Walrus Audio add Second Channel, Footswitch, and Boost Switch to their well loved Film Projector Preamp derived 385 Overdrive MKII

I had long intended to get in the original 4-knob 385 Overdrive (pictured in inset) it’s been on my infinite wishlist forever - and like many of that number has not quite happened yet. Just as well I suppose - as there have been a number of pedals on the wishlist which have been iterated and improved over that timespan, and where I ended up getting a better version of the pedal - which looks likely to happen on this occasion.

The original 385 Overdrive simply had Volume, Gain, Bass and Treble, while the new one adds a second foot-switchable B Channel for which you have separate Volume and Gain pots.

Controls - Volume A, Gain A, Volume B, Gain B, Treble, Bass, 385 / 385+ Boost Switch, Bypass Footswitch, A/B Channel Footswitch.

You furthermore get a new 385+ / 385 toggle switch which adds an additional gain stage to the front of the circuit - a gain boost therefore - which is activated with the switch up. When the switch is down you’re getting the classic 385 sounds of the originals.

There seems to be a vogue for Preamp Overdrive pedals at the moment - copying tone-enhancing and warming preamp circuits from tape / delay machines, modulations and the like. If you crank those a little you typically get a beautifully warm and textures overdrive - or else you can set the output fairly low - as more of a sort of always-on tone enhancer - a use many like to put the various takes on the Echoplex Preamp to - for instance.

All those different device preamps typically used different valves and transistors and had quite different and distinct sounding outputs. I already really liked the output of the original 385 - and here you’re essentially getting more in the same form-factor - with those extra controls, and that added boost voicing. Walrus could have done the Jackson Audio trick here with digital footswitches - such that the two separately could function per the above instructions, but instead of having the added Gain Stage / Boost on a separate toggle - you could activate it by pressing both footswitches together - that makes sense to me here!

Price is kind of as to be expected - and pretty fair for this kind of 2-Channel Overdrive. I was for a long term on the cusp of acquiring the previous model - I will mosts definitely be getting this one in soon-ish.

The 385 Overdrive MKII is available from the Walrus Audio Webstore right now - for $249.99 and equivalent, and will be at international dealers imminently.