The Southland Harmonic Overdrive is an overdrive pedal from Greer Amps, an Athens, Georgia builder. Greer describes it as delivering "amazing mild to medium overdrive and crunch" with "thick harmonics, amazing sustain," a focused midrange without a pronounced mid hump, and a bit of presence on top to help a guitar cut through a mix1.
The pedal first drew press attention in the fall of 2014, when Pedal of the Day reviewed it ahead of its release and called it Greer's newest pedal creation2. It has stayed in the Greer lineup since, and Delicious Audio revisited it in an updated 2026 writeup3.
A step up from the Lightspeed
The Southland is built on the platform of Greer's Lightspeed Organic Overdrive, the pedal Greer is best known for1. Delicious Audio notes that it started life as a modded version of the Lightspeed, and that "The Southland takes that foundation and adds more low-end girth and a different clipping structure"3. Pedal of the Day framed it the same way in 2014, calling it Greer's "next step up" from the Lightspeed2.
Where the Lightspeed sits at the lighter, more transparent end of the overdrive range, the Southland pushes further. Greer's own description centers on "more gain, with two stages of clipping (utilizing different diode types for each stage of clipping)"1. Pedal of the Day heard the difference in character too: more pronounced gain and chime than the Lightspeed, ranging from a clean boost sound at low settings to an almost distorted, bordering-on-fuzz overdrive when pushed2.
The controls: Drive, Range and Harmonic
The Southland keeps its control set small, but reviewers found real depth in it. Pedal of the Day wrote that "the depth in both the Drive and Range controls here coax a vast variety of tonal options," with the Drive knob going from a boosted signal at around the 10:00 position to thick, creamy overdrive when maxed2.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Drive | Sets gain, from a boosted signal around 10:00 to thick, creamy overdrive when maxed2 |
| Range | Tonal shaping with enough depth to coax a wide variety of options2 |
| Harmonic | Blends between two distinct clipping modes3 |
The Harmonic control is what separates the Southland from a straightforward higher-gain Lightspeed. As Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio explains32:
"The magic is in the Harmonic control. It blends between two distinct clipping modes3."
Delicious Audio3
At one end of the Harmonic knob the pedal runs a softer, more open drive with even-order harmonics; at the other it turns grittier and more compressed, with odd-order harmonics pushing into distortion territory3. For a player, that means one knob moves the pedal between two clipping characters rather than simply adding gain, which is useful for matching the pedal to different amps or stacking it with other drives.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day's 2014 review, published before the pedal shipped, praised both its sound and its build42:
"When this pedal is pushed, the overdrive is super-creamy and thick, with no ear-piercing highs or muddy lows, just a straight-up rock ‘n roll machine, conjuring up sounds of the tasty riffs from the ’70s we all know and love."2
Mike B, Pedal of the Day2
The same review noted the pedal is "built with top quality components"2. Delicious Audio's updated coverage adds the stacking angle, describing how the Southland behaves alongside other pedals in a chain3.
Power, bypass and warranty
The Southland is true bypass, so the signal passes through untouched when the pedal is off1. It runs on a 9-volt battery or a standard center-negative 2.1mm power supply, and Greer specifies an operating range of 9 to 18 volts on the center-negative pin only1. That means a standard pedalboard supply works, and higher-voltage supplies within that range are also fine.
Warranty terms reported for this pedal differ. Greer's current product page lists a 5 year warranty to the original owner1, while Pedal of the Day's 2014 review described a "Lifetime Warranty to the original owner"2. The maker's current figure is the 5 year term.
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Questions
Is the Greer Southland true bypass?
Yes. Greer Amps lists the Southland Harmonic Overdrive as true bypass, meaning that when the pedal is switched off the signal passes through without active circuitry in the path. Pedal of the Day's review confirms the same.
What power supply does the Greer Southland need?
It runs on a 9-volt battery or a standard center-negative 2.1mm power supply. Greer specifies a 9 to 18 volt range on the center-negative pin only, so a standard pedalboard power supply works, and higher voltage within that range is acceptable.
How is the Southland different from the Greer Lightspeed?
The Southland is built on the Lightspeed Organic Overdrive platform but adds more gain and two stages of clipping using different diode types. Delicious Audio describes it as adding more low-end girth and a different clipping structure, and Pedal of the Day heard more pronounced gain and chime than the Lightspeed.
Does the Greer Southland have a warranty?
Greer Amps currently lists a 5 year warranty to the original owner. An earlier 2014 review from Pedal of the Day described a lifetime warranty to the original owner, so the coverage terms reported have changed over time; the maker's current figure is 5 years.
Sources (4)
- Southland Harmonic Overdrive, Greer Amps
- Greer Amps Southland Harmonic Overdrive, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2014-10-07
- Greer Southland Harmonic Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2026-05-19
- Greer Amps Southland Harmonic Overdrive - Pedal of the Day, Pedal of the Day
