Sabine NEX-5200 Overdrive

Check out these features:
Control plate glows red
TRUE bypass so it doesn't eat batteries when clicked off
Can be powered by an 18 volt wall wart for adding some serious balls to how it performs.
Cast metal housing.
Second power jack for outputting to another pedal plus it includes the chaining wire.
Lastly, it even includes a really fancy looking draw string carrying bag.

It was very easy to use. No problem at all getting good sounds or understanding the controls. The great thing is it has a compressor built into it.

The sound is rather impressive. I left the mid and treble controls flat, cranked up the overdrive, volume and sustain/compression and FOO BAM there it is!
Uncolored overdrive pushing my amps natural gain over the edge and I have a killer rectifier tone. I'm running it on a Behringer V Tone head that has the analog modeling....basically the exact same thing as the Tech 21's

I can get a killer mesa boogie, Marshall or Fender sound when combining this with the amps analog modeling so what more could one ask for?

I'mp glad I didn't bother with a tube screamer. Most every amp these days emulates tube as it is so why bother? A tube screamer isn't even an emulation circuit, it simply uses a duel op amp that is known for sounding rather tubey and also being noisey as hell.

Between th overdrive and volume control it does everything one could want from an overdrive pedal but the icing on the cake is the sustain/compression control feature they threw in there PLUS the mid and treble controls for giving you the ability to color your sound if you choose.

Solid as a tank, it's cast metal...

Who knows....

Overall who could ask for anything more??

I bought this along with the fuzzstortion pedal from Sabine and while I admit they sound very similar, they do not perform or sound exactly the same. The Fuzzsortion gives a killer thick fuzzy tube gain while the overdrive just pushes your amps natural gain and tone over the edge for leads or metal.

I'd buy it again for sure. I basically got 3 times the pedal for what I paid. I've got and had a bunch of pedals for comparing it to and it will be the constant pedal for this amp.
I wanted an overdrive capable of giving me uncolored gain which it does rather well.


For someone wanting to overdrive their amps natural gain without compromising it's sound, this is your pedal.

easy enough to use, 5 knobs, has a booklet with examples of settings. Battery easy to access.

not that impressive, really. Compared to the tubescreamer, this pedal is darker and smoother at any setting. mid-boost really beefs up the mids, but sounds rather "honky" overall...does not get the dirty-clean sound the tubescreamer does. Sustain control a nice feature, but dampens my attack a bit much for my taste. Also, rather noisy...but no worse than the tubescreamer.
I have an assortment of guitars and solid state amps...nothing you'd be impressed with

solid built, metal case. Nutted on jacks. Only time will tell if the switch, knobs, jacks, etc. will withstand normal use.

that reminds me, I need to register this online

was looking for something to replace my Ibanez soundtank series compressor and tubescreamer which are ready for retirement after several years of use. The switches, jacks, etc, are worn out. This pedal seemed the "cost effective solution".
The pedal is quite attractive and nice features, but sounds rather bland overall. I ran it into the ToneWorks AX-1000G modeler using only the 1X12 Vox cab setting, this brightened it up a great deal, even if it was "over e.q.'d" or whatever.
This pedal takes all the sap out of neck pickups, even single coils

Sustain control mid treble overdrive volume

This is really a compressor and a mild overdrive in one.
As you know a compressor into an overdrive can be noisy.
If your amp is clean you get compressed tone and a mild overdrive
(as mentioned) When the amp is already somewhat dirty this device
can really make your guitar sing with a long growing sustain but then
its quite noisy. Not a hard rock sound but sort of an old Eric Clapton type sound from Cream live records.

The unit is most impressive in this department. A very
solid and large unit. But sound is more important of course.

I don't have time for this and have 50 other pedals anyway.
Tech 21 GT2 and tri o.d. are the absolute best.

It has a unique mellow singing quality but a bit noisy.

Very easy to use. Just dial up the amount of parameter you want. There is a manual that is very small, but it gives you some examples of settings.

It's an overdrive pedal and a pretty powerful one at that so it CAN get very noisy. If your drive setting is past twelve o'clock, you can hear a noticable buzz. One problem is that if you stomp the pedal you can hear a metal sound come out through your signal, so gently tap it on.

BLAT-built like a tank.

One thing that separates this OD from others I've used is that there's control for mid and treble as well as a sustain control. Full sustain works great. The battery is accessible in seconds without having to unscrew anything or turn the pedal over, just pop two buttons and pull the whole footswitch off. A nice touch is that all the knobs are lit from below so you can see your settings in the dark. I bought this pedal new off Ebay for a quarter the list price. I'm going to look into Sabine's other effects as I replace my digital multi effect processor with analog pedals