The Mona Lisa Overdrive & Oscillation is a pedal from L0/rez, a north Brooklyn company owned by engineer and designer Jared Hiller, and it was the company's second creation. Introduced in November 2015, it combines two classic-but-modded effects in one enclosure, without the extra cable connectors that chaining separate pedals would need. The pedal is true bypass1.
What it does
The overdrive side starts, in Delicious Audio's description, with a rich, warm, Iommi-style distortion/overdrive, tonally similar to the Boss SD-1 but with more definition, less fizziness, more low-end grit and tons of gain. Players weighing a similar circuit on its own can compare it in Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, or read more about the type in Overdrive Pedals and Distortion Pedals1.
The oscillator half can be used on its own as a separate tremolo or rotary effect, or in conjunction with the distortion, with what the write-up calls an incredible amount of control. For the modulation side on its own, see Tremolo Pedals1.
"It starts with a rich, warm, Iommi-style distortion/overdrive tonally similar to my favorite long-stolen pedal, the Boss"
What reviewers heard
Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio, writing with Mya Byrne, heard a wide range in the pedal's demo video1:
"From the (clever) video demo below I hear everything from JCM 800-style shred to eeeeevil over-fuzzed Devi Ever-esque tones"
The same review noted that the pedal can emulate amp sag when pushed to its limits1.
Videos
Jared Hiller
Coastal Tone
Sources (1)
- New Pedals: L0/Rez's Mona Lisa, Delicious Audio, 2015-11-30