Redbeard Effects Enters the Overdrive Market With the Angry Rhubarb

June 10, 2021 · 6 sources

British boutique effects pedal brand Redbeard Effects announced its first step into the overdrive market with the Angry Rhubarb Paradynamic Overdrive MKII, an all-analog drive pedal with a true bypass footswitch¹. Each pedal is hand-built in the UK². The Angry Rhubarb is the brand's third pedal, following the Red Mist MKIV drive pedal and the Honey Badger Octave Fuzz³.

The pedal's centerpiece is a single-band parametric EQ with an unusually broad sweep. The Freq knob sets the frequency anywhere between 80Hz and 4kHz, and the Freq Gain knob applies up to 6dB of boost or cut at that frequency⁴. Guitar World reported that the maker describes the EQ as a surgical approach to sculpting your tone¹.

Around that EQ sit two gain stages. Pre Drive sets the level of drive before the EQ, described as a low-to-medium overdrive circuit, while Post Drive sets the drive after it, described as "medium-to-more"⁴⁵. Volume controls the pedal's output⁴. The full control set:

• Volume: output level⁴
• Pre Drive: drive level into the EQ, a low-to-medium overdrive circuit⁴⁵
• Post Drive: drive level after the EQ, a "medium-to-more" stage⁴⁵
• Freq: selects the EQ frequency, 80Hz to 4kHz⁴
• Freq Gain: up to 6dB of boost or cut at the selected frequency⁴²
• Bypass footswitch: true bypass¹

Other features include top-mounted jacks and a 9V DC adaptor power input, with the adaptor not supplied⁵. The pedal is housed in the now almost-familiar Redbeard enclosure style⁴.

The Angry Rhubarb Paradynamic Overdrive MKII was available on the Redbeard Effects Webstore at launch, listed at $249³⁶. Production had been delayed by parts supply issues, much the same as had happened with Thorpy's Pulse Doppler⁶. The pedal was designed by Adrian Thorpe and Mikey Demus, and Guitar Pedal X noted its versatility through a set of official presets with names including GPX Soft Touch, Bright Boost, Big & Warm, Toe Down Cocked Up, Whole Lotta Angus and Stone Age Grunt⁶.