Gurus Sexydrive MkII

The Gurus Sexydrive MkII is a medium-gain overdrive pedal from Italian maker Gurus, announced in May 2017 as the successor to the original Sexydrive¹². Its core function, as Guitar World's reviewer Trevor Curwen put it, is "to provide transparent amp-like overdrive"³. Gurus describes the character as an amp-like overdrive akin to a Dumble or Klon drive tone, a slightly cleaner, less saturated kind of overdrive⁴.

What sets the MkII apart from a standard overdrive is its Balance control, which mixes the overdriven and clean tones together so you keep clarity and pick attack in with the dirt⁴². That dry/dirty balance idea is one a few other pedals share: Premier Guitar's review names Truetone's Route 66 v3, Voodoo Lab's Sparkle Drive, and Way Huge's Pork Loin as pedals using a similar balance concept¹.

What it does to your sound

The Sexydrive MkII is not a high-gain distortion or fuzz; it sits in the medium-gain overdrive range, aimed at players who want dirt that still responds to their picking dynamics¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer found it "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 breakup¹.

Guitar World's verdict was similar: "the Sexy Drive offers exceptional dynamic response and naturally transparent sounds from a simple format"³.

On the circuit's lineage, the reviews point in two directions that are not really in conflict. MusicRadar called it a Dumble and Klon-inspired stompbox², while Premier Guitar's reviewer wrote:

So a player who finds a stock Tube Screamer too midrange-heavy has a voicing control here: the Middle knob lets you dial a hump in or leave it flat¹³.

The controls

The MkII carries a full set of knobs: Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Balance, and Gain, plus a bypass footswitch³⁴. Gearnews described the layout as a set of standard controls, making the pedal easy to navigate⁴.

The Balance knob is the one that changes how you use the pedal. Guitar World describes it as blending "dry and driven sounds to mix articulation and pick attack in with the dirt"³, which is useful for keeping low-gain settings defined or stacking it after another drive.

Two indicator lights sit on the pedal. One is labeled Peak, which shows your drive level, and the other is labeled Fuel, which lets you know when your battery is low⁴. The Fuel light is a holdover from the original battery-powered design; on the MkII itself it has little to do, since the pedal no longer takes a battery.

Power and bypass

The MkII runs on a 9V to 12V DC adapter and draws 40mA, with a 12V adapter supplied³. Running it at 12V is not just about convenience: gearnews reports that using a 12V power supply increases the dynamic range of the pedal's circuit by making more headroom available internally⁴.

The bypass is buffered, not true bypass. Premier Guitar reports the pedal uses "three extremely transparent buffers, one on the input and two on the output, to keep your signal intact"¹. For players running long cable runs or many pedals, that buffering is part of the design rather than a cost saving; see buffer pedals for how buffering works.

The pedal is not tube driven¹; its amp-like character comes from the solid-state circuit, not a valve inside the box.

From the Sexydrive to the MkII

Gurus Amps announced the Sexydrive MkII in May 2017 as the successor to the original Sexydrive². Gearnews framed it as "a new reincarnation of its cornily named Sexydrive pedal"⁴, and the update brought three main changes:

• A Balance control for blending clean and overdriven signals²
• Peak and Fuel indicator lights⁴
• 9V or 12V power options, with 12V increasing internal headroom²⁴

The enclosure is distinctive: Premier Guitar describes "the custom-folded sheet-metal enclosure is topped with a Plexiglas face that lends a three-dimensional look to the legends etched below"¹. Guitar World lists the MkII as a preamp and drive pedal, 130 x 90 x 50mm³.

What reviewers said

The published verdicts were positive. Premier Guitar's 2023 review praised its versatility and dynamic response¹, and Guitar World's 2026 review found exceptional dynamic response and naturally transparent sounds from a simple format³. Gearnews' 2017 news piece was more reserved: "All in all, this looks like a decent overdrive pedal, I like the blend control. My only gripe is the silly name!"⁴

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions