Best transparent overdrive pedals: Give it a kick

Transparent overdrive rose to popularity in the early 90s, as guitarists and pedal manufacturers alike grew weary of the over-the-top high gain sounds of the hard rock of the 1980s. Everyone was seeking an overdrive sound that didn’t totally replace a guitar player’s tone, but rather would complement what was already there.

It all started with the Klon Centaur, a pedal that maintained a mystique as strong as its mythical namesake. What added to the mystery was that when the enclosure to the Centaur was opened and people tried to reverse engineer it to uncover the magic within, all they found was a glob of epoxy hiding the circuit.

Paul Cochrane’s Timmy is also one of the ubiquitous transparent overdrive pedals that is beloved in the guitar world, and while fairly inexpensive (especially compared to the Centaur) each pedal is handmade and the wait times to order one were usually months long.

This original type of overdrive caught on quickly. It was novel, sounded fantastic, and was released into the guitar world at a perfect time. And being so “clean” and precise it was the antithesis of the era of music that preceded it. But not all transparent overdrive circuits are the same. There is a lot of variety within the category as some offer more available gain, different EQ sweet spots, and unique highlights to the base tone.

These are some of the best transparent overdrive pedals available today.

Best transparent overdrive overall: Electro-Harmonix Soul Food

Best transparent overdrive overall

Electro-Harmonix Soul Food

One of the best Centaur clones on the market is also one of the most affordable. Silicon diodes add brightness, internal power rails offer more headroom, and it’s a great platform for mods.

Pros

Great sounding and affordable

Silicon diodes add brightness to sound

Great Klon Centaur clone

Internal power rails increases headroom

Cons

Might be too bright for some

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The Soul Food from Electro-Harmonix is probably the best combination of quality and affordability in a Klone. Due to using silicon diodes it is a little brighter, with less low end than other Klones. Some might find it to be a little thin, but at higher drive settings the mids do get a gentle lift.

The pedal boosts the power rails internally in the circuit, which increases headroom. It also provides the option of buffered or true bypass. The circuit provides a great platform for mods, the most famous being the JHS mod.

Best Klon-style transparent overdrive: Wampler Tumnus Deluxe

Best Klon-style transparent overdrive

Wampler Tumnus Deluxe

Wampler does it again. A full 3-band EQ, switch for additional gain, and selectable bypass makes this one of the most versatile transparent overdrives.

Pros

3-band EQ

Switch adds more gain

Selectable bypass

Cons

A little more expensive than other options

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Named after another mythical beast, this is one of the more accurate Centaur alternatives, though it uses silicon instead of germanium diodes. There is a 3-band EQ, and a normal/hot switch for increasing the available gain. It also provides the option of true or buffered bypass.

Best transparent overdrive with Germanium diodes: Way Huge Electronics Smalls Conspiracy Theory

Best transparent overdrive with Germanium diodes

Way Huge Electronics Smalls Conspiracy Theory

This is a simple and powerful circuit with an accent in the low-mids and provides amp-like sounds.

Pros

Germanium diodes add accent to low-mids

Warmer sound than other options

Amp-like sounds

Cons

Enclosure is an unusual size, but not too big

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True to the original Centaur design, the Conspiracy theory uses germanium diodes to achieve its crystal-clear clipping. There is a slight accent in the low-mids under 500Hz that gives it a warmer sound than some of its counterparts. At the highest gain settings it has the lovely chime of a cranked British-style amplifier.

Transparent overdrive with the most headroom: J. Rockett Archer

Transparent overdrive with the most headroom

J. Rockett Archer

If you’re looking for a great Klone, this is one of the best. It can run at 9v or 18v for more headroom. There’s not much gain, but that’s not the point with this circuit.

Pros

Spot-on Centaur Klone

Can run at 9v or 18v

Incredible build

Small footprint

Cons

Doesn’t offer a lot of gain

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The Archer is the closest you’ll get to the authentic Centaur sound without having to refinance your home to afford it. It uses germanium diodes and an internal charge pump boosting 9v up to 18v which increases the headroom and articulation of the circuit. It can be powered by supply or 9v battery. It doesn’t get very dirty, but that’s kind of the point.

Most unique transparent overdrive: JHS Morning Glory V4

Most unique transparent overdrive

JHS Morning Glory V4

Who else but JHS? This circuit offers features you won’t find anywhere else like a drive control that tapers EQ, a different type of tone knob, and a remote input for additional control over the sound.

Pros

Taper of drive control affects EQ

Tone control is high-pass filter

Bright cut switch

Remote input offers an interesting way to control gain and EQ

Cons

More expensive than other options

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JHS is no stranger to transparent overdrives, and the Morning Glory has a few elements that other pedals don’t. As the drive control increases, it lends a slight boost to the treble frequencies. The tone control is a high-pass filter (instead of a band), so you can think of it more as cutting bass frequencies than increasing midrange.

And if the tone is too bright for your rig, there is a cut switch on the side. The remote controllable gain input is a unique feature. When engaged it adds more signal gain, low end, and presence.

Best transparent overdrive for use with amps: Xotic Effects Soul Driven

Best transparent overdrive for use with amps

Xotic Effects Soul Driven

Xotic makes unique overdrives, and the Soul Driven is a great complement to a good amp. It’s got chime and a mid-boost control to go along with the 2-band EQ.

Pros

Great complement to a good amp

Sound is glassy with a lot of chime

Mid-boost control

Cons

Sound won’t be right for everyone

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Let the soul of your sound drive through with this transparent overdrive from Xotic Effects. It features gain and volume controls and a 2-band tone section with mid boost control. It is one of the lower gain options here but provides a glassy chime that suits its name.

Best compact transparent overdrive: MXR Timmy

Best compact transparent overdrive

MXR Timmy

Designed in tandem with the inventor of the original Timmy, this small format pedal has a responsive EQ and a switch to choose between three different types of clipping.

Pros

One of the best Timmy clones available

Designed with Paul Cochrane, inventor of the Timmy

Small format

3 different types of clipping

Cons

Not as much gain as other options on the list

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Paul Cochrane’s Timmy (along with the Klon Centaur) was the original trailblazer of the transparent overdrive sound. Being a boutique shop, the waiting list to order a Timmy was usually pretty extensive.

MXR teamed up with Paul Cochrane to release this mini version of the celebrated pedal – with a nice upgrade. This version includes a switch that offers three different types of clipping! It goes from clean boost to chimey crunch and has a very responsive EQ section and works great with a number of amps.

Best JFET transparent overdrive: Keeley Super Phat Mod

Best JFET transparent overdrive

Keeley Super Phat Mod

This JFET circuit has an amp-like response, great harmonics, and two different sounds that work well with a variety of setups.

Pros

JFET gain circuit

Amp-like response

Two tone modes

Great harmonics

Cons

Sound might be too one-dimensional for tone snobs

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Keeley’s take on transparent overdrive aims to be as true to your core sound as possible while giving it a little something extra. The sweet, singing harmonic saturation comes via the JFET gain circuit to provide a more amp-like response. There are two modes to choose from – flat and phat. Flat does just what you’d think, while the Phat option gives a lift to the lower frequencies.

Best budget Klon-style transparent overdrive: Mosky Audio Gold/Silver Horse

Best budget Klon-style transparent overdrive

Mosky Audio Gold/Silver Horse

These are some of the most affordable transparent overdrives on the market. They’re similar, but both offer distinct advantages in tone.

Pros

Good sound for the price point

Silver Horse offers two voicings

Small format

Cons

Generic make will turn some off immediately even though they sound good

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These might be just about the cheapest Klones you can get, but they sound surprisingly faithful to the original design. Both feature the same control set (gain, tone, volume), but the Silver Horse is a bit more versatile as it features a clipping switch to toggle between hard and soft clipping.

Best mini transparent overdrive: MXR Sugar Drive

Best mini transparent overdrive

MXR Sugar Drive

The Sugar Drive works by blending the dry signal in with the distortion, like parallel processing. EQ is focused on lows and mids, but high end is really open.

Pros

Dry signal blend is an interesting idea

EQ focus on lows and mids, open on top end

A lot of headroom

Cons

Only comes in mini format

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Sweeten up your tone with the Sugar Drive, MXR’s take on transparent overdrive tones. It works by blending the dry signal with overdrive, sort of like parallel processing. It focuses the lows and mids while providing an open sound with headroom to spare. It also allows the option to choose between buffered or true bypass.

Best tone shaping transparent overdrive: PRS Horsemeat

Best tone shaping transparent overdrive

Best tone shaping transparent overdrive: PRS Horsemeat

Legendary guitar manufacturer Paul Reed Smith’s take on transparent overdrive offers a good amount of gain and multiple EQ points while retaining the core guitar tone.

Pros

Multiple EQ points and voice knob

Solid circuit build

Convenient pedal size

Good range of gain

Cons

Not meant to add coloration

More expensive than other options

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Paul Reed Smith has stepping into the guitar pedal game, and the Horsemeat offers one of the best EQ sections for tone shaping in a transparent overdrive pedal.

It complements the core midrange profile, enhancing it without adding too much of its own character to it. The EQ section features controls over low and high end as well as a Voice knob that works in tandem with the gain control.

If you’re looking to invest in a well designed transparent overdrive that gives you plenty of EQ options this is one of the best.

FAQ

Why use a transparent overdrive?

Since they don’t color the sound too much, they’re really versatile. They retain some of the original tone, so the better your guitar and amp combination the more of your core sound stays in tact.

What is a transparent overdrive pedal?

They’re a certain type of overdrive that is meant to add to your tone instead of take it over. Most do this by blending some of the clean signal in with the effected signal and by not introducing too much EQ.

Does BOSS make a transparent overdrive?

They don’t have one specifically. But their Blues Driver and OD-3 models are some of the closest to a transparent overdrive.