 | Skreddy Screwdriver
We've looked at lots of OD pedals in Pawn Stars, some boutique and expensive, some cheap and cheerful, but all special, and none more so than this, The Screw Driver by Skreddy
Skreddy first came to my attention as a company that had an obsession with David Gilmour tones, and produced a number of pedals helping to nail a few of the great man's specific sounds. One of the most famous Skreddy offerings that we featured in Pawn Stars a couple of years ago was the Pink Flesh that is now out of production and can make 4 or 5 times its original price on eBay.
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The Skreddy Screw Driver is a stomp box for the rest of us. A wonderful boutique pedal capable of producing a huge rage of classic overdrive tones from mild cleaner style boosts to all out gain madness.
It has the standard controls on top which are volume, tone and gain, and also has a couple of small trim pots on the sides accessible with a small flat head Screw Driver (thus the name). The left side is a brilliance control so you can fine tune the top end which you adjust depending on what sort of amp you're using, and on the right is an input gain level so you can set the gain going into the first mosfet input stage. Careful setting of this control is the key to getting the most out of the pedal and will help you achieve everything from clear and crisp clean tones to heavy hi gain rock tones. The gain control also let you tailor the pedal to specific guitars depending on the output of the pickups.
Now as cool as this is, it's not particularly unique, but the Screw Driver has a trump card in the way it compresses. The top end stays clear and sharp but there is a mid to low frequency compression that produces this really amazing natural break up over drive. It's so amp like and musical, and makes it so much fun to play. It is super sensitive to the smallest changes in your playing and cleans up beautifully when you back off your guitars volume. When you dig in the top end just sings but it feels like the speaker is right on the edge. I can honestly say I've never heard another OD do what the Screw Driver is doing. It is indeed a unique tone and if it suits you and the way you play, you may have found yourself a friend for life.
How much should I pay?
You can buy the Screw Driver direct from Skreddy (skreddypedals.com) for $195 + shipping but you'll need to be prepared to wait 2-3 months for it to be built. If you're lucky enough to find one on eBay you can expect to pay at least that, more if it's in great condition.
If you've been looking for an OD to bag yourself some classic rock tone, with natural amp-like breakup that is infinitely flexible, you'd be very hard pressed to do better than one of these.
click here to go the Skreddy website... |
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