EARTHQUAKER DEVICES PLUMES OVERDRIVE

RRP: $189.99 • au.yamaha.com

One of the most important features of the Plumes Small Signal Shredder is that EQD founder Jamie Stillman used it on his own pedalboard for a long time before releasing it for everyone else.

Not to say that he hasn’t done that with other EarthQuaker designs, because he most certainly has. But this is the case of a designer who wasn’t necessarily crazy about a specific circuit, created something that he enjoyed using, and brought the whole thing to another level for everyone else. The use onstage and at band practice is where one can really hear what a pedal is lacking, and which attributes rise to the top. This obsession with testing and refining a circuit into something special is what makes Plumes stand alone in a vast sea of Tube Screamer-style transparent overdrives.