The Kartakou Warmer Overdrive is an overdrive pedal from Belarus, built as a replica of the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808 with some interesting upgrades added on top1. The TS808 is the earliest iteration of the classic Tube Screamer overdrive circuit, the design that countless later pedals, including this one, take as their starting point23. Where a stock Tube Screamer gives you the familiar warm overdrive with strong mids and sustain, the Warmer Overdrive adds two toggles that reshape the stock formula: a bass boost switch and an asymmetrical clipping mode1.
What the two toggles do
The two upgrades are the point of the pedal, and each is a simple toggle switch rather than a knob14.
- Bass boost toggle: brings more lows into your tone1. On the related Warmer Drive, Pedal of the Day's reviewer found the equivalent switch did just what it should, beefing up the low end and giving that extra bass-y punch, and added that he dug the feature because he often leans towards the lower end half of the tone knob on a lot of drives4.
- Asymmetrical clipping mode: gives you a slightly crunchier tone than the standard setting1. The reviewer of the Warmer Drive described the same kind of clipping toggle as giving a little more "oomph" in your sound, turning things a bit heavier and crunchier4.
The bass boost addresses the most common complaint about Tube Screamer-style pedals, which is that the stock circuit cuts lows hard. Being able to switch the lows back in, rather than running a separate EQ, is what makes this a "highly tweakable" Tube Screamer-inspired pedal in Delicious Audio's words1.
Controls
The closely related Kartakou Amplification Warmer Drive carries a control layout of Pedal Switch, Bass Mod Switch, Crunchy Switch, Gain, Tone and Level4, which gives a good picture of how Kartakou's Tube Screamer-based pedals are laid out: the standard Gain, Tone and Level knobs of a Tube Screamer, plus toggles for the two mods.
Warmer Overdrive and Warmer Drive
The two names are easy to confuse. Both come from Kartakou Amplification, a Belarus maker building overdrive pedals, and both are based on the classic Tube Screamer4. The differences:
- Warmer Drive (reviewed by Pedal of the Day in 2015) includes five different interchangeable internal chips for experimentation. Some of those chips have more of a volume boost, turning the drive into a higher-gain pedal4.
- Warmer Overdrive (covered by Delicious Audio in 2019) instead offers the bass boost toggle and the asymmetrical clipping mode as its upgrades over a stock TS808 replica1.
So they share a Tube Screamer foundation but take different routes to tweaking it: swappable op-amp chips on the Warmer Drive, fixed toggles on the Warmer Overdrive41.
What reviewers said
Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio called it "a highly tweakable Tube Screamer inspired pedal from Belarus"1. Pedal of the Day's Mike B, reviewing the Warmer Drive, was positive on the bass boost in particular, noting that he often leans towards the lower end half of the tone knob on a lot of drives4.
Videos
Riffs And Chugs TV
Victor Hugo Targino
shnobel
Questions
Is the Kartakou Warmer Overdrive true bypass?
Yes. Delicious Audio's product page lists true bypass among the pedal's features, so the effect is taken fully out of the signal path when the pedal is off. That matters on a pedalboard where several overdrives sit in line, since a buffered pedal left on can color the tone of everything after it.
What does the bass boost switch do?
The bass boost toggle brings more lows into your tone. On the closely related Warmer Drive, Pedal of the Day's reviewer found the boost beefed up the low end and gave an extra bass-y punch, and said he dug the feature because he often leans toward the lower end of the tone knob on a lot of drives.
What does asymmetrical clipping sound like compared with standard clipping?
Delicious Audio describes the asymmetrical clipping mode as giving a slightly crunchier tone, a little bit more of a crunchy sound than the standard setting. On the Warmer Drive, the reviewer described the equivalent toggle as giving a little more oomph, turning things a bit heavier and crunchier.
Is the Kartakou Warmer Overdrive the same as the Warmer Drive?
They are closely related but not identical. Both are Tube Screamer-based overdrives from Kartakou Amplification in Belarus. The earlier Warmer Drive, reviewed by Pedal of the Day in 2015, included five interchangeable internal op-amp chips for experimentation, some of which turned the pedal into a higher-gain, volume-boosting drive. The Warmer Overdrive instead offers bass boost and asymmetrical clipping toggles.
Sources (4)
- Kartakou Warmer Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2019-05-06
- Warm Audio unveils the Tube Squealer and Throne of Tone, Guitar.com, 2025-10-10
- TAMURA-MOD TS808 Tube Screamer (TS808TM), Godlyke, Inc. (maxonfx.com)
- Kartakou Amplification Warmer Drive, Pedal of the Day, 2015-07-09
