J Rockett significantly refine and enhance their HRM II Hot Rubber Monkey Dumble ODS style HRM Mod Overdrive
Readers will know that from my growing Dumble Style Overdrive Capsule Collection - that the favourite to date has typically been the Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku, just ahead of the BJFE ODS34. While we now have another to join that elite and lofty company - where the HRM MKII delivers that glorious extra zing - which adds so much verve and dynamics to that pedal.
As you can see from the below comparison - the new pedal looks quite a bit more elegant and sophisticated than its predecessor - now with perfectly selected stylish milled aluminium knobs and a matt black enclosure with a small chrome-accented facia plate. Of course loaded with superior components too - as can be seen from the accompanying gutshot.
Up until this point I always championed the J Rockett Melody and Dude Dumble style variants - while I most definitely prefer the added zing of this new HRM. It has a tonne of range - particularly on the Gain and Volume side - where the only control here I get even close to maxing out is the Top End - because that dial magically delivers that extra zing and harmonics - and I'm all about texture!
Moreover this HRM II has superb guitar volume gain clean up too - for some really slick playing dynamics. Most of my favourite overdrives seem to have this kind of ability - and the character and timbre of the breakup is such an essential part of what makes these kinds of pedals so special for me!
Controls - Level, Gain, Top End, Midrange.
I mostly play through humbuckers - so you will need to adjust your own tonality according to your instrument and pickups - while for my preferences I like to have the Level @ c 1 o'c, Gain @ 9 o'c, Top End @ 4 o'c, and Midrange @ c 3 o'c.
I've always spoken about the slight fuzzy edge of the Dumble format - which I so like - and which gives such a cool accent to the overdrive breakup. I classify most of my Dumble style pedals as being Fuzzy-Drives, and this one is no exception. For my most favoured Dumble style pedals - they need to have that slightly fuzzy edge - which is what is largely delivered by that circuit's unique midrange EQ profile.
I always thought that the Hot Rubber Monkey moniker was slightly odd - but I guess it also kind of describes part of the character of that EQ Mod. My own Custom Tones Ethos Clean-Fusion II comes with the HRM EQ Mod - which means it has 2 sets of 3-Band EQ's. The J Rocket HRM - is a superb distillation of those capabilities into a much easier to deploy and handy compact enclosure unit - I would not want to be without either of those!
The new HRM II has been a delight to deploy from the very first encounter - I was able to dial in my perfect tone so quickly here - which is one advantage that the HRM II has over the Kondo Shifuku - which you need to spend a little time with to get to the perfect settings.
Interestingly there is another connection here also to the Kondo-Shifuku - in that the demo artist that sold me in effect on that one is the one I recommended to Zac at J Rockett to do the demo for the HRM II. Alberto Barrero has introduced me to several of my favourite pedals over the years - and we've become friends as a result. He is one of the very best out there at demoing overdrives in particular - where he always manages to wring every ounce of tone and nuance out of those pedals.
The HRM II is a fantastic sounding Dumble ODS style pedal which is really easy to dial in too - it deserves to do really well.
It's available for orders right now at leading dealers - where it has a very reasonable price tag of $229. You can read up on further details on the J Rockett Website.
Which is your own current favourite Dumble style pedal?
J Rockett seem to be on something of a roll these days! I hope many of you are still enjoying your Archer Selects!
Demos
