Visual Sound Route 66

Not plug-and-play, but neither is it rocket science.

I play a semi-hollow guitar into a Fender amp.

I like the range of adjustment that's available on both the OD and comp sides of this box. My "normal" settings tend to be on the low end of the range of the drive and sustain controls. Higher settings can be musically useful, but I don't have as much use for these sounds (saturated OD and serious "squish").

The tone controls are a nice touch.

The bass boost switch can add some girth to the OD. This is really nice for playing at lower volumes. The boost becomes a bit overwhelming as the amp volume goes up; this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has figured out that they need to turn down their amp's bass control at higher volumes.

The buffer sounds really good to me. I think I can hear a small difference between the buffered signal compared to plugging my guitar straight into the amp, but it's subtle and not at all unpleasant. The complaint that I have about most buffered pedals -- that the high-end is veiled -- is definitely not present with Visual Sound's buffer.

The other nice thing about a good buffered pedal is that you get absolutely clean switching with none of the glitches or pops that seem to be unavoidable with true-bypass switching.

It's too early to tell how well this'll hold up with long-term use.

I had a question about the pedal and was very pleased with the rapid, courteous and thorough responses to my emails.

I play improvised fingerstyle guitar, drawing freely from old-school rock, folk, jazz and classical styles. I first picked up the guitar in the mid-`60s, and have been playing "seriously" for the past six years.

My main rig is a Koll Custom DL Thinline through a Fender Vibro-King. I have a small assortment of special-purpose pedals in addition to the recently-added Visual Sound Route 66 and H2O. If the Visual Sound pedals hold up under regular use, I may consider selling the rest of my pedals.

The most important things to me are that the pedal sounds good and is easy to adjust.

The real stroke of genius is packaging two related effects in a single pedal with the stomp switches close together. With one press you can turn either or both effects on or off or toggle between one effect and the other.

The "home plate" shape of the pedals may also be useful. I have both the Route 66 and the H2O and have experimented with placing them at 45 degrees to each other so all the stomp switches are in a cluster. I've been able to toggle useful combinations of three or four switches at once.

The Visual Sound product line is basically 2 pedals in 1. The Route 66 is a Tube Screamer like OD and a compressor in one unit. Fairly easy to use indiviually, but takes a little tweaking to set up the OD and compressor to complement each other when both are turned on.

I use this with several guitars including a '73 Les Paul Deluxe, a Strat clone Frankenstien I built myself, and an ES-335 clone with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gate PUP's. I have used the Route 66 with my Mesa Boogie Mark 3 and a little solid state practice amp I use at home. It obviously sounds better with the Boogie, but even makes the little practice amp very sweet.
The OD is very Tube Screamer like (I think they even use the same OP Amps as the old Tube Screamers). It won't do metal distortion, but I wouldn't expect it to, since its an overdrive. I can get a very thick grindy type of tone similar to Billy Gibbons with the Les Paul. SRV tones are also avaialble using the Strat clone.
The compressor is very fun. With full saturation and the gain set so that there is no volume boost when it kicks on, a full almost infinite sustain is available. I get a sweet musical feedback on sustained notes even at moderate volumes with the Boogie and this compressor. It makes leads jump out in the mix with a full band. Running clean and using the strat, this compression setting produces a very authentic spanky country chicken pickin' tone.

All metal construction, it is very solid. I did have a problem with the compressor footswitch, but I'll cover that in the Customer Support section. Otherwise, I see this thing lasting a long time.

As I said, the footswitch for the compressor started acting up. I suspected the footswitch and planned to replace it. I sent an Email to the Visual Sound website outlining the symptoms and asking if there was anything special about the switch or if I could replace it with one from the local electronics shop. Within a couple of hours I had a reply confiming that the switch was the likely culprit and instructions for how to replace it. The rep siad there was nothing special about the switch except it needed to have a long enough neck to reach through the housing. He said to send my mailing address and he would ship me one. 2 days later the switch showed up and it took all of 30 minutes to swap out. Problem solved and I didn't even have to pay shipping.
This is my first review. As good as these pedals sound (I also have a Visual Sound H2O liquid chorus/delay pedal which also sounds great), it was the great customer service that really prompted me to submit this review.

I play in a classic rock cover band, in a 2 man acoustic project, as well as classical and gospel music at my church. I've been playing for about 25 or so years (you would think I would be a better player than I am after all that time; oh well....). I have used this pedal in all those situations (except the classical music in church). I would definitely replace if lost or stolen. I normally view a 10 rating on this site a little skeptically, at least until I read the review and see what it was based on. I would give the OD a solid 7 or 8 if it were an individual pedal, and the compressor an 8 individually. But with both in one reasonably priced pedal, and with the awesome cutomer service to boot, I have to give the Route 66 a 10 overall.

The individual effects are easy to use, combining them can be tricky, but, there are some incredible results available when doing so.

8 is very good for me. I don't give anything a 10. The compressor can be very transparent by kicking in the tone feature and dialing in. The sustain feature works well w/o sucking hi freqs too much.

The overdrive is classic ts808 with more, more volume and more bass.

One of the best things about this pedal is how clean the throughput is. I was skeptical, but it really does make my downstream effects sound better.

Seems to be built like a masonary commode, but I haven't had it very long

I play funk, gospel, blues, jazz. This pedal in front of my THD Univalve turned that rig into a 3 channel tone machine. I'm very happy -- the value to cost ratio is over the top on this box.

It's easy. I didn't look for or at a manual. I didn't check the upgrade status but I looks like a more recent rev than the one pictured here. Mine has two black switches on the top.

I did a side by side comparison with four overdrive pedals. I think I'm pretty tone sensitive. For the test I used a new Gibson SG and some kind of boutique blackface circuit amp that had fancy decorations. I compared it to the Prescription Electronics and Maxon overdrives. All three sounded good. This one was my favorite because I liked the sound and the combination of overdrive and compression.

Currently I use it with a little 66 Princeton hotrod blackface, and a Martin electric. I'm very happy with the range of sounds.

Don't know yet.

Couldn't say.

I've been playing for a long time and I'd love to share all kinds of data with you about who I am and what I spend money on. I did compare it with many other products. It helps me make music. It also helps my housemates question why they choose to live with a guy who enjoys the sound of feedback and overdriven vintage tube amps. Try that on for your psychographic profiling.

Its got three knobs for each effect....turn them until you like what you hear, eventually you'll learn the limitations and extremes of each knobs function. Its that simple, two effects, three knobs each, spin'em until it sounds good and then try combiniong the two effects for more sustain or boost etc etc. Its up to you!

It really doesnt matter what I use because Im writing a review of this effect. I have a myriad of SC and Humbucker guitars, around 12 classic amps and too damn many effects ranging from "boo-tique" to "pawn shop prize" to list and really have no desire to write a little "Vanity" review by listing my gear. Im talking about the Route 66!

The bottom line, this is a very afforable generic double effect box built in an overseas Pacific Rim country, complete with generic sounds and a generic build. The "feet" and "battery" cover are nothing special and could easily be improved on, but are not as bad as some FX boxes.

Its good for Monday night jams for dragging along one box with two FX when nothing very critical is on the line or for sitting on the practice/work bench next to your favorite guitar, PC, amp and CD player. Sitting in the bedroom next to your Crate or PV amp is a good place for it too. The shame of it is, it could really be GOOD...and I dont care HOW NICE the guy as VS is to talk too about his product, he needs to quit talking and upgrade his OD and Compressor with better parts, components and redesign the stupid box...then even I would have something to talk to him about.

I REALLY REALLY like the idea he has here (OD plus COMP in one box) but what a shame that its so generic and dull sounding and the box is folded alum in a weird shape that was built to specifically accomodate no known pedal board. I wont eve discuss the painted graphics that disappear in days after you useit a few times. The Comp is only slightly better than the OD and the OD is basic generic OD. But, its only a few pennies or a couple of dollars in parts from being GREAT, so WHY doesnt he do it!! You figure it out!! I'd buy one mmediately!

I have many backups, non by VS though for the reasons above. The H2O could be cool too, but for the same reasons its the same generic deal.I'll give a generic 5 since thats the key here.

Who cares, Id talk if he wants to improve it. DOES ANYBODY MOD THESE! Id pay good money for that. Imagine the sound of really sweet TS od coupled with a Maxon Comp. Wow! Im not saying they are THE best, just a huge improvement over generic.......Rt 66! And they have the nuts to name this box built in Koreapanpines after the hiway I LIVE A MILE FROM IN THE USA! again...a generic 5 rating

Nothing about what i do or what I play matters, this a review of a pedal I thought MIGHT work for me and I hoped it would have!

>>>Its a great box to take to the Monday night jam along with two cords and one guitar unless you get there and theres something REAL cool to plug into. Except its hard to pack in anything since its shaped like a Yield sign. Come on guys, take the leap and use your money to upgrade these pedals!

Very easy to use, all analog controls (nice), 3 controls for the OD and 3 controls for the compressor and 2 tone switches, and the pedal switch for each. I set the gain and volume on mine so that there is minimal change in volume switching it in and out. Just use your ears and the rest is easy.

I play jazz guitar on various archtops, I wanted to "beef up" the tone and sustain a little without going overboard or adding distortion. I use the compressor alone when playing solo chord/melody style ballads, with these types of arrangements the chords can get too thick with OD, the compressor adds sustain without robbing clarity. BUT, I use both stages, the compressor and OD, when doing single-line soloing. This is just the ticket for me because I dont want distortion playing jazz but do want that little bit of "hair" on the tone that adds richness behind a vocalist, etc. I keep the tone controls on mine below 12 o'clock to get a nice jazz tone, I keep drive at minimum, gain below 12 o'clock and volume at a level that does not cause me to have to re-adjust the guitar volume when clicking it out. I get a nice Pat Martino or Jimmy Raney tone with this thing, I like it a lot. This effect is capable of being subtle and it's all analog which generally sounds better than digital as it does not have that "thinness" nor rob dynamic range like digital effecs usually do.

Built like the proverbial brick #$%@ house.

Never needed support.

I play jazz guitar and it is a good box to have because it can be subtle. I use very few other effects, I believe tone is mostly in the hands of the player. I would replace this if lost. I really have no complaints about it once you understand the logic behind how the controls operate. I heard a sound clip of this on Reverend web site and liked it. It is subtle enough that I dont have to change my playing technique to us it, a plus. I like the bass boost switch as it will really warm up the tone kind of like the Joe Pass recordings where he accompanied Ella Fitzgerald solo. I like getting 2 effects for the price of one.

Very easy, just work few minutes and use your ears.

Excellent, nothing to complain about. You guys who have just tasted some sounds should keep your mouth shut. It is one of the best OD in the world. I hate to read your complaints, you should rather play golf instead of guitar and use your ears instead of .ss.

Its great, built like a tank.

Best ever.

I have played everything in 40 years. RT66 has great organic sounds for real, talented musicians. There are only artists who can really appreciate it. It helps my music a lot. It really pisses me off to read hundreds of words you most guys use to write about the things you are not capable to hear, know and understand. You should be banned from this site.

As easy as pie to use. Noboby should have any trouble using either side of this pedal. All the controls do exactly what they say. Getting a good sound is easy. If you are using the compressor for a bit of clean boost, just toggle between having the compressor on and off, and then set the gain accordingly for the amount of boost you want. As for the overdrive side, it is an overdrive! Not much to understand there. More gain = more distortion! It can be set for a slight breakup or for a much gnarlier sound. Turn on the bass boost switch and you will be rewarded with a huge, beefy sound.

I use a Godin LGX-SA or a Parker Fly Deluxe running into a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde pedal. This runs into the Route 66, then to a Visual Sound H20 pedal, then into a Digitech JamMan, then into a Yamaha Magic Stomp (for the amp models). From here it goes straight to the PA system. The Pure Tone circuit really keeps things strong and clean, especially while running so many pedals. I run the Jekyll and Hyde first because Bob Weil told me it gives a different sound to run a distortion before a compressor. He is right.
The only bad sounds one can coax from this pedal is if you turn the compression too high with too much gain on the overdrive side. This will be noisy (as it would be for any setup like this, no matter the brand of pedals). Otherwise, it is hard to get a bad sound from this pedal. Use some compression for a bit of clean boost, or for smoothing out those transients. Use the overdrive side for that old Tube Screamer sound.

Rock solid construction. I would definitely use it without a backup.

Best in the business. They will quickly answer emails. They are very friendly on the phone, too.

I play adult contemporary Christian-themed music that is very guitar oriented. This pedal is the basis of my main sound. I would definitely get another one if I lost this one. It has a classic tone that I love, and is very versatile as well. You should buy one of these pedals; you will not be sorry!

Two effects in one pedal...Overdrive and compression. Three knobs on each along with a selector switch. Compression is very easy to use and get a great sound out of. The overdrive not as much.

I use a Fender Strat w/ Duncan Hot Rails into the Rt. 66->Fab Distortion->Modified Crybaby Wah->Cool Cat Chorus->Ibanez DE7 Delay->Peavey Heritage VTX. Like I said before, the compressor is great, I added in a little high end with the tone and really brought my sound to life. On the overdrive side, there is no clean to be found. I understand this is an overdrive, but there was a bit too much for me even with the drive all the way off. The bass boost gives the overdrive too much, really muddies up the tone. I sent this off to Keeley to get modified, and now it sounds fantastic. Stock, was wishing that I had kept my OD-3.

Built like a tank, quality parts.

Quick with the e-mails for general questions.

Having the two effects together is great, you can step on both switches at the same time. The compressor really helps to develop your overall sound. If you get this pedal, send it immediately to Keeley to get the overdrive modified, you will not be disappointed.

EZ as pie...

The point of this review...As VS recommends, I placed the 66 first in my signal chain...I had avoided doing this before as I did not want OD before my Wah...I did, however, want the compressor, and decided to take a shot and see if Bob was telling the truth about the "Pure Bypass" circuit...He claims that placing this pedal first in your chain will buffer everything else and improve your sound...I had been having trouble with my 6 pedal setup, noise, hiss, etc...I placed the 66 first, then as follows: Dunlop 535Q Wah->Zoom PD-01 Boost/OD->Zoom HL-01 Distortion->Voodoo Lab Analog Chorus-> Peavey DDL-1 Digital Delay...All powered by a VS One Spot...Wired them up with George L's and THE HISS IS GONE...Just to see if this was a fluke, I took the 66 out and the sound deteriorated...The circuit really seems to work...The rest of my chain is dead quiet...

As for the effects in the pedal, I have finally made peace with the compressor...It sounds just right now that I have it dialed in...Works great in front of the Wah...The OD is okay, and I set it for lighter OD...I do not use it as my main OD/Boost, as that assignment belongs to the Zoom PD-01, after the Wah...the Zoom is just so good as the eq and clarity are superior to anything else I have ever tried...Having said that, let me emphasize that the Route 66 is a great pedal, even if you only use it for the compressor and "Pure Bypass" functons...Most folks really love the OD as well, I am just spoiled...

I feel it is very roadworthy and I have it in a NYC pedalboard...

The best...Called them with a couple of questions recently and they were great...A plug here too for the One-Spot...Just a great power solution for very little money...After searching for years for a pedalboard power source, let alone an affordable one, this thing is just unbelieveable...it is both functional and economical...The daisy chain and adaptors work perfectly...I recently bought a second one just to have on hand...

I play classic rock and this pedal is very useful in my set-up...I can get the compressed quack, slam my wah and chorus, and a little volume boost with the compressor...The OD is great for light OD sounds, and as detailed above, the "Pure Bypass" solved my pedalboard noise troubles...I wish Bob would make some "split" pedals, for those of use who want them, but I understand his marketing plan...I like VS just because they are who they are, and they provide good affordable products and great service...