Rocktron Austin Gold

easy to use if you aren't to picky about getting just the right tone. The tone control is VERY limited and there is no control of the treble.

I agree with raygun a few reviews down. The tone is brittle and bright. I play mostly fender jazzmasters, teles, strats, les paul specials. I don't like humbuckers and this pedal doesn't like single coils.

I had been wanting to try this unit for a few years and jumped on one that was being clearanced.

I really didn't like it at all. I would call it more of a treble booster than an overdrive. If you looking for an overdrive for a very dark amp or use only the neck humbucker on a les paul this might do the trick.

The pedal is cheap so worth a try but I would take a run of the mill tubescreamer clone over this any day.

I have had mostly good luck with rocktron pedals but have had one develop a short on me with light use.

For the price it's not garbage but there are so many overdrive pedals out there and this one doesn't stack up in my opinion. For my money the cusack screamer is a much better overdrive. Granted it costs a lot more. In this price range I would just get a ts10, ts7 or sd-1.

Simple operation. 3 Knobs: Level, Drive, Pre bass

First, this is not a distortion pedal, its an overdrive. My effects chain is thus: Dunlop Crybaby>> Tube Works RealTube>> Autin Gold>> Ts-808>> Boss chorus>> Boss TU-2>> MXR micro amp>> MXR EQ>> 1967 Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve. I play a 1952 telecaster reissue with too many mods to list, a DeArmond M75 (great guitar), and a Gibson SG Classic. My band plays everthing from classic rock, to classic country/rock-a-billy. The tone of this pedal is very useful to add a slight boost and a sparkley, gritty overdrive. It nails the "TomPetty" type of sound as well as being perfectly suited for the classic rock-a-billy tones of the old days. This pedal is a gem. The pre bass is great for fattening or thinning out your tone. You can get the Who's " I can't Explain" type of honk, or roll the pre bass up and you have the early Rolling Stones " It's All Over Now". I don't have much luck combining it with my other overdrives. It gets too muddy. If you play texas blues or country twang, this may be all you need.

Built tuff, never had a problem with it.

N/A

Great pedal. You have to fiddle with it to find the sound you want.

easy to use, i perfer battery over adaptor ps.3 knobs to adjust level,gain.bass cut.foot switch turns it on or bypass,unsure if its true bypass but i didn't notice a loss of tone when off?

got this used just to check it out hear it, im a curious player schooled on real tube tone and wondered if it was a tube emulator type over drive or a boost type pedal to push more gain out of the amp.well i turned up the gain all the way and it was pathetic?.it did color the sound a bit in a tubey way.sorta a classic marshall clean head getting pushed a little hard to a soft clip.ok i guess its a clean boost type for pushing an amp without coloring the sound too much also the bass cut knob comes in handy to mod your heads low end gain responce and tighten up the sound.but wait before i decided to try it as a tube head overdriver i grabed my ts-9 to see what it could do getting a boost.as useual the ts-9 drove it into the next level of gain,now it was crunchy and warm,had a nice grawl and i was able to blend alot of tube scremer gain into it without it getting too fuzzy as long as i kept the ts-9 tone on the low side this sound was great,cleaned up well from the guitar volume and i can get from a classic overdrive distortion to even a heavy metal tone with a little eq'ing from the amp.nice grawl and thight even with the bass cut off.great for rythum but still not dripping with harmonics on muted notes but very quiet and articulate.so i found a good combo a ts-9 into this was a great tubey crunch machine to classic rock depending on the controls,2 gains and a pre level(ts-9 volume).alot of variations available.so i have to ask all these manufacturers out there why don't they build pedals like this with a ts-9 type circuit built in there already to give it a lead channel boost channnel;.seems logical to me.well i will keep pluging pedals together to find combos that really kick.i hardly find any that dont sound better combined with others.if you know how to use a ts-9 correctly-meaning volume pegged 100%,gain low to 30% and tone 0-40%max its perfect at enhancing gain without changing the character of pedal its feeding.i love the austin gold while its shacking hands with my ts-9 but alone its ok for that mild colored soft clipped guitar stuff like blues to china grove type rythum sounds.tap away and you have 3 different channels of tones to boot as this combo goes.i'll give it a 10 for not farting out or buzzing away under alot of ts-9 boost and morphing into a really good tubey heavey tone machine with guts and attack that i found unique but familiar with warmth and ability to clean up from the guitar volume which is one of my must have features for a 10 any day.

i give it a 9 for the sturdy modern looking chassis with recessed/protected control knobs,your typical push botton foot switch and hey when i bought this used i was told its not working so i thought i would have to fix it?.put in a batt and it worked fine?.oh i get it the last owner could not get any gain/distortion out of it or what he expected so he thought it was broke?.heehee,not a 10 becouse i hate the plastic nuts and the input and output jacks.the nuts always seem to get loose and wonder off when you least expect it?DAAAA where did that nut go?i bought a bunch of plastic nuts of digitech on line parts to never worrie about them.

no opinion i fix these things my self pedals are simple dont need customer service.

overall i give it a 8,for mislabeling it an overdrive?.maybe things like this should be called overdriver pedal not a really useful pedal on its own for creating a sound but works great in combo with a tube screemer or as an amp booster(overdriver pedal).capesh?

Three knobs, pretty easy stuff.

Occassionally I would see someone saying how great the Austin Gold was, so I had a credit at Musician's Friend and figured I'd give it a try. This is absolutely one of the worst overdrives I've ever heard. It made my tone extremely brittle sounding. There is a significant amount of boost available, but to get the maximum you have to turn up the gain. The gain sounds extremely fake and fizzy. The lack of a tone control is a problem. The pre-bass allows you just to take low frequencies out before it hits the clipping stage, but doesn't allow you to turn down the brightness.

Rocktron seems to make pretty solid products, I wouldn't be concerned about it breaking.

If you need a boost that makes you sound like crap, this is the pedal for you. If you need really terrible sounding drive, pick up this pedal. I'm giving it a 4 because I'm sure there's even worse junk out there.

Childsplay! Simply 3 knobs with very noticable results when one is turned...Level - Drive and PreBass. And of course the footswitch to make it happen. It comes with a good manual but then...who needs it :)

If you play old R & R, blues and Country, this pedal becomes precious immediately after you try it. It was the missing link in my tone. The overdrive give me the perfect sound of bands like BTO (Taking Care of Business) and new Country simply ROCKS! And it also provides an ever so sweet blues tone. I use a Fender Deluxe 1977 with a TRUE BLUE 1969 Thinline Tele. I have a humbucker at the neck and this pedal brings out such a sweet tone. And no noise at all AND better stil...my Tele still sounds like a Tele.WOWOWOWO. I have been playing for over 40 years and just can't believe I was missing such a great sound. Can't wait to use it at our next gig here in Moncton, Canada. I play lead with County Line and our website is countylineband.ca

Just got it but it's built like a tank!

Again...just got it.

Overall I will give it a 10+ .. highly recommend this pedal. soon as I plugged it in I was amazed at the tone. I would buy it again if stolen or lost. Try it and your playing will improve. Bought it on ebay for $57USD..this was a bargin as I believe it's worth twice as much. As we say here in canada "Gotta have one EH?"

It's simple, only three knobs, it's easy to get exactly the tone you want, the one thing that really does bug me about it is the fact that you have to unscrew the battery case to change batteries.

Perfect. It's exactly the subtle overdrive I was looking for as a nice boost for playing lead. I find that the Boss Blues Driver and the Tube Screamer are great for a bit more drive, but tend to degrade the sound quality when you have the drive turned down. This one enhances it perfectly without adding too much drive so you're still playing almost clean, but with a much hotter tone.

I've never used it at a gig, just once at an open jam. It seems pretty solid, but I've only had it for a few weeks.

No need to rehash descriptions?the other reviewers have done a great job. I just wanted to put my two cents in about another great use for this pedal. Overall, it's pretty easy to use.

I bought this pedal to address problems I?d run into when using both single coil and humbucker-equipped guitars on the same gig. I use humbuckers about 80 percent of the time but I?ve got an EMG-loaded Strat copy that periodically makes its way out of the case. Using both types of axes generally required adjusting the amp?s e.q. and volume to make up for the differences in tone and output. Not convenient.

After years of wrestling with the challenge, I figured that I?d probably be o.k. if I could use an overdrive pedal to provide a moderate boost to volume and gain. My Reverend Drivetrain II and Barber Direct Drive were great, but I like them more for straight-up overdriven tones. I even tried Rocktron?s Big Crush compressor which sounded good but wasn?t what I was looking for, either.

The Austin Gold fit the bill perfectly. For single coils, it?s a great signal boost and I just use it with the Barber or Reverend pedals to get some dirt. It won?t make single-coils break-up too much unless your amp is doing it already. But you can use it to get some decent honk and chang for some of your alternative and roots rock. Shortly after I got it, it made me play my Strat?s bridge pickup for an hour on Bo Diddley and open-chord stuff ?cause it sounded so good! I generally don?t use bridge single coils for much of anything.

To date, I?ve used it with my Heritage Patriot 50 1x12 combo, my Guytron GT100 head and my Reverend Kingsnake head and 2x12 cabinet. Everybody got along fine! Also, when I use it with humbuckers, the pedal kicks a serious Tube Screamer vibe, adding a respectable amount of snarl. It also has the bonus of an adjustable low-end to prevent the muddies.

Tonally speaking, the pre-bass control can really help you get that Texas honk and twang if you?re amp isn?t doing it naturally. I generally set it at mid point (plus or minus a bit, depending on the room and the axe I?m using) and go from there.

Only had it three months...too soon to tell. but I doubt it.

Right now, I'm primarily doing praise and worship music at my church, which requires that I tap into a variety of styles, including rock, R&B and folk. I've been playing now for nearly 30 years.

I dig the fact that for 70 bucks, I got a pedal that I can use in a variety of ways and sounds good doing it. The manual says it all: ?This pedal is designed to work with your amp?s overdrive to kick it over the top.? With that in mind, you really can?t go wrong if you buy this pedal. With a little knob twiddlin', you can probably get a few good uses

Traded it for a Carl Martin Boost/Kick , it is the older model in the bigger chassis.
Three controls , Level , Drive and Pre Bass.
Simple.

Using this pedal because the crunch channel on my TSL is very muddy.
Use mainly with a Strat or a JR Mosrite.
The Austin Gold can deliver a huge amount of cleanish signal boost , and the ability to add just a hint of extra drive and add/subtract bass frequencies make this thing perfect for hitting the front of a valve amp hard.It makes a massive difference to the sound quality without altering your fundemental tone.
Please note that some reviewers feel this pedal is too trebley , not so - subtracting bass is NOT the same as adding treble.

Very solid casing , recessed knobs , plastic jack sockets though , and the 9V is on the side.

Never dealt with them , dont suppose they would be interested.

Think this pedal could help most valve amps regardless of musical genre , it is an ideal front end booster to help you get your pre amp gain down and master volume up on your amp.For those of you who like that pre amp on 10 , master on 1 , wasp-in-a-jamjar sound , dont even consider this pedal , but for those who like to hear all the notes when you play chords , even with some drive , you might like this one.

Three knobs easy right....Not as easy as you think. They are interactive. That means your drive knob can and will change your level and your pre-bass knob will change the sound of your drive and amount etc... Play with it. It's fun... Manual is just about worthless,but I never read them anyway. This is a chinese model recently made within the past 2 years. With that in mind have at it and tweak until you hear something you like. Something you like will come out of this pedal. I promise. Even if you like death metal or whatever this pedal is so versital it's not even funny. The other note I should probably make is that this pedal is almost never on by itself. I use it in conjunction 9 times out of 10 in front of my amps distortion or a distortion pedal. As a stand alone pedal it is so/so and is not for slipnot fans...etc... if you play that sort of music you still could use this pedal as a boost pedal which it does very well...

I play a Dillion dr 500 with dimarzios into a stereo rig with 2 Fender deluxe 112's or into a Laney gh50l II and a Fender 4x12 cab loaded with eminence legend speakers. The Laney is loaded with all electroharmonix tubes. THIS IS THE BEST BOOST PEDAL AT ANY PRICE. It is noisy in this capcity,but so are compressors and so are tube amps and so are flangers and phasers...My point is so what...This thing kicks the crap out of any tube screamer I have ever owned (even expensive mods) which they should be ashamed charging that much for those things knowing that product like this is out there.I feel used for having paid the prices for modded drive units at one point in time.I still like Barber and will never get rid of my burn unit.Barber stuff is worth the money,but beware of those other custom/boutique guys.This thing really shines as a boost with the drive kept low or even off. This pedal can greatly enhance the sound just as a clean sound enhancer which it makes no noise (with the level kept low) in this capacity. and as a stand alone drive it has sounds like Joe Walsh, Eric Johnson and Jeff Beck built right into it.Metal guys use this thing as a clean signal boost. This thing can super charge a solo like nothing else I've ever heard. Yngwie like clip at the top end if you like ,just play with the pre-bass. Very beautiful piece of equiptment. I have it in front of a boss ds1 . Holy cow I didn't think I could sound this good and I'm getting noticed because of this pedal. I was happy with my rig. I was just looking for another inexpensive overdirve that would contrast my boss sd1 a lil and would be an inexpensive back up ...not that sd1's are expensive. This thing might as well be made out of gold.

I've had it about a year using it heavily ....It gets stepped on a lot because it's mainly my boost pedal for solos or really cool riff like passages...NEVER FAILED. I have played it out with no back up and will continue to do so...

neer had to

This pedal is a real winner singing leads and screaming harmonics when used as a boost pedal. Shred heads..if you are into Vai Satch Yngwie or Petrucci this is your boost. I have nailed just about every one of their tones with this pedal. Blues dudes this pedal should be awesome for you. Jazz guys can probably even use this to add a very small amount grit to their sound or enhance their signal. Country folk will like how she cries. Rock dudes should have no quams with dialing in a groovey grind that will bring a smile to their faces. Remember ...a pedal only sounds as good as the amp and speakers you play it through...and unfortuanly ability is a huge plus.If you are on a budget and lack a good amp this pedal will greatly improve your overall sound. However instead of buying this pedal save up your money and get a good amp you really like then BUY THIS PEDAL. New players or those with less experience probably will not like this pedal at all. If you have chops and know it,this pedal can greatly enhance your sound and it magically does it all with out killing your core tone,which you may already like. That's the kindda pedal this is... I play whatever I want because I can now and this pedal is as close as it gets to a do it all unit. I'm pretty convinced that there is not a song in which I could not find a way to use it. If I had to pick one overdrive this would probably be it,just because you can do so much with it once you know how to use it. The best way to describe it is that it's like being able to dial the grind in right where you want it and then boost it!!!

Hard to make it sound bad, I'd have to say. Not one of those pedals that take a long time to learn its' "sweet spots".

Using a G&L Legacy Tribute-->Crybaby wah-->MXR Dyna-Comp(both knobs dimed)-->Austin Gold-->clean channel, preamp level 10, boost knob pulled out (~6-8 db clean boost) of my Seymour-Duncan 84-40 40W all-tube (4->EL84/6BQ5 power)1-12 combo.

I play blues in a working (mostly :-P) band. Played for almost 35 years.

This pedal works great in my lineup, allows me 3 sounds..clean, Dynacomp dimed-out which just brings the amp to the edge, just the Rocktron AG/Dynacomp off for a small boost and edge, and then, kicking in the Dynacomp to drive the AG, which gives me a beautiful sustain, with that SRV-style natural breakup that has plenty of definition so that chords don't turn to mush.

Very dynamic, play softer/guitar vol down, cleans right up for those quiet solos where the band drops to a whisper, before dropping the hammer. I plan on dropping in a switch for true bypass, my only niggle, along with plastic-collared 1/4" jacks which always manage to break in time. Noise wasn't problematic.

I gig about twice a month with this pedal. No problems so far, extruded-aluminum housing is nice..it's tough and tends to stay where you put it if you use it alone without a pedalboard. See above regarding plastic-collared 1/4" input/output jacks, though. Not sure if the earlier versions had the same jacks or not.

Can't say at this point, it works.

Overall, a great bargain for a great-sounding pedal, notwithstanding the plastic-collared input/output jacks and not-true-bypass issues.

Great pedal to drive a tube amp with. If you drive the AG with a compressor, it reacts much like a tube amp, very dynamic...it fattens up without losing definition and turning to mud..great for those screaming blues solos at small club levels.