15 Notable Overdrive Pedals with Clean Blend Control

Most are familiar with the Cornerstone Gladio D-Style Dual-Channel Drive unit - where this extracts the Left / Channel I circuit into a single-channel stand-alone pedal - as reinforced by the Compression control - it also adds in a Clean Blend knob!

For most this is the favourite more versatile side of the pedal - and it fully justifies itself with this particular enhanced configuration. If you really like that Left-hand Channel - this gives you that with somewhat enhanced and refined control.

Controls are Tone, Clean, Volume, Gain and Compression toggle-switch

DMB's Americana is a triple-transistor take on that classic 6L6 Brownface / Tweed Fender tone - delivering a well-articulated and dynamic sparkly overdrive. This is one that's not in wide distribution any more and so may be a little tricker to get your hands one - particularly outside of North America.

It has 4 simple controls - Drive, Level, Tone and Clean.

Along with the Crown Jewel, this is another long-term favourite of mine which has been in my chain a lot over the years. It's a very natural amp-like overdrive / distortion, while it can have quite a significant noise-floor when Gain is cranked in High Gain mode. So I would not necessarily recommend using this pedal without a noise-gate for those higher gain levels.

Other than that proviso - this is a hugely versatile and capable overdrive with significant extended range delivered courtesy of those cleverly conceived 10 controls.

The Controls are Gain, Volume, Mix, Gain Structure Switch, Clipping Switch, Bass Cut Switch, Mid Frequency Switch, Bass, Mid, and Treble.

EHX's Operation Overlord is a beautifully harmonically textured overdrive with some very slight fuzz characteristics. And rather extensive controls. It's only about a year since EHX shrunk this down to compact / nano dimensions - and they've near enough retained all the functionality - bar losing a second Boost Footswitch with Level Control - rendered on the smaller unit via a single push-button.

I don't see why they could not have preserved the entirety of the larger pedal's functionality and equipped this version with dual-footswitches. So despite a significant innovation streak - that't one area / avenue that EHX has yet to go down - surely that's only a matter of time now.

Controls are Boost push-button, 3-way Input Level toggle-switch, and then Volume, Dry, Gain, Treble, Mid and Bass.

The key differential for the Lumen is really how it's tone-stack operates. In place of the usual passive frequency sweeping controls we have instead tree different filters which target and shape frequencies in a far more articulate fashion - meaning that this overdrive circuit delivers a lot more clarity and articulation - which may be a boon for some, and a curse for others.

You for sure get a heightened degree of clarity in the tone-shaping, which is further underlined by the Clean Blend. The end result is more clarity and presence than other similar overdrives are able to deliver.

Controls here are Drive, Clean and Level, then High Pass Filter, Band Pass Filter and Low Pass Filter.

Josh Scott's take on the TS808 add's 2-way High/Low Gain switch and Clean Blend into the mix for much more range than a typical tube-screamer. Josh alludes to the ease of replicating even certain Dumble-style tones here which is a bonus. In fact this pedal in concept is not much different to the Tate FX Antares - with the Gain/Voicing switch as the only notable differentiator.

Controls here are Volume, Gain±, Drive, Tone and Clean.

NOC3 is a new brand to me as of this article - first encounter really for this North Carolina, US brand. I understand that this is sort of evolved from a TS808 type circuit, but significantly enhanced with no less than 6 controls - including 3-way compression switch.

It has a tonne of extra dynamics and shaping compared to the usual candidates in that category - this is definitely an overdrive more people should be giving some consideration to.

Controls her are Volume, 3-Way Compression Switch, Gain, Treble, Clean, Bass.

Readers will know that I am a huge fan of the significantly larger original full-fat RevivalDrive pedal. Obviously in extracting that to a smaller enclosure meant inevitably that certain feature had to be cut. This means no Ghost Note effect which is one of the things that is so unique about the original RevivalDrive, and secondly it means no mids! Which I always feel are essential for getting the most out of a Marshall Voicing - getting the chewiness of those frequencies just right is what make the core Marshall crunch sound so endearing.

I was in fact a little disappointed at the final version of the compact edition at launch, but have warmed to it more recently. I may just get the Compact edition too one of these days as I have plenty of other tone components in my pedal-chain to impact and shape those mid-frequency Marshall tones.

The controls are Output, Highs, Gain, Blend, Lows, More/Presence, EQ Switch, and EQ Adjust.

I am on something of a Pettyjohn mission at the moment - having gone from 0 to 5 of Stephen's classic pedals really only in the last 5 or so months. The Iron MKII is that classic crunch drive - perfect for rhythm guitar, and it is my next Pettyjohn acquisition target. There are so many clever touches here - including the variable Clipping, and of course inclusion of Clean Blend for peak shaping.

The pedal's power supply is ramped to 36V internally for even more high-fidelity and definition - and there are a number of mods available to tune the core circuit in various ways, while on this occasion the core standard circuit is the perfect iteration for me.

Controls are Level, Variable Clipping Si>LED, Drive, Lows, Clean and Highs.

Stuart Tate's TS808 take has probably taken over from the Raise the Dead as his flagship pedal - there's no shortage of players who love this highly articulate overdrive. Not much more to say really - just a really great take on the TS808 circuit with added versatility and definition.

Controls are Gain, Volume, Clean and Tone.

Knud Møller's signature overdrive is something of an under-the-radar T-Rex classic - for not much money. I think this is probably TS808 derived too - and those extra controls really allow this to hit some pleasing sweet-spots.

Controls are Tone, Bass Boost, Level, Gain, Mix, and Boost.

Voodoo Lab's VDM Sparkle Drive Mod Overdrive is an improvement on an already great TS808 style circuit - with the added 3-way Mod selector allowing you to tune the core EQ and Gain Structure of the pedal - typically by boosting certain elements. There's plenty of players that still love this circuit - while it's not quite as much in circulation as it used to be.

Controls are Gain, Tone, Mod x 3 (Gain Structure + EQ), Clean, and Volume.

I've obviously warmed to this a lot since my original review - and while I feel that at its core it's not Walrus's best-sounding overdrive per se - it's still very much its most versatile one. In fact I've gone from sidelining this to having it on my wishlist - as I recognise its capabilities now. There are still lots of players who prefer the Mayflower (Timmy take) and 385 Overdrive though - and those are very much still in contention for me.

Controls are Volume, Dry, Gain, Bass, Mode, and Treble.

This is a really sort of interesting mix of Klone and Tube Screamer topologies - with great articulation courtesy of the Clean Blend control. The clipping switch takes it into slightly more aggressive territory - while this is a great sounding finely-calibrated and well-balanced overdrive - which is sure to find many fans. I have but a passing knowledge of Westminster Effects as I don't often encounter those in the wild - but they are certainly well made and worthy of consideration.

Controls are Gain, Clip (Symmetrical/Asymmetrical), Volume, Clean, and Tone.

It was inevitable that I would overlook one or two pedals in my roundup - I had rather forgotten about this celebrated gem of an overdrive. It's a pedal that has quite the loyal following - but tends to dip under the radar a lot - in not being so much in general circulation. This is a somewhat distinct sounding overdrive - being shaped by a hybrid mix of Silicon and Germanium Transistors for a slightly raw and yet velvety tone.

Controls are Volume, Drive, Treble, Bass and Immaculator (Clean Blend).