Freekish Blues Alpha Drive II Red Dot version

     This Chinese-made pedal has three knobs and a toggle switch.   The three knobs are labelled OD for drive, T for tone, and V for volume.   The toggle when switched upwards is Rock and down for Blues.  
     The gain of the pedal in Rock mode is fairly low gain until you crank it past 2 to 3-o-clock, where it reveals a creamy overdrive with a big low-end and a subdued high end.   I had to crank the tone to 2-o-clock to get a more balanced overall sound.  From there on it's got a decent amount of sustain and increased harmonics, with a rich, velvety texture, although it's only light medium gain.   This is not a thin, overtly crunchy pedal, it's supposedly got that Dumble-type sound, although to be honest I've never heard or played thru a Dumble.   At lower gain settings, it's got a pleasant, amp-like light vintage overdrive, more like a vintage 70's amp than a 80's metal amp.
     With the toggle on the Blues setting, the pedal, as you would think, has a bluesier sound, with a little less gain and volume and a hair less bottom end.   Neither of the settings are high gain, this is a medium gain pedal at best, just a hair over being a low gain pedal.
   With the original Alpha Drive, there was alot of controvery over the pedal being nothing more than a re-branded Joyo Ultimate Overdrive with a couple of simple mods.   This pedal is an original design supposedly, although it's still manufactured in China by the folks who make Joyo pedals.   Check out gearmanndude's videos of the pedal on YouTube.com before you make any decision to buy one if this is a problem.  Also, check out Freekish Blues website for more info.   It was only about $65.00 w/ shipping, so it's not much more than your run-of-the-mill Chinese clone pedal and it sounds pretty good, a unique take on an old standard...