Gurus Amps SexyDrive MkII

The Gurus Amps SexyDrive MkII is a medium-gain overdrive pedal from Italian maker Gurus Amps, announced in May 2017 as the successor to the original Sexydrive¹². Gurus Amps describes it as an amp-like overdrive akin to a Dumble or Klon drive tone, which gearnews read as a slightly cleaner, less saturated overdrive than the average pedal in this class². Premier Guitar later characterized it as a preamp and drive pedal that delivers "appealingly musical and richly saturated tone with a lot more versatility than the average OD"³.

What sets the MkII apart from the pedal it replaces is a Balance control that blends the overdriven and clean signals, a feature Gurus Amps added to help players keep low-end clarity and definition under gain¹². Premier Guitar's reviewer placed that dry/dirty balance idea in the same family as Truetone's Route 66 v3, Voodoo Lab's Sparkle Drive, and Way Huge's Pork Loin³.

A Dumble and Klon-inspired medium-gain overdrive

The Sexydrive MkII sits in the medium-gain tier of overdrive pedals. Its design brief, as Gurus Amps told the press at launch, is an amp-like overdrive in the vein of a Dumble or Klon drive tone: a slightly cleaner, less saturated sound than a full-on distortion, aimed at players who want their amp pushed rather than replaced². Guitar World's review describes its core function as providing "transparent amp-like overdrive"⁴.

Under the hood, the circuit is not tube driven³. Premier Guitar's reviewer heard a recognizable ancestry in it, noting:

That balanced voicing is the practical difference from a stock Tube Screamer-style circuit: the midrange push that defines those pedals is absent unless you dial it in yourself with the Middle control. For players comparing the two approaches, the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison covers the classic mid-hump circuits the MkII deliberately steps away from. Premier Guitar also found the pedal works with a tube amp to induce sweeter and earlier breakup³.

The controls

The front panel follows a familiar layout. Guitar World lists the full control set as Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Balance, Gain, and a bypass footswitch⁴. Gearnews called the standard set, Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle and Treble, easy to navigate².

The Balance control is the MkII's headline feature. It mixes the overdrive and clean tones together, helping you maintain clarity in the drive tone as gain increases². MusicRadar described the new knob as letting players "blend overdriven and clean signals"¹. Unlike pedals that put this blend on a front-panel knob, Gurus implements it as a trim pot on the underside of the pedal, accessed through a small hole, so no screwdriver or case opening is needed to adjust it².

Two indicator lights sit on the pedal. One, labeled Peak, shows your drive level; the other, labeled Fuel, warns when your battery is low².

Power: 9V or 12V

The SexyDrive MkII runs on a 9V or 12V power supply¹. Guitar World's review specifies a 9V to 12V DC adaptor drawing 40mA, with a 12V adapter supplied⁴.

There is a reason to use the higher voltage: according to the launch coverage, using a 12V power supply increases the dynamic range of the pedal's circuit by making more headroom available internally². In practice that means more clean sweep before the drive compresses, which suits the amp-like brief.

What reviewers said

Published reactions to the SexyDrive MkII have been positive, with a few reservations. Reviewers have described it as a decent overdrive pedal with a nice, clean look and very well laid out, offering exceptional dynamic response and naturally transparent sounds from a simple format, while noting gripes such as a silly name and a dislike of trim pots, though at least that one is accessible without opening the case²⁴.

Gearnews, covering the launch, wrote that "this new overdrive pedal has a nice, clean look and is very well laid out, so it should hopefully be easy to use," and concluded: "All in all, this looks like a decent overdrive pedal, I like the blend control. My only gripe is the silly name!"². The same writer was lukewarm on the Balance trim pot's placement, saying "I'm not a huge fan of trim pots, but at least you don't need to get your screwdriver out and start opening up the case" to reach it².

Premier Guitar's 2023 review found the pedal "delivers appealingly musical and richly saturated tone with a lot more versatility than the average OD," and noted it works with a tube amp to induce sweeter and earlier breakup³.

Guitar World's verdict, published alongside its review of the companion Gurus Double Decker MkII, was that "the Sexy Drive offers exceptional dynamic response and naturally transparent sounds from a simple format"⁴.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions