2022 Best New Boost & Overdrive Pedals of the Year

Here follows the full overview :

Controls - Drive, Level, Bass, Mid, Treble.

Dylana Nova Scott's follow-up to her Roosevelt Drive evolves that circuit significantly with some new electrickery on the tone-stack - known as wave-shaping. Much of the guts of the circuit consists of the same highest quality components - including an Analog Devices dual channel AD822ANZ precision low power FET input op-amp. This is a beautifully textured smooth yet harmonic sounding overdrive with a gorgeous breakup tone - serving a worthy cause too. It's a little pricey at $279 - so it's going to be a special purchase at some stage when there's not much else going on. Not many stock this pedal - so it's relatively tricky to get hold of - you're probably best going direct on this one.

Controls - 2nd Stage Gain, Output Level, Shape : 3 Min Gain / 2 Max Gain / 1 Low-Pass Filtered Max Gain, C Bright Medium Gain / B Flat Low Gain / A Shaped High Gain, Clip : 1st Pair / 0 No Clipping / 2nd Pair.

Jesse Honig's smart 3-Switching Overdrive allows you to shift up through the the Gain Gears in the most elegant of fashions - Mixing up Gain Structure, EQ and Clipping profile. It's much smaller than it appears, and is a fairly innovative new entry into the overdrive category - building on the outstanding legacy of Jesse's earlier tone enhancers - the EUNA and OAMP.

Controls - Treble, Mid, Bass, Level, Gain.

This probably was my biggest Overdrive surprise of the year - so great is the default voicing on this - and supremely versatile too. It also works brilliantly boosting into most of my High Gain pedals. I've recommended this one a lot this year and everyone seems very satisfied by this pedal's prowess. There's plenty of range on every dial - and the tapers are so well calibrated that you get superb results right across the range. I bought into the second Batch of the Parlor Stealth Black Limited Edition - which was only released this year, while the mainline pedal is of course older, If I was being super strict this one might not qualify for 2022 - but it's been so impactful for me that I just had to feature it!

Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Hollow (Upper Mids Cut), Bold (High and Low Frequency Boost).

I was a touch disappointed initially with this pedal as it was a little lower gain than I expected - but it grew on me pretty quickly and I came to really appreciate the Bright and Sparkly High Headroom Nature of this pedal. For those that love Low Gain, Near Clean Overdrives - then this is perfection really. Mr Wu's minimal colouring circuit can be pretty much entirely intangible in its lower hemispheres - while there is plenty of subtle nuance onboard. According to my readers who have both - the follow-up limited versions like me Gold Edition - are somewhat even lower gain and brighter than the first editions. Overdrives are obviously per application - and in the shadow of something like sibling Sinvertek N5 MGAT-1 - this pedal is really quite limited in its appeal. It's great for what it does - but it's most definitely not that versatile all-rounder - like say the All-Pedal Slamurai or Hamstead's Germanium Diode Subspace!

Controls - Boost Level, Mode : RangeMaster / Echoplex / MircroAmp / S.H.O., EQ : Original / Fat, Volts / Headroom : 9V / 18V.

I of course have my Trio of Super Tone Enhancers at the from of my chain - but will for sure at some stage experiment a little more in alternative to my first primary JA Prism Boost - where this Super Conductor would be the prime candidate to replace that. This is just a really clever mix of Boost, EQ and Headroom - which produces fantastic results. I will certainly be adding this to the reference collection at some stage.

Controls - Drive, Bass Boost, Bright Boost, Level, Low, High.

One of my very favourite all-rounder Overdrives this year - alongside the Slamurai and Ge Subspace - all are brilliantly versatile, and have a great and distinct core voicing. Texture is superb - and you can over everything from super smooth and subtle to full-throated crunch. I've mostly stuck to 2 voicings on the Parasite - one of which is Smooth and Subtle as you like, and the other which is a richly textured sort of Dumble ODS style voicing. Those 2 Bass and Bright Boost Switches just work brilliantly and vastly increase the range and reach of this overdrive. Oh - and it looks absolutely gorgeous too - AD Hauser's aesthetics are really second to non. The only way this could be improved really would be to stick it in a compact enclosure!

Controls - Master Level

There's not too much to say about this one-knob wonder - other than it consists of 2 Stages of Germanium and Silicon Transistors and it creates glorious breakup textures. One knob pedals are a sort of mood thing for me - some days I love them and want nothing other than single knob simplicity, while at other times I want a little more set and forget granularity. One knob wonders typically rely on some guitar knobs manipulation too - which means that when you stomp onto a single knob pedal - you usually have to adjust your guitar in advance of playback. Still the Daredevil Preamp is pretty great for its kind - still more of a nice-to-have than essential for me.

Controls - EQ . Filter : Heavy > High, Gain : Clean > Dirty.

Serendipitously this comes right after the not too dissimilar Daredevil Aces Hybrid Preamp - both rely on Germanium Transistors to generate that rich breakup texture. While the former has but one control - and here you get separate controls for the Gain and the Filter. Another really cool gain machine - I can't decide which of these two I prefer more - the Germanium Filter is another nice-to-have - and the enclosure aesthetics are just right!

Controls : Gain, Level, Tone, Mode : I Crunch / II Overdrive / III Distortion / IV Forbidden Fuzz.

I am so proud to have participated in this project on creating the most authentic Mini Replica of the Bixonic Expandora Gain Machine. The LM308 original has a tendency to choke out on Distortion and Fuzz Modes, the later TL072 2000R Edition is better, and The Reverend's OP07 even better still - delivering amazing textures right across the 4 Modes. This is such an authentic replication that it also has the same volume output - which is mostly sufficient for my needs - but I would quite like a touch more output. In any case this is a nigh perfect pedal - and an absolute shoe-in for those that are fans of the Expandora - but just want a better behaved and more practically suable version. This is a very fine construction indeed!

Controls - Volume, Tone, Gain, Mode : Overdrive / Crunch / Distortion / Fuzz, Voice : Ge / LED / Si, Fat : Fat / Tight / Classic.

This for me is the natural evolution of the Expandora to its most perfect format. The Extra Clipping Modes, Voice Options and Fat Switch tackle any inherent weaknesses in that format - and the MC1458N is the most perfect Opamp selection yet. You get more range and texture here - including much desired extended output. If you want an exact authentic replica of the Expandora - then the Decibelics Reverend is absolutely the right choice - if you want more then your obvious choice is the Drunk Beaver Bloom.

Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Saturation, CLIP : Mosfet / LED / Si, BRIGHT : Dark / Bright / Stock.

I have plenty of fantastic Blues Breaker types already in the collection and every now and again another killer example comes along - which is exactly the case with the V3 Inglorious Bastard. With its Mojo Toshiba TA7727P Opamp it truly sounds superb - and has further controls for Saturation, Clipping and Brightness. This is a fantastically textured breaker - particularly on LED Clipping and Stock Brightness. It's one of those pedals that sounds great every which way - and the rich texture of the breakup really stands out. Cool how the Blue LED's are also the eyes of the Skull-like Tank-wreck Graphic. You probably already have a Blues Breaker or two in your collection - but if you truly love that format - you need this one too! It's another superb example of a Drunk Beaver Evolved and Improved circuit - and is every bit as essential as the V2 Bloom - and the various Bat Rat pedals.

Controls : Master Boost (Clean Boost +20dB), Level (Output), Gain (Variable Gain Bandwidth), Pre Boost (Gain Boost / Compression + 30dB), Mode : Normal (Transparent) / Preamp (Insert) / Mid Boost (+800Hz Mid-Hump Drive), Style : Soft (Soft Symmetrical Clipping), Vintage (Fat Asymmetrical Clipping), Hard (Tight, Amp-Like Hard Clipping), Treble [>2kHz ±15dB], Mid [300Hz > 2kHz ±12dB], Bass [<300Hz ±10dB], Pre Tone (Tilt / Balancing Input EQ). Engage Boost Footswitch (also independent), Engage Drive Footswitch.

This was another one of my killer Multi-Drives for the year - literally covers all degrees of gain right up to and including some Fuzz Voicings. This is such a clever pedal, and yet seemingly still underrated - there is nothing that comes close to this at this prince point or level of functionality. There are so many clever elements onboard - including the Pre and Post Boosts, and the Tilt-EQ style Pre Tone. I can get the smoothest of overdrives through to the spikiest of high gain distortion - a truly fantastic gain machine - which more people really should be checking out!

Controls - Level (Output), Tone, More (Bias / Grit / Gain), Clipping : Germanium (More rounded & warmer) / Silicon (Grittier and with more Harmonics).

EarthQuaker's Special Cranker is the second of their $99 specials after the Plumes. This rebooted edition which adds 3 more controls to the former single knob edition - for serious extended range and improved granularity of control. A beautifully textured sort of fuzzy-drive preamp which is based on Jamie Stillman's personal favourite overdrive - a great sounding overdrive made even better!

Controls - Gain, Edge (2 High Frequency Filters with Clipping Attack), Level, Width (Notched 6-Position Lower Mids + Low Fatness control).

David Greeves’ second overdrive is a really unique take on the format based on refining the overall character of the pedal's output via 2 smart sort of EQ Controls - Edge and Width. I had been meaning to get this one in all year but it did not quite happen this year. I was a touch late for David's first Small Speaker Overdrive - which I snagged in January - perhaps January 2023 is when I finally get my hands on the Design-A-Drive - I definitely want one!

Controls - High, Low, Gain, Volume. Internal Q1 Bias Trimmer that David uses for initial pedal setup.

I came a little late to this one - which was actually out late last year, but falls neatly within this year's purview really. I have a few of these small vintage combo amp style pedals - based on classic recording tones - where lower output studio style amps were preferred for recording. This is certainly one of the best of that ilk - and has exactly that punchy character those early 6" and 8" combos were famed for.

Controls - Tone, Bass, Treble, Gain, Parallel, Level, Clipping : C1 / C2 / C3, EQ : PR / EQ / PO, Gain Multiplier : x1 / x2 / x5, TheGigRig Optical Footswitch.

The earliest Hamstead Overdrive - the Odyssey was always a favourite all-rounder Multi-Drive of mine, and I'd long planned to get the essentially upgraded Subspace  - with its deeper low-end and Clean Blend. The Special Mullard Germanium Diode edition is a further improvement which adds in even more gorgeous harmonic texture. The Subspace Ge is a true gem, and it's a little sad only 25 were made - as I would really like more people to experience the brilliance of this overdrive. It's hugely versatile and maintains that glorious texture pretty much throughout - from smooth and subtle to properly full-throated.

Controls - Gain, HF Balance / Tone, Mid Peak, Output.

Tom's Horrothia pedals are the very epitome of elegance both in look and output - and this Low-to-Mid Gain Overdrive is about as tasteful as they come. It's not particularly versatile compared to several of my other favourites here - while it is consistently great sounding with a rich and nuanced texture. That tastefulness is maintained throughout the range of these dials - which gets you up to a pleasant - but still relatively mellow crunch. It has great dynamics for sure, and is quite superb for low gain applications in particular - and pairs beautifully with Horrothia's Berkeley Vibe.

Controls - Level, Voicing : Clearer / Grittier, Gain.

Josh Scott's homage to the DOD250 is a little larger than it needs to be - but looks undeniably cool with those bigger knobs and minimal controls. The 2 Voicings are both distinct and worthy, and are a fitting tribute to this classic hard-clipper. I kind of collect extended range DOD250 pedals - and this just about qualifies. Pretty great sounding for sure, but could do with a little more volume and range as far as I am concerned still decent enough for most.

Controls - Volume, Gain, Bite.

A really cool sounding and pretty great looking Billy Gibbons' 'La Grange' style Overdrive. I've already noted that overall I probably prefer the Missing Link Audio Eliminator take on a similar concept - while the El Hombre still has its own nuances and subtleties to recommend it and will be favoured by certain types of players. The MLA Eliminator is a little more immediate - has more brightness and verve to it - where the defining factors are a combination of the Gain Structure and the Tone Stack.

Controls - String-Singer Side-A } Drive, Volume, Tone, Voicing : Fat / Stock / Glass, Side-A Footswitch, Side-B } Drive, Volume, Tone, Voicing : Fat / Stock / Glass, Side-B Footswitch, Dip-switches : Side-A : Vintage TS / SRV Mod, Classic / Amp-Like, Symmetric / Asym-Clip, Side-B : Classic / Amp-Like, Distortion / Overdrive, Symmetric / Asym-Clip, Channel Order : A-B / B-A.

This was most definitely the right year to get onboard with the Duellist Dual Drive - with all those extra dip-switch shaping options now instantly accessible on the right-side of the pedal. The combination of SRV TS808 and Dumble voicing is a classic pairing which produces the most sublime output. The Duellist has always been a potent gain machine and is now at the peak of its prowess. Especially in the silver edition with the wood-accent knobs!

Controls - Mid, Mood (Variable Clipping Style), Volume (up to +30V @ Max), Post-Clipping Tone, Pre-Clipping Tone, Drive, Preset Footswitch, On/Off Footswitch.

For sure the most innovative gain pedal this year by virtue of it's entirely new 'Mood' Variable Clipping Circuit where you transition from soft shallow sine-wave clipping to hard square-wave clipping which takes you trough degrees of symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping too - just really ingenious. The combination of the Mood control with Pre and Post EQ and a handy Mid Frequency control makes for an exceptionally versatile overdrive. Beautifully made in the most pristine of egg-shell style enclosure - with matching knobs - the level of finish is amazing. I feel this is just the first to come of this new type of Variable Clipping pedal - and we will get more refined and more compact versions of this soon enough. With Midi you have access to 127 presets - just a really great Multi-Drive all-round. Many don't recognise the uniqueness of this pedal - and while there are aspects that are borrowed from elsewhere - the look of the pedal and the Mood Control are all of tis own.

Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.

Inevitably compared with the J Rockett El Hombre above - where this MLA Eliminator is very slightly more to my preference. It's more immediate on the dial-in, has a little more zing and verve to it, and a much handier and quite brilliant Tone Stack. It has slightly more range than the El Hombre and feels a little more lively. There will of course still be some that prefer the slightly darker and more subtle El Hombre - I guess it's down to how bright your guitars output is too. This certainly looks the part and definitely delivers those La Grange tones!

Controls - Level, 1-2-3 : 3-Way Treble Cut-Off, Gain, Tone, Voice (Presence & Bite), On/Off Footswitch, Boost Footswitch.

The Ultimate Duane Allman Fillmore East Signature Sound pedal - where the (Dirty) Boost Channel is pretty much another independent Channel. This drive has real verve and dynamics to it - MLA's tone-stacks are always really clever too - for perfectly accentuating different aspects of the frequency profile. The pedal sounds every bit as good as it looks - probably still the Missing Link Audio Flagship Pedal - sounds superb!

Controls - Volume, Drive, Boost, Mode : OD / Boost / Distortion.

MXR's Jeorge Tripps is a genius at doing those really clever leading pedal-builder collaborations. Kind of having set the pace with his Paul Cocrhane Mini Timmy collab. We now go one better in some ways in collaborating with Analog.Man's Mike Piera - on essentially a Mini Version of his Prince of Tone, which is a variegated version of the Dual Channel King of Tone. Each of those pedals has subtly different output - they're all of a family very obviously - and for most the differences don't seem at all significant. The Mini version is everything it should be - it certainly has al the flavour and range you need - but it's not exactly the same as the Prince of Tone, or the King of Tone for that matter. I'm probably going to have to get the Prince of Tone two eventually - but as Meatloaf says - 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

Controls - Drive, Level, O.D.C. (Overdrive De-Compress), Spectrum EQ, Gain Structure : High / Low, Mid, Lo-Cut.

This ultimate versions of the ODR circuit - now with added gain-staging and internal presence switch - is the greatest Nashville Secret Weapon to date. It is also the line in the sand for this year's selection - as the last pedal admitted into this overview - pedals released / announced after this one are being carried forward to next year's selection. I've always loved the ODR-C enhanced take on the ODR-1 circuit, and have always wanted to own the very best available version of that circuit - which just happens to be this limited edition. I've already ordered in some special gold metallic knobs for Small Bear Electronics - albeit I feel those will inevitably get caught up in the Christmas Post and UK Postal Strikes - so it will be touch-and-go if I get those before Christmas. A truly wonderful overdrive pedal which looks great in its pearlescent with with gold accents colourway.

Controls - Buffer : On / Off, Fuzz, Level, Bias : High Headroom / Low Bias Buzz / ’The Golden Middle’, Bass, Treble.

I acquired this Holy Grit and the Heather Brown Sensation Fuzzdrive at the same time - both are easily classified as 'Fuzzy-Drives' while the Holy Grit rather leans more into the Overdrive side of that and the Sensation is more of a Fuzz - even at its lowest level of gain it's still incredibly fuzzy - while the Holy Grit is the opposite and never gets fully into searing fuzz territory. For a Silicon Transistor variant it still has pretty amazing Germanium-like textured output with plenty of subtleties - it's a really cool representative of the genre - which will be perfect for many, while possibly not quite fuzzy enough for some.

Controls - Volume, Drive, Bass, Treble, Mode Slider : Vintage / Modern (Higher Gain).

I of course already had the full size BJFE Honey Bee 4K, so I was excited that an anniversary Mini edition was being made in collaboration with Björn Juhls's other day-job at OneControl. The Mini Custom variety is definitely the one to go for as it has an extra mode switch on its side which opens up a higher gain voicing - while still keeping that core Honey Bee tone and texture intact.

Controls - Level, Adapt : O (Off) / I (Intermediate Adaptive Shift) / II (Full Adaptive Shift from Hump to Full Frequency Profile via Guitar Volume Cleanup), Voice : 808 (Classic Tube Screamer) / MOD (Up-Shifted Mid-Hump for more Presence and Bite), Dry (Classic 808 @ noon, more Dry CW), Tone (High-End Roll-off).

Origin Effects original Smart Adaptive Circuitry Overdrive - which dynamically adjusts the EQ based on you playing / picking style - overcoming the potentially thin sound you might get at lower levels of gain and volume. A pretty unique take on the Tube Screamer - eminently worthy and highly commendable!

Controls - Level, Adapt : Off / On, Drive, Mids (Boost), KCS (Kilocycles) : 0.8 / 1.0 / 1.3 kHz, Cut (High-End Roll-Off).

Origin's second Smart Adaptive Circuit Overdrive is the even better M-EQ where for the Halcyon the adaptive variable is Low-cut, here the variable is the High-cut - so it's balancing the key frequency cluster for each of those core circuits. Overall the M-EQ is a little more versatile and so is my preferred choice of this series, while I will likely be getting the Halcyon too. Sometime next year for sure.

Controls - Lo, Mids, Hi, Level, Gain, Internal Clipping Switch : Silicon (default 1M4148) / Germanium (D9E).

PastFX's V2 TD-Y improves on an already excellent format now with added Mids EQ, and new more textured Gernanium Clipping option. It takes this BK Butler Tube Driver style circuit to its natural conclusion - which is rendered now with extended range and increased versatility. This is the essence of what PastFX's Verlie does - evolves vintage style circuits - and massively expands their appeal!

Controls - Gain, Level, Voice (High-Mids), Treble, Bass.

Amusingly monikered supposedly Non-Klone but still Klone-Killer! I'm calling it a Klone anyway - or near as darn it. There are a few 3-Band EQ Klones already out there - so this one is really not inventing the wheel. Hard-clipper with Germanium Diodes! - it still sounds pretty good, while there is no need really to have it in this large and enclosure - with imbalanced cluster of knobs. I quite like it regardless - and it ranks as a nice-to-have for me. Would have been more essential at the compact size - still looks pretty cool though and does the job!

Controls - DRIVE } Treble, Bass, Volume, Gain; BOOST } Boost, Tilt EQ, Tight : Half (Top Shelve) / Normal (Full Frequency Boost) / Full (Top Boost + Low Cut), Separate Footswitches for Drive and Boost, Internal charge pump doubling Volts to 18V from 9V input.

This is undoubtedly a fine sounding overdrive / boost - where the Tilt EQ and Low Frequency Shelving Boost portion is an undeniable highlight. Shawn Tubbs definitely knows his way around an overdrive - while I feel this is slightly larger than it needs to be - particularly when you compare it to the feature-rich DSM & Humboldt Silver Linings. Had this been a tad smaller I would have ranked it as a touch more essential, while with this footprint is't more of a nice-to-have.

Controls - Output (+20dB), Circuit : JFET / Low-Cut / Studio / E-Plex, Tone : Bright / Med / Dark, Switch : Bypass / Mute.

Source Audio's first fully analog pedal is a really clever Tone Enhancer / Sweetner with 4 different Preamp / Boost voicings, generous headroom, and the simplest of 3-way Tone controls. This inevitably stands comparison with CTC's Super Conductor which does very similar things. Sometimes I come down in favour of the one side, and sometimes the other. Right not my mindset is that I very marginally prefer the CTC take - but in most ways they are very similar approaches.

Controls - Volume, Gain, Low, Mid, High.

Another fantastic sounding but seemingly under-the-radar overdrive. This is derived from the Mercury Germanium Boost platform - with extended Gain Range and Structure in tandem with a super-versatile 3-Band EQ. I'm not sure why this never properly caught on - in fact it had to be custom ordered from Andertons for mine. One of my favourites from the year which seems to be somewhat underappreciated.

Controls - Master (Volume), Presence (Upper Mids / Amp Voicing), Gain, Bass, Deep : 1 / 0 / 2, Bright (Bite) : 1 / 0 / 2, Sens (Gain Structure) : 1 / 0 / 2, Treble.

And so to Thropy's most immediate and instantly appealing gain machine. The Scarlet Tunic is superb every which was - with huge range onboard - and a really smartly calibrated Presence Control - and those ingenious 3 x 3-way Switches. The Upper-Mids Presence knob takes you through 3 key amp voicings - starting with HiWatt at circa 9 o'c, Selmer @ Noon, and Vox at or near Max. The specially selected Transformer has a lot to do with the amazing dynamics and the liveliness of this preamps's response. Funnily I actually spend more time on the HiWatt and Vox settings than th core Selmer voicing that this pedal was original derived from.

Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble.

Martin Kidd's and Thorpy's Victory V1 Preamp collaborations are the high watermark of Amp-like Preamp Pedals - derived exactingly from the live output profile of those classic amps. Some of these pedals had a more difficult birth, while The Duchess V1 was fairly fully-formed very early on. The Duchess preamp has a lot more to it than a high-headroom Fender Deluxe style amp. If of course does that bright sparkly thing really well - but has more usable gain structure than you would imagine. I'm already committed to getting the whole of this line - where I'm kind of going in reverse gain order - so this one will likely be the last to be picked up, but it's definitely going into the reference collection.

Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Tone (High-End Response), Treble.

The Copper is obviously very originally derived from the Chimey Vox AC30 and this preamp follows that sort of topology with a distinctly different EQ section - where the other 4 pedals in the range have the classic Bass, Middle, Treble 3-Band EQ, while this has Bass, Tone (High-End Response), and Treble. I will be looking to get this one next as part of a pair with The Marshall-y Sheriff.

Controls - BIAS TREMOLO } Intensity, Speed, Vibrato Footswitch, DRIVE } Drive, Volume, Channel : Normal / Bright, Era : Brownface / Blackface, Tone, Bypass Footswitch (Hold to switch between Low and High Gain).

VS Audio's cool Blackbird Overdrive gets upgraded with a Bias Tremolo - now forming something in a similar vein to Origin Effects' Deluxe61 and Magma57 pedals. In fact CTC's more compact Killer V does something similar in a more compact enclosure. Those classic amp sounds with LFO Modulation really to sounds superb, and it's nice that you have a choice of different models now at different sizes and prices.

Controls - Volume, Tone, Gain, Voice : Stock / More Clarity, Fat : Stock / More Fatness.

Brian Wampler's smart take on John Mayer's favourite TS-10 overdrive adds some compensatory features to counter some of the inherent weaknesses of that circuit. We get a 2-way Voicing switch for More Clarity, and a 2-way Fat switch which adds more low-end when you need it. Of course there is also the Becos FX Mini Ziffer which does even more with the Tube Screamer format. The Moxie sounds pretty great though.

Controls - Bass, Mids, Treble, Volume, Voicing : Smooth (Bad Monkey) / Punch (SD-1), Gain.

Brian Wampler's new budget Collective Series has been an undeniable triumph going for a fully extended-range twin voice design over the simpler varieties of the boutique budget competitors. This model is roughly based on the DigiTech Bad Monkey for one of the voicings, and the Tubescreamer-adjacent punchier asymmetrical clipping Boss SD-1 on the other voicing. In a sea of Screamers this one is still pretty distinct - and obviously gets you maximum bang for your bucks.

Controls - Volume, Drive.

My first experience of a Red Llama style overdrive was via the Mythos Chupacabra which is supposedly based on the same or similar topology. Both have those twin controls - here labelled Volume and Drive - while the Red Llama renders quite a bit darker. In fact both the Red Llama and Chupacabra render a touch darker than I would usually prefer. They still have a cool breakup texture - mostly sort of Tweed Drive in style, but can verge on those Billy Gibbons La Grange style tones too - albeit the J Rockett El Hombre and Missing Link Audio Eliminator are somewhat better honed to that task. For most 2-knob overdrives I usually feel that there is some sort of EQ / Tone control missing!