Visual Sound Route 66

It's a versatile pedal as it's two discrete effects, so it takes some time blending the two to find out what you can do. Each effect on its own is pretty straight forward. I would say it's not a quick-out-of-the-box-you-can-use-it effect, as it seems to work best with a moderate compression setting blending with the overdrive, and it takes some attentive listening to finesse it.

Both the overdrive and the compressor sound good. There is a lot of gain from both sides, and stacking the two using gain can get generate a lot of noise, but to a large degree that's the nature of the beast with overdrive and compression. Personally, I prefer to have the noise than to gate it, and I think this pedal works best at lower gain settings, so it's not really an issue for me. I can see that using this with a noisy rig or in a noisy setting could exaggerate one's noise-to-signal level, and in some situations one may want to incorporate a noise gate. I play Strats and Teles through Rivera amps, so there is noise, but I use moderate gain from the pedal and get most of my overdrive from my amp, so I can live with this pedal.

I think the overdrive sounds pretty good, but it doesn't have the tonal richness and textural dynamics and depth (sorry for using such abstract and subjective language, but that the best I can describe it as) as my last over drive pedal, the Menatone Red Snapper. However, the Rt. 66 overdrive sounds good, and I think it sounds like a Tube Screamer. The bass boost switch is nice and it adds some more depth to the tone. Before I got this pedal I had a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde overdrive, but I exchanged it as I just didn't need all of the gain that the J&H provides, and I didn't have a compressor. I'm glad I traded the J&H for the Rt. 66, as the clean boost and added oomph from the compressor is nice. The Tube Screamer side of the Rt. 66 is voiced differently (it seems to me) than the Tube Screamer side of the J&H. On the Rt. 66 it has more drive and it distorts more, but there is less initial clean boost before the distortion kicks in (in fact, on the Rt. 66 there is no room for a clean boost with the Tube Screamer side, whereas on the J&H there is less gain and some initial clean boost with the Tube Screamer side). This is a good thing, for both pedals, as with the J&H one can get a clean boost on the TS side, and use the Hyde side for a heavier compressed distortion, and with the Rt. 66 any clean boost one might want will come from the compressor, and this works better as a clean boost than one would get with an overdrive. The TS side of the Rt. 66 has more gain than the TS side of the J&H, and it seems to be a bit in between the two sides of the J&H. I think that the way the two pedals work shows a well thought out design, as you can get good clean and a wide range of OD and distortion from either pedal.

The compressor sounds nice: it adds some sparkle and fatness at moderate settings, and the tone control works well--no muddying or shrilling of the guitar's tone. It will squish and pump the signal, but it's not as radical as some may like. My old Boss CS-1 was more extreme...it was like squeezing the sound out of a toothpaste tube: very radical and industrial havocy. This compressor is more tame and traditional, good for clean Nashville picking, but I best like it as a clean boost with some treble dialed in and a little compression...it adds some nice balls and presence to the tone. There is a lot of gain available from the compressor, it gets very loud, but with the volume comes the elevated noise floor, so this may be useful, but may be unusable for some.

I think the best tones from the pedal come from running the compressor with a slight boost and compression in to the overdrive with light (10 o'clock) drive: this really helps the tone and character of the overdrive, it seems to wake it up nicely and makes a good useful boost. Neither the overdrive or the compressor are tonally transparent: the overdrive has some mid-coloration (like a TS), and the compressor adds some lows and upper-mids.

The pedal has a buffered bypass. I don't think there's anything wrong with buffered bypass, and it's good to have a buffer in your signal chain if you're driving a lot of wire and pedals. I've had tru-bypass pedal that have noisy and poppy switches, so tru-bypass is no

I haven't had the pedal long enough to subject it to rough use, but it seems all right. The enclosure is a nice heavy gage steel, but it's a bent sheet metal design (similar to the Electro-Harmonix enclosures) so there are slight gaps where the folds meet , and I suppose it's not going to be as impervious to the elements as a Hammond enclosure, but I don't know how this would be a practical concern unless one where playing in a very dusty environment. The build quality and design seem good, but this a factory made pedal from Taiwan, not a hand-built small production pedal with the build aesthetics of a true boutique pedal (point-to-point wiring on perf board, etc.). The components are not visible as the PCB is the full size of the enclosure (you can only see the solder side). The jacks and pots are attached to the enclosure, but the footswitches are soldered directly to the PCB. I guess this makes for an easy way to anchor the PCB, but I suppose if a footswitch was ever to come loose it could strain the PCB (I'll check my switches periodically). The battery sits in a slot in a middle of the PCB. The battery cover is a flexible piece of plastic that one bends up and slides out of the way to get to the battery. This seems like an afterthought in design, and makes for more bulky relief on the bottom of the pedal which is a hassle if you're going to put Velcro on the bottom for a pedal board. All-in-all, it seems solid enough to me, it feels solid. I see the factory build method and design as a cross between Electro-Harmonix pedals and Boss pedals....solid enough, and I'm sure it makes the pedal more affordable than being point-to-point handwired (see Menatone for this style).

I've never needed it, but I've heard good thing about the service. People have good things to say about Bob Weil, and he presents himself as a guitar-playing-regular-guy. He's from Tennessee, and there's a bit of a southern Christian thing going on his website, but it's his website and that don't bother me (I know it turns some people off), but hopefully he's an honest Christian and he'll follow the commandment of: "thou shall not burn thy customer; thy shall stand behind thy product." :) I did send them a few e-mail with questions about the J&H, and never got a reply, but he's gotten enough praise here for his service that I'm not worried about it.

It's a good sounding versatile and useful pedal. It will fatten your sound and do good overdrive distortion, clean boost, and compression, or combinations of these effects. It's not a high-end boutique hand built p-t-p wired pedal, but it sounds very good, it is well designed and thought out, it's very useful, and it's very affordable, especially when you consider that it's a pair of well match discrete effects. The pedal looks real cool, too.
Personally, I'd like the tonal character and the by-pass to be more transparent, but I'm not bothered the tone of the pedal. I've been playing over twenty years, and I think I've got good ears for tone, and I like this pedal. I use Rivera amps and Fender guitars, got a Teese wah (the best wahs, IMO), and misc. digital gear from DeltaLab and Yamaha for effects, also a great old Gibson amp that sounds weirder than a Zvex pedal. I play in a funk/reggae band, but I play a lot of roots and blues rock and roll, also some pedal steel guitar with roots and honky-tonk. The thing I like best about the pedal is the boost--with or without overdrive, and the fatness it adds. I would replace it if I lost it, especially at this price. I think it's up there with the boutique pedals, and while it doesn't have the build aesthetics that some people like to pay big bucks for, the sound is ver good. At this point I wouldn't worry about a back-up for this pedal.

Dialin in a good sound is easy. The only thing I noticed is that the tone control really changes quickly when you go fully clockwise so the final amount of the turn contains the most tone changes. Not a smooth taper pot.

Use a variety of guitars and amps. Fender Deluxe, Studiomaster ValveLeadmaster with LP's, strat, 335, Heritage 535, tele, etc... The compressor is okay but not as good as my smooth, original MXR Dynacomp. I love that pedal. The overdrive is smooth and let's the guitar tone come thru. Not for metal but good for R&R.

Seem solid.

Never needed support but have sent a couple of emails and found them to be very responsive.

Play various styles of music. Been playing over 40 years. Own lots of gear. Used to own lots of other gear. Had all the good stuff everybody wants now. BF Super Reverb, BF Twin, tube echoplex, Marshall SuperLead 100, 65 strat, gold top Les Paul, etc.....This pedal is easy to use, sounds good and is not unreasonably priced. It just does the job.

This is an update of my previous review. There is one really cool thing this pedal does that no other pedal will do. Will explain below.

You can use this pedal to get a 3 channel amp effect from a single channel amp. Here's how this works, using my Bassman reissue as an example: 1- Dial amp to find "sweet spot", where gain is regulated by pick attack. 2- Set compressor to clean up the tone and get a little more sustain. 3- Set OD for a boost with a little edge. 4- When you need a distorted sound, use the OD. When you need a clean sound, use the compressor. When you need a solo boost, stomp both switches at once. This is the coolest thing since toasted bagels with cream cheese. For this feature alone, this pedal goes to 11 on the 1-10 scale.

My earlier review mentions the killer reliability of this pedal. It is everything you could expect from a bank safe, but is cheaper and more fun.

Bob Weil has the mojo, but is not a mofo.

Ideally, I play straight up rock'n'roll with no frills, but I have to play blues, r'n'b, and anything else I can fake to make ends meet. This pedal is always in use. I bought a backup, just in case, but haven't needed it yet.

Start with the knobs at 12 o'clock and tweak them 'til you like your tone -- how difficult could that be...

Wat tha hell man. I kant evun gett a gud corn ton frum dis peddle... Just kidding. I have borrowed one of these a few times and may just go out and buy one soon. It's a good sounding unit and well worth the price. Some complain of the noise -- here's the deal: Put ANY compressor in front of ANY overdrive, turn the knobs all the way up, and... you'll get a ton of noise. The trick is that the pedal has... you guessed it... KNOBS on it!!! And one can turn these KNOBS to get a long sustaining, lush tone with nice attack and minimal noise -- only takes a little bit of brain-power...

I have only borrowed one of these to check it out. Seems that everyone else is having no problems.

Overall, a good product. I have so much equipment that I am not sure I need one of these, but if I come across one and the price is right, I'd probably pick one up. Good value as well. If VS goes under or discontinues this model, I am certain the price for one of these will sky-rocket.

Would be better if it had bigger knobs you could adjust with your feet. Otherwise, it's great.

Don't use the compressor with single coils, especially if you play on a stage where the lights are on the same circuit as the stage power. This is absolute hell. If you do this, get a noise gate, otherwise the 60 cycle hum will be amplified to the point where you will be forced to assault nearby innocents. The sounds themselves are wonderful.

This pedal had a full pint of beer dumped directly in it during last Mardi Gras, and it worked fine the next day. Probably 5 or 6 drunken fat chicks have fallen smack on top of this pedal without incident. It's pretty cool.

Bob Weil seems like a pretty straight up guy, and the company seems to care alot about the individual client. This is great.

Other than the noise, I think this thing is the cat's ass.

I've been playing for 6 years, I play classic rock, and jam music. (Hendrix, SRV, Dire Straits, Zep, Phish, Dead, etc) This overdrive is what i was looking for, nice thick and smooth, just the right ammount. And the compression is amazing. I can't reiterate enough how versatile this pedal can be.
I've played several other pedals both compression and OD, and other combinations. (Danelctro Daddy-o, 70's MXR Vintage Dynacomp, Tech 21 comptortion) This pedal blows them all away. The Daddy-o was nice, but not nearly as smooth as this, a little bit rougher around the edges (which is sometimes desierable.) The Comptortion was the only other pedal that i know of that is trying to combine distortion and compression, it didn't have independent switches, and it got noisier the more compression you added.
If it were stolen I'd get another, without a doubt.
The one thing I liked more about other OD pedals was separate EQ knobs (i.e. treble, bass, mid) but the one tone knob can dial in exactly what you're looking for on this pedal.
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.

i didn't like the settings in the manual, but adjustment is not too hard if you've used an overdrive before, and you know what you are looking for tone-wise. compressor is slightly tougher, but i've never had one previously and i don't use it much, so difficulties there probably lie with the user, me!

good od sound. maybe a little too much gain for my taste, but by no means are there any really heavy dist. sounds in there. bass boost works well on "thin" bridge pickups. as for those that say there are no clean/edge of od sounds here, i disagree, they are very low on the gain knob, but i usually can get them, in fact that's mostly what i use this pedal for. comp. is nice, i just don't use it for much other than a lead boost when using od. there's some nice sounds when mixing the two if one pays attention to matching up the separate eq settings. i like a top-heavy od setting with a mid-heavy comp. setting and the bass boost, seems to give the best overall clarity when using the two together. the comp. alone is interesting, mostly just not my cup of tea. however, the few times i have used it i've been suprised at the country lead sounds available with single coils. one qualifier: you MUST use a regulated power supply or the comp. will be noisy. i run this with the following: gib. blueshawk,strat(tex. spec. pu's), hamer (sym. dunc. 59's) and an epi 335. seems to be friendly with other pedals: maxon phaser, eh polychorus. running into del. rev. reissue,peavey delta blues, sovtek mig 50. i really don't notice a big effect on bypassed tone, even though it is not true bypass. maybe a little chimey, if that makes since, but i'm pretty picky about that issue (i've had some bad expereinces with pedals that sound great when on, and like crap when bypassed) and this is the only non true bypass pedal i use regularly so i really can't complain.

so far so good, only had this 9 mos. or so

no experience here. i own this and the 1-spot, both were purchased from retail dist. and i've had no prob. with either, i hope i never do.

this ended my search for an od pedal. i played it directly against the jek. & hyde, i thought this sounded better than jekyl and i didn't like hyde much at all. wanted to try a fulldrive, couldn't find one locally, have a jamming partner with maxon 808 and voodoo labs sparkle drive. i've played with 808 a little, and i like this one better from very limited experience, haven't tinkered with sparkle dr. yet, but it seems to sound pretty similar. i would replace it or get the sprkle drive if lost/stolen. been playing 6-7 yrs. mostly blues/rock/alternative? or whatever seems fun at the moment. used with a variety of tube amp/speaker combinations and multiple pickup types and guitars. good all around od, maybe not the best, but it's higher quality than my playing so it works for me!

I almost bought this after a home and band practice check but there are a few shortcomings not mentioned yet.
Good concept, easy to use, but not all combinations yield good results--of course.

Note:
-VS's pure bypass seems to add a bit of top-end sheen
-the comp section EQ is quite toppy or muddy, no neutral setting
-the distortion is very good BUT it will not do an almost clean on the edge sound-too much gain- maybe also not enough gain with bite for tapper types
-bass boost is almost too much but usable

-does need a regulated PS per VS instructions

The manual they sent gave very "noisy settings". However I've owned numerous overdrives and figured this one out in a couple of days.

I own a Les Paul with Duncan 59s in both positions and I use a reissue Bassman and a reissue JTM 45 with an A/B box. I found the compressor channel to be very noisy when used by itself especially with the gain too high. Mostly I have been playing through the overdrive side which I have fell in love with. With the drive set straight up and the level cranked it pushes both my amps into creamy, smooth overdrive. The real fun comes in when you kick in the compressor to add to the drive. I found that using both pickups with the overdrive and compressor and guitar volume rolled back yielded some great BB King licks. This pedal also sounds great when used with a TS-9 set for a lead boost. Sounds much better than the Maxon 808 which made my tone weak and thin.

Have only had it for 2 weeks.

Very friendly, I sent them an email and they actually took the time to write back.

I play mostly blues or blues-rock and I find this pedal to be much better than many of its higher priced competitors (Maxon 808, Maxon 820, Fulltone, etc.) I've been playing for about 4 years now and I consider myself a bit of a tone snob, this definitely satisfies my tone jones. I would defintely get another if something happened to this one, I love how smooth the overdrive is with my amps. I thought the price should've been more like a Drivetrain though, considering Bob Weil helped make both, but for two pedals in one its a good value.

It takes awhile to find the right sound.The manual doesn't give good sound examples,just experiment with it yourself.

I use a fender american tube series- blues junior,I also use my Gibson ES-135(TOTALLY worth the money!) with my R.66. I must say getting the volumes to match on both sides is frustrating.For example:You can have the compressor on and you have to turn the gain up to hear,now it's fine to combine with the overdrive as long as you don't have the sustain all the way up,but if you do, and you switch it on after you have your overdrive on, the volume jumps rediculously!You also have to hold your hand lightly on the strings to keep it from serious feedback.Now to the good: The sustain is incredible, i had a single note held for almost 25 sec. I love the distortion!It has a clean warm vintage sound,perfect for blues or classic rock!
This pedal is definately a keeper.Buy a seperate pedal with it if you
play slow leads, but for fast it's great!

It's very dependable,i can switch back and forth with sounds without delayed response. I use it's effects alone most of the time,(with a digital tuner) and i play in a youth group of about 150.Sometimes i use a delay with it.I use a fuzz effect on my zoom gfx707 when i need crunch.(by the way, the zoom is only good for the tuner in it and the fuzz and delay sorta,don't buy it!you will regret it.)If your battery is low one effect will go out before the other.

i haven't had to contact them yet, but their warranty is good.

I play a variety from classic rock,to bluesrock,southernrock,acoustic stuff too.I've been playing almost 3 years.I also own a zoomGFX707 and a dunlop wah, i regret both.If my Rt.66 was stolen or lost, i would get another one or buy a tubescreamer turbo dlx..I love the distortion,that's my favorite feature. I kinda like the compression.I love the sustain except when you have it up all the way,although it holds great the feedback and the volume jump are ridiculous,that gets on my nerves.I compared to the tubescreamer, pretty similar considering a copy of the TS-808 original is in the Rt.66.I chose it for the added sustain and warmth and clean distortion.I wish it had a feedback reducer and only one volume knob that would even the volume out.It helps me out with my songs i make up, because i can hear all my notes clean and clear and play contemporary christian rock(Third-Day and Audio A like sound),classic, and blues rock.

I got great tones out of this pedal after two minutes - all the controls do exactly what they say . It's a doddle to use .

Using this pedal with a Strat and Trace Elliot Velocette (same as Gibson Goldtone) amp I can get superb Hendrix, Chilli Peppers tones and even better country rock tones at bedroom volumes . When I turn it up, superb becomes awesome . The compressor is excellent on its own, far better than my Boss, with a shed load of gain if I want it . Combined with the overdrive it catches fire! For stinging chord work it beats any other unit I have tried . Surf,The Clash, Sparklehorse, it's all here . Downsides ? This is not a Death / Nu Metal pedal, so Slipknot or Raging Speedhorn types should look elsewhere, and it can get noisy with the drive and volume up, but seeing as I use single coils and listen to Sparklehorse what do I care ! Turn up the sustain and gain as well and feedback insanity ensues - great for Sonic Youth impressions . Also the overdrive is noticeably stronger with the bass boost on .These are minor faults (to me) when compared to the plus points of this pedal . When I run this into my Big Muff - Oh Lordy !!!

Looks bombproof. In fact it looks like a fall out shelter for cockroaches .

Had a hell of a game trying to find one in the U.K. E-mailed Bob at Visual Sound and he got straight back to me with help . I eventually got one mail order from the German distributor Musik-Produktiv for 150 Euros (about 95 Quid) . Try www.musik-productiv.de . They were incredibly helpful and spoke perfect English, and even allowing for mail and currency charges were #30 cheaper than in England ! And it only took three days to arrive !

Its Just what I wanted from an overdrive pedal .If I lost it I would definately get another, but not at U.K. prices . #130 is a rip - off, but 150 euros is a bit of a bargain .

Lovely analogue OD and Compression.Stomp switch for each side.Manual switch for added bass on OD side(if you`ve got nimble feet you might be able to flick it on mid solo)

The OD is good,beeter than most not as good as some.It`s the compression side that holds an alladins cave of tone.Dial up a mild drive on your favourite valve amp(mines a Marshall JCM900).Wind all the controls up on the compressor and then stomp on it.Then bathe in sonic bliss.This thing is XXXXin` smokin`.Switch to your clean channel .Start playing some Bo Didley,the punch will make your clothes hurt.Wind the compression down a bit,back the pedal tone off a bit and you can make your Marshall sound like a Fender.(I only play single coils so I don`t know how it sounds with humbuckers).
The compression alone gets a 10.OD aswell!this pedal is a 10++.

Lets face it,nothing lasts forever.But it is fairly sturdy.The Battery sits in a gap in the circuit board wich seems a bit foolishly designed.Use the D.C.input(9v)and it may save snapping the circuit board.I never use any back up gear,and I would have confidence in the pedal.(see other reviews)

N/A

I`m a very typical guitarist.Over the years I`ve tried to assimilate all the great styles.Charlie Christian.Django,Jimi,Carlos,Nile Rogers, FZ,the Three Kings,the list is endless.I like effects,but ultimately they bore me and pale into insignificance compared to straight in your face guitar tone.Guitar,valve amp with reverb and one pedal.For me it`s a tele with a baseball bat neck.Marshall JCM900
50 watt dual reverb combo loaded with a celestion(as all marshalls are)and this pedal.If this pedal were stolen it wouldn`t be the end of the world but I would try to by another.Try plenty before you buy.
I also recommend the session Jerry donaghue pre amp(Monster mid scoop)
Marshall bluesbreaker pedal.Don`t waste your hard earned cash on some vintage piece of bullshit(E.g.Ibanez Tube Screamer).Good luck to all those looking for the final piece othe jigsaw for there perfect rig.
This pedal may well be it.Try it.

This is an update; see my Sep 2000 review.

This is an update; see my Sep 2000 review.

Here's what I wanted to update. I've been playing this pedal hard for nearly two years now and am very impressed how well it has held up.

Most recently I was backing up Sally Taylor (daughter of James Taylor/Carly Simon) for five nights in, of all places, northern Thailand. The first two nights were at a very primitive outdoor place called Rasta Cafe, in conditions I'd say approximated setting up and playing at the beach, complete with plenty of fine sand and high humidity. The crowd was dense and unruly and moshed all over my cables and effects, spilling beer right and left, etc. Someone knocked my Strat over and dinged it bad; the jewel light on my vintage Vibrolux Reverb stopped working and the reverb knob broke in half; my Boss DM-2 gave up the ghost, almost nothing came through unscathed.

Of course the 66 been subjected to pretty heavy treatment throughout the last 19 months or so, but after that particular gig it looked like it had been through a war - caked in mud, paint-chipped all to hell, bits of mysterious color that could be vomit and/or blood as far as I can tell.

The Rte 66 never hiccupped, and worked just fine for the next three nights at a tamer venue.

So I just wanted to express kudos to Visual Sounds for building their stuff right.

This is an update; see my Sep 2000 review.

OD AND COMP. WITH A BASS BOAST. TOOK ABOUT TEN SECONDS TO REALIZE THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLE SOUNDIND PEDAL.

PEDAL IS INCREDIBLE THE OD SOUND ALONE IS WORTH THE PRICE. THEN ADD A VERY VERY GOOD COMP. WITH A SMOOTH BASS BOAST. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG HERE.

I PLAY WITH AN ADAPTOR BUT SURE YOU COULD USE THIS PEDAL WITHOUT A BACKUP.

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM.

I PLAYED THROUGH EVERY OD PEDAL I CAME ACROSS. OWNED MOST AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. I PICKED THIS PEDAL UP IN A STORE JUST ON A WHIM. LIKE I SAID I'VE BEEN PLAYING THEM ALL AND LOOKING FOR A GREAT WARM BLUESY, TUBE SOUNDING PEDAL. THAT SOUNDED NATURAL,COULD HERE THE INDIVIDUAL NOTES WHEN CORDS ARE PLAYED. I TELL YOU, WHEN I PICKED UP THIS PEDAL MY JOURNEY ENDED. BIGGEST FEAR IS THEY'LL STOP MAKING THIS AND MINE WILL SHIT THE BED. ONE THING I HAVEN'T HEARD MENTIONED MUCH IN THE REVIEWS FOR THIS PEDAL. IT IS VERY, VERY, NOISY WHEN YOU PLAY THROUGH THE COMP. BUT THE SOUND WILL BLOW YOU AWAY A SUPERB SOUNDING COMP. AND THE BASS SWITCH IS LIKE GRAVY. REALLY.

The pedal combines a basic overdrive unit and a compressor, each with a separate footswitch. The overdrive unit has a limited range, so it's easy to get the good tones that it has. The compressor operation is also straightforward. The most important controls on each involve tone. The overdrive emphasizes low mids, even without the separate bass boost switch, so I tend to leave the tone control cranked up. The compressor is voiced brightly, so that tone control is left at about 12 o'clock.

Like lots of us, I've been through a zillion overdrive or distortion units. I went for this one because it combined a compressor and overdrive, and I think they all should. Sometimes you want the overdrive to kick in for background crunch, and for solos you want the volume boosted, and this does both. I'll never go back to a single footswitch pedal again.

The overdrive sound is pretty much a one-trick pony. It's a good simulation of straining the tubes, but the heavy metalers, or even Marshall/HiWatt aspirants, may find it lacking.

The compressor is a delight. Most compressors muddy the sound; this one brightens it. I use it mostly for a volume boost, but with just a touch of squeeze. It helps the overdrive stand out for solos, but with a great bonus--it makes the clean sounds better as well. A great example is that it compensates superbly for the loss in volume on the 2 and 4 positions on a Strat.

I give it a 9 for sound. I was tempted to go lower because the overdrive is only fine, with limited range, but the compressor convinces me to go higher.

The unit is in a solid metal box, and everything seems sturdy.

I had a little trouble with another Visual Sound unit and compatibility with non-VS AC adapters. As other reviewers have noted, the head of Visual Sound will be right back to you to answer your email. I haven't had to exchange a product, but the help and support is fabulous.

I'm the sort of person who likes multiple separate effects, so I can control them on the fly rather than hoping that the pre-programmed sounds will cut it at the gig. For those like me, this is a great pedal. One can easily set it to give a good background distortion, tight projecting solos, and an excellent clean boost. The FullTone may have slightly better tone, but at a considerable price premium. A Sparkle Drive sounds good, too, but with only one switch, you can't easily control volume and have so much at one's command. If this disappeared, I'd get another.

The overdrive is very easy to use, with the standard drive, tone, and volume controls. The compression also is controlled by 3 knobs, but it takes a bit of time to learn how to get useful sounds out of it, and also how to use it with the overdrive. The bass boost switch works on both of the other effects, and improves the entire pedal

The overdrive is one of the best I've ever used. Straight up it sounds like a TS-808, and with the bass boost switch it sounds even better, giving one of the smoothest and fattest overdrives I've ever heard outside of a tube amp. The compression is a bit harder to use, but serves very well as a tool to add a bit of boost to your signal, or to make your overall sound brighter and chimier. The compression is a bit noisy, but all compressions are.

It hasn't broken yet, and seems well constructed.

I haven't dealt with them yet, but I have heard good things from others about their responsiveness and willingness to help.

This is the best pedal I have found for getting versatile tube-like overdrive without having to dime a tube amp. If mine is lost I will buy another one. It will do anything from adding a bit of boost to your signal without changing its basic character to giving a solid hard rock sound (especially with the bass boost switch).

Simple to use. The only odd thing is the 'home' position markers for the knobs are at 3 o'clock not 12 o'clock.

At first I wasn't overly impressed with the sound but I have grown to like it. The overdrive does colour the sound, but in a way that I like. There is a bass boost switch which is good in theory but is too woofy on the gain channel of my Marshall JTM 30. A pot to control the amount of bass would seem more useful to me. So the overdrive without it is a little thin. This thinness is an advantage in some ways. Ninth chords sit in the mix very nice this way. I had been yearning for more grind and harmonic content, but now I'm content with this overdrive adding a little burn to the notes.

The compressor I have no complaints about. It is fat sounding. If your clean sound is a little lame, this will deliver big time. I wish I had this years ago when I had done some county gigs.

To rate these individually I'd say the overdrive is an 8 and the compressor is a 9.

No problems here. I've gigged for about a year with it. Odd shape though.

I bought this at Steve's Music in Toronto. The salesperson mishandled the order twice. Next time I would probably buy it off ebay. The feedback system would keep bozos like this in check.

I don't have any beef with Visual Sound however, and I suspect that their great.

I'm fairly pleased with it. I would like to see more boost available on the overdrive side (the compressor side has a ton of boost). And the overdrive side could have a way to control the amount of bass.
Also on my rig (Nitefly or Jackson into JTM 30) the overdrive and compressor don't seem to work that well together, but sound fine individually.

This pedal is very easy to use and the manual gives some great guidlines on settings.

The OD drive gives a great bluesy sound and the compressor works great for a clean boost. Also the bass boost switch with the OD makes for a great OD tone

It is very dependable and I gig without a backup.

I promise you will not find better customer support any where. I have been emailed directly by the owner, even had a follow up phone call from the owner. Bob is a great person

I would buy this a again if it were stolen. I have been playing for 20 years. I like blues, southern rock, classic rock sounds. I primarily play praise and worship music.

The unit is very self explanatory if you have worked either an overdrive or compression before.. Just set some dials and play.. You do need to play with the unit to get what you want, that's true for most pedals I think.

I play blues and classic rock, so the tones I'm looking for, depending on the tune, go from a Les Paul through a Marshall to SRV to BB King. My Amp and guitars helps with that to a great extent(a Rivera, Les Paul, 335 and a Strat), but this unit seems to help me to that end as well. If we are gigging in a space where I can't drive the output section of my amp as much as I would like, this unit seems to give me the added cruch and drive I'm looking for. This unit seems to give me both a warm compression sound (warm not meaning bassy, but as in un-harsh) very similiar to the Ross, yet without making my downstream effects hum. The Ross does sound better, but since it's apparently become collectable and valueable, I'll save that for recording or sell it. The overdrive is warm, the bass kick is nice depending on the guitar im using, through my les paul on the bridge pickup it can be nice, throughy my Strat on the neck pick-up it sounds like crap. Depends on the guitar and what you are playing. I am a lead guitar player, pure and simple. So lead tone, anywhere from searing and hot to SRV to cool jazz influenced, is what im chasing, depending on the tune. Bass flabbyness or too much bass is my enemy as well as enemic or harsh or brittle top end. I don't play metal, although I don't think a metal player would be all that interested in this pedal. I strongly state that WHAT you play and How you play are more important that ANYTHING a pedal, guitar or amp can add, but this pedal will certainly can add to your tone when used in the right spots.

I have backup.. I never gig without backup of some sort. If it died during a gig, I'd go to plan B. It seems pretty sturdy to me. I haven't had it long enough to make any assesement here.

I have no idea.

For what I play, I like this pedal. I won't use it every song, as the song and the space will dictate what sounds best that day. I have other overdrive pedals (a FD2 and a Ts-9), both of which I have a like/dislike thing going. We all are searching for tone that fits us, that suits our styles. For me, this pedal will work for some circustances and tunes.

It took me 30 seconds to dial in some nice overdrive. The manual says the overdrive was voiced to be like a Tube Screamer TS808, I found it between an early Boss OD-1 and a Tube Screamer (it could be a bit more transparent). The compression channel works better for clean boost (give your amp a little more headroom). However, I was also able to dial in some nice dirt on it as well. Running both channels together was tricky, but you can get some usable sounds out of it. The lay out is very simple and usable.

I have been playing with my 1965 stratocaster through a 1960 Tweed Vibrolux. I will be experimenting with some other sets up, but right now it works fine with the strat/vibrolux setup.

I haven't had it long enough to rate it for reliability, but it looks to be pretty solid and should be fine....however, I would bring my Boss OD-2 as a backup (the Boss OD-2 I have is actully a nice pedal).

I haven't had to contact customer support and hope that I don't!

I play mostly Blues & Rock and this is a good pedal for style. I have been playing for about 7 years. I have been looking for a nice overdrive pedal and this one seems to be the one. I compared it to a Klon which would have cost $300.00. The Klon was a nice pedal, but I found this one to be it's equal and price was not the issue.

Easy to use. Manual is very basic but helpful as a starting point. Dials are self explanatory. Compressor side requires a little more tweaking.

I play a custon Fender strat with single coils and humbucker combinations. I play into a Mesa/Boogie subway rocket reverb and use the route 66 for a blues overdrive and the amps overdrive for the nasty stuff. The unit is quiet, even the compressor(for a compressor)and both sound great. You can get an SRV overdrive sound with the right tweaking and the compressor is great for a clean boost as well as adding a sparkle to the clean channel of my Boogie( not quite Fender clean). The compressor can also get a good squashed sound if thats what your into. I used to own a Boss blues driver and compressor/sustainer and the route 66 sounds much better to me. Especially the compressor.

I have owned it for about a year and have had no problems. I jam with friends about twice a month so it doesn't get much road abuse.

I e-mailed visual sound once with some questions and my e-mail was replied to promtly. I don't see any problems here.

Excellent pedal for my style and use. I like mostly blues, some classic rock and am getting into jazz. This pedal will suit those styles for me.

Very user friendly, just turn the knobs to dial in a good tone. As was said before, running both effects at the same time can be tricky. The manual says to watch your levels if you're using both compression and overdrive. I tend to use one or the other.

I bought it mainly for the compression, and am very impressed. It has a snappy yet expansive sound, very old-school. I compared it with a Boss CS-3 and the the Route 66 sounded much better - more high end coming through, yet plenty of sustain. A very warm compression sound, and the clean boost (gain knob) was a nice feature as well. You can use this to drive your amp a little harder, or balance out the volume levels. The overdrive side (tubescreamer 808 clone) is also a great sound - round and smooth, rather transparent. I use it as an "extra" overdrive on top of my amps dirty channel for over-the-top distortion, or as a different sound from my amp's distortion.

Seems solid, not quite as tough looking as a Boss pedal, but definitely quality construction.

Excellent customer support. He answers e-mails promptly and is happy to answer your questions. I've never had problems with VS products, but did have some questions before buying.

A great pedal. I use the compression for clean guitar sounds, especially when playing slide guitar. The overdrive side is really just a bonus for me - I'd buy this for the compression alone. The unit has a warm analog sound, and it's hard to get a bad sound out of it. Definitely blows away the Boss compressors, and having two pedals (plus the clean boost) for the price of one, how can you go wrong?

It is somewhat difficult to figure out how to use the two effects together (volume) other than that it is quite basic

This box far exceeds most others I have tried. The Route 66 and a fender tele make a perfect match (esp. with the use of the bass boost). The Edge just ordered 2 of them and Daniel Lanios picked up one himself. You can't go wrong here.

I have personally never experienced problems but I have heard these little boxes can have some problems...

Never had to deal with them.

This is a great general overdrive. Buy one and then buy another for your best friend.

very easy to set up-manual has a few sample settings to get you started.

good compressor-i wonder what(if anything)it's modelled after? the 808 side is cool with the bass boost...both sides together aren't that noisy if reasonably set.

who knows?

heard they were good to deal with-hope i don't have to.

nice concept-an OD with a compressor that can be used like seperate effects or together...i also have their jekyll&hyde OD which gets used quite a bit-this one has it's own set of uses.

Very easy to use, three knobs per side with a bass boost. The bass boost is too boomy for my taste. I got it from a fire sale at a store, it reaally did survive a fire, and it works well. What impresses me the most is that it by-passes beautifully. So many pedals can't by-pass to save their life (ProCo Rat, ElectroHarmonix, Marshall). This does, switching is silent and the tone is very good (especially the compression).

Overdrive is about a 7. It clips in pretty well, but gets woofy, especially with the bass boost. The compression is very good, about a 9. Keeps the sound very tight in my Mesa-Boogie Studio Caliber (I highly reccomend this amp or any Boogie). I use: G&L S500 stock, Fender Squire MIJ 83 with Rio Grande Tallboys (N & M) with a Lindy Fralin Steel Pole in the Bridge, home built swamp ash tele with Bill Lawrence 280 (N) 290 (B). Works well with all of these axes (overdrive is great with the tele).

Seems pretty solid. I'd preffer a sealed chassis to prevent dust build up. Quiet switching (SwitchCraft) and good point to point soldering. Yeah, you could go without a backup. Just keep plenty of batteries (Radio Shack house brand rocks. Dollar for dollar, better value than anyone). If the chassis were a unit of one (sealed welds at the folds and points, it'll get a ten).

Haven't had to deal with them.

I'm a rock/blues player, some metal. This is basically a really good pedal. I'm still tweaking between everything (Rocktron Rampage Distortion, Morely Pro Wha) and this is a good value of a pedal. Very brown sound for you EVH fans. Created some great classic sounds in the Rhythm Section of my amp (AC/DC, Led Zep) The compression works really well for clean or overdrive/distortion sections. Clean, makes great Metallica (Enter Sandman opening section) sound. Clipped overdrive gets some pretty rootsy Texas blues. Pushed out gets a bit too muddy for me. Like I said, I'm still working with it and don't plan to get rid of it. I like it, and for $70-$100+, you are getting two very functional pedals for the dime. Does the Overdrive work as well as a TS-9? Well, the by-pass works better and the tone is pretty damn good. Easy to match amp level to pedal level. I've been as honest as possible about this and the only thing that I can say is drive the guys at your local music store nuts by trying everything. Get on an amp that is much like yours and an axe. Plug in, play open chords and check the by-pass, levels on and off. Plug in direct to the amp, then back through the pedal. When it's off (the pedal), does it screw with the sound? Bad pedal to have. Seek out Rocktron Pedals as well, they are amazing.

3 knobs on each channel. That's it. It took me about 5 minutes to get a killer sound

I'm using a PRS McCarty thru a mesa boogie Nomad. I also run a TS-9 into the Route 66 to a crybaby wah into a boss delay. First off, the overdrive was pretty nice. I prefer the TS-9 sound (a little darker) but I use it as a bit of a boost. The compressor is what blew me away. The compressed clean tone is perfect. I love that squashed sound it adds. Overdriven is just as good. I don't use tons of gain for the most part, but every note sings w/ this thing on. Lead tones are perfect, especially with the neck pickup. I am a big fan of Phish, and right when I plugged this pedal in, I got that smooth, squishy Trey Anastasio tone. I recommend this pedal to anyone who wants a fat huge blues sound.

I haven't had a problem yet, and it seems very solid

I have been playing for about 8 years now, and I play classic rock, jam stuff (Phish, Dead) and originals. This pedal is a true step up for me in tone. Good overdrive and fabulous compression(beats the hell out of the Dynacomp). Turn this thing on and immediately notice a kick ass difference in tone.

No manual needed. If you can make a cup of coffee, you can operate this...

My main guitar is a Gretsch Electromatic. The Rt.66 is the only stomp-box in my signal-path. I push the signal into a Torque R50 (a solid-state Brit-make amp). Man, does it sound like a valve amp! Especially with the compressor added to the mix. When I switch from treble to rhythm (on the guitar), my leads really cuts through the symbals. Great dynamics.

The gain and volume on the pedal is more than enough (lots of headroom). There's no hum on the OD. The comp (like any other, I suppose) has a bit of a hum.

I pretty much go for a seventies-rock sound. I find that the Rt.66 has a mix of clean sound with the OD, which I love.

If you don't want a sterile stereotyped sound, buy this baby...

I've been using it for almost 1 year now, and no problems (yet)...

No support needed. It looks good from the other reviews.

I've been playing for 4 1/2 years. Our band is grungy, with a 70's rock influence.

Other gear includes: Marshall TSL100 amp, BOSS Wah (total piece of shit, I've tried the Morley. Much better!), Zoom 505 (restricted piece of crap), Marshall Vibratrem (good piece of equipment).

I would defintely replace it if it gets stolen, or such.

I had a Marshall Guv'nor in mind, but the salesperson convinced me to get the Rt.66. I prefer the Rt.66... (anyhow, it's 2 in 1). And it's ALL I need.

Both the compressor and the orverdrive are very easy to use, manual tells you what you need to know!

I use both humbuckers and single coil guitars, Fender Princeton Chorus combo (for practice), and strait to the "board" at Church (where I play)I'm not sure you can get a BAD sound out of this unit, both sides have worked well together for me so far! The compressor can be a little noisy but not bad at all. Sounds great, I've heard lots of coments ,,,,, and all have been good!!!!!!!!

This thing is built very , very solid,,,,,, Yes I'll go without a back up!

I emailed them, and Bob Weil himself got back to me the very next day,,,,, he was extremely helpful and a very nice guy to boot.

I play Cristian contemporary , Praise&Worship, with heavey rock/blues flavor. I've been playing over 20 years.If it was lost/stolen I'd try to find another used one and IF I had the money would buy a new one the next day.I have had/have these overdrives,,, Arion, Boss SD-1,and Multi FX units with OD and I have these other compressor pedals, Pearl , Boss CS-3. This is a very musical unit, YES it helps me make music!

2 sections - 3 knobs each - 1 footswitch for each section. Ok it's not an MXR single knob phaser but it still ain't rocket science.

I use this device with a Tele Plus thru either a Peavey delta Blues (great amp) or Fender Blues Junior (so I've got an EL-84 fixation). Very low noise even on high gain settings with a battery but if using an adapter (wall wart) you MUST use one of the suggested models otherwise there is a loud hum from the compressor side. This is NOT the fault of the unit al all; it's just letting you know it wants REGULATED juice. The compressor, at low settings adds a lot of sparkle and presence to the Telecaster. I don't use high comp settings much but they are very musical and make the not sing a long time. The overdrive section is unreal. Move over TS-808! The bass boost switch puts SERIOUS bottom on the sound but it NEVER sounds muddy. I have been all over the lot on the dials on both sides - there is not a bad sound there. VS has done their homework (unlike a lot of my students!).

Check out the metal case - can you say indestructible? I knew you could. OK I wouldn't let my pet elephant stand on it but it sould withstand serious abuse (but then I don't abuse any of my gear either so it should last forever). Backups? We don't need no stinking backups!

I e-mailed VS about the aforementioned hum with my adapter and they got back to me with info within 2 days - I got an e-mail from the boss while he was in Asia and was informed the day I e-mailed him that there might be a delay due to his trip - fantastic support as far as I'm concerned. VS is a great comapny to do business with.

I originally got this after reading a guitar player review and being ticked at the long wait for a Voodoo Sparkle Drive. Am I glad I switched my order - this thing is a two for one pedal that blows any TS-808 or clone away. As far as I'm concerned the Route 66 should be THE choice for a blues/rock OD.

This pedal is very easy to use, as long as you view it as 2 seperate pedals. Features have already been covered.

I am using this with an american Tele and an SRV strat. Also have used it with a Washburn 335 style guitar. For amps I'm using a Twin and a Laney VC-30 (vox rip off). The sound is good, but not very inspiring. It is your basic overdrive, but that is what it is meant to be. I use the pedal with the tone about halfway up, the volume set to half, and the drive completely off. My amp is turn up to the brink of distortion. I am trying to get a sound that remniscent of a cranked amp(isn't everyone?)and while I can get a passable sound, the clarity that I am searching for is not there. The compression is nothing spectacular. While I can use it to add sustain, I find it different to get a very squishy sound.

This pedal is extremely dependable. I've been gigging with it for almost 2 years and have had no problems. The paint, however, is not so reliable. It has been severly scuffed. The Route 66 logo is almost gone. But this, for me, is really not an issue.

never dealt with them

I play music that is best described as Zep meats Phish with plenty of funk thrown in. Also, I aspire to play jazz. This pedal, dispite it's lack of overall clarity, is well suited for these styles of music(except the jazz). I've been playing for about 4 years. I own a bunch of other pedals, but this is my only overdrive. It gets the job done. I like the idea of putting two effects together, but, while I do like it, I don't love the actual sound of these effects either seperate or used together. If it had a better a compression and a more natural overdrive sound I would never get rid of it. It can help me make music I suppose, but then again the music I make is not that good. If your looking for a good sounding workhorse OD pedal this would be a good choice.

it's really easy to get to grips with.overdrive and compressor that can be used seperately or both together just like 2 seperate pedals.

i think it sounds amazing.even at it's highest settings you can hear every note which is good.it doesn't turn into mush.it's also really loud which is great.too many pedals have to be maxed out in order to match up your bypassed and effected sound.
the compressor is one of the best i've heard.gives plenty of sustain and works well with other effects.
the bass boost switch rarely gets turned off.it gives the overdrive a real deep tone but still stays clear.

i've had it for about 3 hours and it still hasn't broken.that must be a record.

i phoned them up and they shouted at me.oh well

overall i can't be bothered typing anymore.
buy it if you want.
i couldn't care less

This is a fairly easy to use straight forward two in one pedal. While it's easy to get good sounds out of the compressor and the overdrive individually, making them work well individually and together is a little more difficult. It's a brain buster or anything like that, but it does take a little more effort that just plugging in and playing. The sample settings that come with the manual are usefull for getting your feet wet.

Let me start off by saying that I really love this pedal. My best friend bought one (see the review a little ways down by "Parenthetical") and despite some inital problems really liked it. He he brought it over for me to try out with some new amps that I had bought and at the time I thought it was pretty cool. I really liked the compressor a lot. It gave me the kind of boost that I like for vintage instrumental rock like Link Wray, The Ventures, etc. as well as a nice fat lead tone for clean or dirty sounds. At the time I had a Budda Phatman pedal that I thought was OK and I was looking to buy the Full Drive 2 so I didn't rush right out to get one. A few months later my friend and I were at his studio in preperation for a recording project that we're doing together. I brought my Full Drive 2 over and tried it out through his blackface modified Deluxe Reverb. The Full Drive 2 sounded great (like it does with all of my amps). I then tried the Route 66 through the Deluxe and I was torn between the Full Drive 2 and the Route 66. I like the zesty powerful sound that the Full Drive 2 has, but I also love the slightly mellower drive with a hint of clean tone of the Route 66 and that compressor. Wow! The tone and versitility of this pedal just floored me. What finally clinched it for me was the fact that I was having tremendous difficulty getting a Carl Martin compressor for my pedal board thanks to American Musical Supply which had been on backorder forever. I finally said screw it and cancelled the order and went to Musician's Friend where I got the Route 66 for $99 saving me a ton of cash over the Carl Martin. So not only did I get a kick ass compressor I also got another great overdrive tone for my pedal board. At $99 I can't see why anyone would bother buying a Tube Screamer reissue. With the bass boost you get everything you wish the TS9 had plus you get one of the most musical compressor pedals out there that will provide you with endlessly sustaining overdrive. What a screaming deal. I can also be a witness to the fact that these work great on bass too. My friend played his Fender Jazz Bass Elite through the Route 66 into a 50 watt JCM800 into a 2x10 and a 1x15 cab. The sound was very punchy and tight without sounding small and clicky. When he kicked in the overdrive it didn't wuss out like some overdrives do with bass. As far as my own set up goes, I have an obscene number of amps, guitars and pedals so I really have had a chance to put this pedal through it's paces. I mostly use Fender, Marshall, Hiwatt, and Orange amps (vintage and vintage reissue) and American Fender, Hamer USA and Gretsch guitars. For pedasls I usually prefer Fulltone, Electro Harmonix, and Danelectro. I play a wide variety of guitar oriented styles from Oldies instrumental, Noies pop and some heavy stuff. The Route 66 pedal is on par with the Full Drive 2. That's not to say they sound the same, but the quality of the sound and workmanship are on about the same level. If you can afford it, get them both. You won't be dissapointed. One other awesome thing about the Route 66 pedal is it's built in buffering. When I put the Route 66 pedal before my tone eating Electro Harmonix pedals (they don't have true bypass) instead of the muddy tone I normally get when they're bypassed, I get the same sound I get when I'm plugged into my amp. As if the Route 66 wasn't cool enough without the buffering! Not only does it sound awesome, but it makes my other pedals sound better. I couldn't be more pleased. (P.S. If you are a fan of the Small Stone, Small Clone or Electric Mistress, the Route 66's overdrive works amazingly well with these effects [I think it's because of the hint of clean signal in the Route 66's overdrive] and the comrpessor works great with the Big Muff for fat sustaining tones.)

I have not had any problems in the short amount of time that I have owned mine and the other times I have played my friend's I have not experienced any problems, but his didn't work when he first got it so that has me a little worried. However, I dont expect to have too many (if any) problems with mine. It seems very well made.

I have not had to deal with them but I hear they are the definition of customer support

This pedal is an unbeatable value. You would not be able to find an overdrive and a compressor that sounds this awesome for $99 PERIOD. Not even for the $129 price that these normally go for (not even for the $169 list price). Add in the built in buffering and this pedal becomes a must have. Hell, even your mom can appreciate that. If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy two. Seriously! I'm thinking of buying a second one for my bass rig.

Pretty simple. If you know how to use a pedal...

I loved the sound of this pedal. The overdrive and comp. were both great effects seperately and together. I could get some cool psychedelic era sounds out of it and even some Trey Anastasio tone. The volume would kind of get out of control when the effects were used together, but all it took was some fine tuning of some volume knobs and all was well.

This is where I'm dissapointed. I have had two of these pedals, and both of them had the same problem. The overdrive and compression stopped functioning together but worked seperately. The first one i had worked for about two weeks, but then this happened and i sent it back to musicians friend and they sent me a new one. The new one worked great for about two days. I am never rough with my pedals and i am dissapointed that this happened. I am going to return it this time and buy like five of those litte dano pedals for the same price.

I got a new one when my first one broke, but that is musicians friend and not visual sound so i dont really know

i dont like this thing. it sound slike crap through my amp. if your looking for a nice blues lead pedal i wouldnt buy this one. and if you are in fact interested in one anyway you can buy mine ;)

I dont like it at all for the overdrive. The compressor side is pretty nice though. im running it through a fender american strat with EMG SA pickups --the dave gilmour setup. the overdrive sounds like crap.

hasnt failed me yet...then again i never use the piece of crap.

DONT BUY THIS. this is a waste of money. i want to get rid of mine after having it for a few weeks.

EASY, but not obvious how to adjust compressor vs overdrive:
a ot of experimentation needed wth a set up you
actually use.

Compressor gets 10 - probably the ost musical out there !

The overdrive gets only 8 as I must confess that SansAmp Clasic,
TubeScreamer TS-5 and also the Award JD-20 produce smoother
overdrive that integrates BETER than the one in tis box:
strange but true.

While the compressor is a winner and I eep it on all te time
the overdrive I switch only to add an extra sustain to
already singing guitar (say to sustain a note like Gary Moore does).

OK in my gigs so far.

Nice replies from the manufacturer.

I play Strats or Les Pauls through CryBaby Vah then into Route 66
compressor then into Award JD-20 overdrive (or SansAmp Classic
or sometimes TS-5 for extra tube-push) into the Fender Champ
all Tube 12 combo: and it sings - FABULOUS.

As I said the overdrive is not easily used with compressor
yet it does a nice job on its own as a blues overdrive.

Not evident how to optimally combine te two !
Needs some experimenation.

Recommendation: if you are a serious guitarist - BUY ONE!

The compressor will greatly improve your tube sound!

YES, the COMPRESSOR alone is worth the price and the
OD is handy, but you may use another OD in series as I do.

This pedal is self-explanatory. After owning five different multi-effects processors, I went back to stomp boxes. This thing is as easy as turning a couple of knobs and dialing in what you want to hear. Knobs are easy, with plenty of room to get your fingers on them.

I gave this a 9 because I'm not sure I could ever find a perfect 10. The Route 66 comes very close, at least for my needs. I use it with a Nashville Deluxe Tele, and sometimes a Strat, into either a Peavey Classic 50/410 or a Music Man HD212. It took a little time to play around with it and find the sounds I was looking for. It was just a matter of playing with it a lot and finding out what it will do. I love the compressor side, as it beats up anything else I have used. On top of that, it is very usable, either as a clean boost or with a bit of "squash" to balance everything out. It took me a little while to experiment with the overdrive side, but I finally found the correct adjustments for me, and it gets better every time I use it. I don't use the bass boost much, because it doesn't suit my style or my set-up. I've never been a huge fan of heavy bottom in the lead guitar anyway. But, if you like that, the bass boost works great.

So far it is a workhorse. We play twice a week on average, and I haven't had a bit of trouble. I would use it without a backup. I do have to qualify that because I have about 20 different pedals stored in my equipment trailer. However, I never pull one out "just in case". I have great confidence in this pedal

The only contact I had was when I emailed them to find out about AC adapter compatability. They responded immediately, and thanked me for buying their pedal. He also said that if I had any questions or problems to contact him. I would have to say that they probably stand by their products 100%. Hopefully, this one will last and I'll never have to use them.

I hate to keep giving 10's, but this pedal deserves them. We play primarily hot rod country and older rock, and this pedal does everything I ask it to do. The sound is great. I've stripped my rig down to the Route 66, a Chorus, and a tap delay. If I was going to be picky, I would like some way to balance the effects outputs so the volume is consistent when using the effects together. I set the volume on the compressor side, and I set the volume on the overdrive side. When you play them together, the volume becomes too loud, and you have to back one of them off. I don't even know if it is possible to do this from an engineering standpoint.
If this pedal was stolen, I would order another one immediately.

The pedal is well laid out, with three knobs dedicated to the OD side of the pedal, and three for the compression side. The knobs have a slightly soft and rubbery feel, making them easy to turn without slipping.

A printed sheet came with the unit listing a bunch of sample settings for each side of the pedal, plus both effects combined. They were sort of useful as a starting point, although I found the suggested gain to be too high on just about all of the samples. I ended up coming up with my own settings after experimenting.

Knowing it wouldn't be very convenient to bend down and change the settings while playing, I spent about an hour finding good settings for each side before taking it out for its first gig.

I'm primarily using a Fender Am. Deluxe Strat with Vintage Noiseless p/u's through Fender RocPro 1000 amp. In case you're not familiar with the amp, let me just quickly point out -- because this is relevant to why I needed this pedal and how I'm using it -- that it's a 100-watt amp with a solid-state power amp and tube pre-amp. It has a clean channel and a gain channel with a choice of two OD settings, thus giving you, in effect, three channels. This amp sounds great cranked, but I've found that at lower volume settings the sound is a little thin and lacking oomph, even when using the OD settings. I've been playing with a band that does roots rock, blues and reggae at a couple of small clubs, and the other guys in the band use smaller amps, and I was just finding that the RocPro was wimping out at that level. I sort of figured I'd have to go out and get another amp, something like a Peavey Classic 30 or a Fender Blues Jr. to get that cranked sound, but after reading a few reviews I thought I'd try the Route 66 first, figuring if it didn't work out I could sell it and try another amp.

I guess it's obvious I'm not much into pedals. I've just about always relied on cooking the amp to get the sound I wanted, dating back to the days when I played through a 100-watt Marshall double stack or the old Fender Super that I wish I'd never sold.

Anyway this pedal has done exactly what I'd hoped it would. Running the comp side adds a surprising amount of sparkle to my tone at the volume levels we're playing at, not to mention the general 'thickening' I expected. That side produces a fair amount of hum, but it's not at all noticeable when playing with the band.

When I experimented with the settings at home, I liked the OD side and the comp side separately, but not so much together. It just got a little wild. However in the course of the first set I played live with this thing, I quickly got to liking the two together, typically playing rhythym and soft fills with the comp side only -- in other words pretty much leaving it on all the time -- and then punching the OD side when I increased attack to take a solo. I was pretty careful to set the gain on both sides, incidentally, so that there wasn't a real noticeable volume boost when playing them together. What the OD side added to the mix was a slight softening of the sonic edges, taking away the icepick quality that would have resulted if I'd whacked away at full pick attack using the comp side and my Strat volume knob only. It sounded very cool to my ears and I could see that it struck the other guitarist and the musos in the audience who were paying attention. It also produced the perfect amount of sustain -- not artificially long but that clear Strat kind of sustain that comes through in, say, Jimi's Voodoo Chile (not the Slight Return version that everyone plays nowadays but the loose jamming one that never gets on the 'greatest hits' collections).

A couple comments on the settings. I'm deliriously glad that both sides of the pedal have tone controls, as I find I need to really crank the EQ toward the high side to produce a tone that matches the straight guitar-to-amp tones I usually play. Without the tone up to around 3 o'clock, it's too dark for my tastes.

The other thing is that I have to keep the gain/volume down on both sides, again to match the gain of the guitar straight, as I'm not looking for volume -- the RocPro already has too much for this gig -- but rather tone.

With these two parameters figured out, I can set the EQ and gain/volume knobs on both sides and leave them. That means I only have to mess with the level controls (Sustain on the compside, Drive on the OD side)to adjust for tone.

It also means I don't even hook up the channel footswitch for the amp, since I play this pedal through the clean channel. I tried it out in combination with the RocPro's drive channels and it just didn't allow the pedal to perform at its optimum, in my opinion.

To sum

I've only used it a few times so far but it seems really well built. I'd love to have a backup, and when I get back to the States I might get one.

One comment I can make about its toughness is that I had Visual Sounds ship it to San Diego, and from San Diego a friend shipped it to me in Chiang Mai, Thailand, so it probably got knocked around quite a bit, yet worked fine as soon as I slipped a 9 volt into its underside.

I traded a couple emails with Visual Sounds, mostly trying to figure out which pedal was right for me, their Jekyll & Hide or the Route 66. They tried to put me on the right track, but really without hearing me play there's no way ... Hey did I think they'd be clairvoyant or something?

But I came away with the general feeling that if I should have trouble with this pedal, they'd probably stand behind their work.

I compared features with several others -- Fulltone, ZVex, Barber, etc -- and this seemed to have exactly what I was looking for. I'm sure those other pedals are good, but the combo of OD and compression was just what I was looking for. I'm really happy because this pedal saved me the cost of buying a smaller amp. Funny how you can get big tone out of small amp but you can't get big tone out of big amp at low settings. I think all 100watt amps should be switchable to 25watts for small club gigs, studio, and practice.

The hardest thing about using the pedal is deciding how you want it dialed in. You've got one side "Based" upon the fabled TS-808 (with added "Bass Boost" switch), and the other is a compressor. The manual states how to use it, which is obcious, plus it gives some recomended settings that are decent enough, plus a good reference if you'r not sure how to use the two funcitons togethr or have little exoeriance with a compressor.

I use this baby with a Blues Pearl Texas Tornado (Copy of a Fender Deluxe) and either a '69 Thinline RI or a '68 Strat RI. Sometimes I use this pedal alone or with a Fultone '69, Cry baby, Big Muff pi, Danelectro Tuna Melt, Arion Delay or Chorus. But mostly by itself.

The Overdrive sounds nice and rich, not too gainy and not fizzy at all. The Compressor is lush, squashed, or crystalin, depending on how you dial it in. Can be used as a "Clean Boost" too. The two together can be a smooth sustainy treat (yeah!!!). Great for controlled feedback without the noise. Also, I like to put my Fuzz pedals in front of this to drive it to more violin-like sustain.

Built like a tank. My one complaint would be the battery hatch, but that's a minmal complaint and has not been a problem. The knobs appear to be solid enough, the box itself is sturdy, and the switches are quite confidant.
I'd gig without a backup and not even worry.

Never had a problem, can't tell yet. I'll trust that their customer service can be reflected by the fact that this thing doesnt have any issues...

I play Blues/Classic Rock/Psychadellic/Avante Garde/Alternawhatever. I try to use more late '60s early 70's influenced tones, this thing helps me to nail them.
If it were stolen or died in a fire, I'd replace it. I've heard this thing called "The Poor Mans Fulldrive", I don't know how accurate that is, I've plugged into one of those only once, but I'd quote that from what I can tell about the simalarities in the two boxes.

I use this baby every time I play.

Really easy to use, particularly if you're familiar with compression-the manual also has some sample settings which are good starting points-Actually, it's pretty hard to get a bad sound of this pedal

I use the Route 66 with a Tele, a Rickenabacker 360 and a PRS all into a Vox AC-30 or a modded Fender Hot Rod Deluxe-It's part of my pedalboard setup of Vox wah>Boss CS-3>Vox Valvetone>Route 66>Ernie Ball Volume Pedal>Boss Tremolo>Boss Delay- The Route 66 is fantastic. I bought it for the overdrive side, but the compressor has become my favorite. The OD is based on the TS-808 and does sound great...the bass switch adds that nice low end oomph, especially with the Tele, and it has a wonderful transparent quality...but the compressor is amazing. It fattens up my sound so much without losing the dynamics of the attack-I mainly use it as a clean boost, to push the AC-30 over the edge and kick a song into that other level, but it sounds so good that I wish I had another Route 66 just for the compressor to add that fat warmth all the time. I realise this is a bit effusive, but it is a fantastic tone. There is nothing quite like stepping on that compressor button and kicking back in with the band-it's like a house falls on the place, just epic. The best thing I can say about it is that I feel that the Route 66 has made me a better player because of the confidence I have with it on my pedal board. I'll stop there as it's starting to sound like I work for Visual Sound or something....

Well. My band plays live very regularly and travels quite extensively internationally. So far I've dragged this pedal to South Africa, Finland and all over England in the 4-5 months I've had it. I've only recently gotten a decent roadcase for my pedals after driving myself crazy traveling around with a piece of wood with velcro on it, so I wasn't totally surprised when the switch on the OD side gave me some trouble last week while we were on tour in Finland. I sprayed some contact cleaner on it and stepped on the switch about twenty times and it worked for the rest of the tour so I was stoked that it worked, but a little bummed that it gave me a hassle.

Okay, this is the reason I'm even writing this review-When the pedal gave me some trouble last week, I called Visual Sound and left a message on the Friday night before we flew out of London to Finland explaining the switch problem and asking for help. The next day (Saturday!) we were in the Arctic Circle to start the tour and Bob, the owner of Visual Sound, called me on my cellphone to try and help me figure out the problem. He didn't have a distributor in Finland but he told me some stuff to try and said he'd send a new switch to London immediately so it would be there when I got home. Sure enough, we got home two days ago and there was my new switch. Needless to say, I was totally impressed by that level of customer service. Bob, you rock. Too bad there's no eleven for this category.

This is my first review here although I do check in and read stuff often. I'm a bit of a tone hound, but at the end of the day I really appreciate gear that helps me get the sound I want easily night after night on the road. When I read stuff here, I usually think that I should write a few reviews after all the rubbish I've tried in pursuit of a good honest raw tone. But frankly, I've never cared enough about a piece of gear to take the time to write a review until I got the Route 66 and had some contact with Bob at Visual Sound. Hence the review, which I realise is a bit glowing, but hey, I really like the pedal and the company and I've got the hours of use to back it up. I highly recommend it...even more than the Jekyll and Hyde-now if Bob would only make a pedal with just the compressor....

This pedal really is a piece of cake if you've been playing for a while. One side is setup like a TS-808 while the other is a Compressor/Sustainor. The instruction sheet can give you a push if you can't figure it out too.

I am using a Strat with Rio Grande pickups (2 halfbreeds N/M, Muy Grande B) into various effects (depending on the gig or session) into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. This pedal is exactly what I have been looking to find for years!!! I have had PRS, Gibson, Yamaha and Ibanez guitars running into Several Boogies, Marshall and Ampeg amps and must say that my setup is the best ever. (The PRS into the MKIII was awesome but I still think that this sound is better) If used properly, you can get any sound out of this pedal you want. I use it rather minimally on the settings and set a modded TS-9 after it for really hot and crunchy sounds. Otherwise the three different combinations possible with the pedal at a time are incredible. The compressor/sustainor channel alone is worth the money. The screaming clean leads I get from it are sweet and singing. Kicking in the overdrive with the bass boost is a dream for both leads and rhythm.
I only had one problem with this pedal (read below)

My first gig out with this thing was a disaster. I went to hit a lead, and the sound died. I took it home to re-create the problem, and it would. It seems that there might be some kind of issue with using batteries with this thing. After 5-15 minutes of use mine would die out one channel at a time (starting with the compression) even with brand new batteries. I bought a boss 9v regulated adapter and now it works like a dream. Everyone that hears my sound now exclaims that I have a sweet smooth tone. The reliability has been great since then. I'll give a 7 here only because of that fateful gig.

Bob is a great guy. He offered to pay for shipping and get my pedal back to me the next day..... I love the pedal too much to let go for even that long.

I play a wide variety of styles... Jazz, Funk, R&B, Country, WorldBeat, Fusion, Rock, Latin (I stay away from heavy metal and the likes usually). This pedal is perfect for what I do.
I have been playing guitar for 17 years, and am really actually a bass player by nature and own mostly bass gear. If stolen, I would run (not walk) and get a new one. This thing smokes my Modded TS-9.
If you are looking for that smooth sustainy sound (especially for a strat), check this thing out.

This pedal really is a piece of cake if you've been playing for a while. One side is setup like a TS-808 while the other is a Compressor/Sustainor. The instruction sheet can give you a push if you can't figure it out too.

I am using a Strat with Rio Grande pickups (2 halfbreeds N/M, Muy Grande B) into various effects (depending on the gig or session) into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. This pedal is exactly what I have been looking to find for years!!! I have had PRS, Gibson, Yamaha and Ibanez guitars running into Several Boogies, Marshall and Ampeg amps and must say that my setup is the best ever. (The PRS into the MKIII was awesome but I still think that this sound is better) If used properly, you can get any sound out of this pedal you want. I use it rather minimally on the settings and set a modded TS-9 after it for really hot and crunchy sounds. Otherwise the three different combinations possible with the pedal at a time are incredible. The compressor/sustainor channel alone is worth the money. The screaming clean leads I get from it are sweet and singing. Kicking in the overdrive with the bass boost is a dream for both leads and rhythm.
I only had one problem with this pedal (read below)

My first gig out with this thing was a disaster. I went to hit a lead, and the sound died. I took it home to re-create the problem, and it would. It seems that there might be some kind of issue with using batteries with this thing. After 5-15 minutes of use mine would die out one channel at a time (starting with the compression) even with brand new batteries. I bought a boss 9v regulated adapter and now it works like a dream. Everyone that hears my sound now exclaims that I have a sweet smooth tone. The reliability has been great since then. I'll give a 7 here only because of that fateful gig.

Bob is a great guy. He offered to pay for shipping and get my pedal back to me the next day..... I love the pedal too much to let go for even that long.

I play a wide variety of styles... Jazz, Funk, R&B, Country, WorldBeat, Fusion, Rock, Latin (I stay away from heavy metal and the likes usually). This pedal is perfect for what I do.
I have been playing guitar for 17 years, and am really actually a bass player by nature and own mostly bass gear. If stolen, I would run (not walk) and get a new one. This thing smokes my Modded TS-9.
If you are looking for that smooth sustainy sound (especially for a strat), check this thing out.

Very easy to use, even without the manual. A number of useful sounds with different settings.

I love the combination of Compression/Phat Overdrive! The Compression side helps mellow out my clean sound and the Overdrive side gives me a warm growl for a bit of an edge. Love it!! Just what I need for Alternative/Rock/Mellow Contemporary Worship music.

Set up is like this:
G&L Legacy Strat
into
Route 66 (using that tone delivery thing, ya know...)
into
Purple Bud Wah
into
Boss DS-1 (for midrangy, fuzzy, crunch)
into
DOD FX 90 Analog Delay (for warm, bouncy, slap-back)
into
Boss TU-2 Tuner
into
Peavey (I heard that cringe) Delta Blues (30w tube) with a 1x15.

Can't leave home without it!!

Groovy so far...

Couldn't tell ya, yet... hope I don't need to find out. But, I do love the way the company seems to be run! And I think their website is excellent! Please GET US THAT CHORUS/DELAY PEDAL QUICKLY!!

(PS if you guys need anyone to demo a prototype or anything....:)

I love it... I wish I could afford the J&H model too, with the soon-coming Chorus/Delay pedal, but, alas, I'm a mere youth pastor with limited cashola (like everyone else I'd imagine).

The Route 66 is just what I needed for leading our Jr. High worship team in contemporary worship. Warm, round, phat, and with an edge when I need it. Thank you so much for the sweet deal!

Easy to use and hard to get a bad sound.

Strat > Rt 66 > Fender Twin Amp. I have the compressor gain at guitar signal level (I already have a clean boost on my amp) and the overdrive volume a little higher, which means that both knobs are BARELY ON. Set up like this, of course the pedal is NOT noisy at all. I leave the compressor on all the time, which squashes the dynamics and smooths out my attack. The compressor 'pops' on the attack if the sustain is set high. The overdrive is simply the best I've tried - smooth and sustaining, with higher gain than I expected. Even at very low volume through a practise amp, the overdrive sounds fantastic. The bass boost fattens up single coils nicely.

Hard to say, but the black labelling scuffs very easily.

Never had to deal with them.

Being picky, I have to say this pedal is an ugly-looking beast and, to my mind, oddly designed. A square or rectangular shape would have made the pedal more stable and less likely to flip over when stomping on. Also I'd have preferred the compressor on the left-hand side with the green LED, and what's the overdrive bass boost switch doing on the compressor side? The main thing is the sound, though, and this thing definitely delivers. Although not an issue for me, as I have the compressor on all the time, I feel such a quality pedal really ought to have true bypass.

This is a follow up post to my earlier post. Since I posted earlier I got my ts9 modded to 808 specs and some other new additions to my line up.
I know have a 1971 SF Twin Reverb (no master volume) and let me tell you the difference between tubes and solid state is the difference between night and day.
I run my setup like this:
60s strat>Teese RMC3 wah >MXR loop selector > Route 66 > Line 6 DL4 > Twin Reverb.
The Ts9 is in the loop selector so it comes before the route 66 but is taken out of the chain when I don't use it.
I leave the compression of the Route 66 on all the time I like having my signal remain constant and I like the compressed tones I get. I use the ts9 for light and medium crunch, mostly rhythm work and some lead work. I use the OD on the route 66 for heavier OD.
The main thing I do is turn the two on together. with the compressor it keeps everyhgin pretty level and I don't have either of the OD's set to extreme settings. The result is a thick full long lasting OD. I can hold a note sustaining for 8 measures or more, without having it thin out. (And this is on a strat!)
Putting the Ts9 and Route 66 side by side, the Route 66 nails the Ts9 tone no problem, but that's only the begining. The tone of a ts9 with drive at 10 is at about 6 or 7 on the route 66, so you can keep adding more gain to get a much fuller robust OD (the bass boost also helps in this department)
I'm very satisfied with my setup, I really can't pick favorites among the two pedals because they each have their respective uses in my setup. And the combination of the two gives me the thick never ending sustain I always dreamed of.
5 months down the road and I'm still 100% satisfied with this pedal.

I have used this thing on several gigs now and it has never failed me.

After my first review I got a very nice email from the boys at VS, it's nice to know that they're looking after their customers and doing everything they can to keep them happy.

Simply put, one side is overdrive, the other is compression. Three knobs per side (OD = drive, tone, volume....Comp = sustain, tone, gain). Oh yeah, there's also a bass boost switch. It has 2 step switches so you can turn on OD, Comp or both. Easy. It comes with suggested settings, but I didn't use them, it was very easy to get great sounds out of it.

My rig is 1981 Gibson 335, 1991 Am. Tele, 1981 Gibson Victory MVX into a 1977 Fender Pro Reverb (70 watts). This thing sounds great. The compression is very clean and clear. Using this you can nail Cropper and SRV tones, you know the big fat assed clean sound. The overdrive is modeled after a Tubescreamer (which I have never played through, or heard live that I know of) and sounds GREAT. The bonus is that both effects can be combined for really great results. I also have a Boss Blues Driver, Vox Valve-Tone, and a Marshall Edward the Compressor pedal. This thing eats all three of them alive.

Steel case...seems sturdy enough.

Unknown, but they have a toll free phone number and website.

I have been studying guitar for 2 years, playing mostly blues and classic rock. I'm no expert or virtuoso. I love this thing. I decided this year to pay money for quality gear rather that wasting $ searching for low cost fixes that weren't quite right. This is worth every penny. If it were lost/stolen I'd buy another immediately. I compared it to the Z Vex Super Hard-On, and the clean boost was it's equal, but the 66 adds this great overdrive and costs less. I wanted to try a Klon Centaur, and Fulldrive 2 but the store was out. But the fantastic compressor and the low price puts this ahead, right from the start. Get your kicks on Route 66!

Pretty easy to use, but when someone is using the two effects together they can easily run into a lot of noise or uncontrolled feedback. This is not a defect, it has to be this way for each effect to have a high range and there is a warning in the manual about it - I'm just giving it this rating because it may not sound great right out of the box. The manual has some good sample settings but it could contain some information about just how the compressor is working (as you turn the knob, are both the threshold and compression ratio affected?).

I'm using this pedal with a G&L Skyhawk and a Gibson Firebrand SG through a JCM 800 2204, a blackfaced '75 Deluxe Reverb, a Sovtek Mig-50 and an Epiphone Electar Tube 10. I also use it with a Fender Elite P-Bass through the Marshall amp. It sounds great with all the setups and the fat switch really fattens up single coil leads. I compared the overdrive side to a reissue TS9 and it sounds as promised - quite similar but with a little more gain and a little less mid harshness (some people might prefer the brightness of the TS9). Considering that it cost around the same as the TS9 reissue but adds a compressor and useful bass boost, this is a great deal.

I was a bit disappointed that this unit doesn't offer an uncolored clean boost - I was expecting it from the description I saw in a catalogue. The preamp on the compressor side noticeably colors the sound, even when you're not using any compression. On the positive side, though, the color ain't all that bad - it sounds good on my bass when I play it though the Marshall and it really opens up the sound of the Epiphone amp, which is normally fairly boxy.

As long as you're careful to avoid overbearing noise or feedback, the two effects can be combined for beautiful, liquidy, endless sustain leads.

The first one I had was defective - it would sometimes turn all the way off when I hit the switch and then, when I hit the switch again, it would come back on with a loud pop. I haven't had any problems with the replacement and the case certainly seems pretty tough. I do use it at shows without a backup, but that might demonstrate my foolishness more than the reliability of the pedal!

As I said above, the first pedal I got was defective so I contacted the company. They were extremely helpful and sent me a new pedal (with money to cover the cost of sending them the defective one) in a couple of days. Bob even called to ask about the particular problems I was having with the pedal! I was very impressed by the customer service and it would definitely make me more likely to buy one of their products in the future.

I would love to compare this pedal to the Fulldrive or the Barber Tone Pump, but I don't know anyone who has these and I can't afford them, sound unheard. I took a chance on this one (because of the lower price) and I'm glad I did. I would buy another if it were lost or stolen.

Pretty easy to get a killer crunch rhythm sound, especially with a good tube amp like a Marshall, but the beauty of this pedal is the tons of subtle shades you can get by combining various amounts of distortion with the compressor.A huge fat lead sound is also a snap,and the "OD bass boost" fattens and rounds out the tone.

I use a Hamer Special modified with a Duncan Antiquity humbucker straight into a Marshall 30th anniversary 3-channel tube amp. Too much compression with the Rt.66 can get very noisy, like any other compressor. Truthfully, even with the bass boost engaged, the low end is'nt as big as on my straight Marshall. However, the "juicyness" factor really increases as you dial in a sound with just the overdrive side of the pedal. The notes become more liquidy and "tubey" without getting "fizzy" or ratty sounding as some OD pedals can. The compressor side of the pedal really helps my anemic clean sound of my Marshall, making it not so harsh and better able to blend into the mix. Really a good pedal for getting Blink 182 and Lit type sounds. Really meaty.

Seems to be very solidly constructed, able to withstand some kicking around on stage. Solid feeling footswitches. Nothing cheap looking or feeling about it.

I thought I had a problem with my pedal initially (which turned out to be something else in MY signal chain) and e-mailed the company about how to get the pedal back. Bob Weil (designer of the pedal) personally e-mailed me back within 12 hours (on a weekend) and told me where to send it. Upon receiving it, he called me after going over it, finding no problems, and suggesting where in my signal chain the problem might be. A great guy, and outstanding customer support.

If you own a tube amp, this pedal will definitely help your tone. Better than any other OD pedal I've tried/used through my 25+ years of playing. Much fatter and juicier than my old Boss OD2 or ProCo Rat. And much more versatile, too. Great with a clean sound or a dirty sound out of your amp, there's something you'll find to enhance your tone either way. Outstanding.

Very simple and very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. Each channel has many usable sounds and anyone should be able to get some playable tones rights away. The footswitches (there are two) are located close together so you can push both with your foot at the same time if need be. The manual has sample sounds that actually sound good and are a great starting point to exploring and creating many new sounds.

This guitar pedal is truly superb. No one can argue that you don't get what you pay for and more. I played this pedal through a real 65' twin (with Jensens) and a reissue VOX AC30 with blue speakers. I used a Fender 57' reissue strat and a 62' reissue (both US) since I prefer their overall sound. I tried the overdrive channel by itself and was really impressed. I found the OD to be rich, responsive and very dynamic. It sounded better to me than the overdrive on the Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde even though they're both modeled after the Ibanez TS808. The overdrive was extremely good, especially for a unit in this price range. I didn't try this unit through a Les Paul but imagine sustain and creaminess would definitely increase dramatically. I also like the fact that there is a bass boost on this pedal that fattens up the OD if need be. Tube screamer and their copies are notorius for being weak on bass response. Not a problem here. The compression on this unit is also good, and can definitely add color and sustain to the overdrive if used together. The compressor is great for chicken picken, soft playing, or for fatting up a good lead tone. I especially like maxing out the OD and cranking up the compression a bit for a huge sound and great feedback. The noise when you combine both parts of the pedal can get out of hand so you'll have to watch your settings unless you can live with it.

The RT. 66 is built extremely well and I can see using it on a gig without a back up. The one thing I didn't like is the battery compartment which is really just a minor detail.

I have emailed Bob but missed him when he stopped by my store during his NAMM visits. Bob is always courteous and very willing to talk to you if you have any questions or concerns

I play and am interested in all styles of music and plan on using this pedal for OD and compression. I can see this pedal being useful to any guitarist who needs an overdrive or compressor. Blues, Rock, Country players will appreciate this pedals versatility and good sound. If this pedal were lost or stolen I would definitely buy it again without hesitation. The overall sound of this pedal will surprise many people, especially given its price. There are some people who have reviewed this pedal and commented on how it doesn't exactly sound like a TS-808. My response is: WHO CARES? This pedal after all is only $169.99 list and is much better than your typical TS-9 or TS-9DLX pedal currently on the market. If you feel the need to pay $200-$300 on an a TS-808 fine. Before you do though, give this pedal a good going over. The RT.66 isn't meant to be an ultra transparent, clean boost pedal of the Fulltone/Klon variety but a great OD/Compressor at a great price. I would say as far as sounds and price go it is also a much better value.

The pedal was easy to use, all the knobs operated as marked. I didn't need to read the manual, I just started tweaking away and got what I needed pretty quickly.

I use the Rt 66 with a variety of guitars. I mostly track rhythm guitars using a Fender 69 RI thinline Tele, cranking the gain on the pedal. I set the amp, a Yamaha/Soldono T50-c, clean when I do this. The distortion never turns to mud, and the full character of the guitar comes through. When tracking lead, I usually play a Fender Strat, modified by me to resemble a Big Apple Strat, with slightly different electronics. Here I use the pedal just for a slight "clean" boost, the amp set for medium high gain. This gives a liquid overdrive type of sound that I like, and consequently use pretty often. Not too much here to complain about, it will get a little noisy when you run both sides of the box at the same time. This is normal when running a compressor after an overdrive stage, and I don't often use it this way anyhow. The other way I run this is to play a Gibson Blueshawk or LP Standard through it using only mild compression, no OD, in the FX loop of the same Yamaha tube amp. I use it this way in my 3 piece blues band as it keeps my level in check and helps me cut through.

I do use it without a backup. Heavy gauge steel chassis with what looks like pretty hefty switches. The knobs/pots are far enough away from the switches to avoid getting stomped on.

Never had a reason to contact.

I play and record mostly rock/metal originals, and have a working blues band as a side project. I've been playing for over 20 years, and never really used any FX at all to speak of. This one, however, does what I need it to do. I have over 12 guitars, Fenders, Gibsons, Charvel, Kramer, Guild, BC Rich. All have a particular "voice" and purpose. My only amp is the Yamaha T50-C, which I use as a combo in the blues project, and a pair of 2x12 cabs, homemade, which I record with. I record in my home midi studio on PC and a Roland VS880, using Cakewalk and a host of midi instruments. If it were stolen I would get another one post-haste. Again, it's probably the only thing that I'll put between the amp and guitar. With the compressor in the FX loop, you still have control of your sound with guitar volume dynamics, while the compressor keeps things punchy.

Easy to start with solid basic tones from the manual, and then branch out on your own. Overdrive has three knobs (Drive, Tone, Vol), compression with three knobs (Sutain, Tone, Gain). No "attack time" control like my old Ibanez CP-9, but I don't think its needed. Boost switch for the OD fattens the low end a bit. One of the best features is the separate footswitches for each effect, which can be stomped individually or together with ease. I like doing rhythm parts with some sweet compressor, then break into leads with the overdrive only with boost: one stomp, very cool.

Gibson Nighthawk > wah > Route 66 > chorus > delay > modded Yamaha G50-112 II (very loud, very clean amp). This pedal is very quiet except at the extremes (to be expected in an analog compressor). Not true bypass, but has a circuit that actually helps suppress noise down the line (see VS web site) without sucking tone. I've always found in 20 years of working with pedalboards that with good effects, 90% of the noise comes from crappy cables and can usually be improved with a good connector cables and some patient tinkering. Can get excellent SRV, Clapton, and Keaggy tones. Had a TS-9 Tubescreamer I bought new in 1982 that I traded for this plus $: the TS-9 was too thin sounding for a solid state amp. This pedal is fat enough to get the tones I've wanted.

Solidly built, very nice quality: love the form factor. Cream colored paint will probably scuff up easily, but I'm careful with my tone babies. Gig without a backup.

Haven't had to deal with them: Pedal is 6 weeks old.

I play classic rock, electric blues, praise and worship. Have played on and off for 30 years (started with a garage band in 1965 and never looked back ...). Have an Ovation "Josh Smith" 1114-4 classical with a Martin bridge pickup, and an Aria Pro Les Paul Custom copy made in the late 70's that's my humbucking fuzz machine for classis rock tunes. Have some weird tone machines like a Korg "Mr. Multi" wah / double wah / phaser pedal. The Route 66 is the best single pedal I have ever owned (even my vintage Small Clone I bought new in Nashville in 1982 that I used as part of a trade for this, with no regrets). Comparable to any Ibanez tube screamer (I owned one...) or any other tube overdrive, with a compressor that sounds like a Way Huge Saffron Squeeze (way better than my Ibanez CP-9), this is ONE GREAT PEDAL. It's a great tone machine for the music I do.