DSM Humboldt Silver Linings

The DSM & Humboldt Silver Linings is an analog drive/preamp pedal: a single overdrive unit that can also serve as a preamp plugged straight into a power amp. The maker calls it "the next generation Drive/Preamp Engine," and it was designed from scratch rather than cloned from an existing circuit. It is the first DSM & Humboldt collaboration outside the company's Simplifier line of amp-simulating pedals¹².

What it does

As a drive, the Silver Linings is built around a Gain control with what the maker calls a "variable gain bandwidth" circuit, which it says keeps the tone tight and clear at any gain range and holds a controlled noise floor. The maker describes the pedal's range as running "from the sweetest clean jazzy whispers, to the gnarliest of high gain chugs," a span it says rivals digital modelers¹. Because the circuit is analog, Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio notes it keeps "that immediate response and complex dynamics that only analog circuits can deliver"².

A three-knob EQ section handles the rest of the tone shaping².

The three modes

A mode selector offers three voicings²:

The Preamp mode is the feature that sets this pedal apart from a straightforward overdrive: it is aimed at players who run pedalboards straight into the power section of an amp or a pedal-platform rig, and the maker says it is "perfect to use the unit directly into a power amp without losing the high end"¹.

Clipping and the dual boost circuit

A three-way toggle switch selects three styles of clipping at the gain stage: Soft, Vintage and Hard². That switch, together with the Gain control and the EQ, is where most of the pedal's tonal range comes from.

The Silver Linings also carries a dual boost function, with pre and master boost levels¹²:

• Pre Boost adds gain and compression ahead of the drive stage²
• Master Boost delivers higher output levels and works independently if the drive is bypassed, so it can boost a clean signal on its own²
• The Boost circuit has its own separate footswitch, so it can be engaged apart from the drive²

The Pre Tone control is not a simple low cut: De Gregorio describes it as acting as a Tilt control, shaping "the exact response you want from your pickups" rather than only cutting the low end².

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar's review, published June 27, 2023, was impressed by the pedal's range at the low end of the gain control. The reviewer found that "at lower gain settings, for example, the pedal delivers overdrive reminiscent of a driven black-panel Deluxe"³.

Where it sits

For a player comparing drives, the Silver Linings is an analog overdrive designed from scratch rather than a clone, and it covers more ground than the name suggests: a separate footswitch engages the Boost circuit, while the pedal itself runs in Normal, Preamp or Mid Boost modes². Players interested in the maker's later work can look at the rest of the DSM & Humboldt range beyond the amp-simulating Simplifier line².

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