other dirt boxes. Using
an EarthQuaker Devices
Speaker Cranker in front
of the Big Tweedy Drive
gave me more gain and
saturation, but I was
still able to control all
tonal elements with the
BTD’s tone and presence
knobs. As a general rule
of thumb, if you want to
maintain the tweed tone
when using it with another
dirt box, use Big Tweedy
after the other pedal.
Used as a more
conventional overdrive
pedal, Big Tweedy
provides a real kick
in the pants to other
stompboxes and creates
a great blues tone when
combined with a slightly
overdriven amp. If you
have an A/B box, or
even some kind of stereo
pedal, try running the
BTD and another amp-
based overdrive pedal
after each output and run
them to separate amps.
I did just that with the
BTD and my LunaStone
TrueOverdrive 1 and I got
a great vintage Marshall
and Fender side-by-side
tone; you can put an epic
rig together with just a
few hundred bucks.
My favorite way to use
the Big Tweedy Drive is
using it after other dirt
pedals in the chain to
ensure I get the inherent
tweed flavor of the pedal.
Running drive and fuzz
into the BTD gave me a
response quite similar
to using pedals with an
amplifier, and using it
in this way could add a
whole new dimension to
your sound without having
to buy a completely
different amplifier.
quality with which you’ve
become familiar.
WHAT WE LIKE
Authentic tweed-style
tones. Amp-like response.
Plays well with other dirt
pedals. Easy to use.
CONCERNS
None.
If you’re looking for
authentic, dynamic
tweed tone, the Big
Tweedy Drive is a great
option. It will give you
the feel and response of
those great amplifiers
without draining your
bank account entirely,
so you can present it as
a responsible purchase
to your significant other.
It works great as a
standalone amp-in-a-box
or utilitarian drive pedal,
it plays well with others,
and it is built with the
typical Mad Professor
ToneReport.com
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