STRICH Tube Overdrive Distortion Pedal, Compact Mini

The item reviewed is a ‘Metal’ Distortion Pedal for Electric Guitar by STRICH called “OVERKILLER”. It is a Mini Single Unit with True Bypass and 3 Control Knobs: Volume, Filter, Distribution. It also has a toggle with Three Mode Adjustments: Solo, Turbo and Normal. 9V DC power only. (no battery)

First: I have other pedals by Strich and they have always performed well for an economy brand. They have been packaged well in attractive boxes with magnetic lid flaps, tight foam packing and user manuals. Unfortunately, this pedal was bouncing around loose in the shipping envelope, outside of the box which, sadly, was empty. No packing or documentation in the box. Fortunately, the pedal still performed as expected.

Now, already having over 50 different pedals ranging from very economy based to very expensive models, I am familiar with what to expect based on the builder’s claims and the pedal’s circuit style. (i.e. Muff vs Fuzz vs Distortion vs Phaser vs Overdrive and Tube emulators, on and on) With this “Overkiller” a beginner may not notice the inverted sound controls or how it does not carry a true “Metal” distortion. I found this pedal to be less than a true distortion pedal and more of a Fuzzy Overdrive effect. It is still a fun pedal and great at this price point, especially for beginners. I say go have fun, learn, develop an ear for what to expect and get familiar before spending big bucks on pedals later. This item suits that purpose just fine.

Note that this pedal has its power plug on the right side below the input jack. Note also that you cannot power this with a 9V battery; it only works off the plug power (not included but standard 9V (negative tip, positive barrel).

With that out of the way, this is a pretty good overdrive pedal, and my only objection with all of it is that the marketing copy in the product description makes some promises that the pedal just doesn’t keep. For example, one picture says that the Filter knob will let you “Eliminate noise, shape timbre, enhance specific frequencies, and create special effects.” I’m pretty sure from using it that the Filter knob is just a Low-pass filter that cuts more and more of the high frequencies as you dial it up. It does not “create special effects”. It does not “enhance specific frequencies”, and it only eliminates noise if that noise happens to be high-frequency hiss or static coming from your guitar’s shoddy electronics.

Also, the main description of the listing might have a copy-paste error in the first bullet, as it currently says “Precise Sound Control: With three control knobs, you can finely adjust your guitar’s sound. These knobs allow precise adjustment of the dry/effect signal ratio, delay time, and response,” — none of the knobs does any of these things.

So here’s what to expect:
– The Volume knob controls volume. Cool.
– The Distortion knob controls distortion AND gain. Less cool; I’d love for it to be that wet/dry mix knob and to have the distortion not change the volume, but that’s not to be here.
– The Filter knob, as mentioned above, appears to cut high frequencies more and more as you turn it up.

The switch is a little less direct. There are three positions: Normal, Turbo, and Solo. I can’t figure out what any of these words has to do with the actual tone, because it just sounds like Normal has its mids and highs cut a bit, Solo sounds Normal, and Turbo sounds like a louder version of Solo.

On the bright side, this doesn’t seem to produce any muddy ghost tones below or above what I’m playing, the effects hold up well as I sustain the notes, you can make it sound good for rhythm or soloing, and it has a nice laser sound and a wide range of distortion grunge to give you a few distinct tones if you want.

One last note: a lot of budget distortion pedals suffer from a fatal flaw where if you play more than one note at a time, especially if some of those notes are octaves, you will trick the distortion circuit into producing a harmonic “undertone” way down in the bass ranges that usually does not sound good. This pedal is blessedly free of such an annoyance, and as such it is immediately head-and-shoulders better than literally every other distortion/overdrive/fuzz pedal I’ve tested in this price range (6 such pedals, actually). Only my pricey big-name-brand yellow-colored Overdrive pedal had also excelled in this area, so I’m impressed that Strich has pulled off such a “clean” and honest distortion circuit.

Very usable for a respectable price, with very good build quality for the price and you save cost not including the ability to use 9V batteries if you don’t need that.