Visual Sound Route 66

This is an update on a post I already made about this great sounding pedal. I don't normally do this but I felt the need to say something about Visual Sound's customer service. It is truly amazing. I had a problem with the overdrive side of my pedal cutting out and at first I thought it was because on my bass boost switch. I emailed them about it and I got a prompt reply. Dana Weaver was very nice and she offered to send me another one right away. Less than a week later I got it and installed it and it turned out that wasn't the problem. I emailed her again and again she was very nice and helpful. I finally figured out that it was the footswitch and again I emailed Dana to tell her and she said she would send me a new one. Not only that I happened to mention that I also owned a Visual Sound Angry Fuzz and I was wondering if they happened to have t-shirts. Guess what? She totally sent me a free t-shirt as well. Customer service like that ensures I will keep buying Visual Sound products for a long time.

This pedal is very easy to use. I like the bass boost switch on the overdrive side which lets me taylor the effect for either the bridge pickup (with the boost on) or the neck pickup (with the boost off). The compressor is also easy to use, and both sides work great together.

I have used the 1st and 2nd versions of this pedal (not the V2) and I like both of them a lot, though the second version is a little better - has a bit more "gain" on the volume potentiometer. I can get very good "Clapton bluesbreaker" type sounds with the bass boost on using the bridge pickup (humbucking pickup), and nice fat bluesy sounds with the bass boost off using the neck pickup. It is a great pedal (the 2nd version gets a 10 and the first version maybe a 9).

No problems with reliability, though I haven't subjected it to abuse, so this is hypothetical to some extent.

Great customer service! They got me some parts (a battery cover and some rubber feet) which had been missing when I bought the pedal (used), and were very pleasant people to talk to. They seemed to appreciate getting customer feedback about their products (including some critical comments). All in all, great customer service.

I just like this pedal a lot - the combination of compressor and overdrive is very useful to have, and I can get the sounds I am looking for (mostly moderately overdriven sounds - blues, etc., with a bit of compression). I would definitely get another pedal 9the same kind) if mine were lost or stolen.

I have the V2 version which is the latest. This latest version includes all the upgrades that Keley would perform which lowered the noise level quite a bit compared to the one I had before. Very easy to use. It was a plug and play to get great sound. The manual shows you where to dial it in for certain styles. It nails the TS-8 sound and then some. The tone is incredible and it is very quite. Loves single coils.

Use a Fender Deluxe Tube Amp and many variations of a Strat. The new version is very quite. What is most striking to me is how much less hiss the compressor side has. They really did a great job at making that the best compressor I have. If you want SRV it is there all day. I can pull some Hendrix out with no problem. With the Fender Amp, forget about trying to nail Metal.

Built like a tank. It is supposed to be built for 20,000 stomps or more.

I did purchase another pedal from them off of ebay. They sell some of their refurbished pedals there. Great to deal with. Very friendly.

I play blues, rock (Hendrix to STP)and anything that catches my ear. This pedal is perfect for early rock and all blues. If you are looking at a TS-808 pedal (everyone seems to have the chip now), this is the best. I have several other brands and this newest version of Route 66 is so much better. I am selling the others as a matter of fact and this will become by main pedal. The compressor is outstanding. It is true bypass. I also just use the compressor with other pedals and it is outstanding as a stand alone. If you want a simple rig, this all in one is so great in front of a tube amp.

Fairly easy to use. works the same as most overdrive/distortion pedals. needs a fair amount tweaking going between humbuckers and single coils though (fair enough really)

really good. i used the distortion side for a nice blues crunch sound, and kicked in the compressor for a bigger, sustaining lead tone. sounds mint.

in a word, terrible. ive had this pedal for about 2 years and i have had everything go wrong with it that possibly could, and all just after the warranty ran out. the LED lights flickered on and off, the overdrive side cut in and out, when the pedal was moved or knocked slightly whilst on it would emit a brain alteringly loud screech. after paying a fortune to get this repaired, the compression side now seems to lose about half its signal when i kick it in.
going on what the other reviews say, i must have just got the dud one made on friday at 4.45, but its still irritating, especially when you're a music student and cant pay for pedal repairs!!

Fantastic sound, unfortunatly its inability to stay functional has left me somewhat suicidal.
go for the route 66 Version 2. apparently, they have the same sound but with most of the design kinks fixed up!

I found that I got very usable sounds out of this right out of the box and just after plugging it in. I got very good sounds out of this pedal after just a bit of twiddling the knobs. Unlike other compressor pedals I've had I was able to get the tone I was looking for almost immediately . The manual also gives you some examples to get you started.

The Route 66 says it's two pedals in one but actually it's 3 pedals in one. The compressor, the overdrive and also a clean boost. I'll start with the compressor. It is very transparent and does not color your tone unlike the MXR Dynacomp. Which I found to be more of an overdrive than a compressor. Pete Townshend once used one for that very purpose. I also found it to be a lot easier to use and get a good sound out of it unlike the Boss CS-3. There is some hiss the more you have the sustain knob turned up but the sustain is great. The clean boost is very transparent. Not quite as warm as my MXR Micro Amp but still very usable. The overdrive is Tubescreamer all the way. I have a TS-9 which I modded to TS-808 specs and when I A/B'd them side by side they sound almost exactly alike. In my opinion the Ibanez Tubescreamer is exactly what an overdrive pedal should sound like. It is the yardstick to which all other overdrive pedals are measured by. The Route 66 has done a great job of nailing that tone and with the added compressor it gives you one thing the Tubescreamer somewhat lacks and that's sustain. The bass boost is a nice feature to give more of a full sound but I found the tone switch to be completely unusable and it muddied up my tone.

This pedal has a very smart design and seems very solidly built. I wouldn't worry about gigging without a backup. Does anyone actually go around with 2 of every pedal when they gig?

Haven't had to deal with them so I couldn't say.

I'm very happy with this pedal. It's cleared up quite a bit of space on my pedal board. I no longer use my MXR Dynacomp, my TS-9 Tubescreamer and my MXR Micro Amp. The 3 pedals I have always used are a clean boost, a compressor and an overdrive. This pedal does all 3 and does them very well. I find this pedal to be very inspiring and if something ever happened to it I'd replace it in a second.

New model with two tone switches.

I'm not trying to get anyone else's sound, I have my own. This delivers clean distortion and compressor is very powerful. I rarely use them together, becuase it is overpowering. I use Am Deluxe strat, Les Paul, GS, and a hybrid semi-hollow body. All sound good, but the SG really stands out with compressor engaged. I use the tone boost on both sides for the strat. The compressor adds a lot of bottom end on my Fender tube amps, Champ and Princeton while still keeping it clean. Sounds very much like an 808 as advertised, perhaps better when you add the compressor.

I have heard of this comapny before so I have no idea.

I hope I never have to deal with them, but I have no idea.

Great pedal, two pedals in one, plus tone (bass) boost for low power amps. Works great with Champ, Princeton, Deluxe, even my Mesa 30 watter. It sounded good through a tranny amp when I bought it, much better at home with tube amps. Not for metal. not enough gain for that. Sweet singing sustain can really make a good guitar sound even better. Sould improve your sound using any amp, i tested with a 30 watt SS Crate amp, and Mexican Tele, so I figured it would sound much better with my equipment and it does diliver, but try it first.

It is simple to use. It's basically two effects in one. Half of the pedal is an overdirve with three knobs (Drive, Tone, Vol) the other half is a compressor with three knobs (Sutain, Tone, Gain).
There is a boost switch for the OD to give it some more low end. And there is also a tone switch on the compressor section to give it some more highs.It's easy to get a wide range of sounds out of it.

It is advertized to sound like a TS808; i can say that this is almost true, 'cause i've played a TS808. The overdrive is very smooth, and very clear. The definition of each note is very clear even on heavier settings. I can get good blues sounds out of it.
The compressor was exactly what I was looking for, very versatile giving a great range of tonal possibilites. From a tight squashed signal, to sustain that last for days. Being able to turn each effect on and off independently of one another is a great option.
My setup:
american standard fender strat > Crybaby Wha Wha> Route66 > Danelectro Cool cat > Behringer Preamp Boost> Electro Harmonix Holy Grail> Boss DD3 delay> Fender Hot Rod Deville 212.

It's made out of steel so it's durable, and I'm not worried about it dying on me.

they are very kind; you can get a very quick reply by e-mail.

I've been playing for 18 years, I play blues,classic rock, and jam music. (Hendrix, SRV, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc..) This overdrive is what i was looking for, nice thick and smooth, just the right ammount. And the compression is amazing. I've played several other pedals both compression and OD, and other combinations. This pedal blows them all away. The T-Rex Alberta maybe is the only other pedal that is better.This is the best pedal for the money, it combines two effects, and does a great job of keeping them independent of each other, and at the same time offers great possibilities when they're combined.

Very easy. The compressor is great and TS is just fabulous in this NEW Rt66 pedal - well done Bob !

It is 9.5 actually but Ok I give it 10.

I still have my old Rt66 that was noisy and muddy in the TS scetion and this is a major improvement.

My Barber TonePress or Keeley moded MXR are probably better compressors and my Keeley BD-2 phat is probably better than Rt66 TS but overall this pedal is hard to beat and I like it a lot - a keeper.

I play since 1960 and have all the very best gear in the world.

I wrote to Bob that Rt66 Mk I is not good enough and they delivered this Mk II model. It sounds great.

So I wrote to Bob again and asked for the Mk III model that will cost $250 but will have perfect compressor and perfect TS in one box :-)

Still, if you gig a lot then this is a must purchase.

Its very simple to use, push the button, turn a few knobs and go!

The sound of the compressor is absolutely heavenly, I've never heard a better clean sound than this compressor added with the tone control
"on". Ik play on a strat deluxe (ash) and a fender bassman 59 reissue.

It enhances the sound really bringing it to another level.
I play on 2 effect setups:

the first is a combination of the visual sound H2O (chorus and echo/delay), a jeckyll and hyde (high gain distortion and overdrive) and the route 66, finished with a volumepedal and a RMC wah.
All together in one flightcase ready to get almost every sound I need. I play rock, blues, pop and so on...

I recently wanted to get a sep higher and bought a G-systen (TC electronics) als a very nice peace of effects!!! But after programming several sound I kicked the Route 66 in the effects loop replacing the TC electronics compressor to maintain that unique sound I only managed to get by using the Route 66...

The overdrive section is also super... This pedal has it all...
Very nice work!

It's build very rugged, never had any problems...

Never needed them...

My advice is , if your looking for that one killer sound that not shapes but supports your guitarsound, don't hesitate get this Route 66 pedal.
(I should send a fee tot visual sound for promoting their products, haha.. but its really that good.)

A combination of the H2O, The jeckyll and hyde and route 66 is like having a threesome .. perfect sound.

Off course, you should also look a t the rest of your gear, it has to be ok to.

easy to use overdrive, the comp is rather noisy though.

I use strats and early metal panel Marshall amps.
I have used all types of drives in the past and used to also own a J&H.
I like the Route-66 much more and it seems to have more gain on the TS side which I didnt know.
Pedals that have been on my board in the past are as follows, OD-3, OD-1, DS-1, SD-1, Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive, GT-3, Mi Audio Crunch Box [still on the board] H.B.E Germania, Juice Box, OCD

I just picked mine up this evening after being blown away with the creamy amp and pedal combination, lots of gain on tap and really seems to make a good tube amp work hard. think Eric Johnson tone.
I dont use the compressor side, its very noisy when used in conjunction with the TS side plus I have no need for a comp.

I didnt think I would ever come across another drive pedal that would beat or equal the Crunch Box but this one equals it and gives me a creamier tone by a tad.
If youre a toneful player you will most likely enjoy this pedal.
the buffer seems to sound good and makes all my other pedals and amp sizzle a bit more without being harsh.
great for classic rock and blues stuff.

dunno but you would think it to be a tough pedal.

Ive heard good things.

Ive been playing for about 20 years and am a professional player.
We do the cover band thing for the most part aswell as other side projects.

I consider myself a true tonehound in every sense of the word, spend my time on amp and pedal forums alot because I just love all things tone.
this pedal is a keeper,
big tone, bass boost switch which is a good feature for combo amps,
lots of gain on tap, [I run mine with volume at amp unity and gain at 12 o'clock, tone at 3/4.
if you have a good amplifier and are happy with your base tone, this pedal will take you into tone heaven.

If youre not happy with yours, chances are youre playing the wrong amp, amps n cabs/speakers are at least 70 percent of your overall sound so get with the program.
If you dont believe me, try this.
play a cheap guitar through a cheap amp aswell as the most expensive guitar you can find. then repeat this with the same guitars but through a good amp. voila.

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...

2 switches, 3 knobs for each. not so bad if you've got some experience.

i've never been much of a comp. guy, but this one is great. (unfortunately, this pedal is old, and the comp switch is starting to go bad, but to that later....)

the distortion is more of a rock/ "marshall" type of sound, and it's great. boost is good, infact better than the j&hyde, which i also own.

this thing is beat to hell and still going.

a true 10. website is very informative, they have support by phone, email, plus can im via aim. responded within a few hours about switch going bad... with very reasonable repair cost via company.

i got this free from a coworker. he's more into metal- he gave me this. it's a few years old, pretty beat, but still works well and sounds good. the comp switch is sometimes iffy, but i'll get that fixed. i love this pedal. doesn't really have enough gain if you're strictly into metal, but works well for alt rock, rock, classic rock, blues, etc.....the comp is great for both clean and distorted applications. customer service for vs is beyond belief!

No brainer. This subject is really pointless to discuss in relation to this product

A bit noisy (the compressor adds a little hiss) but the idea here is that you get two effects in one...compression and overdrive. Both aren't bad but they don't measure up to something nice like a Keeley compressor and a tube screemer pedal separate. I would say though that since the price is about the same as a typical tube screamer it's worth having the compressor built in for the same money. The fact that it adds a little hiss doesn't make the feature not worth having. Anybody buying a tube screamer should buy this pedal instead for the added compressor feature and the same price...but I have to say that it doesn't compete with buying two separate pedals....

seems well built...hard to tell because it's new.

It sounds like your typical unmodded TS-9 with an added compressor. Not bad...If you are thinking about buying a tube screamer I would recommend buying this instead. If you were thinking about buying a Keeley compressor and combining it with a Keeley modded TS-9 or Klon pedal or something, don't kid yourself that this is just as good.

easy to get used t.. A few controls. If you know how to read your pretty much all set. can be kinda tough to eliminate feedback when both are kicked in.

It gets noisy or feedback when everything is boosted. If you want sustain this is the pedal for you. this is all you need to sound a lot like trey anastasio. comp. alone is very clean. kick in the OD and its a beast.

i can depend on this thing. if someone stole it id probly cry .

VISUAL SOUNDS COSTERMER SUPPORT IS AWESOME. Just today i had a question. I didnt even have to email them they have a screenname that they respond to instantly.

i play jam and rock. its quick to switch channels and has a good sound. iv got a 1970 sg and when it runs thru this its sweet. its also great for les pauls cuz ther heavy which gives you even more sustain ( i really like sustain)

This pedal is very easy to use. You can put it any way you like it. BUT, then, you can misuse it too. if you mess around too much with the tone knob, ik may get mudded up, or too sharp. The compressor part is quit subtle, it takes a while to find your own tone. The overdrive part is pretty straightforward.

I'm using this with an starfire special by DeArmond. r66 is first in line, then comes a Boss SD-1 whijch will be replaced by a delay soon. It runs into an Hughes and Kettner Edition tube amp. In this setup the compressor can make my guitar sound ultra clean, or give it a crisp thats on the edge of distortion. It beefens up, boosts, cleans, or sustains my sound at wish. It can get a little bit noisy when you put the sustain and the gain control on the comp way hi, combining it with a lot of gain from the od part.

I Can depend on this pedal in every situation. It is sturdy and so are the switches and knobs. The only thing that may happen is your battery running out. Thats why I use it with an adaptor. I do have a battery in it for if my adaptor gives up.

Wel I never dealt with them, but their site is neat

I play blues, and espacially the darker and fatter tones are perfect. I play in a coverband too, and the cleaner sounds are good for that. Because my guitar has a higher output level than a strat or tele, I don't get the SRV tones, but thats not what I'm after anyway.If it were stolen, I'd go to the store, buy a baseball bat and 5 inch nails. I'd put the nails in the top of the bat, and track down the thief. That is, after I had gotten a new r66. I compared the comp to the Boss CS-3 and the marshall Edward the compressor. The r66 beat em both. It helps me have an original sound. This is a WONDERFUL pedal.

Straight forward to use - see other descriptions

This pedal works great with my setup - Small class A amp and strat, LP, or melody maker. Set the amp so its on the edge of breaking up with a good bark; Step on the OD side to add harmonics and volume. The compression sounds great with my axe in the clean input for a little treble boost.

I've used this pedal for four years without a hitch until recently; See below

This is why I'm writing this ... I had a problem with the compression side, so I Emailed Visual Sound. Had a reply the next day with an idea of what to check. They were right on! Not only that, but when I told them what it was, they sent me the parts to repair it (two pots), FREE OF CHARGE!!! This pedal's four years old! Been playing 20+ years and I don't know ANY other company that would do that. We need to support companys like this that support us.

I like this pedal. I've owned many OD pedals in my travels, including a Big Muff (an original back when they first came out), and I still have two Boss OD-1's, but this is probably the most versatile and touch sensitive.

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....