Greer Amps Black Mountain Crunch Drive detailed as British-style overdrive

December 18, 2023 · 2 sources

The Greer Black Mountain Crunch Drive, an overdrive from Greer Amps, was the subject of updated coverage by Delicious Audio on December 18, 2023. The site describes it as "a new, British-style crunch overdrive by a Georgia-based boutique builder"¹.

Delicious Audio writes that the pedal is "inspired at least in part by the post-Plexi era Marshall amps, also known for their metal panel," and by the guitar sound of The Darkness' 2003 album Permission to Land, which the site says was in rotation while the Greer team worked on the circuit¹. The site contrasts it with the company's Lightspeed, which it calls "a very transparent drive," saying the Black Mountain instead offers "a definite tonal flavor reminiscent of the British amps, with their mid-range emphasis and crunchy saturation"¹.

According to the builder's notes quoted by Delicious Audio, the circuit uses two clipping diodes that are "purposefully imbalanced, selected to impart the proper texture and crunch for this circuit"¹. The pedal runs on a standard negative center 2.1mm power supply and accepts nine to eighteen volts DC¹. A listing on RockBoard's PedalPedia gives the circuit type as analog and the current draw as 10mA at 9V DC, center negative². RockBoard describes the pedal as hearkening "back to the metal panel, EL34-powered British tube monsters," with "plenty of gain and output on hand for any situation and a flexible tone control that lets you push the mids well into crunch zone"².

Delicious Audio reports a 5 year warranty to the original owner and says pedals are built to order, shipping within 1-2 weeks of order and payment¹. No price is given in either source.