Grid Slammer Overdrive Pedal Review

Excellent Boost Pedal with Transparent Tone

I tested this on a Mesa Mini Rectifier and a 100 Watt modern Dual Rectifier, and it sounded superb in front of both. The tone is super clean, and the light over drive can go from a gentle purr to a biting drive. It has a clean, sharp attack and is not a "squishy" drive sound at all. Using this pedal on a clean channel with the neck pickup on the guitar, you can get those "slightly… read more clipping" blues tones very easily for some really expressive playing. What impressed me the most was that its sound is more transparent than other boost pedals, allowing more of the amp's natural character to come through - even with the pedal's level knob maxed out. When used on either Rectifier, there was less colorization and compression, and it almost felt like the pedal wasn't even there. I never had to crank the amps' gain past half way to get really solid, tight driven sounds for chords or soloing. So if you have tried other boost pedals but didn't like what they did to your tone, this is definitely the pedal to try. A+ to the Mesa Team - Highly Recommended.

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This Pedal Earns it's Name

The name of this OD pedal says it all. Dime the level control, add gain to taste, not too much mind you, and set the tone between 12:00 and 2:00 and just turn it on. It's really that simple. This pedal has tasty saturation with very articulate clarity as the best way to describe the overall tone. There is also a nice umph to the tone that provides nice feel and weight to the notes… read more without muddiness in the bass, and no harshness in the high end. Just a sweet very easy to use pedal with fast attack for any style of music... really plays well with Metal overdrive tones. Rectifiers love this pedal but so does my GT-1000 AIRD amp models....grid slams them both to complete satisfaction.

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EXCELLENT, UNIQUE, A GREAT DISTORTION EFFECT

I own over 60 distortion pedals including models by Bogner, Fulltone, Ibanez, Boss, Joyo, Ernie Ball, JHS, Keeley, MXR and many more you never heard of (or heard). The "Grid Slammer" is my first by Mesa Boogie although I do own seven Mesa amps (three are dual rectifiers). I find the descriptions by Mesa Boogie to be confusing and not as informative as I'd like. Here is the good… read more news, this pedal is VERY GOOD and useful. Responds to volume control on guitar, cleans up with reduced volume, crunches when you hammer notes HARD. Never blurry or indistinct, notes come through musically. Sounds good on a clean amp channel or a dirty amp channel. I'm using it a lot with a Marshall DSL in the studio, I like how this pedal works on both channels without becoming a wash of hash. This distortion pedal sounds great through a variety of speaker cabinets, single 10", single 12" or 4x12, always fat but never sloshy or gross. There may be a little high-pass filter going on to keep the bottom end from becoming too huge or overbearing. The tone control seems to do more than just add or subtract high frequency content, it could be a gentle bandpass filter effect. Never mind the deep technical analysis, Mesa got this one RIGHT! It is a very musical tool. Use the Grid Slammer in front of another distortion for extra push on leads or use it alone with more extreme settings, this is not your average "Tube Screamer" effect, this one can do the TS thing and then can go a lot further without the amplifiers blasting at 110 dB. The Slammer has a nice metal flake paint job and feels like it would survive if you drove the band truck over it. I'll be trying some other Mesa stomp boxes because this one sounds so good. Good music to you!

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A secret weapon for modern, high gain guitar tones

I can't recommend this pedal enough. I could go on and on about how versatile this pedal is. It has the ability to push a clean channel from a mild crunch into solid gain, drive a lead channel the way you would with a tube screamer, or saturate your signal into a thick, sludgy wall of distorted mess and everything in between. For modern metal guitar tones, I haven't found anything… read more better. The way a high gain tube amp interacts with this pedal is what sold it for me. Using it in a traditional tube screamer setup, turning the gain knob to around 8 o'clock, level up, and moving the tone knob just right of center will make a tube amp soar in ways I haven't heard any other pedal pull off. In that context, my tone seems to tighten up while also filling out some midrange frequencies that slam the preamp section of the amp just right, adding both clarity and girth to the signal. If you're looking for something to toss in front of your amp, look no further. I'd recommend this over any other overdrive or screamer for high gain tones.

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One of the best-if not the best.

When we think of OD pedals, we think of the green box that has been around for years or other one's by MXR that are just as good-if not better. Then we find this hidden gem. This O.D. is perfect in front of a pushed amp. The response is perfect. Tone at noon. Level max. Gain all the way down. Can't put it in to many words but it is just right. Low end if tightened up a tad but not… read more taken away (like the green box we all know and still love). Mid range isn't super exaggerated. It is "just right". The top end is clear and present and not piercing your ear drum. One thing it has above 99% of other O.D. pedals, it remains musical and harmonically rich! This is often over looked because Mesa is usually known as an amp/cab company. Do yourself a favor and buy this. Thank me later.

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