TWA RZ-01 Chemical Z™ Roy Z Signature Dual Channel Overdrive

I think TWA (Totally Wycked Audio) is a rather underrated effects company, and today I’m gonna show you another reason why. After checking out their Wahxidizer™ WX-01 Envelope-Controlled Octave Fuzz Filter Wah and SC-01 Source Code Overdrive pedals recently, I was stoked to see what was next, as those two creation were AMAZING. Enter the RZ-01 Chemical Z™ Roy Z Signature Dual Channel Overdrive, a beast of a pedal for all musical genres…just wait til you see and hear what this one can do…

Roy Z is a household name in the Metal community. His extensive resume boasts the privileged position as guitarist, collaborator and producer for the solo sojourns of not one, but two of Metal’s most iconic frontmen – Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. In addition to his work with these vocal titans, Roy has produced over fifty albums for a variety of artists in the hard rock and metal genres. Most recently, Roy has teamed up once again with Bruce Dickinson on his first solo album in nearly 20 years—The Mandrake Project. The Chemical Z overdrive was designed to replace Roy’s multi-drive setup with a single pedal that would not just meet all his dirtbox desires, but exceed them.

Designed by Tube Screamer creator Susumu Tamura, the CHEM-Z circuit is based around the “Magic” IC that was only found in limited runs of the best-sounding vintage TS808’s. This IC was also used in the APEX808 that Godlyke released in 2020 under the Maxon Custom Shop banner. This special OpAmp offers less compression and more output than the typically-used JRC4558. In addition, it produces both even and odd-order harmonics in a similar manner to the preamp & power sections of a tube amp. More than just a copy of previous designs, Chemical-Z has been optimized for use with high-gain amps. Rich in integer harmonics and with a precisely-tuned upper midrange, CHEM-Z is aggressive yet articulate; edgy yet easy on the ears.

Chemical-Z also features a footswitchable hot channel that activates an alternate set of clipping diodes. These now-defunct Panasonic DA2S00100L diodes were used in the Maxon OD808X Overdrive Extreme and have more forward voltage than standard diodes, functioning in a similar manner to the red LED’s that other builders (Keeley, Earthquaker Devices, Fortin, Catalinbread) use in their OD circuits. The result is more gain and output level, but also a noticeable bump to the low-midrange that helps thicken things up for soloing. This dual-channel design also allows CHEM-Z to be used with clean and semi-clean amps, creating a 3-channel, “clean-crunch-crush” monster rig with just a single pedal.

As with all TWA models, only the highest quality components go into the production of Chemical-Z, including ALPHA potentiometers, Marushin & Neutrik jacks, KOA/Speer resistors and WIMA, Nichicon, Kemet, & Vishay capacitors. The RZ-01 Chemical Z™ Roy Z Signature Dual Channel Overdrive is hand-assembled in the USA using our very own nimble little fingers. Thanks as always to the crew at Godlyke Distributing Inc. for sending another amazing creation our way to check out – be sure to visit them and TWA to snag a Chemical Z for yourself, cheers!!