3 LUNASTONE WISE GUY £209

ORIGIN: Denmark TYPE: Overdrive pedal FEATURES: True bypass CONTROLS: Boost, Tone, Volume, Gain, OD1/OD2 switch, Boost footswitch, Drive footswitch CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output POWER: 9V battery or 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) DIMENSIONS: 119 (w) x 93.5 (d) x 34mm (h)

With an identical control layout to the Big Fella, the Wise Guy’s circuitry is based around the JRC4558D op-amp that’s closely associated with the Tube Screamer genre of overdrives. Where the Big Fella has plenty of bottom-end, here it is rolled off in favour of an upper midrange emphasis, TS-style, that can tease out singing sustain. This goes beyond a mere clone, though. While it does offer that classic TS mid-boosted overdrive tone, there’s much more gain available if you need it, with a very natural touch sensitivity going on that responds well to playing nuances.

The boost part of the pedal comes post-drive (as on the Big Fella) and, as such, offers up to 15dB to take the overall volume up or drive your amp harder: get it set just right in conjunction with the drive side of the pedal and you have great options for progressively adding more dirt to your natural amp sound. [TC] VERDICT A naturally touch-sensitive overdrive and boost that will get your amp cooking