like some forgotten piece
of Soviet-era technology.
The knobs are unlabeled,
which is a bit of a pain,
and requires a bit of blind
tweaking even with the
manual to fully understand.
There are controls for
Volume and Gain (which
is also sensitive to pick
attack), a Bass cut, a Treble
control, and a Headroom
switch to toggle between
a more compressed, softer
character, or a brighter and
clearer character.
missing here, even with
the Treble maxed out. This
pedal would be best paired
with a brighter Fenderstyle amp, as using it with
a darker amp would result
in an absolute mudfest.
Adding a bit of delay, and
tweaking the controls
further, I was really surprised
at the gain structure of
the Savior Machine. As
advertised, the harder I
dug in, the more dirt spat
out of my speakers. I could
see the clarity peeking out
from under the blankets
If I had to best describe
of midrange, the harder
the sound of the Savior
I picked, the more clarity
Machine, I would say it’s
came through. I had good
a darker Soul Food-style
overdrive, with a mid-heavy fun really thrashing at each
note to try and coax out
Marshall-style tonestack.
the clearest tones possible.
I found it very hard to get
If you like your transparent
that cutting, clear, almost
hollow overdrive sound with overdrives on the darker
this pedal, but it is marketed side, and you find most of
the pedals on the market
to people who would enjoy
too bright or too jangly, this
a darker overdrive that
is most definitely the pedal
isn’t covered in mud. Using
for you.
a bright Strat to try and
coax out some Butler Tube
Driver or Boss BD-2-esque
tones didn’t really go as
planned. A lot of the highend clarity—so important
to a good overdrive, in my
opinion—was unfortunately
WHAT WE LIKE
Very unique gain structure
with pick attack. Probably
the only overdrive I know of
that can work after reverbs
or delays.
CONCERNS
Without labeling, controls
can be confusing.
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