Product: Dean Markley Overlord 3
Price Paid: Australain 25. USED
Submitted
04/19/2009
at
04:58pm
by
vilko
Ease of Use
:
8
basic distortion... what more can i say?
By the way this model 3 does NOT have a tube in it! simple op amp design.
Sound Quality
:
7
The set up:
at the moment im running a ~2000 squier i'm borrowing of a friend with the middle pickup replaced with a 60's or 70's jap fender replica. Into the overlord then into an old REALLY mellow sounding hi-fi tube amp into a crappy $60 "pro-amp" 4x12 stack. I run the squire on positions 2 or 4 with the middle pickup out of phase. I have quite a few leser known distortion pedals which im really starting to collect, fab overdrive, fab distortion, rocktron zombie, coron distortion I, and i've spent a fair bit of time with others in my rig.
The secret:
I've discovered the secret to this pedal! run it through a nice sounding amp/speaker combo and turn the highs on you amp WAY down so its dull sounding. E.g highs on 3 mids on 8 bass maxed. Now put the overlord as the last pedal into the amp with the tone maxed, volume on about half and distortion anywhere from just above 0 to half way up. You can get some really good sounding bright semi-clean twang up to a slight bluesy overdrive up to a nice mellow, yet gritty, distortion. In this set up it reacts really well to your playing style.
With my rig i've been dabbling in the blues and the sound was awesome for it! its defiantly becoming an "always on" part of my rig* (see below)
The Draw backs:
I have a feeling you will need to be running bright single coils for this to sound any good, if your rig isnt made for it humbuckers sound rubbish through it.
The judgement:
i give it a 7 because if you design your rig around this pedal when your trying to develop a unique tone it can get some really good sounds. But if your looking for just another distortion pedal to give you a slightly different brand of distortion from the other 5 in your rig this will most likely disappoint.
*The disclaimer:
I feel i should mention the reason why its going to have to be a "always on" part of my rig is because i bought it second hand cant turn turn it off.
Also i've only used it with a battery so i dont know if its loud with an adaptor or not.
Reliability
:
4
Well... as i said its already a little screwy and i cant get a bypassed sound, which seems to be pretty common, so it cant be that reliable, but since im not going to be stepping on it i dont think it will break anyway i'd bring a bag of about 3 other distortion pedals just incase.
Customer Support
:
3
havent dealt with them, dont even know if they make distortion pedals anymore, by the looks of their site just strings and pickups. But u can always try emailing them and asking for a schematic.
Overall Rating
:
6
It can be a priceless part of the rig in my case, but i've used it in others and it was dreadful, i dont think i would put it at the start of the chain. So that would give it about a 7 and a half just from my good experience. then the dodgy switching brings it down to about a 5 and a half... so because it looks cool and the names pretty patheticly funny its a 6.
Product: Dean Markley Overlord 3
Price Paid: $45.00 (AU)
Submitted
06/03/2004
at
07:58pm
by
Guitargodofoz
Ease of Use
:
7
Typical overdrive controls being volume, drive and tone. Momentary switch is prone to blowing out the resistor that allows the pedal to enter bypass mode. Other than that easy to use.
Sound Quality
:
3
This has go to be the noisiest pedal I have ever heard. When you switch it on it sounds like you are standing in the jetstream od a 747. Also tends to get "screachy" in the top end as you turn up the tone control. Very difficult to get a good sound out of this pedal.
Reliability
:
4
Momentary switch is prone to failure.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Haven't tried to contact them. Pedal has been out of production for 10+ years I think,
Overall Rating
:
1
If you see one run a million miles. Not worth the price of the parts!
