When you hear the name “Ross” while discussing guitar gear, your mind (and the conversation) inevitably float to the famed Grey Compressor of the 1970’s, the “end-all, be-all” of compression, according to many, and what a lot of modern day compressors strive to emulate. Well, the Grey box may be all well and good, but the Ross company actually put out a whole bunch of pedals during their tenure, and we’ve got a killer one for you today: their Distortion.
I’ll be honest with you, this pedal is pretty basic. Two controls knobs make up the entirety of the pedal, and they’re about as basic as you get, too. Level controls the output, Distort controls the amount of dirt you want added into your chain. In order to get a good setting, though, you really need to play around with both controls, as they are very interactive with each other, and depending on where you put the Distort setting, you usually need to adjust the Level control to even out the sound. That said, there are a ton of great options in this seemingly one-trick pony. You can go from a nice, smooth overdrive sound, to a fuller, meatier distortion with ease, and top it all off by cranking the Distort knob and bordering on fuzz territory, all the while getting warm drive emulations and sparkling lead tones with sustain for days. This Distortion pedal is not going to make you sound like you’re trying out for Cannibal Corpse or anything, but the range of sounds was far greater than I had expected, making it not only a nostalgic piece of guitar history, but one that can still be utilized in today’s over-the-top pedalboard setups and schematics.
These can be found at reasonable prices, too, which is just another added bonus (you may have to search around, or wait for the right deal to pop up, but it will). You can almost get the grunge-ish, harder-rock tones of the 90’s out of this thing, but if it’s a classic rock vibe you’re swinging for, this tan beauty will knock it right out of the park. Until this becomes the next retro, must-have piece of gear in Ross’ lineup, it’s a nice secret weapon to have at my disposal, and I hope it stays with me for a long time.
Submitted by Mike B, Website
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
