Product: Pro Tone Pedals Pipedreamer
Price Paid: USD 119
Submitted
02/14/2008
at
10:24pm
by
Jim
Ease of Use
:
10
The Protone Pipedreamer is very simple to use. One knob for "level" one knob for "gain." The level controls the amount of overdrive the unit produces, and the gain does just what it says - kind of (I'll get back to that in a moment). It is an easy pedal to use.
Sound Quality
:
8
The sound quality of the Pipedreamer really is nice. I play a Rickenbacker 360 through a tweed Peavey Classic tube amp. This unit gives a very satisfying overdrive and produces a sweet, incredible sustain. I cannot fault the sound from the Pipedreamer at all. But, there are a few drawbacks. For me the glaring problem with the Pipedreamer is it acts as an immediate boost to your signal. And not just a mild boost - this thing takes off like you've detonated TNT. The gain knob will not quiet this thing down - but it will go even louder. I figured that rolling the gain down would bring it to a level that matched the volume of my amp prior to engaging the pedal, but no way. When you stomp the switch the only choices you have are louder than your amp and way louder than your amp. Which is really too bad, because the tone is so nice I like to use it in rhythm guitar mode, but I also like to turn it off when I want just a clean Ric sound - but due to the huge volume difference I can't do this without tweaking knobs at every stomp. When the pedal is engaged there is a pop - probably nature of the pedal. It doesn't seem to affect the tone of my guitar in bypass mode. There is a noticeable hiss when engaged, but that's no wonder with the amount of gain this thing produces. I'm rating it an 8 on sound quality - just know that the sound itself gets a solid 10, but the volume out of control issue gets a 6 - hence an 8 overall.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Haven't had any problems with it, but then I haven't had it very long. No opinion.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Not applicable - never contacted them.
Overall Rating
:
8
I've played guitar for 30 years, I play a lot of different styles. This pedal I use for classic rock type stuff. It's good for an overdrive/distortion sound. I don't think metal players would like it for the sound as much as they would for the volume. If something happened to this pedal I probably would do a little shopping to see if there was something else I liked as much soundwise, but with more manageable volume. But something else would have to match the tone - this thing has great tone.
