
Features
- Dynamic response to incoming signal (soft to saturate)
- Vintage circuit design with boutique sound quality
- True Bypass for retaining a pure signal when the effect is disengaged
Recreate the sound of blues from Nashville to Chicago and all points between.
Review Snapshot®
by PowerReviews(based on 9 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
89%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Responsive (5)
- Excellent sound quality (4)
- Compact (3)
Cons
Best Uses
- Home studio (4)
- Performances (4)
- Outdoor events / games (3)
- Professional recording (3)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Experienced (7)
Reviews
Reviewed by 9 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-9
Pros
Cons
- Poor Sound Quality
Best Uses
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
for reference, I'm playing an LP clone through a Fender Super Champ X2 (fantastic little amp, by the way).
I'll start with the good: first, the pedal is built pretty well. I certainly wouldn't say it's "built like a tank", like some pedals, but it seems sturdy enough. the switch feels a little soft to me, but I'm used to the hard switches on some of the other pedals I use, and it certainly feels like it should hold up fine for normal use. knobs are smooth and feel great. next, the pedal actually can churn out some pretty decent lead sounds, BUT...
the bad: ...this pedal does not handle chords or double-stops well at all (and yes, my guitar is in tune, haha!). as soon as you turn the gain up enough to start hearing the slightest bit of distortion, it immediately starts to muddy up the sound, especially if you're using the neck pickups for a fuller sound. playing the bridge pickup fares better in this regard, but only slightly. this might be acceptable for some people if they're going to shape the tone with an EQ going into the Blues Overdrive, except for the fact that not only does it make your guitar sound like mud, it also just isn't a very musical sounding distortion when playing chords. it sounds like it's emphasizing overtones that clash with whatever chord you're playing. there's a very unpleasant harshness to it that becomes more pronounced with a brighter signal, such as when using the bridge pickups.
playing the Blues Overdrive through the dirty channel really only amps up (pun!) the above issues. again, it sounds decent enough with single-note leads, but the mud, harshness and weird overtones make this unbearable when playing chords into the dirty channel. oh, and to be fair, I tried this with each of the 16 different dirty channel amp voicings available on the amp, and each time was presented with a different flavor of horrible sound.
I gave the pedal 2 stars. I should probably lower it to 1, but maybe there's someone out there who'd be willing to use this for single-note leads only?
Pros
- Excellent Sound Quality
- Good Selection Of Effects
- Responsive
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Studio
- Performances
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
Tone knob or not, this is a great sounding overdrive. I really like the tones I get from it. Well worth the price I got it for. Try one you'll like it.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
This pedal is very to the point. With the two knobs you can dial in some cool amounts of breakup at various volume levels, but compared to some of my higher end overdrives (Wampler and Timmy), it is lacking in features obviously. The lack of a tone control is my only complaint as the tone is a little on the dark side. I do like that it has it's own voice and produces plenty of grunt with some creamy smoothness. I have been using it as a boost on top of my Timmy overdrive and got some pretty cool results.
This wouldn't be my pedal of choice if I had plenty of money to spend, but for the price point I got it at (Stupid Deal of the Day) it's not a bad pedal at all.
Pros
- Compact Design
- Seems Fairly Sturdy
Cons
- Will Explain Below
Best Uses
- Jamming Practicing
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
Last year I returned to guitar, and this is only the second pedal I have used. I admit, I don't know much about them and I am experimenting. What I do notice about this pedal though, is that you get a quite heavily overdriven sound even if the "drive" control is set quite low, like at 9 o'clock. I wish the overdrive sound dialed in a bit more gradually, so I can fine tune it better without messing with my guitar volume knob so much. I was plugged into a small Vox tube amp on the clean (amp) setting. The pedal sounds decent, looks good, and feels sturdy enough. Was fun to buy as the Stupid Deal of the Day.
Pros
- Compact Design
- Excellent Sound Quality
- Responsive
Cons
- Picks Up Radio Signals
Best Uses
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
this is a very nice natural sounding pedal. very responsive to dynamics. can easily dial in that nice edge of breakup sound where it's just starting to get some grit but if you back of the guitars volume it's nice and clean. the only bad thing i noticed is that from time to time it backs up voices from the other world--no doubt some kind of readio signal. all in all a really nice pedal and the true bypass is great.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
This pedal overall gets a very good blues-type sound, but I've found without a way to adjust the tone it ends up fuzzing out the lower pitched notes. The sound it does make on single notes is very good, especially through a quality tube amp, but it winds up sounding more like a fuzz pedal on many chords and just lower on the fretboard. Overall review is: Good overall sound, but not as versatile as I would like.
Pros
- Compact Design
- Responsive
Cons
Best Uses
- Amateur Recording
- Events
- Home Studio
- Performances
- Professional Recording
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
Nice pedal.
Pros
- Excellent Sound Quality
- Responsive
- Sexy
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Events
- Home Studio
- Performances
- Professional Recording
- Rocking
- Rolling
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
I literally stopped by the post office to pick this up on the way to the gig tonight. I used it ALL night! The drive sounds this thing has are incredible. I use it for solos a lot so I have the drive setting pretty high. I t gives gorgeous, crunchy sounds when you are chording as well. Lovely pedal! Good work!
Pros
- Durable
- Excellent Sound Quality
- Responsive
Cons
- Limited Selection Of Effects
Best Uses
- Amateur Recording
- Events
- Home Studio
- Performances
- Professional Recording
Comments about Akai Professional Analog Custom Shop Blues Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal:
I bought this pedal a couple weeks ago and I love it. The drive sounds amazing whether I have it almost all the way down or almost all the way up. The only thing keeping me from rating this a five is the lack of a tone knob.
Displaying reviews 1-9
