Overdirve

This is 1 of 15 Donner pedals that I purchased. The Donner Overdrive Guitar Pedal is a fantastic choice for those seeking authentic vintage tones. The Blues Drive model offers rich, warm overdrive that enhances your guitar’s natural sound while adding a touch of grit. Key Features: Versatile Controls: Intuitive knobs for gain, tone, and volume allow for customized sound shaping. True Bypass: Keeps your signal clean when the pedal is off, maintaining the integrity of your tone. Robust Build Quality: Sturdy pedal housing designed for durability on stage and in the studio. Overall, the Donner Blues Drive Overdrive Pedal delivers classic overdrive tones that appeal to blues, rock, and alternative guitarists alike. Highly recommended for anyone looking to enhance their sound with a vintage flair!

Really like this little stomper. Able to dial in a nice volume and gain level to get from rhythm to lead and achieve the extra projection needed and not over power the band. Nice little device and very reasonably priced. Would recommend.

If you're looking for a rat pedal but don't want to spend a ton of money, this is a great deal. It does all of the things you want a rat to do, from the harsh bright thrash-y sounds to that delightful barely-driven rat tone. The clipping options are nice, and give you the option to get into really harsh distortion. Even though I have a more expensive rat clone, I do still sometimes find myself coming back to this pedal for certain sounds. My big complaint about this pedal is that its baseline level is VERY loud. Unity volume is barely above 0, and anything past noon will be audible to the entirely neighborhood. This makes accessing those edge-of-breakup tones tricky, but it is possible. Also this pedal doesn't sound super great with the tone turned down all the way, it needs a bit of brightness to make it shine.

I've found my perfect match with this guitar pedal, and I couldn't be happier. As a guitarist who primarily uses a Godin A6 Ultra Hybrid Acoustic Guitar with a humbucker pickup, I've been on the hunt for a pedal that would seamlessly enhance my sound without taking up too much precious space on my pedal board. This pedal not only fits the bill but also exceeded my expectations. My main goal was to find a pedal that could provide that sweet crunch when I blend in my humbucker with the piezo pickup for lead guitar moments. This pedal has proven to be the ideal solution. Its subtle yet effective impact on my tone is just what I was looking for. I've been using the warm setting predominantly, and I must say that the pedal's crunch isn't overpowering. It adds a layer of depth and character to my sound, enhancing my humbucker's output without overshadowing the uniqueness of the piezo pickup. It's like the pedal was tailor-made for my setup. One of the aspects that truly stood out to me is the pedal's ability to maintain the balance between the different pickups. It's a delicate dance, and this pedal has nailed it. The warm setting, in particular, has become my go-to choice, providing the perfect level of grit without compromising the overall harmony of my sound. Overall, I'm thoroughly pleased with this pedal's performance so far. It has enhanced my playing experience and brought a new dimension to my music. If you're like me, searching for a pedal that complements your hybrid acoustic guitar setup without overwhelming it, I highly recommend giving this pedal a try. It has certainly earned its place on my pedal board and in my heart. Pros: Ideal for blending humbucker and piezo pickups Subtle crunch without overpowering Maintains balance and harmony Compact size perfect for pedal boards Cons: None encountered in my experience In summary, this pedal has filled a void in my setup that I didn't even know existed. It's a versatile, compact, and harmonious addition that has elevated my sound to new heights. Kudos to the creators for crafting a pedal that truly understands the needs of hybrid acoustic guitarists.

I rarely write a review but this Rat clone by donner is just fantastic! What a great pedal for the price. Highly recommended 🎸🎸

Non-Sound Stuff • Like all Donner boxes, this is built like a tank. • Super quiet on/off switching • Small size makes it way easy to fit on an effects board and throw in the gig bag for rehearsal/jams. • Dials turn smoothly, are easy to reach and do their specific jobs “evenly” (not big jumps in gain, tone or level along the spectrum of turn) • Toggle is easy to access, easy to read and clicks satisfyingly • No battery: Could be a plus or minus, depending on who you are/what you want. I love it. I never have to worry about inconvenience of batteries crapping out (and keeps form factor small) • If you like keeping your gear pretty, the box it comes in is very sturdy and the easy-access “hatch” design makes for easy in/out Sound Stuff • Playing my budget-conscious Epiphone Les Paul Jr. with a P90 in it and my Epi G-400 with stock humbuckers through my decidedly also-budget-conscious Monoprice combo amp. • Simplicity is its strong suit. 3 dials and a toggle allow you to access a huge array of overdriven/distorted sounds without any chance of paralysis-by-analysis of some other pedals that “offer” 6 dials, 3 toggles, 4 sliders and a partridge in pear tree. • The toggle gets you in the general neighborhood of where you want to be with tone (warmer overdrive-y, more traditional “general distortion or more modern-metal-ly). • Then, the level, gain and tone let you literally dial in the sound you are looking for. If you really want to super-fine-tune, you really don’t need more than your amp’s controls to get you right where you want to be. I’ve found adding some significant amp gain really adds some throaty-ness. • Range of tones is impressive coming out of one box. Unless you are recording or really trying to clone a very particular sound, I’m not sure you’d need much more than this in most situations. From a warm blues overdrive boost to a pretty industrial metal sound if you are pushing hot pickups through the Ultra mode with the tone way up. • Very quiet, no hiss or buzz. • I’d say the high end of the tone zone gets very edgy and bright, especially on Ultra and Normal. So be careful with that, unless you are looking for that aggro tone that will cut through the mix (and through my nerves). To be fair, it’s also a nice way to “sharpen” up some neck pickup tones. Closing Great versatile value. Simple, sturdy box that gives you a ton of tonal options in the distortion/overdrive area for a very fair price.

I like certain things in this pedal this is for the blues drive from Donner. I recently got into the boss BD2 sound and months ago tried Keeley super phat although these are more distortion clipping and I’m an overdrive person there’s a lot of overlap and some great sounds. The Donner blues drive is not a clone of the BD2 it gets about 40% to 50% of the gain of the BD. I often play strats and so the ‘warm’ sounds best to me you get a low gain distortion clipping and need to push the level. The ‘hot’ switch is in a complete different direction a lot more volume and a little less gain. On its own you may like this pedal as the toggle offers two different pedals this would be like a tube screamer but with distortion clipping. If you like the lower gain part of a BD2 this is pretty close but it doesn’t have the intensity in the level or the subtlety of the tone control and the BD2 at 12 o’clock has a fair amount of saturation. This does not. For $30 if you’re looking for a blues pedal that’s micro with a couple of different options depending on guitar/amp this may be your thing. Even in micro pedals I think the Donner Morpher which gets some Serious high gain may give you more options. I was getting into BD2 and wanted to micro version of it this was disappointing and the hot switch seem too boomy while the warm switch I had to push the level. I returned it as there are better options for me. However I like Donner products and think you might like this just don’t expect high gain or as much gain range or volume tone range as a full-size pedal.

Works well for what I need. Old fingers can't chug 1/8th notes at 170 beats for 5 minutes. So, this allows me to play 1/4 notes at a fast pace and still get the effect of 1/8th notes. The sound isn't identical to playing the real notes, but in a mix and adding some distortion and chorus no one can tell. I only gave it a 4 Star rating due to not seeing where it will fit in beyond what I listed above.