Addrock Ol Yeller

Your basic OD controls. Couldn't be easier.

When I first hooked it up between my Telecaster and Fender twin, dimed the controls, and hit an open D chord, my wife wet herself in the next room. Both my parakeets died. My vision went blurry for about 15 seconds.

The sound of this pedal is six thousand times more beautiful than the sound of God whispering love poetry across the strings of a harp strung across the grand canyon. I would kill at its command; I listen in the shimmering of its overtones for guidance on all daily decisions.

The pedal also let me get the SRV sound on 'Pride and Joy' and does a pretty passable fuzzface tone.

I built an addition onto my house recently, and my only hammer (I spent all my money on boutique pedals, so couldn't afford more tools) broke about halfway through. I grabbed the nearest thing to hand -- my Addrock Old Yeller, which was lying out in the yard, don't ask me why -- and continued hammering away. I played a gig with the pedal the night after I finished the roofing and it performed flawlessly.

Now, you need to understand about HL Wilson -- it's got nothing to do with how he saved my whole family from being stabbed two years ago in Thailand. That was a true act of American heroism, granted, and one of the most awe-inspiring displays of Krav Maga I've seen off the battlefield -- he wants you to be happy with your purchase.

Although the pedal has never had any kind of defect or failure, I've emailed him dozens of times, and called his home at least ten times. Often I call late at night when I can't get to sleep and I'm up wondering about the metal ratios in the capacitors used in the buffer circuit of the Old Yeller pedal. Someone ALWAYS answers and is happy to talk guitar tone as long as I care to.

I describe this pedal as 'SRV meets Hendrix as Robin Trower in a box'. If it were stolen, sure I'd fly into a murdering rampage, but I do own four of them so it's not the end of the world.

I feel sorry for the me of the past that had to use other overdrive pedals, or amps for that matter. I no longer use my Marshall, I just play the Old Yeller through my home stereo system.

Overall, I'd say it's pretty lame to write fake reviews for your own product.

3 controls. Typical overdrive layout. Very easy to get a good sound out of it. Never looked at a manual, you shouldn't need one.

This pedal sounds fantastic. If your looking for a tubescreamer then buy a tubescreamer. To me this is not a tubescreamer clone. It is similar but the mids are not as present and it has a little more high end. The actual crunch also sounds a little different. I like the Ol Yeller sound about the same as the Tubescreamer sound. I would probably give the Ol Yeller the nod on Humbuckers and the Tubescreamer the nod on single coils. I feel like the Tubescreamer does low drive settings better and the Ol Yeller does high drive settings better. Both pedals beat out the Sparkle drive (though that has certain uses too).

Never had any problems with Addrock products. I have used it on gigs and have never felt like I needed a backup.

Never had to deal with them.

If your trying to cop a tubescreamer sound then buy a TS7 they are cheap and get damn near every sound you need out of a tubescreamer. If you want something a little different with less mids and more highs (A little better bass response too) then go with the Ol Yeller. I gave it a 9 because I have yet to find the holy grail overdrive pedal, but this one is definately quality.

Standard three knob, but very easy to get a good sound out of. The number of knobs shouldn't impress that much. This pedal just gives you a good sound to work with.

I Run a Framus Panthera Custom into an 8 year old Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10. Vox Wah (Keeley Mod), Keeley Katana Boost, Boss Equalizer, Keeley BD 2, Keeley DS1, Ol Yeller, Boss CE-5, Boss PH-2, Boss Giga Delay, Boss DD-3.

Ol Yeller V1: The one knock on this pedal, as some have said is that it does have a bit of buzz. Not as quiet as the Keeley Mods which I own, but the bottom line is the SOUND is better. This is the best sounding OD on the market. I have very high standards for handing out 10's, and this pedal barely got there. They wouldn't have made a second version if this one didn't need a bit of an improvement. I emphacise the "bit" in that statement.

No brainer so far.

I play in the U2, Coldplay, Counting Crows vein. This is the most even OD I've ever heard out of a box. My dream amp is the Orange Rockerverb 50. Buying this pedal made me feel like I could wait a few more years to get the orange. This is a pretty awsome little pedal.

Three buttons. Work it to your perfection. Simple.

One of my students gave this to me to try out. I put it beside a ts-808 analogman modded tubescreamer. Wonderful pedal. Best I've ever heard. Running through a deluxe reissue and an 84 tele I bounced back and forth between the two at different settings. I found the addrock to have higher end and output which is a good thing for me because I enjoy high end bight but I also like the undistinguishable warmth of the ts. Very, very quiet. Another definate plus.

I'm going to hesitantly give it a 10 because perfect scores don't come easy by me but I have to say it really sings!! Btw, I would give the ts a 10 as well.

My student is going to regret making the statement to keep it as long as I like :)

Haven't had it long enough to tell but it visually appears to be durable.

I take issue with the reviewer who assumes these reviews are tilted in HL's favor. I've bought lots of amps, guitars and effects from him and he's an upright guy. He's even steered me away from expensive equipment that he felt didn't meet the caliber of my needs and those recommendations always proved true. That's saved me money on more than one occassion.

If someone here is slanting to benefit HL then shame on them. HL is the genuine deal. One of most talented and gifted players and singers I know. I knew he was making pedals and suspected the addrock was one of his and now that I've tried it I can personally and honestly say his talent reaches far beyond his playing ability. It takes a good musician to know what's needed when it comes to tone.

HL, if your reading this and I'm guessing you will....great job. Keep up the good work!!!

My e-mail address is below if anyone wants to dispute my comments here.

As far as support goes....call him up and find out for yourself. I can't give an opinion. It aint broke.

I play and record in a wide variety of settings. Classic rock, country rock, old country, bluegrass, jazz, ballroom, christian, latin and even some Klezmer.

I've been playing 41 years.

I think the addrock is worthy of replacement. A little on the pricey side but it seems like anything worth having cost a little more. Especially these days.

I'd recommend it. But not for the Klezmer stuff :)

Straight forward no manual comes with the unit nor is one required.The tone control goes from warm, smooth overdrive to bright high end treble.

50's reissue japanese strat w/ fender custom shop fat 50's pickups.George L's cables. Chandler tube driver,Teese wizard wah,ol'yeller,addrock hism scism (fuzz),Carl Martin DeLayla into a temporary marshall valvestate 40 watt amp. The pedal is no more noisy than any other overdrive I've tried.I use carbon type batteries in the pedal for clean power and it consistently delivers very warm almost violin tone no matter how bad an amp you use.Chords sound awesome through this pedal as every note is accentuated with absolutely no mud!By the way, my strat has been modded to roll the treble off of the bridge pickup and this works nicely to replicate eric johnsons lead tone.I've been test driving other pedals in this category and have yet to find any competition.Not a metal shredder by any means but will cover eric johnson to dicky betts to warren haynes. Prepare to smile big when you put it in your rig!

This is my second review on this pedal as I have had two of them for a few years with no problems. I use one for each amp setup and the carbon batteries seem to last beyond my expectations.

H.L. Wilson will take care of warranty problems quickly and without cutting corners.I had a different pedal repaired years ago and was satisfied with his work and with no reoccuring issues.Other manufacturers should take notes.

My band plays the music of eric johnson and I cannot believe to this day how close to eric's tone this pedal can get! I've been playing 21 years and have never been happy with od pedals til I found ol' yeller.I wish this pedal had a boost circuit for solos.The pedal is true bypass and handbuilt with quality components.

I am reviewing the Ol' Yeller footswitch. It comes in a nice, pretty yellow chassis. The Ol' Yeller has 3-knobs(output, tone, drive) and a footswitch for bypass, actually turn the unit off and on. In retrospect, the controls and switch is self-explanatory. It has an L.E.D. that lets you know it's on. I received no manual with it.

I play the unit with guitars set-up for single coils and/or P90s(G&Ls) plus humbuckers and/or mini-bucker(Les Paul, SG). I am using it with a tube-combo amp. The pedal actually pretty except there is just a hint of hiss when all the dials are pegged to the max, but I really never found a pedal that didn't hiss when maxed out. The effect isn't weak and does shine through as a good warm T808 clone, maybe even better than the real thing itself. The sound reminds me of an early Angus/Malcom Young overdriven sound. Good overdrive, color, cleans up well, and lets the players dynamics stand out when need.

so far so good. I would use it without a backup. As a matter of fact it seems the batteries last longer for this pedal than the other ones I own.

I play blues to rock to heavy metal. This pedal is a good match to the blues/rock area which actually covers a lot of ground. It not my only favorite pedal though. But it will have a spot on my pedal board. I would think people who are thinking of purchasing this pedal are making a wise decision.

Three knods, if you can't figure this one out you need to go home.

I play through vintage guitars and amps, I play live with various artist from rock to country to Christian and I do lots of session work. This pedal is awesome it's ultra-quiet, true by-pass, very natural, with touch sensitive dynamics. It's very musical and just adds to my tone rather than take from it. It's also got the best eq of any OD I've ever played and I've owned them all.

I took a look inside and it's built like a tank. If the equipment truck starts rolling down a hill just put it under the back tire. It can take it and then some. If you break this pedal, I'd hate to see what the rest of your gear looks like. Plus, HL has a great warranty if anything does go wrong.

HL answered my email, it took him a while but he did and I was thankful. Seems like a straight up guy.

I play various styles of music depending on who I'm with at the time. Ol' Yeller will be on the pedal board for awhile. I've been playing professionally for about twenty years and this is the most natural OD I've ever heard or owned. I'm already thinking about getting a second one for my practice pedalboard. I've finally found an OD that is touch sensitive, tone neutral and has a balanced eq. No matter what guitar I play it still sounds like that guitar when it comes out the other side of the Ol' Yeller. It's the most amp like OD on the planet. I play through vantage guitars and amps. Live I use a 1064 Vox AC30 and a 1966 Blackface Pro Reverb, sometimes a 1959 Bassman, it doesn't matter, the Ol' Yeller adds just the right amount of grind to any of this fine tone machines and takes nothing away from there basic sound. It's like adding more peppers to the chili, it's spices things up a bit. It's has a very Keith Richards kind of natural feel to it, it's not an over the top box, just ads a little hair to the note. It's the OD sound I've been looking for in a pedal.

Easy, just like any other pedal 3 knob pedal out there.

It has a tone very simular to an 808. A little less midrange though. It has true by-pass which is nice.

It is built just as tough as any good pedal I have seen.

Never used it yet.

OK here is the deal. The pedal is ok, but I def would NOT pay $190 for it. $100 is probably fair. It is a good sounding pedal but no better than some of the others out there. It would be in the top 10 I have ever used though. Still the best 2 pedals out there are by Robert Keeley. The Boss BD-2 Mod and the Boss DS-1 mod are the two best pedals I have heard in my opinion and cheaper than a new addrock.

Just as easy as pie.

I recently sold my original TS-808 for an unbelievable amount of cash, and it looked beat. I sold it because the Old Yeller really sounded better to me. The Addrock has a little less of that midrange bump, which always sounded a little fake on my 808. Don't get me wrong, I'll probably regret selling my 808, but the Addrock just sounds much more natural to my ears. I run it into a 1968 Fender Bassman head into a 2-12 Marshall cab w/Celestion 30's, pristine!

Much better build quality than just about anything available! Exceptional design, and components.

I haven't needed it, and probably never will.

I have recently listened to about 7 different boutique 808 clones, and the Addrock was hands down the winner. It wasn't the most expensive either at $189. A true bargain!

No brainer overdrive pedal.

I play blues and classic style rock through fender amps, marshall amps and a few Dr.Z amp too. Strat's, PRS's and tele's. THIS IS "BY FAR" the best one I ever played ! I don't use my fulldrive anymore. Side by side comparisions made up my mind. This is much more designed around the tonal range of electric guitars. Soooo tube amp like, I'll never sell this one !It does add color.......That's right,but what a perfect color to add. "anybody want a used fulldrive" ? This and a rat duece tone covers all that I need.

Never talked to this guy that everybody else say's is so nice. I don't care if he's an asshole. He make's a great overdrive !

Ok, When I bought it off ebay. I thought... I sell it if I don't like it. Cheap radio shack knob's and not too much inside to box turned me off, That's the first thing I do when I get a hand wired pedal is look at the inside before I plug it in. Don't worry.....It's not as classy looking as a 300.00 dollar overdrive's. You know who they are......overpriced crap for snob players. All I can say is.....Buy one and make sure you plug it into a good running tube amp.