Visual Sound V2 Route 808 Overdrive

Very easy to get a very good sound.
The manual is light.

Good clean fat jazz sound !
Good crunch "tube power amp"
Good overdrivre TS808' like
Extraordinary bass boost !

Build like a tank !

Good web site with samples sounds

I playing Jazz, Fusion and Blues. The route 808 v2 is wonderfull.

Pretty straight forward and easy to use. Three controls: gain, volume & tone + a bass boost switch. You don't get much more easy than that.
NOTE TO VISUAL SOUND: Great job on the on/off switch! This thing operates much more smoothly than anything I have owned or used for the past 15+ years of playing live.

This is where it shines. I love the tone and sound quality I am getting with this effect. I play through a pedal board setup: Boss Tuner, Vox Wah, V2 808, Fulltone OCD, H2O liquid chorus/delay, Marshal Vibratrem, EB volume into a Marshal JCM2000 DSL401 tube amp.

I really like the OD sound of my OCD and am very pleased with the hot channel on my amp, but was looking for something with a more subtle OD sound. I have used several OD previously (Digitech Tone Driver, Behringer multi effects, Digitech EX7 - OD settings, Boss Distortion, etc) and can't find one that matches the clear OD tone I am getting with this pedal.

Without a doubt I would feel comrotable using this live without a backup. I have had nothing but great reliability out of my Liquid chorus/delay and have a lot of faith in Visual Sound.

That being said, I got to give it a 9 until I have some more time invested with this pedal.

I play edge praise and worship and still play out on occasion with a Christian Rock band. I play mainly rythm guitar (Schecter Classic, Am deluxe Strat, and an Epi Dot - all lefties)and this pedal works great with rythm of any style and any pickups. Keep in mind this is an Overdrive pedal. If you are looking for primarily distortion, you may want to go with something else. It can cover heavier OD hitting distortion levels, but that is not what I would use this pedal for. It shines on lighter gain and higher volume that pushes the sound to match a tube amp beginning to break up. If this is what you are looking for, then this is the pedal for you.

I've been through a number of pedals and at this point, I am much more picky when it comes to tone quality. I have been ditching the ones that don't measure up and collecting the ones I will use for gigs. This one is a keeper.

This is a straight forward overdrive, drive, tone, and volume level with one exception, the Route 808 has a Bass Boost switch which makes the Route 808 one of the best overdrives in my opinion. No more midrange hump like the TS-9. It is easy to dial in the overdrive tone you want with single coil or humbucker pickups. This is a very powerful overdrive so you do have to watch for feedback if you get too close to the speakers (just keep your fingers on the strings when not playing). I run my amps dimed though and control volume with guitar and Morley Volume pedal.

My setup is '79 Gibson Les Paul Custom-->ProCo Vintage RAT-->Morley Pro Series Wah/Vol-->Visual Sound V2 Route 808-->aNaLoGMaN 808 Mod TS-9-->Boss CS-3-->Boss BF-2-->Boss CE-3 Stereo Outputs==>Carvin X-100B(6L6GC Tubes)----->Carvin 4X12 Cab and Marshall DSL50(EL34 Tubes)----->Marshall 4X12. The LP and Carvin X-100B create "MY TONE". The Marshall is just there for thick stereo chorus power chords and a little extra grit. I leave the VS Route 808 on all the time with the bass boost on. The bottom and midrange on this OD is the tubescreamer I always had in my head but could never find. The Route 808 is very quiet when set properly. I use the aNaLoGMaN TS-9 with the Route 808 as a 3rd gear boost. I run on the clean channel of the Carvin and get violin sustain and my tone from boosting the power tubes to saturation. I hate preamp tube distortion, just not my thing, plus it sounds like crap in a can.

The Visual Spund V2 Route 808 is built like a tank. Very hard case with knobs protected by the new back shelf. The switch is very quiet and is supposed to survive over a million stomps. It has a really bright Blue LED power light, easy to spot on dark stage. If I was going to use only three pedals it would be the VS Route 808, the old vintage RAT, and the Boss Stereo Chorus. These are virtually indestructable pedals, unless you jumped up and down on them for 15 minutes straight. I would use this pedal without a backup with no problem.

I have read from other reviews, they will go that extra step and do whatever is necessary to keep their customers happy. Via e-mail they answered every single question I had about their pedals very promptly and they don't have an attitude problem like some other pedal modders and manufacturers that have heads the size of pumpkins.

I play Classic Rock, AC-DC, Zeppelin, James Gang, old Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead and 80's/90's Hard Rock, Billy Squire, Collective Soul, with some current JET Groove Rock'n Roll thrown in just for grins. I have been playing guitar for 38 years and have owned my Gibson Led Paul Custom "Bulldog"(11 lbs.5 oz.)for 28 of those years. I also own a Gibson ES-335 1963 Cherry Red reissue. Already listed other gear above. If the Route 808 were lost or stolen I would buy another one in a heartbeat without question. My favorite feature on this pedal is the Bass Boost switch which really adds balls and bottom-end to your overdrive unlike TS-9's and TS-808's. This pedal produces a really smooth overdrive tone but has grit when you want it. I have compared this pedal to an original TS-808 and the Route 808 sounds better to my ears and cost $250 less. There is no noticable difference to my aNaLoGMaN Mod TS-9 except, I think the Route 808 has more bottom-end and lower mids punch and the modded TS-9 is a tad bit smoother with a little more upper mids to high end (the infamous TS-9 mid range hump). I like the Route 808 better than a Keeley modded TS-9, period. The VooDoo Man Sparkle Drive I have heard alot about but I have not personally used. I did hear their switches break easy. The Fulltone OCD is a clean boost and altogether different animal so I left it out. At only $109.95 shipped and under $200, you cannot buy a better overdrive IMO. If you want to spend $350 to $400 then maybe and the difference won't be that noticeable, so what's the point.