The EarthQuaker Devices Plumes Small Signal Shredder is a Tube Screamer-style transparent overdrive pedal, built to keep clarity and presence in your tone rather than bury it. EarthQuaker's own write-up calls it "a Tube Screamer-style pedal with a clarity and presence that I have never really experienced before," and notes that "the first thing you will notice about Plumes is that it is loud. Loud but not noisy"1. It was released on 3 August 2019 and is hand made in the USA with a lifetime guarantee12.
What sets the Plumes apart from most Tube Screamer takes is its three-way clipping selector, which gives you three distinct drives in one box, and a redesigned front end that replaces the classic JRC4558 OpAmp and BJT buffers with low noise JFET OpAmps2. Founder Jamie Stillman had it on his own pedalboard for a long time before EarthQuaker released it for everyone1.
The controls and three clipping modes
The Plumes has a classic three-knob layout of level, gain and tone3, plus a three-way clipping selector switch that chooses between symmetrical LED clipping, asymmetrical silicon clipping, and no-diode OpAmp drive3. EarthQuaker gives each mode a name: Mode 1 Denim Warriors, Mode 2 Blues Lawyer, and Mode 3 Oracles of the Sceptre Beyond1.
| Mode | Name | Clipping | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denim Warriors | Symmetrical LED | The raunchiest overdrive on the pedal; the crunchiest setting, pair with a clean amp for classic crunchy valve amp tone13 |
| 2 | Blues Lawyer | Asymmetrical silicon | A clean boost, great for boosting clean tone or driving the preamp of an overdriven amp into breakup13 |
| 3 | Oracles of the Sceptre Beyond | No diode, OpAmp drive | Behaves like a Tube Screamer, except it cannot be made to sound muffled; a midrange-focused transparent overdrive1 |
A few notes on how the controls behave in practice, from EarthQuaker's own walkthrough:
- With colder single coil pickups, the gain control starts to wake up at about 1 o'clock and stays relatively tame before that in Mode 11.
- The tone control never gets muddy, even all the way cut1.
- The tone control's cutoff was adjusted to deliver a more useful range of travel, with more booming bass without sacrificing the cutting midrange and bright top end2.
Mode 3 is the setting that separates the Plumes from EarthQuaker's other Tube Screamer-family pedals: no setting on the Dunes or Palisades can provide what Mode 3 on the Plumes does1.
The switching is worth knowing about too. The Plumes uses EarthQuaker's relay-based "soft touch" Flexi-Switch technology, which supports both momentary and latching operation2. EarthQuaker notes that momentary switching comes in handy when experimenting with song parts, letting you punch the drive in only while you hold the switch1.
Power and connections
The Plumes draws a very low 25 mA, which makes it easy to fit on a crowded pedalboard power supply2. On the input side, EarthQuaker raised the input impedance to 10 megaohms for a stronger signal with more clarity and chime2, a change Guitar.com also flagged at launch, noting the input impedance "has been bumped up to 10 megaohms"3. Output impedance is 100 ohms2.
The 10 megaohm input impedance means the Plumes is not fussy about what feeds it. A high input impedance like this preserves treble and clarity when the pedal follows long cable runs or other pedals, which is part of why EarthQuaker describes the result as a stronger signal with more clarity and chime2.
Plumes and bass: the Blumes
Bassists have long reached for guitar overdrives, and EarthQuaker acknowledges that "bassists have remained relatively underserved on this score, which is why many of them have turned to guitar overdrive pedals"5. The Plumes itself has been used by bassists to punch up their sound5, and its tone control was voiced with more booming bass in the range of travel2.
EarthQuaker has kept the Plumes in its range since release, and it remains the guitar-focused option in the maker's overdrive line. The pedal's all-analog signal path and JFET op-amp design are part of what distinguishes it from a stock Tube Screamer, and its three clipping modes give it a wider spread of sounds than the circuit it borrows from3.
Where it came from and what reviewers said
The Plumes arrived on 3 August 2019, available at EarthQuaker Devices dealers worldwide, at an estimated UK retail price of £10532. Guitar World later named it the budget pick in its guide to Tube Screamer clones, behind the JHS Bonsai at number one, which places it squarely in the conversation as an affordable take on the format.
EarthQuaker's Uri Garcia, who plays guitar in Apeshit Biscotti, summed up the pedal's character in the maker's own review1:
"Plumes is a Tube Screamer-style pedal with a clarity and presence that I have never really experienced before"1
By 2024 the pedal was listed at $139.00 USD4, and it remains part of EarthQuaker's overdrive line alongside pedals like the Dunes, Palisades and Gray Channel.
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Questions
Is the Plumes true bypass?
Yes. The Plumes uses true bypass switching, so with the pedal off your signal passes through without the circuit coloring it. It also uses EarthQuaker's relay-based soft touch Flexi-Switch technology, which supports both momentary and latching operation.
Can the Plumes be used on bass?
Yes. EarthQuaker notes that many bassists have turned to guitar overdrives because bass overdrive options were underserved, and the Plumes has been used by bassists to punch up their sound. The tone control was adjusted for a more useful range of travel with more booming bass without sacrificing the cutting midrange and bright top end.
What is the difference between Plumes and Blumes?
The Blumes, released in January 2024, is EarthQuaker's bass version of the Plumes. It keeps the three clipping modes but has twice the gain and a deeper bass response, and it launched at a lower price of $99. The Plumes is the original guitar overdrive, released in August 2019.
Does the Plumes work as a clean boost?
Yes. Mode 2, called Blues Lawyer, is a full open Op Amp drive, also known as Clean Boost mode. EarthQuaker describes it as great for boosting a clean tone or driving the preamp of an already overdriven amp into breakup.
Is the EarthQuaker Plumes made in the USA?
Yes. EarthQuaker describes the Plumes as a quality piece of gear that is hand made in the USA by people who love what they do, and it carries a lifetime guarantee.
Sources (5)
- Plumes: A Tube Screamer style transparent overdrive pedal., EarthQuaker Devices, 2019-09-17
- New EarthQuaker Plumes Shredder Launches, Premier Guitar, 2019-07-02
- EarthQuaker Devices pushes OD frontiers with Plumes Small Signal Shredder, Guitar.com, 2019-07-02
- EarthQuaker Devices Blumes Low Signal Shredder, gearnews.com, 2024-01-04
- 6 Classic Bass Tones from the Blumes Overdrive Pedal, EarthQuaker Devices, 2024-01-30
