The aim here was to get a really chunky distortion, not an overdrive and not a fuzz but a proper distortion pedal with the perfect balance of thick yet tight low end and chunky as fuck mids. Perfect for chugging and soaring leads. Given the name you can guess the inspiration in NWOBHM but also hardcore punk and death metal. We’re talking Judas Priest, Death, High On Fire etc. The Turbo Lover utilises multiple gain stages to keep the noise floor low while getting the gain levels up nice and high where we need them. It’s equally at home driving a clean high headroom amp or pushing a dirty or distorted amp right over the edge.
On the surface it’s straight up four controls, gain sets the amount of distortion or gain. Volume sets overall volume. Treble and bass control high and low end respectively but also set the midrange. If both controls are below noon there will be an extra mid-range boost. Both above noon will start cutting mids and maxing them both out will give a huge mid scooped tone. Don’t forget though, mids are your friend especially in a dense modern mix.
The distortion is achieved through a pair of low noise op-amps pushing a combination of three gain stages.
Internally we have some extra controls. If you want less mid punch and grind and less gain overall you can dial back the gain trimpot as much as you like. The lower you go the less good it sounds. Then we have two sets of slide switches to set the clipping voice. These are described in the table below. The pedal comes preset with my personal favourite setting of both on position 2.
SOFT CLIPPING
BOTH OFF = LED
2 ON = ASSYM
1 ON = SYM SILICON
HARD CLIPPING
BOTH OFF = NONE
2 ON = LED
1 ON = SILICON
Current users of note include Niallo of Wild Rocket, Mick of Primordial, Shauny Cadogan of Last Light Recordings/Grief Eater/Unyielding Love, Eoin “Bones” Holohan of Dread Sovereign/TerrifianT/Profanation
Here’s what Mick has to say about it: “Massive, thick, aggressive old school sounding amp-like high gain, very versatile with its wide EQ and Gain range and clipping options. At lower gain settings it works great as a boost into a distorted amp, but really shines as a stand alone Distortion into a loud clean amp or amp on the edge of breakup. I recommend tuning to drop D, chugging and hitting some power chords while changing the internal clipping switches and tweaking the gain trim pot to find the sweet spot of your Turbo Lover tones.”
The pedal graphics are hand pulled screen prints on powder coated or hand sprayed cases. Colours can vary from run to run, feel free to get in touch for more info.
All pedals are true bypass as standard and powered by the industry standard (boss style) negative tip 9V DC power supply. For best results use a reputable regulated pedal power supply.
Multiple gain stage Opamp based distortion
Baxandall Treble & Bass Controls
Combining symmetric and asymmetric clipping
w/ internal dip switches to customize your sound
Wide bandwidth with mid forward punch and attack
Tight and full low end
Suitable for guitar and bass, standard and low tunings.
Mosfet Output Stage"
We have a fully equipped workshop with certified luthiers and electronic engineers, equipped to do any work you need carried out.
For ten years we've been repairing, modifying and maintaining guitars, basses and more - for everyone from hobbyists to major touring artists.
