Drive territory, the unit’s
power showed itself. At
the noon Drive position
(Treble down low), the
unit added a bit of color,
mainly to chords and
double-stops. I didn’t
sense that my signal was
particularly compressed,
but I eked out a little
more life from sustained
notes than otherwise. At
even higher Drive levels,
the Cranberry’s distortion
was short and punchy. I
rolled back the volume
knob on the guitar just a
bit for a cleaner sound—
it’s still a bit dirtier than
full volume in lower Drive
settings—and rolled it
up for rich, full overdrive
even at low Treble
settings.
I was impressed by
how well the Cranberry
handled open chords
at its highest Drive
level. Too often, pedals
can’t quite handle the
harmonic complexity of
a full major chord, for
example. The pedal will
pump out a kind of mush
that’s recognizable as
a major chord, but just
barely. The Cranberry,
one the other hand,
remained transparent so
that I could strum major
chords without losing
their character.
The tiny Low control
added a bit of low
end, but the difference
between settings was
rather subtle. Moreover,
adjustments were made
more difficult by the
lack of a visual guide on
the control itself. Unlike
the topside knobs with
their indicator strips,
the Low control is on a
side-mounted trimpot.
Fortunately, I didn’t
need to remember which
setting I preferred for
a given song. Perhaps
in future versions of
the Cranberry, a more
intuitive Low control
could be included.
real estate on crowded
pedalboards. And, given
that these pedals are so
compact, I’m beginning
to think that OneControl
could begin a successful
“collect them all”
campaign for tone hounds
across the land.
WHAT WE LIKE
Transparent, tastefully
full overdrive in a small
package.
CONCERNS
The Low control lacked
markings that would show
the current setting.
Despite my minor
concerns about the Low
control, I felt that the
little Cranberry Overdrive
delivered remarkably
transparent distortion in
a no-nonsense way. Its
small footprint makes
the unit desirable even
to musicians with limited
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