My 9 favourite Greer Amps Compact Gain Pedals Capsule Collection is complete
This is a project that has been going on for a while. I was just missing the Soma ’63 Vintage Preamp and the Sucker Punch High Gain Distortion - both of which I managed to source recently at relatively reasonable prices.
Out of this collection of 9 - quite a number are now discontinued - the Supa Cobra Overdrive and the entire bottom row - Hammer Distortion, Little Samson Overdrive / Distortion, and Sucker Punch High Gain Distortion.
I’ve always considered Nick Greer to be the King of the 3-knob Overdrives - which is typified by all but 2 pedals in this selection!
They are arrange in 3 groupings / rows of 3 - with Ligther Overdrives in the top row, Mid Gain Overdrives in the middle row, and Distortions in the bottom row.
Here is the full list :
- Lightspeed Organic Overdrive - $229
- Southland Harmonic Overdrive - $229
- Supa Cobra Overdrive - $249
- Royal Velvet Class-A British Drive & Pre - $229
- Black Mountain Crunch Drive - $199
- Soma ’63 Vintage Preamp - $229
- Hammer Distortion - $199
- Little Samson Overdrive / Distortion - $199
- Sucker Punch High Gain Distortion - $199
That selection properly covers the full gamut of gain really - from Light Overdrive initially, then progressing up the gears to proper High Gain at the end. I’m delighted to have completed the set at last!
Initially I identified the Greer Amps Overdrive Trifecta as must-haves - where I picked up the Lightspeed and Southland very early on, but it took me a while to complete that trilogy with the Supa Cobra - per the above visual.
I acquired these pedals from a variety of sources - my friends Joe Light's Joe's Pedals Boutique, Scott Hager's Axe and You Shall Receive, Reverb,com and Ebay - some of these really had to travel to get here - including the Lightspeed all the way from from Singapore, and the Sucker Punch from Sweden!
It would be cool to hear which of these 9 pedals - apart from the perennially popular Lightspeed - are your own favourites!
Here follow the usual details :
Lightspeed Organic Overdrive - $229
Controls - Loudness, Drive, Frequency.
Nick Greer's perennially popular Light / Transparent Organic Overdrive - loosely evolved from the Timmy circuit supposedly. For a time and before his Dane Drive - this was Pete Honoré's very favourite overdrive pedal. A great weapon of choice for those that lean into low-gain.
Southland Harmonic Overdrive - $229
Controls - Volume, Drive, Range.
This is supposed to be a slightly more gainier and more textured Lightspeed - with extended dynamic range - and producing a far richer soundstage than its lighter sibling.
Supa Cobra Overdrive - discontinued - $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Clip : Fat / LED, Treble, Body.
The goal with this pedal for Nick was to get the Overdrive breakup as close to distortion as possible - i.e. up and under - without crossing that line. A hugely overlooked and under-the-radar pedal, and sadly discontinued now. One of my very favourite of these for sure - and super versatile.
Royal Velvet Class-A British Drive & Pre - $229
Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.
The Vox AC30 Greer take - with very significant range but not quite enough in the tank for the most searing of Brian May tones - runs it pretty close though - pretty versatile Vox type.
Black Mountain Crunch Drive - $199
Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.
Crunchy Marshall delight - this shares similar territory with the Little Samson - but the breakup is slightly different - with earlier onset breakup crunch. Sounds pretty great, but doesn't have quite the range I imagined it would - and possibly the Tone stack needs just a fraction more range.
Soma '63 Vintage Preamp - $229
Controls - Volume, Gain, Presence, Bass, Treble.
Supposedly based on the1963 Fender Brown Face tones - circa Princeton I suppose - has that slightly ragged early Fender texture that so many seem to like - definitely has a sound and a texture that recalls recordings of that era.
Hammer Distortion - discontinued - $199
Controls - Volume, Gain, Grunt.
A pretty unique Fuzzy-Drive / Fuzzy-Distortion capable of delivering Expandora-esque and Billy Gibbons tones - pretty cool all-round - I really like this one!
Little Samson Overdrive / Distortion - discontinued - $199
Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.
Greer's original Marshall / Plexi take I think - now of course replaced by the Black Mountain - covers similar territory - but doesn't exactly sound the same or have the same texture - hard to say which of those I prefer more - both have their own merits!
Sucker Punch High Gain Distortion - discontinued - $199
Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.
Nick's highest gain pedal to date - sort of JCM800 territory or thereabouts - sounds really rather decent actually - shame these got discontinued. I guess Greer is more associated with lower gain - so there wasn't as big an audience for this.
