Visual Sound Route 66

Very easy to use, dosen't take long to tweak and set-up.
Hardly looked at the manual, it's a stompbox!!! Compression on one side....Od on the other!!

I'm using this with a brand spankin' new Americian Ash Telecaster,JD Crybaby,and a Fender DRRI, George L's cables throughout,(I ordered the H20 pedal from Reverend yesterday)
It DOES get a bit noisy when the compression is engaged with the OD, but thats the nature of the beast!! Otherwise it's pretty quiet.
The Comp side is VERY transparent compared to my DynaComp,great Nashvile/Mason squish. It's actually great period;Funk,R'nB,Rockabilly,ect. The Tone knob really lets you add edge to your sound if needed.
The OD side,to me, is pure SRV!!! Very usable and musical TS-808 tones to be had. The Bass Boost switch is really cool. In the Off position, you get nice OD, but ON you get a fuller tone. Both are really useable.Nice touch!!!

Used it last night w/ no backup!!! Seems strudy enough!!

Never dealt w/ Visual Sound,haven't had a problem yet.

I play...well...Telecaster music!!! Lots of Country,Blues,Rockabilly,Rn'B,Funk,Jazz,Cajin,Soul...that kinda stuff.
Been playing @ 20yrs.
Have 4 Tele's ,60's Strat,Dano Baritone,Harmony Lap Steel,Mandolins,ect.
This box is MADE for Telecasters!!!! It mates soooo well with the Music I like to play.
I tried to think of somthing negative to say, but I just can't!!! Sorry!!!

Nice,warm, and clear overdrive, very nice compressor, also useable as a booster kind of thing. The setup is 2 pedals in one, both separately switchable, very sturdy switches, metal chassis, nice clear led-indicators and it looks the bussiness!

I heard about some very interesting upgrades for this pedal but I'm very pleased with its sound so I think it isn't important to upgrade this piece!

Sound quality of the overdrive is an approach of a tubescreamer with a nicer bass-response, a bass-boost is switchable to create some realy nice SRV-like tones, wich is very nice with any single-coil-equipped guitar!

The compressor is very nice for all theclean tones, with this compressor your guitar will become alive, it will sound clearer and you will have even more sustain, BUT when you mess with the controls you will sound terrible, simply set all the comp control at 12'o'clock and you're done......

After a few months I had some trouble with the power supply,so I was determined to use batteries!!!!!! I hope I can fix this problem because this unit EATES power!!!!

N/A

Very nice unit!

It is easy to use but there is always a little adjusting of guitar amp and pedal to find the sweet spots to your liking. Many pedals are like that.
I have the first generation Rt 66, there is a newer one with a few more features.

I was dissapointed with the overdrive side of this pedal. The compressor side was very good.
The compressor is a bit noisy with single coil pickups and quiet with humbuckers. Shielding the cavity of the guitar may solve the noise problem . Talk to an amp/guitar techy or call Visual Sound to find out if that will solve the noise problem with single coils.
I use humbuckers so no noise. I use a 9 volt AC adaptor power supply 500 ma or 800 miliamps both work well. Make sure your adaptor is (-) negative center like it says on the pedal.
The sound of the overdrive was not good and had unwanted trailing tones . I would give the pedal about a 7 until modification. Nice idea a double pedal at reasonable price.
After an Indyguitarist mod the pedal gets a 10.
It now sounds like real blooming tube tones and better than many tube amps. I play mostly through an old 80 watt Peavey Bandit with a 10 inch Scorpion speaker ,transistors no tubes, a killer amp for no tubes. Playing leads with the compressor and drive on sounds great with the gear cranked a bit. Excellent note articulation and I would use it for recording. It has a warm sound not harsh , the clipping is a little tame compared to a a Jacques Tube Blower or a Ibanez Tube Screamer 9 DX Turbo. The RT-66 will put your gear on steroids .
Before the modification it was just another pedal, the mod was the magic.
If you can solder and are skillful you can get a mod kit or send it in www.indyguitarist.com , I got a kit and was amazed at the sound improvement, fantastic.
The bass switch adds to the tone control but is less noticable if your amp is turned down, a great feature.
The newer geration RT -66 has more features but the basic circuit is the same with the same components so the new ones would sound better with the modification too. Warm tubes to crunchy overdriven tubes with great tone.

It is a solid unit , the pots, jacs and switches are very good, well built.

Excellent, Bob the company owner responded to a couple of E mails.

I play mostly finger slide blues rock, blues, rock and R+B.
The RT -66 has great versatility, you can get a lot of great sounds with it.

I bought this unit because it has both compression and overdrive in one unit. On the overdrive side you have level, tone and gain volume ocntrols plus a bass boost switch. On the comp side you get level, tone and gain plus a tone on/off switch. Each effect has its own bypass switck so you can use them separately or together. LEDs tell you when they are on... green for the OD, red for the Comp. The manual is basically a sheet that tells you what the knobs do and gives a couple of sample setups. The comp sounds awesome, you basically just need to turn it on. I use it almost all the time.

I use a Roland JC 120 and G&L guitars. I have an ASAT and an SC-3. I use the ASAT mainly on a weekly gig. We play mostly country/rock and songwriter stuff. I generally switch the comp on with the level at about 11 o'clock, the tone at 2 o'clock and the gain about 10 o'clock. I roll off the mids on my amp and keep the brite swtich on. The reverb ont he JC is just creamy dreamy so with the comp is get a super punchy warm tone. flip to the brdge PU and it snaps at your heals like testy pitbull. On solos I tap in the OD and hold on. It has taken me a little while to get my sound the way I like it, but I am very happy with this combination. I will sometimes punch in some delay. I will say that the comp is noisy so I turn down between songs, but the effect is one of the best I have heard.

I use a One-Spot daisy chain AC adapter so my effects are always dependable. I have had problems with the LEDs sometimes they won't come on when I kick in the effect. But that is a minor detail. The unit is put together very well I think. I have had it for about a year and I use it all the time.

I have been playing most of my life and am currently involved in a couple of projects. One is Western Swing group. One is a jazz trio and then the bar gig. I bought this unit because I wanted to be able to get a nice tone for solos without having to run an overdriven amp all the time. I can pcik and choose between straight, clean comp sound and a nice edgy OD that seems to really please the audience. I t is a great combination for someone who really doesn't like having a big complicated set up. I have not tried it with a tube amp but I can only imagine that it would perform well.

Pretty straight forward if you know what you are doing. pretty good sugestions come with it.
You really have to spend some time tweaking to get the sounds you want, and adjusting for your amp and guitar.
the newest moddel has various upgrades and so sounds slightly better.

i bought this for the compression mostly, as i wanted to beef up my sound a bit and get more sustain. I tryed alot of compressors, and intrestingly not all where as noisy as this, (HBE,maxon,T-rex, i liked alot) but accordingly there is less scope to change the sound adn they are more expencive, (they seem to be more for transparent sustain) i really wanted to squash the sound a little when i want, and found that if set conservativly the 66 could get pretty transparent, as stated below to me the 66 does seem to cut cirtan frequencies a little bit, which is strange as like the JH there is a pure tone (suposed to stop tone sucking of other pedels) in the 66. this is better than a dynacomp, there are no vol swells (before the note) and the comp is richer and smoother (it shimers a little). As for a ross (or modded dynacomp,[comprosser]) i am not too sure, but have been told that they are about the same.
The OD for me is pretty dam good. giging i am useing varities of tube amps (mesa's, H&k's, marshals, fenders) at home i am useig a H&k blue 15r (solidstaate). The 66 goes very well with all the tube amps i have tryed so far, and now i don't play without it. and with the OD it is really the only pedel i need. but the 66 also does wonders for my HK 15r at home. i haven't found any OD/distortion/compressor that can better the gain channel on the amp, and actually this is no diffrent, but as there is no footswitch for the amp (why oh why) this comes pretty close, and provides a lot of variety.
I can dial in clean boosts, distorted boosts pretty much whetever i want, on both the OD and comp, infact there lots of possiblites, and the only way to know is to try it out yourself. as i was looking for a comp i too would be extreamly happy if VS brought out a doubble comp unit (though i would prefer if they where slightly diffrent, [like the bicomprosser])as i leave the comp on all the time, then i culd use one to boost for solos etc, and any distortion/OD would come from my JH.

thicker caseing then the old one.
don't like the gaps,
i also dont like the switches.
but i think it will last a long time yet

I play mostly (light distortion) rock, reggae, ambient, and sometimes metal (just for the money).
for the money this is a great unit, and i would recomend to gigging, and bed room guitarests (it is a little too noisy for recording but it works OK), especially people looking for value for money. However, In my opinion the OD is not the best out there, the comp is also not the best out there, but for the money i didn't find better, and I really like my 66, i use it with an EQ and with this i can think of a sound i want and i can get it pretty quick. The unit can be noisy, (if you set it stupidly) but i have used it in conjunction with the VS JH with everything on (nothing set past 12) and i had no problems, so as it says in the instructions if you set it too high then you will get noise,

It is pretty easy to get nice tones out of this pedal. The manual actually comes with some pretty nice presets that, after a little tweaking, can sound pretty decent on any amp.

I'm running a 1980s American strat into a Nick Greer Sonic boom then out to a DD-3, DD-5, DL-4, Voodoo Lab Tremolo and Electro Harmonix Small Stone. For my amp I use a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 Combo. The pedal isn't that noisy when you are using the sides separately. When you kick in the compression side and the distortion side, however, get ready for some hissing. It is very very very noisy when both sides are used simultaneously. But, there is an easy fix for this...don't use both sides at the same time.

Seems to be well built. I haven't had any problems yet.

Really easy to dial in - I've been using multieffects for years (still happy with my Boss GT-3) and I also use a Mesa Mk IV. Both are tweaker's favourites but I was looking for something that would work in a quick and dirty jam setup with a Deluxe Reverb. It's so much easier to setup and get a couple of really useful tones.

I don't think of this as a recording tool, but as a live tool. As such it sounds really good! Sure, it's a little noisy with the compressor pumping away but for live, that's pretty much buried under the cymbals.

It has a really nice tactile feel to it - when used with my Deluxe Reverb with gain at around 4 it takes you to the "can do no wrong" playing place. Not easy to reach in a jam setup so it makes this a really useful device.

I haven't used it for very long so I can't comment. Looks pretty solid though.

For blues, rock and fusiony jazz jamming I'm finding this a very useful pedal. It's really easy to get a useful sound. Nice and fat without going to squealing feedback to easily.

I've used the gain channel on several Boogies for lead tones and still love them but find their a little finicky to set up for a drop in kind of jam. This Route 66 is great for that setup.

I'd replace this if stolen and would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a compact, versatile, easy-to-use overdrive/compressor combination.

I'd give higher points if it was studio quiet but for the money and the intended application it really does a good job.

Two thumbs up!!

It's a pedal with a few controls. You plug in and fiddle with knobs. Easy to make it do what it does.

I was really disappointed by it. I use a tele into a Blues Junior and I usually play uneffected. The effects I have are a Maxon OD808 tubescreamer and a Danelectro PB&J mini delay pedal, both accessed in their own loop of a Loooper switching pedal. That means when I play clean my signal goes straight thru the Loooper pedal to the amp and the signal only goes to either pedal when I access it from the Loooper.
I've owned or used a number of tubescreamers and this Route 66 did not work like any of them. Usually I can set a tubescreamer so that it sounds pretty close to the clean sound (a little bass loss sometimes), and then add drive or volume to suit so when accessed it sounds like my guitar and amp 'beefed up', but with the underlying sound of the guitar fairly unchanged. I think they call that 'transparent'. The Route 66 didn't do that. It changed the whole tone and timbre of the instrument, and even turned right down there was still alot of drive. Too much. And the bass boost was a joke. I put the Route 66 in one Loooper loop and my Maxon 808 in the other to A/B them. There was very little bass loss with the Maxon (about the same as the Ibanez TS9 reissue I used to have). But with the Route 66 turned on there was ALOT of bass loss. And when I turned on the bass boost switch which was supposed to add the bass back in there was STILL loss of bass compared to the Maxon...or having the Route 66 turned off. It added LOW MID frequencies. Not bass. I checked and rechecked and it was unmistakable. Loss of low end even with the bass boost on.
Then I A/B compared the Route 66 and it's 'true bypass' when turned off with by alternating the signal straight to the amp through the Loooper and then thru the loop with the turned off pedal. There was a BIG difference in tone. It was much more trebly going thru the turned off Route 66 than going straight to the amp. And I was using short, good quality cables.
I LIKE my clean sound. I don't want a pedal to change it. That's the whole point of having a 'true bypass'. 'Buffered' my arse.
And as for the compressor, there was so much crackling and noise when I turned it on...and I was so annoyed with the overdrive and the 'bypass'...that I didn't even bother trying to get it to work for me.
I packed it up and put it for sale on ebay.
I hope the guy who bought it likes it better than I did.
I'll stick with my Maxon.

It was generally well built...but when I first got it the on/off switch for the compressor crackled. I carefully pushed it a few times listening to it....and the switch failed. Before I had a chance to actually use it. I had to ship it back to the company via the seller to get it fixed. It was when I got it back the second time that I was able to actually try it out and discover that I didn't like it.
Not their fault, I suppose, in this case. Just unfortunate for me.
It seemed OK otherwise.
But I'll knock a couple points off for the switch failure anyway.
It did crackle the very first time I used it so they probably should have noticed it before I bought it.
Actually I'll take off 3 points for that...

See 'Reliability' above.
They fixed it as their policy said they would. Pity I had to pay for the shipping.

Other people may like it and they are welcome to do so. I'm only stating my personal opinion.
And I say 'good riddance' to it.

Probably the easiest to use compressor or overdrive pedal out there. The manual is only "so-so" though. You really need to play with this thing and experiment to get the sound you want. However, unlike other compressor pedals, this experimentation process only takes a few minutes, as opposed to DAYS for some of the other units.

I play my telecaster through this thing and, since I bought the Route 66 over a year ago, I really haven't played my tele without using the compressor side of this pedal. The compressor just brings my telecaster to life -- I love it. I also love the bass boost, which significantly takes out the "ice pick" on the high E string when I have it cut in. However, I really don't like the overdrive section -- it sounds too phoney for me. Soooo, great compression -- great bass boost -- poor overdrive -- only gets a "7" in the sound category for a pedal that is advertised as a dual-use pedal.

Built like a tank -- gig freely without a backup here as long as you have the "One spot" DC convertor and plug it into an AC outlet.

Never dealt with the company.

I love this pedal for the compression and bass boost it gives me. I've been through a few compressors in the past and they all came up short until I found the Route 66. However, the overdrive on this thing is lackluster at best. If the unit were stolen though -- I'd buy another for sure.

this is a really straight forward pedal. on the overdrive side, you've got controls for drive, tone and volume. the compressor side has controls for sustain, tone and gain. mine is a brand new 04 model which is upgraded with a heavier duth housing and and new tone on / off switch for the compression side. overdrive side features a bass boost switch. the nice thing is how quick you can dial in a usable tone. not a ton of tweeking to find a sweet spot.

i'm palying a 72 reissue thinline telecaster with humbuckers into a peavey classic 2x12 tweed combo. the amp it's self has a decent distortion channel, but i could never really adjust it to give me a nice overdrive without sounding thin and fuzzy. so my search was on for a quality overdrive since i don't have ocassion to need anything too heavy for my sound. this overdrive is really nice for giving your rhythm work a nice bite without saturating the chords / notes to the point of sounding fuzzy or distorted. basically the sound of a good tube amp starting to break up at high volume. it can actually produce a fair amount of borderline distortion if you really crank the drive cotrol, but then you're dealing with a bit of fuzz which i don't really dig. to my ears, setting the drive anywhere from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock will produce a huge range of usable gain. the tone control on the overdrive side will produce quite a bit of coloration to your guitar tone. it takes a bit of tweeking, but you're sure to find a variety of really great and usable tone setting. the bass boost is always on on my pedal. it adds i really nice low end presence without adding distortion. on to the compressor... it's really an awesome clean boost as well as a steller compressor! you can get a huge signal boost without a hint of distortion adding presence and sustain to clean solo passages. used with the overdrive, it will give a nice volume boost for solos and push the overdrive just over the edge, adding a bit more grit and sustain for some blues rock soloing. the tone on / off for the compression side is a nice touch. i leave it off all the time.

i've only had mine a short time, but they are made with really heavy duty housings. i can't see this pedal ever falling apart unless heavily abused. it seems to be as tough or tougher than anything i've used before.

have had no dealings with visual sound, but from what i've read, they are a fine company set on building quality products.

i play a music that is a fusion of rock, blues, jazz, funk, latin, ect. a cross between phish, santana, srv and sting if you can imagine. i consider myself to be fairly knowledeable about good guitar tones after 15 years playing. as far as overdrives goes, i've used a reissue tube screamer, reverend drivetrain, danelectro daddy-o and overdrives from mxr. the closest competition of the overdrives i've used is the reverend drivetrain which also sounded really good. but, when you consider that you also get an awesome compressor to compliment your overdrive, there's really no contest. i also use the visual sound h2o chorus / echo which is really awesome. if someone stole mine or i lost it, i'm quite sure i'd buy another one. the only other pedal that interests me is the voodoo labs sparkle drive which i might check out. as far as versitile analog pedals go, this one can't be beat as far as bang for the buck. if you're shopping for overdrives, don't hesitate to put this one on your list of "must try" pedals.

Easier to get good tones out of than a TS9 thanks to the bass boost. I'm only giving it a 7 because, though the pedal is easy to make sound good, there are plenty of bad sounds available, too. Higher scores should be saved for pedals that sound good no matter how you set them. After all, how much easier to use can you get than that?

The TS9 side is brilliant. I honestly see no reason to hang on to my modded TS9 now that I have the Visual Sound pedals (I've got their J&H pedal, as well) & the bass boost opens up a whole new range that should be available on a Tube Screamer but isn't.

The compressor is a big let down, unfortunately. I've never owned a vintage Ross but if those things sound this noisy & color the sound this much then I really don't ever want to own one. It's a shame, too, because the actual compression is extremely smooth & has a great release.

After all the negative things I said about this pedal, I actually would buy another one (or a J&H) if something happened to this one simply because it's the cheapest & perhaps best way I know of to get a vintage TS9 tone. Love it or hate it, the TS9 has permanently left its mark & anyone that plays sessions or cover gigs had better have that sound available in their toolbox. Since HC describes a 10 rating as being a "fantastic value", I've not choice but to rate it a 10.

Pretty easy to use... 3 knobs and 1 switch for each effect... comes with a booklet if you need settings to rip off someone elses tone.

I'm using this with a Les Paul and a Tele running into a Twin and a Deluxe... OD is great, very versitale, with lower gain, gives a nice tube amp breakup sound, can get moderate rock tone. I use the compressor mainly for clean boost, does a great job giving me fat lead tone. I'm not interested in getting anybody elses tone, I got this to help out my own... I love it.

No idea yet... had it about a month, nothing bad yet.

No clue.

I play my own brand of blues, I find it to be excellent, you could probably nail Stevie's tone, with the OD being a pretty close replica of a TS808, but again, to yound players... find your own tone, unless you want to be a tribute band.

easy, although the micro switch bass boost for the overdrive is placed over on the compressor side of the pedal for some strange reason (the newer model has it over on the od side now and a new switch on the righthand side that bypasses the tone knob for the compressor)

at first i didn't like it that much, i just wanted an od pedal and i happened to see this one in a local secondhand shop one lunchtime. the od reminds me of american beer commercial jingles (i should've taken a hint from the name of the pedal -"route 66 american overdrive"!) but it's grown on me over the past 2 years. the od is smooth and compressed (so much so that having both od and comp on simultaneously is too ott for me), not enough gain for thrash metal of course but is enough for an 80's hair rock simulator. i don't use the comp that much, only now and then, mainly with chorus for that cheesey 80's clean sound with sustain set at 11 oclock so it's not too hissy. the comp is loud btw, even with vol set at 12 o'clock there is a boost - totally the opposite of of my old 80's boss cs-2 which causes your volume to drop out when you switch it on. but i'd rather the comp had an attack knob instead of a tone knob (like the cs-2) - i just don't use the tone knob because i don't want it muffled and i don't want it hissy.

build quality is just ok. seems decent enough. made in taiwan - so not as 'boutique' as it looks. folded metal like electroharmonix use so beer could spill in the gaps at the edges. naff and loose battery cover on the base for more beer to seep into. big rubber feet (need to cut these down if velcrowing to a pedal board). battery leads are flimsy like on most pedals so need to take care when changing batts. hasn't broken down so yes i'd say it's reliable.

never dealt with.

so so. its only a transistor pedal od not a tube amp so what did i expect?!. better sounding (from memory) than my old boss od that i sold years ago back in '94. my stating the obvious advice for you is:- don't buy blind based on reviews. try it in a shop and make your own mind up. it's a bit overpriced for what it is i think. new they cost #130! for home playing volumes this isn't a bad od pedal. not bad at all, and you get a good compressor to boot.

Simple to use. Dial in moderate settings, adjust from there (it's compression/overdrive, not too complicated...)

Manual is helpful, if a little redundant. It was very good at making me feel real happy with my purchase, however.

My unit is exactly the same as the one pictured as of 6/21/04. I understand Visual Sound has produced a different model with a newer external switch for the Bass Boost and another switch on the Drive side, I am not aware of its function, though.

Stratocaster -> Fender Ultra Chorus Amplifier

Rt. 66 -> Digitech PDS 1000 Digital Delay on FX Loop

This unit is pretty damn quiet for an OD/Compression pedal, unless you turn the SUSTAIN way up. (Running it through the FX Loop probably has something to do with that, it cuts alot of hiss and hum)

This thing is by no means whatsoever weak. The Drive channel on the amplifier is fairly weak as gain peaks out. However, with the Rt. 66 I now have oodles and oodles of Gain and Drive AND TONE to fiddle with. For one pedal, I can generate far FAR more sounds than any digital multi FX processor for roughly the same retail price ($135). The sound is genuine, and lives up to Visual Sound's claims that it is indeed an exact copy of a Tubescreamer. I have A/B'd it and this is not totally true; a Tubescreamer is a Tubescreamer, and it will, of course, sound great... However, this thing, combined with the compression sounds better to me. The drive on its own is okay, but with the compression it is all kinds of godly.

I love Mike Einziger's work. This pedal will add alot of headroom to your sound, every time I have desired more drive/gain/tone I am amazed at how low I have these controls set, and how much more room I have to produce a new sound. I have yet to need a sound that has peaked this pedal out.

Built like a tank.

I would never NOT use this pedal.

never dealt with 'em...

Check out the website though, customer service doesn't seem too far out of reach.

For what it is limited to, this pedal really does a lot. A new sound can be had with every little twist of each nob, which is something I can really appreciate, because I can't really afford to buy boutique pedals to produce only a couple of new sounds.

Very, very nice pedal.

An excellent addition to anyone's board for not a lot of money.

I expect all of Visual Sound's pedals to soon become very, very popular.

If you have a Boss or DOD type drive/distortion pedal, A/B the cost and the sound with this thing, I can almost guarantee you'll be wishing your money had been better spent.

Two effects in one. Overdrive and compression. Kudos for having a separate tone control for each effect. The overdrive also has an overdrive control and volume. The compressor (besides tone knob) has sustain and a gain knob. Ther is also a bass boost switch (which I keep on) for the overdrive. With my amp it helps, but that's just my rig.

The Route 66 really does allow you to plug-and-play with each effect. Within a minute you'll have very usable tones for either effect. When I have the overdrive kicked in (or the fuzzfoot from Captain Coconut 2 tuned on) I use the compressor as a lead boost. When I play clean passages I keep the compressor kicked on all the time and just turn the volume on my guitar down. A cool thing playing clean with the compressor is with my Route 66 compressor gain at about 1:00 I can roll the guitar volume up to get a slight break up in my amp and get some great tones (think of 'Lights' by Journey or 'Lenny' by SRV)

The reason I gave the Route 66 a 9 instead of 10 are for two reasons: #1: the flat settings are at 9:00 instead of 12:00 (minor gripe); #2: When I kick the compressor on for leads with the Route 66 overdirve on, the voulme does not seam as loud as when I kick it on with the CC2 FuzzFoot or just my amps clean channel. This also might mean I need to woodshed more with my stuff.

As for a manual, I got this unit used so no manual. But you don't need it.

Tone. Isn't it all about tone.

With that said, you'll be happiest using this with a tube amp.

The Route 66 overdrive channel is said to be based upon Ibanez's original TS808. Never played through one personally so I cannot give a true A/B comparrison. With that said, the Route 66 overdrive is a very good sound. Going into my tube amp, it sounds very organic and warm. The tone knob allows a great deal of flexibility. With my Les Paul plugged in, and some knob twistin', I could get some early ZZ Top and UFO tones (LeGrange, I'm Bad-I'm Nationwide, Too Hot to Handle etc.) With my Strat Plus with Lace Sensors I was getting some pretty good SRV, Chris Duarte' type toneage. Again just playing with the tone knob. For once there is an effects unit where the tone knob does NOT screw up your tone.

The compressor, well let me put it this way....I WISH THERE WERE TWO OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would leave one all the time with the gain around 1:00 and and a slight compression and the other for lead boost. This S.O.B souds delicious and is relatively quiet considering what it does. You can dial i enough pre-amp gain to push you amp into overdrive while on cranked on the clean channel.

I have an original MXR Dyna-Comp and a reissue Dyna-Comp. Both are very noisy compared to the Route 66 compressor. I have to give Visual Sounds credit, they built a compressor that made me yank my Dyna-Comp off my pedal board.

Heres an idea for VS. Build a uniti with two of these compressors in it. I'd buy it in a second.

There are the tone Pros, now the Cons: if you are running the Route 66 overdrive pretty dirty and use the compressor as lead boost, it will get kind of noisy. Part of it is the nature of a compressor, the other part is that with the compressor adding in pre-amp gain along with volume boost and then overdrive, well...it's a recipe for noise.

Also, for those of you looking for Hi-gain, metal machine boxes, this ain't it. You won't be able to scoop your mids or get the soft fuzzy type of distortion. This critter's overdrive tone can best be described as "PRE-big-hair/cucummber-in-my-spandex-80's" tone. If you'r looking for a Warrant/Poison/Ratt tone, look elsewhere.

My rig set-up is starting to finalize (again) thanks to this pedal(s). My main axes are: 89' or 91' Fender Strat Plus with Lace Sensors, 99' Gibson Les Paul Standard, 82' Gibson E/2 Explorer and a 97' Epiphone EDS-1275 Jimmy Page model double-neck. These go into a 535Q CryBaby>Route 66>FoxRox Captain Coconut 2 into a Peavy Classic 50 2-12 combo tube amp. FX loop runs a Boss BF-2 flanger> DOD 690 chorus from around 1979> Line6 DL-4 delay.

I've only had it for about a month but it seems very sturdy even heavy. The knobs feel very smooth but solid like they could take some abuse.

Have not had to deal with them

I have been playing for over 20 years and have used tons of different gear. Many of which in moments of stupidity, I traded or sold. The hardest tone I've have ever tried to get is a good overdrive with a stompbox. This pedal goes a long way.

In the bands I've played, we always played some originals along with ZZ Top, SRV, Bonnie Raitt, A.R.C. Angel, STP, Mellisa Ethridge and other classic tunes.

This pedal is living up to what Visual Sounds website and the other people that have written reviews here claim. And what's best, I've got mine for a steal at $67!

Incredibly easy to get a good sound out of it. But I have found that what generally works for others, doesn't always apply to me. So, while I say the pedal sounds great, your own interactions with this pedal may lead you to a different conclusion.

Runnning a variety of Tele's and Strats through this, into a Vibrolux Reverb, Pro Jr.

This unit is not terribly noisey.

The effects are as present as you want them. The voicing of this pedal leans towards a warmer, browner sound if you will. This is part of the reason I believe this pedal is a good match for me. My technique seems to wrestle sqauwks and glinks out of my guitars, and this pedal does a nice job of filter my peaky tones out of the mix.

I place this pedal in front of my Ibanez AD-80, hit the compressor and drive, break out the slide and go to town!

Ask me in twenty years. I have an MXR flanger that I've had for twenty five years that is pissing me off these days.

If a very thick and compressed sound is what your after, this pedal warrants further research. It will not provide a high gain, saturated sound. With the compressor on and the drive set to modest levels, many players will find they have ample sustain. Even with modest drive levels set, the guitar retains a degree of clarity, letting the personality of the guitar shine through. Very intriguing qualities.

So many distortion pedals hijack the guitars signal and impose their paradigm on the sound, that it is refreshing to hear a pedal that knows where to draw the line. Anyone of moderate ability will recognize this as a virtue.

it has knobs, turn them till it sounds good.

if you want a transparent OD that won't color your tone then this is a great pedal. the compressor sounds great for a lead boost and sustain but IMO makes everything sound a tad muddy. if you want the best OD ever than buy an old Ibanez PUE5 Tube. (its a pedal board with a built in 12ax7 tube) nothing sounds warmer than the tube screamer on this board.. wish I could find the same TS with out having to spend $400 for the stupid board. (which has a delay and chorus that I don't need)

had for one year. seems rock solid

DO NOT EVER BUY A Ibanez TS9 RE-ISSUE. This pedal blows it out of the water.

Very simple - an OD and compression pedal in one. The instructions had examples that do a good job of showing off it's capabilities.

I've tried out a lot of OD pedals, trying to find one that could push my amp's (Carvin X-100b) distortion over the top with really high gain & sustain, but still maintain the amp's basic character, and this pedal nails it. The Boss SD-1 and Tubescreamer are pretty good, but you lose some of the bass response, which the Route 66 fixes with the bass boost switch. Also, with the compressor side, I can get a louder volume boost for soloing than with just an OD pedal, AND more sustain than I could ever want.

I play a Carvin DC127T and a Michael Kelly Vibe HT (ES135 knockoff), both with humbuckers. I play and like just about any style of music, from clean to metal, but use this for the harder stuff.

It's OK for adding dirt on the clean channel, but I prefer the lower gain settings straight from my amp. However, I did try this pedal on a friend's Fender Hot Rod Deluxe clean channel, and it sounded great, very organic.

The pedal only has a little noise with the compression on, which is what any compressor will do unless you have a noise gate.

I've only had this for a couple months, so it's too early to say. Seems rugged enough and haven't had any problems so far.

I've gotten friendly, quick e-mails responses from them both before and after I bought it.

I'm really happy with this pedal. The one thing my amp couldn't do is provide a real over the top distortion with lots of sustain and this pedal gets it there. If it were stolen or lost I'd probably get it again. If I only wanted something to add dirt to my clean channel, I wouldn't have rated it quite as high, but that's not why I got it.

My only wish is that the compressor had an attack knob, so the dynamics would be smoother when you initially hit the strings with the sustain cranked way up. Another minor complaint is the styling. The logo & fonts just scream "FOR COUNTRY MUSIC ONLY".

This pedal is really easy to use.

I played a strat --> Vox V847 Wah --> Visual Sound Route 66 Overdrive & Compressor --> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I play a lot early U2 stuff (War, Boy) as well some punk/alternative stuff (Weezer, Greenday). I hope that gives you an idea of the sound I'm aiming for.

This pedal is a great deal, you get two great sounding pedals for the price of one. First the overdrive:

I give the overdrive an 8 because it sounds great, it does a real accurate job of producing that great soft american overdrive tone. The bass boost is also a great feature when you need that extra bottom end. This pedal does a decent job of emulating those early U2 tones but this pedal is not a distortion monster. When I play Weezer or Greenday stuff, I use this pedal with my amp's overdrive channel. But if you're looking for a great sounding American overdrive tone, this is a great pedal. Also, this pedal hits the softer overdrive tone that the Strokes use perfectly. But if you want to sound like the Strokes then get the Jekyl and Hyde pedal.

As for the compressor: I also really thought it sounded good. It did a great job of giving me that extra clean sound for those U2 songs. As for a general compressor I give it an 8. The compressor has a wide range in the attack and sustain area.

I highly recommend this pedal if you're looking a great soft sounding overdrive (not metal) and a great compressor.

Owned it for 2 years now and has not failed me once.

Never had to deal with them.

Overall this pedal is great sounding. It's overdrive sounds great (but not for Metal or sounds that need a lot of distortion) and the compressor does it's job of leveling out your string volume and attack.

It's a distortion pedal which is easy. The compression was pretty easy too, but it was hard to hear what the "sustain" knob did. Came with a few sample setups that were nice sounding.

When the overdrive and compression are turned on together and the sustain is turned past 12o'clock the pedal gets quite noisy, a hum that does not go away.
I had 2 gripes about the sound.
1) It sounded as if the overdrive was muffled. It had an incomplete, thin sound to it. Almost like the volume was on too quietly, so I turned it up, but still a very thin sound. Missing mid-range I say.
2) The sound had a sag to it (which I guess it is supposed to have). If you hit the strings, then let them ring out, you here some sag right after you hit it. The tone kind of goes from bright to normal with every pick of the string. This made it have a very happy sound (similiar to the band "Jet") This just did not work for me.
I run a G&L SC-3 into a '84 MesaBoogie Mark II B+

steel casing seemed thick. It was a suprisingly light pedal for the size of it.

It was hard to find a dealer, the company did not post dealers on the net

I just did not like the tone of the pedal. I felt that something was taken out of the tone through the pedal(when it's turned on) I like a much thicker sound, this was not beefy. The only other thing was that the sag in the pedal was not my style. It sounded like it took a split second for it to gather its thoughts and send out a sound
In my search for this pedal I tried nearly 20 overdrive and similiar pedals. I found that the Fulltone Full-Drive2 was the best. Other pedals to check out- Electro Harmonix Big Muff, Voodoo Lab SparkleDrive, and the phat Fulltone Full-Drive2

Very easy to use if you know what you are doing....

this is the best compressor I have ever used and I have used them all.Very musical sounding w/ tons of gain.Really helps to get the best single coil clean sound you have ever heard (you will also need a good tele and a nice amp but this is another story...)
I leave it ALWAYS ON!
It also works great as a great low impedance buffer to clear up your sound if you use many pedals like me.
OD side sounds like a nice TS on steroids.

Built like a tank.

the only gripe I have w/ this pedal is that it needs a battery to operate in a TOTALLY silent way.I have tried every addaptor I could get my hands on (including VS 1spot) and it always had a low hum .
But a 9v duracell lasts 2 months in this baby so it will do...

Gain, tone, and volume for the overdrive side, sustain, tone and gain for the compression side. nothing you haven't seen before.

I use a fender 62 reissue strat (american), into the route 66, then into fender hot rod deluxe tube amp. Generally this pedal is pretty quiet. when the gain is all the way up it can get hissy, but no more than the average OD pedal. I like to use the comp side and the OD side together, and can get a really good SRV tone out of it. back off on the gain and you get a nice clean boost. This pedal also uses the JR blah-blah-blah chip that was used in the original TS808's, so you can get a tube screamer kind of sound out of it but without so much midrange, plus you can boost the bass. Even if you aren't a big Tube screamer fan you will like this pedal. Great tones right out of the box. when messing with the compressing and turning all levels to 9 or 10, I can even get a pretty convincing hendrix sound. Extremely versatile.

I havent' gigged with it yet, but it has a good heft and it looks like it's built like a tank. Very wide, so it won't tip over easily. switches are very sturdy.

Haven't had to deal with them, but their website (Visualsound.net) is good, with sound samples.

I have been playing blues and classic rock for quite a while and I can tell you that this pedal suites my needs just fine. I use it with a strat and a tube amp, it sounds like god on the neck pickup. If lost or stolen I would definetly buy a new one. When I was shopping for it a compared it against tube screamers, keeley modded tube screamers, pedals with actual preamp tubes in them, even an old hotcake pedal. This one was by far the best and suited my needs perfectly. does everything. It's awesome that it has a built in compressor that you can use to compliment the OD. The only reason I gave it a nine was to leave room for that dream pedal that may or may not come along. This pedal is my absolute favorite, and it has a decent price.

Easy to use if you have experience with compression and OD.

I play an '84 MIJ Squier tele with Fralin replacemnt pickups and a Raven RP-450 semi hollowbody PRS knock off with Fralin humbuckers into a custom made '65 Deluxe Reverb copy made by Sheldon Colin (point to point wired, orange caps, Weber speaker, blah, blah-simply killer!). It was a toss up between this pedal and the Pedalworx Texas Two Step. The price and the compressor flexibility sold me on this, never heard one before. When I first got it, I put my AnalogMan comprossor in front of the Rte. 66 (arguably the best compressor out there, Trey from Phish uses these). I was amazed at the sound of the Rte. 66 comp. Not only did it hold it's own, but I think it actually sounded a little looser and more musical. Now on to the OD. Wow! TS-808 heaven! I used to use the AnalogMan comp. in front of a vintage Ibanez SD-9 which is tone heaven with the tone and dist. settings set real low on the SD-9. I find that this Rte. 66 provides more flexibilty and ease of use and loses the nasal sizzle quality of the SD-9 when the setting are turned up. Basically it sounds better and the bass boost is nice too. You can go from great Texas blues to over the top sustain for days and everything in between. A really nice pedal at a great price.

Seems solid, and haven't heard any negatives on this one.

N/A

I play mostly jam band stuff (Phish/Dead) and blues and the Rte. 66 shines on so many levels. Time to unload the SD-9 and Comprossor. They sound great, but this thing is better. Sounds better with single coils IMHO. Two great pedals in one. No sh*t.

I replaced my Reverend Drivetrain with the Route 66 pedal, and I am amazed every time I use it. The O.D. alone is worth the cost of the pedal, but combining it with the compressor is SWEET!

I use a '62 Gibson S.G., a Dano tuner, a dano octave, the Boss V-wah, then the Route 66 into a Line 6 Delay. All this into a Peavey Classic 100 with a 115e cab. I can get those sweet Gilmore-esque sustaining notes, and I can get the Santana - Boogie sound as well.

I've only had the pedal 2 weeks, but I gig 2-3 times a week, and she's held up so far. No backup-

not yet.

I play alot of different atyles, from Reggae, blues, and funk, to classic rock, maybe a little hard stuff. I've been playing for 21 years, 15 of those years everyday 100%If this pedal was stolen, I'd buy 5 more.I love everything about this pedal, wouldn't change a thing. I've had a love affair with overdrive pedals the last year or so. Boss turbo O.D., Marshall Bluesbreaker,Jekyll&Hyde, H&K tubeman, Reverend Drivetrain, and finally the Route 66. I chose this pedal for it's ease of use, Smart combination with the compressor/sustainer, and of course, the TONE!

very easy to use, all the sounds sound good, the OD side is the ticket, and the compressor side is cool for solid chords.

I use this with a killer Demeter TGA amp & a Melancon Tele style guitar with stacked P-90's. IT gets a little noisy with both sides turned on, and a little tubby sounding also. The bypass does add alittle tone & volume to your amps sound, so if your amp sounds good, it will get more of the goodness out of it, but if your amp sounds just ok, well then it might sound bad. The thing i have been looking for is a solid overdrive better then my old trusty Boss super OD. and this pedal walks all over it. the OD is full, and rings with overtones & controled feedback, very cool. its not noisy by itself, so i use it without the compressor on. Just a killer overdrive pedal on its own, much better then most I have tryed...

looks like it built like a tank....

don't know?..have heard great things....

Been playing for over 32 years, been looking for a killer OD pedal forever. I have had, vintage tubescreamers, Klon, all the wantabee's tube screames, Boss OD-1, super OD, turbo OD, OD3, and the Blues pedal. Sparkle drive, fluid drive II, Dan electro's, and all the tube in the pedal types..this pedal sounds better to me then all of them..much more musical type of OD....