The Fowl Sounds Flannel Overdriver is a dirt pedal built for heavy guitarists, released in March 2021. Fowl Sounds describes it as an effort to give the heavy guitarist a single stompbox that can deliver a wide variety of dirt tones, "from overdrive to distortion to (borderline) fuzz"1. That range puts it across the territory usually split between overdrive pedals, distortion pedals and, at the top of its gain range, fuzz pedals.
Gain and the three-way clipping switch
The heart of the pedal is its gain staging. "The Flannel's Gain knob has a dual pot that controls the gain of the two op-amps at once," Paolo De Gregorio explains on Delicious Audio, so one turn of the knob raises both op-amp stages together1. Clipping is selectable on the second op-amp, and a three-way toggle chooses what does the clipping:
| Toggle position | Clipping type |
|---|---|
| North | Hard-clipped red LED |
| Middle | Soft-clipped Zener |
| South | Hard-clipped silicon |
Each option clips the signal in a different way, which is what lets one pedal move between overdrive, distortion and near-fuzz territory1.
Tone and where it sits
Fowl Sounds pitches the Flannel at players running down-tuned and heavy rigs. The pedal is described as "delivering both scooped or punchier tones with an emphasis on 'fatter' frequencies than the average mid-boost," which sets it apart from the mid-humped overdrives many heavy players start with1. The circuit is "inspired by classic distortion circuits," but it is its own design rather than a copy of one pedal1.
"represents an effort to provide the heavy guitarist with a stompbox that can deliver a wide variety of dirt tones"
Within the Fowl Sounds range
The Flannel sits alongside other Fowl Sounds dirt pedals such as the Backstabber 2.0, a RAT-style distortion, and The Lifer. Where the Backstabber leans on one classic circuit style, the Flannel's selling point is breadth: three clipping choices and a gain control that spans from overdrive into borderline fuzz1.
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Questions
What clipping options does the Flannel Overdriver have?
A three-way toggle selects between hard-clipped red LED in the north position, soft-clipped Zener in the middle, and hard-clipped silicon in the south. Each clipping type shapes the way the pedal breaks up, so the switch changes the character of the dirt rather than just its amount.
Is the Flannel Overdriver an overdrive or a distortion?
It covers a range. Fowl Sounds describes it as going from overdrive to distortion to borderline fuzz, and it was designed to give the heavy guitarist a single stompbox with a wide variety of dirt tones. Players looking for one pedal that spans several dirt types is the idea behind it.
What does the dual-gang gain pot do?
The Gain knob uses a dual-gang potentiometer, meaning one knob turns two connected controls at once. In the Flannel it sets the gain of both op-amp stages in tandem, so the two stages climb together as you turn the knob up.
Is the Flannel Overdriver a clone of another pedal?
No. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio describes it as inspired by classic distortion circuits, but it is its own design: dual op-amp gain stages with selectable clipping on the second op-amp and a JFET stage, rather than a copy of a specific pedal.
Sources (1)
- Fowl Sounds Flannel Overdriver, Delicious Audio, 2021-03-19
