"The Extra Crunch is an incredibly open and airy sounding overdrive. It really keeps your original sound intact while giving you a bit of amp-like grind. Killer pedal!" –Joey Landreth, The Bros. Landreth

 TL;DR: A Canadian made, hand soldered, low-gain transparent overdrive for bass and guitar.

The Crunch Transparent Overdrive: now in Three Flavors:

Original (Low Gain)
Extra Crunch!
BOTH (Double Pedal)

The Double Crunch Transparent Overdrive enclosure is brushed aluminum and has an industrial look; this includes scratches, scuffs and marks.

"This is a ridiculously good pedal!" -Paul Pigat on the Double CTO

The Extra Crunch Version Has Approximately 30% MORE CRUNCH!

"From the moment that I first tried out the McGregor Crunch Transparent Overdrive I fell in love with it. For me it’s my ‘on all the time’, pedal mounted on top of my amp. It has become an integral part of my sound adding just the right amount of tube like crunch and warmth without effecting my tone. Well built, responsive, easy to operate and dial in. It is exactly what I was looking for to enhance my guitar sound. I can’t say enough good things about this pedal!"
–Steve Kozak (Maple Blues Award Winner – ‘New Artist/ group of the Year
Western Canadian Music Award Nominee – Blues Artist of the Year)

The Extra Crunch version has black knobs and blue LED to distinguish it from the Original version.

"I’ve never been much of a pedal guy, but once I played a Crunch, I found the one pedal I can’t live without!!! Just enough push to warm up my guitar no matter the situation or amp! I do a lot of fly in dates, and with the Crunch I’m never worried about being able to get my sound." –Tom Holland (James Cotton, Mississippi Heat, The Shuffle Kings)

Why the extra Crunch? The Original Crunch Transparent Overdrive is a subtle pedal. Perfect for musicians who know what to expect. The Extra Crunch version is more of a dirt box and it is rapidly gaining fans from both the professional and hobbyist market. And they stack well together!!!

"The Crunch sounds awesome!!" –Paul Pigat (Cousin Harley, Nico Case, Jakob Dylan, and more)

The Crunch Transparent Overdrive pedal started one afternoon when Michael Schau, the best guitar player I know, told me that he could never find a low-gain overdrive pedal that was truly transparent. I figured it was time to use my physics background; I started researching and came up with a proof of concept as well as a long list of modifications/improvements. Mike heard the proof of concept and told me to "...not change a f***ing thing." I ignored him and spent a year making mods, only to end up pretty close to where I started. Mike's been playing it live and in recordings ever since.

"...run the Crunch to taste and experience a 'Super Transparent' overdrive whose overtones and harmonics are 'Musically Focused'. My first test strum gave me goose bumps, it felt SO REAL and unprocessed." –Anthony DellaCroce, The Headpins

The sweetest pedal I've ever used. –Steve Shelski (Coney Hatch, Toronto, Motorcycle Experience, Gowan, Willie Nelson, Robbie Lane & The Disciples. TV. Docs. Film. Animation.)

"Very responsive and doesn’t mask your tone, just enhances what you got. Exactly what I look for in an overdrive. I can’t live without this thing on my board!" –Carter Low, 2016 Grand Prize winner of the Lee Ritenour Six String Theory Competition

"...this pedal is the sound in my head that words can't explain... it's a warm tube doing what I need it to do... a warm drive for my bass plus a little more if i need it. Thank You."–Deputy Frank A Rodio, NY

 

"This excellent pedal is exactly what I was looking for!" –Arsen Shomakhov

What does it do?

"Take for example, a GOOD SOUNDING well TUNED vintage tube amp such as the Super Reverb, set it on the verge of breakup, with the master at the volume that is suitable for the venue/gig, run the Crunch to taste and experience a 'Super Transparent' overdrive whose overtones and harmonics are very 'Musically Focused'. My first test strum gave me goose bumps because it felt SO REAL and unprocessed.

"It makes my moog synths roar" –Darryl Havers

It retains your core amp tone signature and the clipping is soft and tube like. Remember that a big part of that effect is the extra response of the amp reacting 'with' the pedal. To me, it felt like a SINCERE tone and almost impossible to make it sound bad when twirling the pedal knob settings. That reminds me of my vintage Boss CE-2 Chorus. If you know the CE-2..., it literally 'doesn't' have a bad setting". It was designed to do ONE THING and do it well." --Anthony Della Croce

"It took about 5 minutes to realize how present this OD was and how it perfectly matched my Quilter Labs MP II and HX Stomp pedal! I don't use heavy saturation so I like a cleaner overdrive tone and this thing delivers plus, you can crank it up for more stank. It doesn't colour your sound like other ODs can but it allows the sound of your gear to come through. I've only played with it for a few minutes but am ecstatic at having finally found a truly transparent overdrive pedal that makes my earholes so happy!" –Rick Halisheff

Features

• LIGHT WEIGHT...great because my pedal board is getting too heavy for the standard 50lb flight restriction.
• LED Brightness ADJUSTMENT....no worries, this is not a DIMMER and will not interfere with your tone. What an awesome addition especially for us old guys on sunny day stages!
• SIMPLICITY...dial your tone in without endless tweaking
• FOOTSWITCH...High quality, true bypass.
• VERY QUIET...low noise compared to my other pedals.
• DYNAMIC with picking style and volume knob changes.
• SECRET INGREDIENTS...yup, some secret HIGH QUALITY components that make this pedal sing!!!

"The number one pedal in my board. Absolutely great for getting a fantastic Blues, Roots or low gain rhythm or lead tone without coloring the tone of my guitar or amp. Just an invaluable tone tool for the professional guitarist"--Michael Schau, Blues/Rock Session Player

How to

• Stand alone transparent overdrive: Start with all three pots at 1 o'clock. Bring up the Gain for added Crunch; bring up the volume to push the front end of your amp.
• Use it as a preamp for your favorite pedal: Start with all three pots at 1 o'clock and tweak from there. (Notice a pattern?)
• Use it as a dirty boost after your favorite pedal(s): Just dial it in; it'll sound great!
• Use it as a Pre-Amp for your rig: Place it last in your chain, click it ON and leave it ON. Used like this, The Crunch Transparent Overdrive can enhance your “normal tone” especially with overloaded pedal boards. (There are so many great pedals that have “standard” buffered bypasses. These buffers add up and will have the cumulative effect of ruining the dynamics and feel of your rig).
• Use it after your fuzz: Placed after your favorite old skool, analog fuzz pedal, you’ll get that sweet sound of a fuzz into a cranked-up amp, even with the amp at a low volume. (This has been so much fun to play with while using my latest Classic Fuzz Prototype –watch for an announcement in the coming months!)

"I love my Crunch pedal & use it regularly. It’ll be onstage with me tonight, in fact!" –Casey Ryder

Technical

• Type: Low-Gain Overdrive Pedal
• Hand soldered in British Columbia, Canada
• High grade components picked for their superior sound and response
• True bypass with high quality switch
• Three topside controls – Volume, Tone, Gain
• Now using Alpha stomp switches for their durability. Note: they are not soft-click.
• LED Brightness controlled by side-mounted variable resistor (trim pot)
• Low power draw: 7 - 10mA (9v) depending on LED setting
• Audio Jacks and Power Connection located at the top end to help with packed pedal boards 
• 2.6″ x 4.8″ x 1.5″ (66.5mm x 122mm x 38mm) – height excludes knobs and switches

"Love my Orange. Best Strat pedal I have ever owned. Talk about a clean boost for a Princeton Reverb!! Its like my 12 watts went to 20." –Vernon H.

"I bought the crunch transparent OD. It’s truly the best OD I own and I own many of the great OD pedals ever made. No joke." –Johnny T.

Power Adaptor

The McGregor Pedals Crunch Transparent Overdrive may be powered by a 9VDC adaptor. It accepts a standard filtered/regulated pedal power supply with a center-pin negative 2.1mm x 5.5mm plug (like Boss, Ibanez, etc.). If an adaptor doesn’t seem to work, disconnect it immediately and check the polarity. Also, check that it outputs DC (not AC). Current consumption is 10-15mA depending on the LED setting.

"Awesome stuff Garth McGregor Heslop. A mad scientist at work!" –Ira S.
 
"Thanks for making great pedals!" –Michael D.
 
"Just got your Crunch Plus & lovin it!" –David K.

 Batteries

For my pedal designs I’ve opted to omit the battery compartment, primarily because batteries are environmentally unsound. Batteries contain acid and heavy metals that end up in landfills, in soil, and in the oceans. All my pedals are built with RoHS compliant parts; batteries don’t make sense.

"Straight sweet tone... Makes me want to practice eight hours a day." –Dave P.

"The crunch is killer and when rolled back it sounded so smooth." –Graham R.

"I bought this pedal and couldn't be happier. I use it to push the clean channel on my Super Sonic 22, and just WOW!" –Kim H.

"Love it with my MXR compressor pedal!" –Rob A.

"It's a good sign if no matter where you put the knobs it sounds good." –Jay S.

"Great pedal!!" –Glen S.

"They are great pedals, our guitar player has had one for a month... great overdrive sound, pure" –Todd C.

"Truly, this overdrive is king of adding mild crunch and/or pushing an already mild or medium dirt amp into thicker heavier land... without coloration. It let's the amp do the talking but with punch." –Anthony D.

"It deserves the attention it's getting!" –Paul G.

"I got lucky and got one in a trade. I love it!" –Shaun McGarvey

"Normally I would never park a pedal in front of an amp in the studio, Til this one... Full bandwidth all the way... Nothing lost, Everything Gained" –Scott Y.

"In my 50 plus years of playing guitar, I have owned and or played some the best ODs, custom, boutique and everything in between. Sold all of my drives and now ONLY own 4 McGregors (Crunches a Crunch Plus and a Fuzzball) No need for anything else." –Michael S.

"This Box does exactly what's meant to do... boost without cutting bandwidth or coloring... Garth McGregor Heslop got it right!" –Scott Y.