Guitar Gear

I’ll admit it: I’ve become somewhat cynical about unsolicited product announcements; especially those from manufacturers of whom I’ve never heard. Part of it is due to the fact that I get a lot of them and I just don’t have the time to put out announcements. Another reason for my cynicism is that a lot of “new” pedals tend to be a riff or duplication of an existing, common device. Can you say TubeScreamer clone?

But to be fair, I read pretty much all the announcements that drop in my inbox because – and to be completely honest – I’m a gear slut. I don’t get GAS attacks all that often anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy reading about new gear. Besides, I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the past because I always hold onto the hope that something different will pop into my inbox.

The Okko Effects Diablo GH appears to be something different.

Yes, it’s an overdrive. But it’s tweakable. Here’s an excerpt from the manufacturer’s product announcement:

The GH model is based on the classic Diablo but comes with a few tweaks and a set of controls that allow you to fine-tune the “feel” of the pedal, the way how it reacts to your pick attack and playing dynamics.

• DYN(AMIC) controls an internal voltage doubler from 6 to 18 volts for control of “sag”, compression and punch
• FEED controls lower frequencies in the input signal for tight and clear sounds even with the fattest neck pickups
• BODY adds low mids in the first gain stage for thick, singing sounds
• INPUT and MIDS mini switches for further tonal options
• Independent foot-switchable CLEAN BOOST with tone control, located AFTER the overdrive in the signal chain

I’m not going to lie. This pedal really speaks to me. The DYN, FEED, and BODY controls make this pedal incredibly useful. But having the extra INPUT and MIDS switches really take this pedal over the top for me. The booster is a very nice, added feature, especially if you use it to push the front-end of your amp into full saturation.

When I see gear that immediately makes me think of how it would fit in my rig, it’s usually something I will eventually get. I have my Soul Food, which I just absolutely dig, but when I want a different kind of overdrive sound, this Diablo GH seems to fit the bill nicely with its adjustability. For me, the Soul Food does one thing really really well and gives me a creamy smooth, subtle, soft-clipping distortion. And it adds some color. But from what I can gather from the Diablo GH, it is more of a transparent device. It could be argued that my Timmy pedal can do that job. However, with the tweakability of the Diablo GH, I can set up the pedal for each one of my guitars; something I can’t do to this fine a degree with any other overdrive pedal I have.

Oh yeah… make no mistake, I’m seriously GAS-ing right now… Here are a couple of demo videos by Gregor Hilden for whom the “GH” stands for: