STOAKES’ GEAR TALK – SEYMOUR DUNCAN FORZA OVERDRIVE PEDAL
OK, I will admit, I was quite surprised to learn that Seymour Duncan – the guitar pickup people, have started doing guitar effects pedals. SO, I of course had to try one out. The Forza Overdrive is just a thing of beauty. With its Italian looking paint job, it looks great and believe me, it sounds even better.
With a three band EQ, plus Level and Drive controls, it allows the user a lot of control. You can tweak your low end, take some middle or top out and the choices are pretty endless. Saying that, even with all the EQ’s set at 12 o clock, you get a really nice, well rounded tone. The EQ is a really nice addition as it just allows you to have that bit extra control. The dials are really small too, which helps avoid accidental knocks with your foot, mid song! Set the bass at around one o clock, with the mid at 11 and treble at about two, it gives a really great tone! Really punchy!
The Gain and Level control again provides endless possibilities. The pedal comes with some suggestions at how to set it up to get that sound you’re after and then the fun really begins. I was very impressed at the variety of tones you could achieve. From really clean, to full on Heavy Metal overdrive, to 70’s rock and roll to a cleaner blues sounds. What struck me too, is you don’t have to move the dials all that much to achieve vastly different sounds. I love it!
Seymour Duncan have really excelled themselves with the Forza Overdrive pedal. It sounds equally as amazing through a clean amp or hitting an already-overdriven amp. I might have just found my new favourite overdrive!
Push it and it’ll give you great bite but caress and love it a little and you’ll be amazed at just how smooth this thing is. Yes, it’s leaning towards the top end of the market, but the level of control, with EQ and tone choices, it really is superb. I better start saving… This is something I have to add to my collection!
Specs:
- Type of circuitry: The Forza uses a glass diode, back-to-back stack overdrive circuit
- Bypass: True hard-wire bypass
- Control Functionality:
- Gain Control Range – 11dB to 37dB
- Bass – 90 Hz +/- 11dB
- Mid – 750 Hz +/- 11dB
- Treble – 2.1 kHz +/- 12dB
- Bypass (Footswitch) – Engages the overdrive effect
- Input Impedance: 470k Ohms
- Output Impedance: 1K Ohms
- Gain: Unity (0dB) dry; off to +3dB wet.
- THD @10mVrms input @ 1 kHz with 12 dB of gain: 0.045%
- Max Output Before Saturation: 0.6Vrms
- Power: 9V battery or external 9V to 18V Regulated DC Adapter (center negative)
- Current Consumption: 4.5mA
- Dimensions: 2.61” X 4.90” X 1.45”
- Weight: 0.8lb without battery
S.R.P: £250
