DRUNK BEAVER Trainer TS-100

Love the way this pedal colours any distortion or overdrive running into it. Also good if you have a direct rig for giving you some preamp sag.

Who Says Solid-State Amps Have No Personality

British or American amp? How about Canadian. This pedal recreates a little known solid-state amp from that big beautiful land that gets a lot of snow. If you're looking for something different from the typical trio of 'FMV' tube/valve amp sounds, then the TS-100 is it. The signal breakup has its own sonic personality. Some pedals bill themselves as pre-amps, but often don't feel like you're plugged into the front of an amp. This really does! Internal voltage more than three times a typical 9V OD pedal, really has an effect on headroom. The gain knob tapers the signal into saturation beautifully way past 'noon'. Many pedals are clean at '7 o'clock', the signal noticeably distorted by '10 o'clock'. Not here. This allows dialling in just the right amount of breakup. With the TS-100 at the end of the signal chain, not only does it take other dirt boxes really well, it also does lovely things to delays, tremolo and other modulation. Run it into an amp or cab sim, you've got unique inspiring amp tones. Ooh, did I mention the 3-band EQ, bright toggle and boost on a separate foot-switch. Very versatile, which is a hallmark of Drunk Beaver's uniformly excellent pedals. (Also check out DB's TS-15, based on a lower wattage, smaller speaker amp. In fact both the TS-15 & TS-100 complement one another really well.)