Animals Vintage Van Driving is Very Fun

The Animals Pedal Vintage Van Driving is Very Fun is an overdrive and boost pedal in one box, made by the Japanese effects manufacturer Animals Pedal. It went on sale on 29 November 2018¹ and was introduced to US players the following month at a street price of $99.00 USD².

The idea is simple: one pedal that covers the ground between a clean boost pedal and a medium-gain overdrive. Premier Guitar's launch announcement described it as "an array of tone-enriching sounds, ranging from clean boost to medium gain"². Under the hood, Animals Pedal says the circuit is based on an overdrive made in the 80s known as "BB", short for Blues Breaker, and improved upon as a base³. So it belongs to the Bluesbreaker family of circuits, but it is not a straight copy.

What it does: overdrive and clean boost in one pedal

The pedal's two personalities are set by a toggle switch. In OD mode it produces sounds from low-gain boost up to medium-gain overdrive; in BOOST mode it goes from clean boost to light overdrive³. That makes it usable at the front of your chain as a always-on light drive, or later in the chain as a level push for solos or for slamming another pedal harder.

The boost side has more uses than just volume. In boost mode, Animals Pedal says you can use it to boost a favorite effect, enrich the tone of a digital amp, or give a rich, full push to a tube amp². Pedal of the Day's reviewer put it the same way from the player's side:

Guitar World's coverage noted how the pedal responds to different pickups: it "responds well to both single-coil and humbucker pickups, delivering a sharp, thick tone through the former and a musical attack with smooth, silky sustain through the latter"⁵. That is the maker's own description of the pedal's character as reported at launch, not a claim from this site.

The controls and the OD/BOOST switch

The control set is deliberately small: three knobs and one toggle. Pedal of the Day called the Tone, Volume and Drive controls "what you'd expect from a basic overdrive pedal"⁴, and the toggle is what splits the two modes.

Because DRIVE still works in BOOST mode³, the boost side is not limited to a pure clean push. You can dial in a little grit with the toggle in BOOST, or run the toggle in OD with DRIVE low for a near-clean lift, which gives you two overlapping ranges rather than two fixed sounds.

Power, bypass and the current version

The pedal uses a true bypass footswitch and runs on a 9V battery or a standard center-negative 9V DC adapter³. At 6mA it draws very little current³, so it is easy on a shared power supply.

Where it came from and what reviewers said

Animals Pedal is a Japanese effects manufacturer², and the Vintage Van Driving is Very Fun went on sale in Japan on 29 November 2018¹. By 18 December 2018 it was shipping to US dealers at a $99.00 street price², with Guitar World reporting the same $99 price two days later⁵. Like all Animals Pedal effects, it features true bypass switching and is decorated with playful artwork by Australian artist Jonas Claesson².

Pedal of the Day reviewed it in March 2019 and was positive about the whole Animals Pedal line, writing that the pedal "delivers on tone, components and price" and that "the components, hardware and enclosures used on their pedals are top notch"⁴. The same reviewer described the pedal as bringing "a vintage flavor to cover all of your overdriven needs"⁴.

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