CoolGuitarGear
Well-known member
Grit-n-Grime is a second overdrive combo pedal I have reviewed from the Vogart Audio & Liberatoe collaboration. Without exception, this pedal is impressive in its quality sound and combination stacking. As well, this is the more aggressive of the two, ideal when combined with a clean or crunch (it pairs with high-gain, but the gain must be turned down on the amp, while Grit-n-Grime has to be tamed as well). This pedal (also sold as a module for the Liberatoe platforms) truly does have tube quality in its tone, and the degree of drive varies significantly, from low-gain overdrive to distortion.
The Red Channel pays tribute to the OCD, which sounds rather transparent with noticeable overtones and a great high-end response to cut through the mud. This channel has the usual Volume and Gain, as well as Tone knob, but it also has a Mid-Character knob to fine-tune the 182Hz range frequency (which ties into the Tone knob’s setting). But this is only the start of how customizable the Red Channel is, including further mids customization with the Edge-Mild toggle, which enhances frequencies above 1kHz or 340Hz. Mild has more of a full-range sound, whereas Edge cuts through more as it shaves off some bottom end.
The Red Channel also is connected to the Vintage-Modern toggle, which determines the clipping method, allowing you to choose between Mosfet or Germanium modes. This provides even more options for boosting the Green Channel, boosting other drives/distortions, or using it as a standalone drive. For someone wanting a very modern tone, selecting ‘Modern’ with ‘Edge’ will take you there.
The Green Channel is based on the 1981 drive and also has that tube-like quality, with a very flexible mid-range push. It was engineered to include three-stage cascading amplification commonly used in tube amps, which means a robust texture whether its gain is set low or cranked. Typically, this would result in mostly distortion, but there is a lot of headroom in Grit-n-Grime, and so there’s as much overdrive happening under the hood, besides functioning well as a main drive (which can be pushed further when stacked with the Red Channel).
As for channel selection, a 0.5 second hold on the footswitch changes channels (whereas a quick stomp turns the pedal on/off). With the Channel Toggle flipped down, you can choose from Green or Red channels respectively. With the Channel Toggle flipped up, you can choose from just the Green Channel’s 1981 tribute drive, or the Red Channel’s STACK of both Green & Red channels, which is great for heavy-hitting rhythm or lead soloing.
Now, although I like the other dual-drive options from Vogart & Liberatoe, Grit-n-Grime has a sound quality and robustness I really like, particularly when paired with a clean (or slightly dirty amp); and the few friends with whom I shared sound clips concur. Although I should add that when paired with a high-gain amp I do prefer Keepit Lemon (Blues Breaker + Hotcake) or Abby Normal (Tube Screamer + Timmy, which I'll be looking into soon). I previously reviewed Keepit Lemon, if you want to check that out.
Grit-n-Grime has a high input impedance and low output impedance, so it won’t mess with any effects before or after it. It’s also low noise, with its stabilization circuit, while internally boosting the input from 9V (100mA) to 18V for some high headroom, thus helping to conserve the original tone’s characteristic. As well, and this is over my head in understanding electronics, but Grit-n-Grim also implements electro-mechanical relays (versus typically used FET or analogue switch components), and this helps to avoid tone coloration while ensuring a true bypass nature. Grit-n-Grime is available at a very respectable market price of only $159 USD, but as low as $89 USD if buying only the module for a Liberatoe platform.
The Red Channel pays tribute to the OCD, which sounds rather transparent with noticeable overtones and a great high-end response to cut through the mud. This channel has the usual Volume and Gain, as well as Tone knob, but it also has a Mid-Character knob to fine-tune the 182Hz range frequency (which ties into the Tone knob’s setting). But this is only the start of how customizable the Red Channel is, including further mids customization with the Edge-Mild toggle, which enhances frequencies above 1kHz or 340Hz. Mild has more of a full-range sound, whereas Edge cuts through more as it shaves off some bottom end.
The Red Channel also is connected to the Vintage-Modern toggle, which determines the clipping method, allowing you to choose between Mosfet or Germanium modes. This provides even more options for boosting the Green Channel, boosting other drives/distortions, or using it as a standalone drive. For someone wanting a very modern tone, selecting ‘Modern’ with ‘Edge’ will take you there.
The Green Channel is based on the 1981 drive and also has that tube-like quality, with a very flexible mid-range push. It was engineered to include three-stage cascading amplification commonly used in tube amps, which means a robust texture whether its gain is set low or cranked. Typically, this would result in mostly distortion, but there is a lot of headroom in Grit-n-Grime, and so there’s as much overdrive happening under the hood, besides functioning well as a main drive (which can be pushed further when stacked with the Red Channel).
As for channel selection, a 0.5 second hold on the footswitch changes channels (whereas a quick stomp turns the pedal on/off). With the Channel Toggle flipped down, you can choose from Green or Red channels respectively. With the Channel Toggle flipped up, you can choose from just the Green Channel’s 1981 tribute drive, or the Red Channel’s STACK of both Green & Red channels, which is great for heavy-hitting rhythm or lead soloing.
Now, although I like the other dual-drive options from Vogart & Liberatoe, Grit-n-Grime has a sound quality and robustness I really like, particularly when paired with a clean (or slightly dirty amp); and the few friends with whom I shared sound clips concur. Although I should add that when paired with a high-gain amp I do prefer Keepit Lemon (Blues Breaker + Hotcake) or Abby Normal (Tube Screamer + Timmy, which I'll be looking into soon). I previously reviewed Keepit Lemon, if you want to check that out.
Grit-n-Grime has a high input impedance and low output impedance, so it won’t mess with any effects before or after it. It’s also low noise, with its stabilization circuit, while internally boosting the input from 9V (100mA) to 18V for some high headroom, thus helping to conserve the original tone’s characteristic. As well, and this is over my head in understanding electronics, but Grit-n-Grim also implements electro-mechanical relays (versus typically used FET or analogue switch components), and this helps to avoid tone coloration while ensuring a true bypass nature. Grit-n-Grime is available at a very respectable market price of only $159 USD, but as low as $89 USD if buying only the module for a Liberatoe platform.