Beetronics Overhive

The Beetronics Overhive is a medium-gain overdrive pedal. Beetronics describes it as "an extremely versatile medium gain overdrive" whose "round and warm tone respects your amp, enhancing it's best qualities while dynamically reacting to your playing"¹. In other words, it is built to push an amp into breakup rather than replace its character, and to respond to how hard you pick.

The pedal first reached players as a preorder in May 2017, when MusicRadar reported it available from Beetronics FX for $230, with custom versions costing more². Since then it has appeared in a Standard Series, a stream of Custom Series limited editions, and one-off Custom Shop units, most of which have sold out.

What the Overhive does

The Overhive sits in the middle of the gain spectrum: more dirt than a clean boost, less than a full distortion. Beetronics says the pedal "achieves the elusive mid-gain overdrive without making you feel a disconnect between you and your amp"⁵, which is the pitch every medium-gain drive makes, that the pedal should feel like your amp turned up rather than a layer of fuzz between you and it.

The maker's own description of the tone is that it is round and warm, respects the amp, and reacts dynamically to your playing¹. Guitar.com's review of the Overhive and its companion pedal, the Buzzter, listed the Overdrive pedal as made in USA⁶.

The controls: Honey, tone, volume, Body and Hive switches

The control set is small. Beetronics gives each one a bee-themed name, with a Honey control, a tone control and master volume, plus a Hive switch and a Body switch⁴⁷³.

The Honey control is the heart of the pedal. Beetronics' own words on it are worth reading as written⁴⁵:

The two switches are where the Overhive differs from a basic three-knob drive. The Hive switch is effectively a character control: one setting is tighter and more focused, the other bigger and smoother³. Beetronics also describes it as making you "sound bigger and fatter, or tighter and thinner"⁵. The Body switch is simpler, a low-end lift that the maker suggests for compensating when you swap to a different guitar mid-gig¹.

The pedal uses true bypass switching, which Beetronics says keeps "your tone intact when disengaged"³.

Custom Shop and limited editions

Beyond the Standard Series, the Overhive has appeared in a long run of painted and custom versions, most of them one-offs or small batches. Beetronics' own listings show the scale of it³⁸:

• Custom Series editions such as Overhive "Blue Blocks", "Vectors", "Batman", "Transylvania", Skull Blaze, Blood Skull, Damask, Icelandic, The Blackbee Edition, Babee Blue, the Gamer Skull units, Mad Cat and Sol y Luna^{9101112131415161718192021}
• Numbered Custom Shop units, including OV1634 and OV1685³⁸
• Named Custom Shop pieces such as Ouija and 420²²²³
• Limited editions like the Black Limited Edition, Babee Blue, Unchained and The Blackbee Edition^5182417

Nearly all of these are marked sold out on the maker's site, including Unchained, Icelandic, "Vectors", "Batman", "Transylvania", the Black Limited Edition and Custom Shop unit OV1634^241610111258. The Standard Series Overhive is listed at £177.00²⁵, Custom Shop units have been listed at £216.00³⁸, and other Custom Shop units have appeared at £173.00⁸. MusicRadar noted at launch that custom pedals would cost more than the $230 standard preorder price².

What reviewers said

Published coverage of the Overhive has been positive. Pedal of the Day, reviewing it in January 2020, praised its feel under the fingers²⁶²⁷:

Guitar.com reviewed the Overhive alongside the Beetronics Buzzter in July 2019 and later summarized the verdict: "In our recent review of the Beetronics Overhive and Buzzter, we concluded that both pedals were great"⁶²⁶. That review also noted the pedal's US manufacture⁶.

MusicRadar, covering the pedal at its 2017 launch, called it "extremely versatile" in the headline of its launch feature¹, echoing the maker's own description of the pedal as an extremely versatile medium-gain overdrive¹.

Returns and warranty

Beetronics sells the Overhive with what it calls a Hive Happiness Guarantee. The maker's policy: email within 30 business days of receiving your order for an RMA form, return the item within 7 days of receiving that form, and a refund is processed within 5 business days of the returned product arriving. A full refund requires the pedal to come back in new condition in its original packaging; if it shows wear or is missing accessories, there may be a 15% restocking fee or store credit instead. Products labeled "Scratch and Dent" are sold as-is and are not eligible for a refund⁴. The maker's pages state the guarantee variously as a 14-day and a 30-day Hive Happiness Guarantee, so check the listing you are buying from¹⁵.

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