Switchable Diamond Drive signature raw compression or conventional overdrive com-
pression/sustain.
Battery or standard negative tip 9V DC adapter operation.
Controls
Drive
This controls the basic overdrive level. Backing it off gives a mild and controlled overdrive sound,
while opening it up gives more of a straight ahead distortion. Pickup output levels will also im-
pact the drive level - humbuckers generally will more easily push the drive and your amp into
distortion.
Warmth
The tone control, as mentioned previously, is not a typical fixed frequency cut/boost circuit. The
warmth control acts as a low-pass filter coupled with gain boost as the cut off frequency drops.
This certainly adds a different flavor to the feel of the overdrive than traditional overdrive cir-
cuits. Moving the dial clockwise moves the filter cutoff point lower, darkening the signal, but at
the same time increasing gain, potentially adding more harmonics depending on the signal and
level.
Volume
This adjusts the overall output volume of the drive section (and of the overall box if both clean
boost and drive are enable simultaneously).
Gain
This adjusts the gain of the clean boost section. If only the clean boost section is enabled, this is
the only control that effects its operation. If both drive and clean stages are enabled, this control
then becomes an extra gain section into the overdrive circuit for lead tones.
There are many different interesting combinations of drive, lead and warmth settings. You’ll get
great tone with everything set to 12 o’clock, but it’s worth taking some time to explore the dif-
ferent settings and interplay between the controls.
Switches
Drive
This switches the overdrive section in and out. An orange LED indicates the drive circuit in on.
Boost
This switches the clean boost section in and out. A green LED indicates the clean boost section is
on.
Compression
A small unlabeled switch on the front facing edge, past the Warmth and Volume controls, gives
two settings of compression and sustain. The up position of the switch is a more traditional over-
drive setting, with lots of smooth compression, while the down position has a more raw sound.
We’ve found the up position sounds best for Marshall-style mid-gain amplifiers, but the best
thing to do is experiment to find the best setting for your particular guitar/amp setup.
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