Looking Glass Overdrive Pedal Review

I love this pedal

I picked this up a couple weeks ago when my my Morning Glory petered out. I'd been considering the Looking Glass for a year and had done my homework. After gigging with it 4 times as a boost or mild overdrive, I've determined this pedal achieves the sound I've been chasing for years. With single coils, the amp-like behavior is stunning, and the EQ controls are ultra responsive.… read more The input filter (which I keep halfway up), works together w bass roll-off. I can maintain my natural tone while adding a touch of gain and EQ enhancement. I predict this pedal will be the major engine on my board for a long long time. PS... not missing the Morning Glory.

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Diamond in the rough

The best Sparkle Clean/Dumble pedal Ive tried yet. Tone shaping is fantastic to bring the most out of any amplifier. From Mayer to SRV, this pedal does those sounds but not so much you cant sound like yourself. I never turn this pedal off ever. Put a boost in front of it and you get really close to Vibrolux/Super Reverb singing tones. Dont bother with the more expensive stuff. This… read more will be everything you could need.

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Love this one!

This is currently replacing my Timmy pedal. I love the Timmy as a clean-ish booster to tighten the low end, taming the treble, increasing volume and/or hitting the front end of the amp a little harder. It's been my standard by which I've judged all other "transparent" overdrives. That said, I never liked how the Timmy sounds when the gain knob goes above halfway. I also always felt… read more some missing presence and pickup articulation when stacking pedals before it. I don't get a great deal of applicable information from "overdrive" pedal video demos. What helped me make the decision to get this pedal is hearing it in action live. Recently, I saw the band Deerhoof and discovered one of their guitarists (John Dietrich) was using a Looking Glass as well as another SHOE overdrive--the Savior Machine. On top of having a great dynamic and amazing interplay he and Ed Rodriguez have tone I like. Specifically, to me, they have great definition, tremendous treble detail, don't get in each other's way sonically, and the ability to adjust this to different stages/venues. After hearing them and seeing the sort of tone shaping available on the Looking Glass, I wanted to try one out. The Looking Glass has significantly more high end than the Timmy. Technically it's not as "transparent" and flat as a Timmy. Though, I wanted more treble, and I definitely got it! It's easy to get some high end squeal when stacking with a my fuzz face (Solid Gold FX, If 6 was 9), but the EQ and switching adjustments can contain that. The tone shaping also allows for pushing the midrange if needed. I don't go for Tube Screamer sounds, but if more mid frequency cutting is needed it's certainly available. The gain/drive sounds good throughout the range on both High and Low. For my needs I keep it on the "Low" setting. It also seems to idle quietly. If I was incredibly picky, my Timmy always had a tiny bit of hum and hiss I had attributed to the nature of increased gain/volume. There's actually less of that with the Looking Glass even with more treble in the circuit. My main complaint is that the DIP/buffer switches are only accessible by removing the bottom plate. Why do companies put features that might be helpful in an inconvenient place? Since I use this with a loop switcher that can, and frequently does, change the order of the effects, more immediate access to this feature would have been appreciated. Instead it's 30 minutes and a screwdriver to evaluate how the various combinations work with my rig and hoping I don't want to play with it in a live setting in the future. I have a home and food, but still... Getting the hang of the EQ knobs takes a moment. They don't work the way they do on the Timmy. I understood that the Bass control on both pedals is "pre-gain," but there's still a great deal of remaining bass when the Looking Glass is at full "cut" compared to the Timmy. Trimming that even more might have been nice for some rigs, but I don't currently need less bass than what the Looking Glass allows. Also, being able to cut the treble might be appreciated by some, but I go for bright and that's where this pedal "shines." Overall, having more high end presence, being able to increase the treble and emphasize the mids, and also more usable gain is making this a new favorite. It might not be the ideal choice for a tonally murky or dark rig or for paring with a Rangemaster/Treble Booster into a Fender Twin, but that might be what you're looking for!

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Fantastic OD

I've relied on my TS-9 (with 808 mod) for overdrive/ gain for 30+ years. I saw a demo of this unit and decided to give it a try. I have to say that it was love right out of the box. The TS-9 has been removed from my board. My playing style relies less on high gain these days, and this pedal shimmers. There is no mid-range muddiness and you can tweak it to your liking. Beautiful… read more gain without losing the character of your guitar's pickups. My only complaints are that the price point was a tad steep, the foot switch is clunky and noisy, and there is no operating manual (easy enough to figure out without one, though...) This pedal with my MXR Carbon Copy, my '59 Bassman, and a Gretsch semi-hollow body sounds heavenly.

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Stand alone or works well with others.

Its a pretty good overdrive that really is transparent. Roll off your guitar volume and it cleans up, or dig in your stings and it responds with nice saturation. I stacked it with my Marshall Jackhammer for boosted lead volume and it worked well. It also stacked well with a Tube Screamer. The bass cut and treble knobs make it easy to dial in a good tone. Switching the gain… read more from low to high while playing gives a volume boost which might work for lead, but it also produces a pop sound coming out of your amp speakers which is not so good. The foot switch is loud and clunky but works. Overall I am happy with it.

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