Speaker Cranker Overdrive

Speaker Cranker Overdrive

Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker

Ever since I got the Orange OR15 I haven’t used dirt pedals much. It really doesn’t need one unless you want to set the amp clean then drive it with a pedal so you can don’t have to fiddle with the amps controls to get the grit and grind when you need it. The problem was that even a low or medium gain overdrive seemed like it was just too much. So I started looking and rediscovered a great pedal: Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker. This is a one knob dirt pedal that sounds sweet at every setting. It’s a true bypass overdrive that can give you a mildly gritty boost or full-on overdrive. And just like all the other pedals that claim “transparency”, this one also colors your sound, but not very much. It rolls the highs off a bit which imho is a good thing, and it gives the tone a fuller, rounder sound. And it’s totally controllable. It has one control knob labeled “More” which controls the gain and makes the pedal super easy to use. The only issue I had was with the LED indicator. It’s bright white and when you turn it on the light blinds you. But this is a minor thing and was easily fixed with a dark red “Prismacolor” marker.  The Orange really likes this one, and so do I. I’m just sorry I didn’t try one out a long time ago. I did think about it once, but never pursued one. Bottom line: it’s a keeper.

Related articles

• Evaluating an Overdrive Pedal (guitargear.org)
• Do We Have “Transparency” All Wrong? (guitargear.org)