"The Sweetback is the mean, angry brother to the Sonic Boom. This pedal is a boost/distortion pedal that features one knob labeled "Turn N Burn." As the user turns the knob up the pedal begins to crackle and pop as DC voltage is being adjusted. Once the knob is set, the pedal is quiet. An increase in the knob's position results in an increase in volume as well as an increase in gain coming from the pedal.
This pedal will drive the front end of an amplifier like no other. Users should note that the pedal, when the knob is full down, produces whatever signal is being fed into it; it does not limit the sound but can only boost or distort the sound that is being injected into it. Though the pedal does add some hair as the user brings the knob up, it does not color the sound drastically. The coloration of the sound is a fattening effect that results in very little loss of the fidelity of the original guitar sound."
The pedal is a combination of a boost in volume and an increase in gain. The increase in gain is the result of a change in the negative feedback of the guitar's signal. This change increases how hard the input tube of a tube amp is pushed when the pedal is used. With a clean amp, the pedal is still basically a clean boost, with just a little grit and bottom end added. But with an amp that is already overdriven, the pedal offer just enough oomph to push the amp into more sustain and an increase in harmonics, with no unnatural compression and none of the mushiness that may occur when pushing an overdriven amp with a standard overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal. All of this without increasing the overall volume excessively.
When pushing my Fender Super Champ in the normal channel with the volume on 5 and the midrange boost pulled, the added boost/gain sounds amazing, pushing the input tube of the amp into rich, harmonically complex overdrive/distortion that retains touch sensitivity and note clarity and is totally unique to this combination of amp and pedal. It's probably the best pedal for a high gain amp like the Super Champ, set on a low to medium gain setting, for adding extra signal to push the amp into natural, higher gain tube distortion. With the Fender Super Champ and the Sweetback Driver, I have a low to medium gain rhythm sound with the pedal in bypass and a higher gain natural tube distortion with the pedal on. This pedal will enhance the natural tone of your amp without coloring the sound, it's absolutely amazing into a overdriven tube amp. More so than just a clean boost, this pedal drives a tube amp like no other.
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