G2D Cream-Tone Overdrive

Good sound immediately available...plug it in, set everything at noon and rock on.

4 knobs....level (good amount of headroom), tone (subtle sweep through all frequencies - really cuts the highs when turned counterclockwise), solo (controls level of boost you want to apply to the original gain setting), drive (limited range of drive, I found myself wanting it nearly cranked all the time).

I own the G2D Standard/Custom that I got back in August. It is my desert island pedal and versatile. The sound quality of the Cream Tone is very open, and a good blues tone sometimes touching on the earlier classic rock sounds.

The pedal cleans up pretty nicely too. It is quiet for a gain pedal and sounds good on all the amps I've tried it on. True bypass is wonderful of course.

It responds best with single coils, but still remains very open sounding with higher output humbuckers. I'm using a Tom Anderson Drop Top with their H3 humbucker and 2 stacked single coils; I also use a Les Paul Classic 1960 Reissue with their 500T in the bridge and the pedal responds great in all situations.

I would rate the G2D pedals as some of the best built out there. The layouts are well thought out and controls and lights are easy to see to know where you are at.

Excellent build quality inside too. Switches are very smooth.

Grant and Dave are great guys. I just received an email asking how I still liked my Standard after owning it and gigging for 5 months. Nice followup. I've approached them about a customized Cream Tone for myself, and if they can do it for me reasonably priced, I'll probably end up with it on my board.

Been on my tone quest for about 15 years (been playing for over 20) and have tried so many overdrives trying to find the right ones. I'm glad I followed up with these guys before www.musictoyz.com started carrying them - great choice in pedals, you'd almost think there was a tube in their stuff. I like being able to help people achieve the tones they are looking for using whatever budget they have available for tone shaping, and many friends have asked for help/advice in this arena as I'm pretty picky about tone. I do my research, contact the makers directly, run ideas off them, look into custom designs, etc., and try things out (just be sure of the return policy of the place you get a pedal from). Overall, I would highly recommend the G2D pedals to anyone.

I play classic rock, blues, and some metal; so versatility in a pedal is a big item. The Cream Tone would definitely satisfy the blues players out there, much better than the Fulltone Fulldrive in my opinion, due to the amount of gain available in the CT. It sounds decent at low volume and shines with a nicely pushed amp at gigging volumes.

If I didn't already own the Standard G2D which satisfies my classic rock and blues needs this pedal would be on my board. I feel the Standard is much more versatile and has a wider variety of tones available. The CT does the blues where the standard can do the blues and get you into the somewhat mid-scooped rock sounds of Thin Lizzy, Foghat, etc. You can't go wrong with either pedal, just depends what style you lean towards more often. To have both on a board seems a bit redundant to me, but that's my opinion only.

Another excellent pedal from the guys in New Zealand! Rock On!

Very easy to get the a great blues tone. I just plugged it in and was ready to go. No user's manual to speak of, just what was listed on their website describing each knob's function.

My current rig is pretty simple: American Fender Texas Special or G&L ASAT Classic --> Teese Wah RMC1 --> CreamTone --> Sweet Sound UltraVibe --> Peavey Classic 50 2X12 (I know it's a Peavey, but I thought it was better than anything else out there in the same price range).

I have not tried too many other overdrives. Compared to the few I am familiar with (Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Ibanez TS-9, Maxon OD808, etc.), the CreamTone is quite a bit better. Incredibly transparent and very tonal. Not the least bit noisy. Not compressed or fizzy at all. Responds to pick attack just like a driven tube amp. I'm not kidding about this, it really sounds perfect to me. The boost fattens things up even further for a more aggressive solo sound. Perfect for Hendrix and SRV. Check out the sound sample at MusicToyz.com... when I heard it, I immediately said, "That's the sound I've been looking for..."

Light gigging and I always play without a backup. Come to think of it, I can't think of anybody I know in the whole "band scene" who has a backup for their pedals. Seems sturdy enough. I think I can depend on it.

Received prompt replies to my emailed questions. Thanks!

Been playing poorly for 20 years, some gigging, but mostly a hobbyist. The more I play, however, the more concerned I've become with the tone (i.e., I'm always looking for THE tone). The tone from this pedal really is spectacular. Friends I've played with for years are in awe. If you're looking for SRV, Clapton, Hendrix, Buddy Guy, etc. this is a perfect choice. In fact, I liked this pedal so much I just orderd the G2D Standard (I higher gain overdrive pedal) to complement my blues sound with a rock sound.

BTW-If you're looking for a wide selection of great pedals, you should check out MusicToyz.com. They have a ton of 'em and better prices than anybody else I've seen. Not bad for customer service either. Thanks!

A very simple, four knob, two switch overdrive pedal.

One footswitch switches the effect on/off (true bypass when off), the other switches between a standard overdrive mode and a boost mode, allowing a higher volume to be dialed in for use during solos. Very cool feature.

My basic signal chain runs thus: Strat with Fralins or Custom Strat-style with Dimarzio humbucker and bartolini single coils / Dunlop Hendrix wah / Cream-Tone / Line 6 Delay Modeler / Mesa Blue Angel Head / Mesa 2x12 Celestion cabinet.

The Cream-Tone is designed for players who want a blues/roots/pre Van Halen rock type of overdrive sound, and it delivers an extremely musical array of tones.
In most circumstances I use the Cream-tone for a light overdrive and a solo boost. The pedal's tonal range runs from a clean boost, through warm, sweet low gain overdrives, to a very fat mid gain sound. In general, the tones sound very naturally overdriven, with a discernable (but not synthetic) fattening to the lower mids. The overall character of my guitar and amp is retained very well.

The Cream-tone sounds just fantastic with single coils, and delivers easily the best neck-pickup overdrive tone I have ever managed to wrangle from my strat. Whilst I haven't really spent much time attempting to replicate other people's tones with this unit, anyone who is hunting after Hendix/SRV/Beck/Johnson tones should check this unit out.

The Cream-tone is not especially noisy for an analogue overdrive.

Gigged it a handful of times over the last two months, and it seems bulletproof.

I had a chance to talk to Grant and Dave at a local store, and they were very helpful as I demoed their pedals and asked them questions. I'm sure I'd have no problems if I had a maintenance issue or needed a modification done.

I play in a late 60s/early 70s funk/afrobeat band, and play a variety of styles in my spare time, including dub, blues, rock, fusion, metal, experimental...

I've been playing for over fifteen years, and have owned all kinds of different guitars, amps and effects. As far as overdrive pedals, I've used most of the Boss range, the Vox valve-tone, reissue tube screamers, an original Marshall Guv'nor, a Big Muff reissue etc...

I compared the Cream-tone with a variety of pedals before buying. These included:

-Voodoo labs Sparkle Drive. Cool idea, but I was very dissappointed with the overdrive sound, especially after reading glowing reviews. Cream-tone ate it alive for tone.

-Reissue tube screamer. Nice pedal, but more compressed sounding and less versatile than the Cream-tone.

-Hot Cake. Another excellent 'boutique' pedal made in New Zealand. Does an excellent job of overdriving without colouring your overall tone, but less versatile than the cream-tone and flubbier, fuzz-like bottom end at higher gain settings. Very cool pedal, though.

-Mann Electronics G2d pedal. This is Grant and Dave's original model, which has the same functionality, but with a Higher gain structure, and a tone circuit aimed toward overall mid boost-cut. This pedal is more versatile, encompassing rock and metal tones, with more top end and overall tonal transparency. It was a tough call, but in the end I thought the Cream-tone suited my style better. I will probably pick one of these up later, though. I got some amazing high gain tones running both pedals together, too.

As far as getting excellent vintage-style tones for gigging, this unit is great. If it was stolen or lost, I wouldn't hesitate in replacing it.

My favorite feature is the solo boost. It allows me to sit tightly in the mix during songs and then cut straight through the band (8 piece, including horns) for solos.

The only negative thing I can think of is the lack of an easy-access battery compartment.

Overall, I can't rate this pedal highly enough. Get one if you can...