Bondi Effects Sick As

The Bondi Effects Sick As is an overdrive pedal that takes its basic structure from the Klon Centaur, with what the maker calls "some major improvements for the modern player": a two-band active EQ, a headroom and character toggle, and an internal voltage boost to 18V¹. It can run as a clean boost, an overdrive, or a blend of the two, and Bondi describes the result as "dynamic and natural, responsive to your pick attack or volume knob"².

A Klon-style overdrive with active EQ

Bondi Effects describes the Sick As as "a diversion from the well-worn path, taking its basic structure from the Klon Centaur"¹. Where a stock Klon has a single treble control, the Sick As splits tone shaping into a two-band active EQ: both the bass and treble knobs can boost or cut their frequencies by up to 15dB². Delicious Audio, covering the mk3, called it "one of the most popular overdrive pedals in its category"⁶.

The gain control also works differently from a plain gain knob. As Bondi explains it, "the gain control serves a dual purpose: as the gain is increased, the ratio of gain-to-clean tone increases as well"². Guitar.com's Scott Ng described this design as a way "to avoid muddy tones when the gain is rolled off"⁴. A toggle switch chooses between "a more compressed, mid-range focused tone or an open, transparent, rhythm tone"².

The mk3 keeps the same tone and look as earlier versions but adds several improvements over the mk2⁶¹:

• 20dB improvement to the signal-to-noise ratio compared to the mk2²
• Bondi's "quietest ever true-bypass switching"²
• 18V internal voltage for extra headroom⁶
• Robust power input protection¹

The controls

On That Pedal Show, Mick and Dan noted that the bass control does more than a normal tone knob, observing that it "changed the gain structure" of the pedal³. The earlier MKII, reviewed by Guitar Pedal X in 2019, was the version that split the original Tone dial into separate Bass and Treble controls and added a two-way gain switch; Stefan Karlsson found it "really close to the original, just with a touch more versatility"⁷.

Power and connections: 18V inside from a 9V supply

The Sick As runs on a standard 9V DC supply, and the voltage is boosted internally to 18V, which Bondi says gives "increased clarity and headroom"¹. Pedal of the Day's 2014 review specified a negative-tipped "Boss" type 9V DC supply⁵. Current consumption is under 70mA², so it fits comfortably on most isolated pedalboard supplies.

The pedal uses soft touch true-bypass switching¹, with the mk3 described by the maker as its quietest switching yet². Input impedance is 500kOhms at 1kHz and output impedance is 560Ohms at 1kHz².

What reviewers said

Early reviews were positive. Pedal of the Day's James R found the Sick As "works great as a clean boost/light OD without coloring your signal"⁸. On That Pedal Show, Mick and Dan called it "righteous tasty noise, it's the sound for a band," noting that it cuts through so every note is heard loud and clear, and that it "really sounds cleaner than it is," staying direct where some gain pedals get fluffy³.

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The Sick As High Shredroom

The Sick As High Shredroom is a variation on the Sick As circuit, first launched on 11 September 2018 as a limited run of 30 units designed in collaboration with Earthling Designs⁹. Bondi bills it as "all day distortion"¹⁰. Compared with the standard Sick As:

• The mid-range focus is narrowed to open up the top and bottom end, which the maker says makes it "more articulate and aggressive"¹⁰
• The gain sweep is narrowed for usability, meaning it no longer goes completely clean¹⁰
• It keeps the active tonestack with 15dB of boost or cut, the headroom toggle, true-bypass switching and the internal 18V boost¹⁰

Where Bondi Effects is based

Bondi Effects is an Australian company³. Orders within Australia ship via Australia Post within 1-3 business days; US orders ship from a US warehouse via USPS Priority Mail within 1-5 business days with no international fees; international orders ship from Sydney via DHL Express¹². Some products are stocked exclusively at the Sydney lab but can be shipped to the USA¹⁰.

Bondi also makes other overdrives, including the Del Mar and the Breakers Overdrive.

Videos

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Questions