Whitestrat
New member
adding my 2 cents worth to Sub's already in-depth review
Ok... The Digitech Hardwire Tube Overdrive.
I honestly think the name is stupid, because there's no point letting people think that there's a tube hidden inside. They should have called it simply Overdrive. Or better still, Overdrive Distortion. (maybe got trademark issues with this though)
But that's where the stupidity for this pedal ends.
This is one serious MOFO we're dealing with. Goose's recommendation for this pedal is spot on. It's transparent, powerful, versatile, and guess what? It's a fantastic booster whichever way you want to set it up.
On it's own, I tried to see if this thing could dispose of my fav TS9 stock pedal. It threw out the TS9 and more. You CAN replicate TS9 dynamics tone and character with it. But that's where the similarity ends. This thing kicks off my pedal board not only the TS9, but the much vaunted chrome bodied Tubezone Overdrive that costs so much. Now, don't get me wrong, the TZOD is not a bad pedal. In fact, it's damn good. But I prefered a little less colouring, and a bit less characteristic. The TZOD is good for people who want a completely different tone for their leads and rhythm work, but the TZOD can get a little overpowering by itself.
The CM2 is interesting because of one simple fact: the mode switch. On Classic, it's a nice TS9/OD9/SD1 kind of pedal. But when you flick it to modified, you get a DS-1 kind of character. Not as much drive, but sometimes you want a little more grunt and grit with the TS9. This pedal is it. It's basically 2 tones in one pedal, and again, like many "boutique" pedals out there, I wish they made the 2 modes foot switchable.
When it's used as a volume booster, it can add quite a bit of colour to your original tone, OR simply match the EQ of the boost with your rhythm tone, and you get a clean boost, or a dirtier boost. I used my Valve Distortion as a gain booster, and it works like a charm.
But here's where the pedal REALLY shines. We tried this with a Seymour Duncan tube OD pedal, and used the CM2 as a gain booster. The CM2 simply saturated the SD tubes to the max, and gave that tube pedal a "Metal"-like lead tone. Powerful, searing, but FAT. REALLY big sounding. And the louder you play it, the better it sounds. And this was on a solid state amp.
The funny thing is, I also used it to push a TS9. Non tube right? How to push? The results were damn interesting. High gain overdrive/distortion tone. The TS9 was completely puffed up, and somehow, the highs from the CM2 came through as well, and the overall tone was seriously big and cut through. I tried this combo with a Fender tube amp. The sound was still remarkably vintage, but with a more hi-fi sort of twist.
Another scary pedal from the Hardwire line. this one was REALLY damn impressive. Works wonderfully with humbuckers, but really shines with single coils. Pair this with the valve distortion which works better with humbuckers, and you get a fantastic combo.
Can't wait to see how this works with a crunchbox.:twisted:
Ok... The Digitech Hardwire Tube Overdrive.
I honestly think the name is stupid, because there's no point letting people think that there's a tube hidden inside. They should have called it simply Overdrive. Or better still, Overdrive Distortion. (maybe got trademark issues with this though)
But that's where the stupidity for this pedal ends.
This is one serious MOFO we're dealing with. Goose's recommendation for this pedal is spot on. It's transparent, powerful, versatile, and guess what? It's a fantastic booster whichever way you want to set it up.
On it's own, I tried to see if this thing could dispose of my fav TS9 stock pedal. It threw out the TS9 and more. You CAN replicate TS9 dynamics tone and character with it. But that's where the similarity ends. This thing kicks off my pedal board not only the TS9, but the much vaunted chrome bodied Tubezone Overdrive that costs so much. Now, don't get me wrong, the TZOD is not a bad pedal. In fact, it's damn good. But I prefered a little less colouring, and a bit less characteristic. The TZOD is good for people who want a completely different tone for their leads and rhythm work, but the TZOD can get a little overpowering by itself.
The CM2 is interesting because of one simple fact: the mode switch. On Classic, it's a nice TS9/OD9/SD1 kind of pedal. But when you flick it to modified, you get a DS-1 kind of character. Not as much drive, but sometimes you want a little more grunt and grit with the TS9. This pedal is it. It's basically 2 tones in one pedal, and again, like many "boutique" pedals out there, I wish they made the 2 modes foot switchable.
When it's used as a volume booster, it can add quite a bit of colour to your original tone, OR simply match the EQ of the boost with your rhythm tone, and you get a clean boost, or a dirtier boost. I used my Valve Distortion as a gain booster, and it works like a charm.
But here's where the pedal REALLY shines. We tried this with a Seymour Duncan tube OD pedal, and used the CM2 as a gain booster. The CM2 simply saturated the SD tubes to the max, and gave that tube pedal a "Metal"-like lead tone. Powerful, searing, but FAT. REALLY big sounding. And the louder you play it, the better it sounds. And this was on a solid state amp.
The funny thing is, I also used it to push a TS9. Non tube right? How to push? The results were damn interesting. High gain overdrive/distortion tone. The TS9 was completely puffed up, and somehow, the highs from the CM2 came through as well, and the overall tone was seriously big and cut through. I tried this combo with a Fender tube amp. The sound was still remarkably vintage, but with a more hi-fi sort of twist.
Another scary pedal from the Hardwire line. this one was REALLY damn impressive. Works wonderfully with humbuckers, but really shines with single coils. Pair this with the valve distortion which works better with humbuckers, and you get a fantastic combo.
Can't wait to see how this works with a crunchbox.:twisted:
