OVERDRIVE- Alek K Production SUN BEAM Magic Drive....in search of the ultimate transparent OD pedal

ALEK K PRODUCTION 

SUNBEAM OVERDRIVE

Regular readers know I make a point of avoiding 2 OD's from the same manufacturer

Why? Because all company's have a way of imprinting a sonic character to all their pedals

Give me 3 different pedals...lets just say Flangers...and if one is EH or Wampler etc. I can nail down the company by ear.

Readers know I am trying to find the best low gain transparent OD on the planet. I have just recently bought the Greer Burning Goat.... Nice...but after only a couple of weeks I can hear the warts and blemishes in it. Do not get me wrong if you push it a bit it sounds amazing. But I am looking for a sound that is just a teeny bit more then clean ...more of a boost sound ...but a boost does not ADD harmonics.  A low gain drive does.

I consider the #1 high gain OD that still maintains a tube amp character with zero artificial beep up to be the Red Scorpion.
I have one. I consider it the best OD on the planet!
(Yes ... I said the best!!!!)

So I honestly avoided listening to the Sunbeam.
BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG MISTAKE!!!

I will order one and come back to this review with my hands on review ...BUT my first impression is it is so much better then the others then anything said to describe it would look like the highest heap of Bull sh@t you ever read!!

ENOUGH SAID...

Listen to it when it is backed off...it sounds like a mildly cranked Dumble Amplifier I am talking about a $6000.00 USD SOUND!!!

THIS ONE IS GOING ON MY BOARD!!!
I JUST ORDERED IT!

Listen to the sound on the vid start at 215.
All those wonderful low settings that support detailed chord work.
Nothing fake sounding like the Tube Screamer and beyond JUNK!!!
that has frustrated me for years!!!
....from my experience any position on Alek K pedals is a sweet spot!!
nothing has endless sweet spots ...so is it design or the military spec parts?
probably both.

HEY! the little hotshot has my blue Strat!!!

  

   I think you get my point!!!  

MY TURN

My turn indeed!!!

I just got my pedal.

As soon as I had it in my hand I stood there amazed. The finish!

The look of any  Alek K is stunning. They make all your other pedals look cheap.

This does not come across on-line. The Sun Beam just looks like a cheerful yellow

but that yellow is actually gold. Gold but yellow at the same time, Yes..I know many associate gold with the colour yellow. But this pedal is actually both!

Once on my board I spent about 20 minutes twisting knobs trying to find 'that sound '

I did not find it. Close but not there.

BUT...every different sound I tried was usable. BIG TIME!!!

So what do I mean by this???

Well I like dirt pedals and I use a lot of them ...all kinds ...many makes of pedals and I love them all for that one special thing they do.

But you did take note . ONE ...one great but perfect sound is fine by me.

But this pedal can take you from near dead clean up to a very healthy medium gain distortion.

This is typical of an Alex K...every spot on it's gain is the sweet spot!!!

NOW HERE IS THE BIG DEAL!!!!

This pedal can make every note in a full 6 note chord ring out transparently clean with a nice defined attack the moment your pick touches the string ...and it keeps that nice articulate attack even if you push hard on the gain.

Let me tell you how many other makes of OD's pedals can do that. .....ZERO!!!

Without exception the others always muddy up. The crisp snap of your pick disappears. 

This drives me nuts on the  E and A strings!!!!

I often use them in an acoustic guitar sort of way putting in a small bass lines running around and between the cords that I may strum or play small arpeggios etc.

The other cool thing is...and I hate to say it ....because you have heard it said about every OD on the planet ...and we both know most of the time it's bull.

This thing really sounds like a damn tube amp. All light gain OD's I have ever heard sound fake.

I will not argue...fake 'Can' sound good.

BUT better????

Hello!!! I ask you. BETTER???

The good and bad news is that every knob changes the sound just by small increments of it. So you can go around in circles. But you will find 'that sound'  

   CODA                                                                                              

So after having this pedal for a couple of weeks I decided to do something I was putting off forever.

I had been using my amp with a permanent light crunch sound. With one or more of  my OD's always on it worked quite well. I decided to get the best possible clean sound I could get. It took me 3 evenings and one rehearsal but I succeeded big time!

Now with light settings on my Sun Beam they were not competing with anther distortion. Wow!!!

What a difference. The pedal went from good to amazing!!!!

Well after tweaking all my OD's they all worked better. Of course the Sun Beam benefited the most.

Those who read between the lines I think may have concluded that this pedal is a good step up to a yet undiscovered 'King in Waiting' and they would be right. But now I feel one day we will see an alternative to this pedal ...but not an improvement. In fact what we may see is someone using the schematic to this and giving it a tweak here and there ...just like everyone has done with the Tube Screamer.

BUT ...to those with an ear ...such tweaks take away as much as they add to the overall sound.

it is a matter of 'If it's not broke don't fix it!!!

So what we have here with the Sun Beam is a "Best on the Planet low gain OD.'

.