ToadWorks John Bull British OverDrive

2.5

i felt like no matter how hard i tried i could not get it to sparkle. The overdrive was way to muddy. I use a 52 reissue Fender Tele with EMG's through a HotRod Deluxe... and i way prefered the overdive channel of the amp over the peddal.

the sound was almost a little too Mesa Boogie, I am looking for more of the euro-rock vibe.

Worked like a champ... just had crappy tone

I would rather have the Fultone Fulldrive, or i have been messing with the Double Drive by Tech21... anyone want to buy my John Bull!

Bobby Triplett

New Toadworks John Bull British Overdrive Mk II, aka the 4 knob gold version. Purchased on closeout from an online dealer. This is a fantastic British-style overdrive that goes from ringing Vox-y chime to a roaring Marshall-esque firebreather. The gain, mids, presence, and level controls make dialing in a sound very easy to do. For the earlier reviews below, the addition of the presence knob makes the muffled, blanket-over-the-amp issue go away. At the same time you don't have so many controls that you go insane trying to get a sound nailed down.

Highway One Stratocaster into Sabine tuner, the John Bull, Dunlop Fasel Wah, DOD Phaser, Digitech Flanger, and an old Japanese Axion digital delay pedal into a solid-state Vox Pathfinder 15. Not my ultimate amp, but it's well made, offers great reverb, and a headphone jack. The JB plays nice with all the other ones and doesn't produce any hum. I keep this on probably 50% of the time and it does what it's supposed to do flawlessly. All pedals powered by Visual Sound One Spot multiplug power source. The pickups offer diverse options and the John Bull can bring subtle differences between neck, middle, and bridge positions.

The pedal is very sturdy and made to withstand normal pedalboard abuse. The control knobs, while not as hearty as the old steel ones, functions perfectly. The switch has stood up to numerous stomps at the store and since purchasing and hasn't given me any trouble. Quite dependable. My only snag is that the gold finish can gouge when trying to remove a price sticker for example.

I've dealt with Toadworks USA a few times on earlier pedals. They're on top of their game, they know their stuff, and they treat their customers better than anyone else. Ryan is friendly and knowledgeable and I know I can take any problem with this pedal to them and it will be solved. When was the last time the president of Roland or Dunlop personally answered your phone call?

This is my second John Bull pedal after finances forced me to sell my first one. I'm never letting this go. It adds a dimension to my sound that no other pedal has given me. Gain, umph, chutzpah, whatever you want to call it. I can tweek to my heart's content anytime I want and it's going to last longer than I will. At the closeout price I paid, this is the score of the year for me.

Easy as one two three.three knobs & off / on

This is easy,Just check out UTAH WASTON he says the same thing that I would have said.Way to Bassy & Muddy.The Jon Bull from ToadWorks sounds like ****.
But please bid on my John Bull pedal I have on Ebay

Seem to be built very good,I've never used it for a long time,it sounds like crap

Never delt with them.I wish they would email me up & tell me to ship it to them so they can put a TREBLE KNOB on the unit.

Nothing to say but Metal Muff,DOD Y/M overdrive,Even some of the Behinger distortion pedals I would rather have on my pedal board.
First Toadworks pedal I ever owned,Im going to try a Mr ED if that pedal sucks Im done with toadWorks.

This pedal is easy to figure out, with only three controls, but it takes a while to find its sweet spots.

I am using a Les Paul Standard with Duncan pickups or a stock PRS Singlecut into either a Dr Z Ghia with a Bogner cab or a Fender champ. My first impression of this pedal was that it was too muddy for anything but Black Sabbath or other really fat sludgy riffs. However, it had a really pleasing timbre (especially compared to the Boss stuff I've been using), so I continued working with the pedal. I have found that with a low gain setting, the pedal really simulates the sound of a tube amp being pushed hard really well - it is more like a speaker breakup. That sound is retained throughout the gain settings. This pedal has proved most valuable for recording. I track the sound with a regular amp sound, and then double track with this pedal at a low gain setting for a REALLY fat clean-ish sound. Live, it is great for a Bluesbreaker era Clapton sound - fat and rich, not a lot of top end.

So far, so good. Seems to be built like a tank.

I play rootsy stuff, country, blues, and occasionally some hard rock on gigs. I also have a Boss Turbo Overdrive and a Carl Martin Hot Driven 'N Boost for gain sounds. They each do their own thing; this pedal is very organic and old school. This is one in a series of overdrives and distortions I've tried and it will be a keeper (mostly for the recording thing), which is saying a lot. I really wish it had a presence or treble control, and it would probably be my "go to" pedal for all situations. My other complaint is that it doesn't really clean up well with the volume knob.
I haven't tried it, but I would bet this pedal would be fantastic with a strat/tele into a clean amp.

It only has 3 knobs, so it's easy to figure out. It is difficult to get a good sound out of it though.

I really wanted to like this pedal. I have a Toadworks Mr. Ed pedal that i really like for certain stuff. The problem with the John Bull is that it completely muffles all the high end from a guitar. I'm surprised that the other reveiwers here liked this box. It has no treble control, just a mid control which doesn't really do enough to change the tone. It has gobs of bass, really too much. This is probably the least transparent drive/distortion pedal I have ever played. It could be usede for lead playing, but there are much better pedals out there for that. I found it useless for rhythm. It simply could not cut through my 3-piece band. This box really needs a treble control. I played this with my reissue 52' Tele and my Krank Chadwick amp. This is a very bright setup, and this box muffled up my sound badly. Ir sounds like there's a thick blanket on my amp with the JB.

Very good build quality. Not as overbuilt as a Fulltone, but better than most.

I've spoken with Matt and he's a great guy to deal with, among the best.

Great company, great build quality, bad sounding pedal. At the very least, this box should have internal bass and treble controls. I really dig their Mr. Ed pedal, and the Meat Boost pedal. I like the Tweed side of the Death Rattle, but hate the Plexi side (which sounds nothing like a plexi). A real Marshall plexi has a mid hump and ample bass, but also plenty of treble and presence. The Plexi side of the DR has no treble and a very muffled bass also. The John Bull is similar to the Plexi side of the DR, muffled.

I like an overdrive/distortion to have personality, but also retain some of my original tone. This pedal overtakes the tone.

Only 3 knobs. Gain, Mids and Level. Nothing complicated.

I am using my ernie ball music man silhouette through the toadworks john bull, a m.i audio blues pro into my mesa boogie f-30 combo. The set up really sounds fanstastic.

Initially, i needed only the blues pro to give me a saturated boost to kick the mesa into higher gain levels. The contour button on the footswitch just didn't do it for me during solos. I needed a good heavy overdrive/distortion pedal to replace my amps drive channel if i didn't lug the amp to a gig. Had many options in mind and alot of them seemed ridiculously overpriced for me.

I a/b both the Mr. Ed and John Bull side by side. Both were really great pedals. The thing i liked best was the transparency of both pedals. Although, it coats your guitar with its tone, u can still hear the articulation and clarity of your notes and chords. In the end i decided on the John Bull cause i needed more gain and there was this slight fuzz on the top that i really dug.

Normally i dislike fuzz cause of the way it compressed the notes when i solo, but for this pedal it wasn't there at all. Sounded even more magical with my m.i audio blues pro.

I could say i am really happy with the sound and it can give me the sound of my favourite players, like richie kotzen, van halen and gilbert. For added punch, more drive and boost, all i gotta do is switch on the blues pro and i can easily get into the high gain realms of a bogner or mesa.

Have not gigged long enough with it yet.

Have not dealt with them yet

I play alot of hard rock music, stuff like Mr. Big, Extreme, WhiteSnake and etc . Also progressive stuff like dream theater, funk , fusion and blues. So, a good versatile gain pedal or amp is very important to me. I also own a gt-8 which i really like, but i truly miss the dynamics of these analog pedals, esp when going thru a good tube amp.

Currently, my simple 2 gain pedal set up does it all for me. If i need some good bluesy overdrive, punchy chording for funk or moderately overdriven leads, i turn on my blues pro alone. Rhythm playing and soloing for alot of my rock stuff i can depend on my John Bull. Any high gain solos or for playing metal i turn them on both.

The John Bull really works for me at the moment. Until i lose interest in it or try out something better, its a keeper for sure. Only complain is i wish i could another knob for EQ . This way i am quite sure it would prevent the pedal of being a one trick pony too much. Luckily, i love the bass response on this thing, so it doesn't bother me that much.

For this price, i recommend all of you to check it out and also other toadworks effects. It really costs half of what alot of boutique overdrives/distortions out there costs and it sounds as good if not better.

Although it has only three knobs, it's actually pretty hard to find that "sweet" spot. The gain is extreemly sensitive, and the mids are hard to get right.

This is the only effect I've ever reviewed because I think it's well worth it. I wasn't expecting much from this pedal when I got it used... but man, it's THE sound I was looking for. If you want a vintage british (i.e. vox or marshall) almost fuzz kind of overdrive: this is it. I don't like new marshalls, and sometimes overdrive pedals just aren't thick enough. This pedal is THICK! I tried it with my LP and it's too much. Perfect for strats or single coils. The best part: it has a smoooooooth sustain, but still sounds like a fuzz... best of both worlds.

I gave it a 9 because nothing is perfect. The a weird mids thing with this pedal... I can't explain well, you'd have to hear it. And there's TOO MUCH GAIN on this thing. I can't put it past 10 o'clock or else it's huge overdrve/fuzz. Sounds great, but not usable for regular rock. I keep this pedal on all the time, so I don't want overkill.

I absolutely love this pedal. If you're into covers, forget it. This isn't the pedal for you, it's really to make you own sound. Like the other reviewer mentioned: it makes you sound like YOU. Just awsome. And it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg...

If you need to compare it to a sound, think the Who, Led Zep, or AC/DC. It's heavy, but not that new-age flawless distortion. It,s a vintage sound.

Can't complain

This is a great pedal. Well worth the money. The only problem I can find is that it has too much gain. Maybe mine is a lemon, but I've learned to find the nice settings for my style. I just find that 75% of the gain settings are too much for me, so I don't use them. But the lower 25% are awsome.

Most importabnt thing is that this will make you sound good if you're good, bad if you're not.

Three knobs...how hard can it be? Actually, they are very interactive and it does take a while to find the sound you are looking for. But once you have a sense of how much each one alters the sound, the tweaking becomes much easier.

i have used this with a guild starfire (humbuckers) and an agile valkerie (p90s) through a gibson kalamazoo and a carr slant 6v. there is noise when you crank it just like when you crank a marshall plexi. i was initially disappointed when i plugged my guitar in because my tone was not immediately rad. but those pedals that make you instantly rad usually are not versatile at all. you wouldn't think it, but there are a LOT of sounds in this pedal. i can get it good marshall plexi sounds and good vox sounds out of both my amps. for 100 bux. you definitely sound like "you" when you are playing this pedal, though...your guitar sounds like your guitar and your amp like your amp. this pedal is all about the midrange, so if you're looking for extreme low end or extremely bright highs you'll have to look elsewhere. all the harmonics of tube overdrive are present, and it will make you a better player because you can sound really crummy through it if you don't really watch your tuning and clean up your technique. definitely a pro level pedal.

seems to be sturdy...haven't kicked it around though.

haven't needed it.

This pedal is great for anything british. zeppelin, cream, who, and sabbath tones are all there if you take the time to tweak it right. you can get a lightly overdriven sound to all out gain. i love the dirty channel of my slant 6v and it scares me that this pedal can match its tone so closely. and as i said before, i think it will make you a better player. i'm very satisfied.

Very Easy to dial in great voicings with three knobs: Gain, Mids, Level.

As easily as the Toadworks Death Rattle dials in the Fender Tweed and Marshall Plexi overdrive sounds - the John Bull takes a decided leap across the ocean and masters the classic British overdrive. As Ryan puts it: ?top of the pops jangle, high voltage crunch or woman tone -the John Bull delivers?...and deliver it does. The Mids control on this pedal is what sets it apart - and helps you to tweak whatever guitar/amp setup you have to dump a truckload of British drive that will cause that 15 minute practice session to last for hours.

The sweep on the Mids is deliberate and defining - this chunk master sounds excellent for both lead and rhythm and does it with a raw throatiness and power that will get people on their feet. Toadworks has been around awhile now and their understanding of what it takes to build a fine quality pedal just keeps improving with every new offering. The John Bull British Overdrive is no exception. Boutique fare at street prices alone make this a no brainer purchase. This one cuts -and it cuts deep. With John Bull, you CAN get the mushy, JCM 80?s metal sound by turning the Mids control down to 9 o?clock, but the best sounds are the overdriven AC 30 sounds, crank the gain up to 2 o?clock, and then crank the Mids all the way up too ? great sounds, very British!

Obviously you?ll want to play with the sweep of the Mids control and that sweet spot is throughout the range. All 3 knobs are very interactive and give you quite a wide range of earthy sweet full rich British drive. Add this one to your list of ?must haves? folks - you can thank me later :o)

I have to give this a solid 10 because I have never ever had any problems with any of the Toadworks line after use and abuse on the road - no reason to think this one will be any different. And although appearance doesn?t have a thing to do with THE TONE -this is one beautiful pedal!

As always - great customer service from Ryan Dunn & crew at Toadworks USA.

I've been playing for 39 years - gigging for over 20. I have played through a crap load of overdrive and distortion boxes for a very long time -I'm not easily impressed. This pedal does the job it's advertised to do. And that's a very good thing. Dial in from Blues to Classic British Rock -great for cover bands.

Rock on and thanks for reading!

Rev