Doodad Guitars Check-A-Board Overdrive & Booster

The Doodad Guitars Check-A-Board Overdrive & Booster is two stompboxes in one enclosure: a classic overdrive and a boost, each with its own footswitch. The pedal was inspired by overdrives and boosters from the 1970s, built with updated circuits and technology. Premier Guitar reviewed it in August 2021 at a street price of $139, and the reviewer felt that made the price tag seem like quite a deal for two effects in one box¹.

The controls and footswitches

There are separate footswitches for the overdrive and booster effects, so the two can be switched independently. The overdrive side carries straightforward controls for Drive, Tone, and Volume, while the booster has a single Boost knob that, in Premier Guitar's words, "gooses the output to a pretty hot level"¹.

Cosmetically the pedal leans vintage: a red finish, chicken-head knobs, checkerboard trim across the footswitch area, and super-bright white and red LEDs. The reviewer described it as rugged and weighty¹.

What it sounds like

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the pedal delivered on its promise of solid, vintage, rock and blues stompbox overdrive, describing the overdrive as harmonically complex and therefore quite colorful, with what he called a nice boutique-ish midrangey-ness¹.

The booster side stays clean while adding level. The reviewer found it useful for adding gain to a solo coming off an overdriven rhythm part, with the only color coming from it juicing the amp¹.

Power

One practical point from the review: the pedal devours 9-volt batteries, which the reviewer attributed to the ultra-bright LEDs, and he concluded that hard-wired power is a must for gigging¹.

How it compares

Premier Guitar's reviewer suggested the Check-A-Board for players who want an updated version of a Tube Screamer, or a booster and medium overdrive pedal with boutique characteristics. On the other side, he flagged it as a skip for players who need distortion rather than overdrive, or who are still in love with their good ol' TS 808¹. For where overdrive sits among gain effects, see Overdrive Pedals and Distortion Pedals; for more on the boost half, see Boost Pedals.

One caveat from the same review: at lower overdrive settings the pedal struggled to provide even sustain, which the reviewer believed was related to its power consumption¹.

As a general point on overdrives, BOSS's Lee Glynn notes that guitarists can use an overdrive pedal with any amplifier type, including solid-state, keyboard, and vocal PA systems².