LunaStone trueOverDrive 1&2
LunaStone’s Big Fella spawns two little fellas with tonal variations on the same overdriven theme
We took a look at LunaStone’s larger format 2- and 3-footswitch pedals a few issues back. Now the Danish company, staffed in part by ex-TC Electronic employees, has released two pedals, the TrueOverDrive 1 (TOD 1) and TrueOverDrive 2 (TOD 2) with a more compact footprint offering the essence of one of those larger pedals but with the ability to integrate better into an existing pedalboard. The large-format Big Fella delivered boost and overdrive that was derived from cascading gain stages and the TOD 1 takes its cue from that pedal’s overdrive circuitry. The TOD 2 is more of the same but with a different tonal profile that puts emphasis on a fat bottom-end.
Both pedals have soft-touch switching, massive red LEDs that you can’t miss, and knobs thoughtfully placed in a diagonal configuration with the intention of making them easier to tweak with your foot if you need to do so on stage.
The company’s ‘True Overdrive’ sound is based around cascading gain stages rather than clipping diodes, with the intention of creating a sound and feel that’s close to that of a valve amp. That is very apparent in the way each pedal responds dynamically to your playing and cleans up very naturally indeed with guitar volume.
The overdrive range offers the whisper-to-a-yell of a modern master volume amp with a smooth transition from low-level crunch through to screaming sustain at the extreme of the drive knob. Sound, though, is sufficiently transparent for your guitar’s character to shine through loud and clear although the pedal’s Tone knob will make sure your top end hits the right sparkly spot.
While the TOD1 is by no means thin-sounding, switching directly from it to the fatter TOD2 with the same average settings makes it sound scooped by comparison. That extra bottom and low midrange makes the TOD2 sound slightly gainier too, and the pedal may have more appeal for anyone looking to bolster their single coils.
Verdict
While both offer a usefully wide range of overdriven tones, the TOD1 is more the lean machine, so if you want added muscle, heft and 4x12 thump, go for the TOD2.
Pros Naturally dynamic overdrive, thoughtful ergonomic design, a better pedalboard fit than the Big Fella cons Nothing really, but having both sounds (via toggle switch) in one small pedal would be great