Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword

The Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword is an analog, op-amp based drive pedal that stretches across the whole dirt spectrum in one box. Cascaded gain stages allow the full range from clean boost to massive distortion, so it can serve as a light overdrive, a heavy distortion, or a boost depending on where the knobs sit¹. The maker describes it as "yet another contender in the endless void of op-amp based drive pedals," a self-aware framing of how crowded that category is, but the Longsword backs it up with an unusually deep control set¹.

A 2016 Pedal of the Day review of the V2 called it "an overdrive, boost and distortion in one," and summed up the sound in blunt terms².

Pedal of the Day, on the Longsword Overdrive V2³

What it does to your sound

The core of the Longsword is its cascaded gain stages, which let the pedal move from a clean volume lift all the way to saturated distortion without changing pedals¹. The three-way Diode switch changes the clipping character, which alters both the dynamics and the headroom¹:

The center position is the most open: with no clipping diodes in the circuit, the op-amps themselves do the clipping, which the maker ties to increased headroom¹. The V2 took a similar approach with three clipping modes, offering symmetrical LED clipping, symmetrical germanium clipping using NOS germanium diodes, and an Open mode for pure op-amp clipping and increased headroom².

The maker says the Longsword has a broad frequency response that makes it work equally well with guitar, baritone, and bass¹, so bass players are not an afterthought here. Pedal of the Day's V2 review made the same point from the player's side, noting the Range switch was "great for use on bass guitars, or high-output pickups as well"².

The controls

The current version carries a six-knob layout, which arrived with the V4 revision¹. Each control:

The Shift control is worth a second look for players used to simpler overdrives: rather than a fixed midrange frequency, the Mid knob's center point moves, so you can push or scoop mids at different frequencies depending on where the amp and the room are fighting you¹. The boost footswitch is a separate stage rather than a volume jump, adding a mid boost at the front end, with the Boost knob scaling up to 20 dB of gain on top when it is engaged¹.

The V2's control set was different, and Pedal of the Day's 2016 review gives a picture of how it worked then: Level and Drive were the basic controls with a wide gain range, the EQ section had High, Low and Mid controls, and a second footswitch engaged a second gain stage controlled by an internal trimpot². A Frequency toggle switched between low and high range, and the Range switch adjusted both the gain and treble response of that second stage².

Pedal of the Day, on the Longsword Overdrive V2's toggles²

Power and protection

The Longsword runs on 9V DC through a 2.1 mm center negative barrel jack and draws 95 mA¹. There is no battery option: the maker states that its pedals do not accept batteries¹.

The V3 revision added a 9V to 18V (+/-9V bipolar) power supply for increased headroom, which is part of the version history below¹.

History and versions

The Longsword has been through a long run of revisions since its initial release¹:

The V4 revision was the big one for players: the six-knob layout put the Boost control on the outside of the pedal, and the move to a surface mount PCB came alongside soft-touch relay bypass switching¹.

The pedal has also appeared in a number of finishes beyond the standard black sparkle with white print¹:

• Standard: black sparkle with white print¹
• Acid Etch: hand-finished using hydrochloric acid with a toner transfer mask; application and technique vary between batches and individual units¹
• Rose Gold: rose gold powder coat with white print and white knobs¹
• Purple: 2023 retail exclusive¹
• Teal: exclusive for Empire Guitars¹
• Camouflage: exclusive edition for Eastside Music Supply, in normal and "high vis" versions with different knobs¹
• 2025 10 Year Edition: V2 throwback graphic on a dark purple enclosure¹

The 2025 10 Year Edition is a nice marker of the pedal's age: it celebrates a decade of the Longsword by reprinting the V2's graphics on a dark purple enclosure¹.

The Longsword and the Dagger

Electronic Audio Experiments also makes the Dagger, which Delicious Audio describes as "a simplified version of the company's own Longsword op-amp drive"⁴. The Dagger V2, current as of July 2021, updated its Low and High EQ points to match the Longsword V4.5 update, so the two pedals share a tonal family even though the Dagger carries fewer controls⁴. Players who want the full control set, the three-way diode switch, and the boost footswitch stay with the Longsword; the Dagger trims the concept down.

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