TBH, I’m not much of an overdrive guy, because many of them color the sound in ways I prefer to avoid. However, even I, the king of stodginess realize that overdrive can come in very, very handy, at times. Recently, I received the JHS NotaKlön pedal, and it’s a great effect, especially if you want sort of a husky sound. Think of it as an NFL player with exceptional manners. A great pedal, but for Surf, it just doesn’t give me what I want.

I have also used a Boss OS-2, which is both a soft clipping overdrive and a hard clipping distortion, and I like the OD side, but once again, it just doesn’t cut it for Surf, at least in my book.

Surf is, in most cases, pretty clean, with the obvious exception of Fuzz Tone pieces, which are deliberately anything but clean. But if you listen to the first wave bands, most were going for a clean sound, but on some pieces, those Showman amps would at least dip a toe into the waters of natural overdrive, usually mild enough that the note definition was preserved and the reverb still chimed, but there was still a bit of grit.

The Plumes is an overdrive that I would describe as a distant cousin of a Tube Screamer, but it doesn’t have quite the same level of midrange hump as the Tube Screamer. It offers three modes, which can be selected with a mini toggle.

The LH switch position uses symmetric LEDs for clipping diodes and produces a somewhat airier breakup than the standard fare of the Screamer family. It’s useful for a number of applications, including Soft Rock, Country or Surf, so long as the Drive control isn’t set too high. It’s a good overall OD sound.

The RH switch uses asymmetric silicon clipping diodes which suggests something more on the order of a Boss SD-1. To my ear, it actually sounds somewhat like Boss OS-2 I am known to use, and this is one of the reasons I bought the pedal. The sound in this position is a bit more gainy in nature, reminiscent of something you might hear on an Atlanta Rhythm Section recording. It’s an overall good sound for sub Heavy Metal.

The Center switch position, however, is the one I found most interesting. There are no clipping diodes, but there is natural breakup available courtesy of the JFET based preamp. If you turn the Drive control up, the breakup is very natural and responds to technique. Go soft, and no one will detect that there’s a drive pedal involved. If you dig in, there is a very natural breakup curve. It still doesn’t sound like there’s a drive pedal, but instead strikes me as a very good representation of what we hear from a Showman that is running at the edge of breakup. I experimented with this setting, using external reverb, and let fly with some serious Surf tuneage. The results were perfect. Perhaps the best thing is, that you can leave this on, because doesn’t detract in any way, when you back off the pick attack.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

rfcii wrote:

Is it displacing your Blossom Point?

Not at all. Different ends of the signal chain. I fully accept the explanation that the Blossom Point is more of an amp enhancer than an effect, and it’s on pretty much all the time.

The Plumes gives you the option to make your signal a bit beefier, without necessarily losing note definition. The Blossom Point makes your amp act like a Showman just short of breakup, and the Plumes acts more like a fine control for early breakup.

Note definition is the operative phrase. What I don’t like about most drives is that the note definition is usually lost and it’s hard to hit that very fine balance point where the notes have an aura of breakup, but are still distinct from one another. The second mode of the Plumes does this perfectly. In the third mode, I’m back to the Boss OS-2 sound, or perhaps a slightly more tame version thereof. Mode one backs off slightly from mode 3, with a lighter touch.

This is the pedalboard I’ve been using, as of late. It starts at the Plumes, goes through the NotaKlön into the Dealy, then from the DM-2 to the Mercury Flanger and on into the True Spring which feeds into the compressor, then from the Ross Compressor to the Blossom Point, and on to the amp.

The Ross Compressor reissue is an old-school approach to compression and even someone in the nosebleed section would know that a compressor had kicked in. Not something I would use often for Surf, but it comes in handy for some things. I might turn the Blossom Point off when the Compressor is engaged, but that’s pretty much the only time it’s ever off.

This board is more for experimentation and home recording. I have another pedalboard for the occasional gig, and that has its own Blossom Point, which is never switched off.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

archimedes wrote:

Thanks for the review and in depth description, Synchro! I’ve been thinking about trying a new overdrive pedal. I’ve had an EHX Bass Soul Food for a while and I like it, but I don’t really use it much. Your description of it achieving those clear but lightly overdriven Showman sounds is really what I’m going for as well.

I definitely like mine, at it seems well suited to Surf. The three way toggle makes for a very versatile pedal, and between that and the incredibly crisp response from 10 meg input impedance, it’s pretty useful for both the clean sounds, and the broken up sounds.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

chiba wrote:

synchro wrote:

Mad props for neatness. Just seeing how tidy your board is made me smile on a tough morning

The Temple Audio board design really helps, and allows for a great deal of flexibility, when you make changes that can happen over time. I use George L’s cables, for the most part and can create cables to the lengths required, which also helps, greatly, I keeping things tidied up. I’ve seen boards where everything is tied down very tightly, but I prefer to have things a bit more flexible, just in case. Just in case actually happened at the last gig I played. There was a board problem, which turned out to be minor, but I didn’t have time to troubleshoot, so I removed a reverb pedal from the board and plugged it into a standalone power supply. I’m glad that I didn’t have to cut any wire ties, etc. in order to get that reverb pedal free.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Skiltrip wrote:

Love my plumes and I often use the Plumes model in my HX Stomp as well (wildly enough, it’s indistinguishable from my real Plumes).

Have not used it with my surf band though. Might give it a whirl (even though I’m pretty set with my surf tone at the moment).

There are a lot of sounds available from the various options the Plumes offers. I have experimented with it for the last month and keep finding shades of differences I can apply.

I currently have a Wampler Triumph on backorder. It’s basically a combination of a Bad Monkey and a Boss SD-1, but it has a three band EQ, so you can cut the midrange and get a more typical Fender sound. When I test played one, I found some nice sounds, including a rougher sound that is not broken up, but reminds me of a Showman being pushed hard. For me, it’s just enjoyable to experiment, and see what I extract.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.