What it does
At heart this is a screamer-style overdrive, the family of mid-focused drive pedals covered on the site's Overdrive Pedals page. The maker's Tone and Presence controls, together with the mids switch, are described by Cornerstone as allowing "several different sounds and colors suiting different guitar/amps tone"3.
The tone shaping goes beyond a standard Tube Screamer layout. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio, covering the V3, noted that "The Tone knob affects the low-mid frequencies"4. Pete Thorn, in his review video for the earlier Classic Drive, described the Tone as covering "low mids through mid-range" and the Mid switch as a way to "cut mids and get like a little bit more of a flat mid" response5.
The V3 and the Hot Mode channel
The V3 update, previewed by Delicious Audio on 29 July 2024, added a Hotmode footswitch section and a COMP toggle, replacing the V2's Mids toggle4. Guitar Pedal X's review of the released V3 highlighted one practical benefit for players who use their guitar's volume control:
"It also has excellent guitar volume knob gain cleanup - so you can mostly live on the Hot Mode Channel if you wish and just ride that volume control."
That makes the V3 workable as a single-pedal drive solution: set the Hot Mode channel where you want your pushed sound, then clean it up from the guitar2.
Origins and design goal
The pedal began life as the Antique Classic Drive, and Pete Thorn's 2021 review video explained its intent: it was "designed to kind of try and capture the John Mayer Trio sort of guitar tones, like that era of John's tones"5. The Antique Classic Drive remains a distinct page in the line, with the V3 Antique building on it.
Power and practical notes
The Antique runs on a 9V DC center negative supply and draws 60mA, per Cornerstone's PedalPedia specifications1. That current draw is worth checking against your pedalboard power supply's per-output budget before adding it to a daisy chain.
The V3 differs from earlier versions: the V2 had a Mids toggle, while the V3 replaces it with a COMP toggle and adds the Hotmode footswitch section4. Reviews of the V2 referenced in the line's history describe a different control set1.
Videos
Pete Thorn
Cornerstone Music Gear
Cornerstone Music Gear
Questions
Is the Cornerstone Antique analog or digital?
The Antique is an analog pedal. Cornerstone's PedalPedia listing gives its circuit type as analog, and it runs on a 9V DC center negative supply drawing 60mA. Like most analog overdrives it has no battery option mentioned in its specifications, so plan your pedalboard power accordingly.
What is the Antique based on?
The Antique is a Tube Screamer-style overdrive. Cornerstone's own PedalPedia entry notes that the Tube Screamer has made the history of guitar sound, and describes the Antique as a screamer at its core with added versatility. The V3 version adds a second Hot Mode channel and remote switching on top of that classic drive foundation.
Sources (5)
- Antique by Cornerstone Music Gear, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-08-23
- Antique | Cornerstone | Handmade in Italy Music Gear, Cornerstone
- Updated Pedal: Cornerstone Antique Classic Drive V3, Delicious Audio, 2024-07-29
- JOHN MAYER TONES, YouTube (Pete Thorn channel), 2021-06-23
