Homebrew Powerscreamer..thought?

[San]

Hey Folks,

I'm thinking of getting one these and the reviews on HC seem very good. Do any of you good folks have an opinion on these little boxes?

Thanks,

San.

[Taller]

I bought one of these, as my local dealer was one of the first in the country to carry them and he raved about it.
I took it home and didn't think too much of it.
I took it back the next day.

Now, MY ear and tonal requirements are going to be different than YOURS, most likely.
In fact, my tastes run contrary to most people's evidently, as I own another booteek drive box that people all over the internet just love - not a bad review to be had - but though I've tried to like it, it just doesn't do it for me.

Sorry, I know this wasn't much help, but I'd waited a few days before responding to this post, hoping that someone else with more experience with the Power Screamer would post here.

[Big Mike]

Wow. Mine abso-friggin-lutly rocks! I love it. All I use any more ( well that and HBE compressor). Killer. I can get anything from nice bluesy overdrive - close to a RF tone- and last night through my Z Mazerati I was getting some convincing Marshall Esque tones. I love it!

Guess you have both ends of the spectrum there.

I mostly use mine with humbuckers, but it sounds great with my strat and tele too. I've been completely satisfied. Had it a bit over a year now.

Any spcific questions I can answer for you?

[San]

Thanks for the replies guys, it's good to hear both sides of the story so to speak. I'm still waiting for delivery of the pedal (it's been bearly 4 weeks and I'm getting concerned) but I'll let you know what I think when I get it.


Cheers,

San.

[TomMc]

Like you, I read nothing but rave reviews of this pedal and so, I bought one on Ebay without ever trying it. I was disappointed. To me, it sounded very compressed and the boost switch made a loud pop when engaged. I wrote an email to Joel Weaver (the man behind HBE) and he couldn't have been more helpful. Even though the unit was out of waranty and I was not the original owner, Joel said "send it to me and I'll check it out". He replaced the boost switch, upgraded several componets to the current standards and paid return shipping to me without charge! Terrific service. Unfortunately, I still did not care for the sounds so I sold it. I guess that's why there is about 100 overdrive pedals on the market; something for every taste.

Bottom line: a quality product with top notch support; you may or may not like the sounds.

[San]

Well I have the pedal now after the second delivery attempt!! I have to say the guys at www.effectsforless.com (http://www.effectsforless.com) were very good and handled the problem with style.

As to the pedal, it's early days but I like it so far. It's not quite what I had in my head but the tones coming out of it are very nice and certainly useable. The first position on the toggle is my favourite at the moment (think SRV), the other two are a little dark for most of the stuff I play but great if you want to get into that AC/DC zone! The pedal has much more gain than I expected too and will easily get you into metal if you want to go there. There's a lot of versatility here.

The boost is a nice feature but I think it adds perhaps just a little too much treble to the tone. I actually prefer the sound of the pedal with the boost on and the tone dialled down so may end up leaving it like that. The quality is great and I've had no problems with 'popping' switches but it's good to hear that the cutomer service is there should I need it.

So it's horses for courses, but it's all good!

San.