Lately, it seems like I’ve been reviewing a lot of really simple overdrive pedals, and for the most part, they have all been surprisingly good at delivering fantastic drive tones and making my amps work for their money. The next example in this current line of simplistic but powerful stompboxes is the Earthrise VIII from our friends over at Epigaze Audio.
Once again, only 2 control knobs make this pedal great, easy fun to dial in, while still providing complex range and character that guitar players look for in an overdrive pedal. Level is the volume control, Gain is the crunchy control. That’s about it. There’s a little toggle switch in the middle, too, that Epigaze describes as a “Body” switch, used for matching your guitar’s pickup tones to the output of this beastly pedal. It does work well with single coils and humbuckers, too, so that switch apparently knows its role in making this pedal sound great. Again, a nice, broad RANGE of sounds coming from 2 basic knobs, which is a welcome trend in pedal building. Going from a slow, grinding boost to an all-out distorted, borderline-fuzzy excursion, the Earthrise VIII will do what you want it to do for your tone…and then some.
I happened to get mine as a one-off custom edition as well, which makes it even cooler, I must say. These pedals don’t seem to stay in stock for too long, either, so if you find one, new or used, pick it up ASAP, or you could be waiting a while to grab another one. That stat alone bodes well for Epigaze, because it means that folks have heard their killer products, and just want more, more, more! Thanks again to Josh and all at Epigaze Audio for their generous contribution, I hope to review more of their pedals in the near future. Make sure to go to their website and check out the other pedals they have to offer!
Specs:
• Standard 9vDC Input
• Body Switch for pickup tone matching
• Quality Components
• True Bypass
• Hand Wired in the USA
Submitted by Mike B, Website
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