Ninevolt Pedals Surfing Bear Overdrive

The Ninevolt Pedals Surfing Bear Overdrive is a compact overdrive pedal released on March 25, 2015, from the Japanese maker Ninevolt Pedals¹. It is a crunch-style drive aimed at the most basic distortion needs of a working guitarist, and it arrives in a bright blue enclosure covered in surf art by the Australian artist Jonas Claesson²³.

What sets it apart from a stock Tube Screamer clone is intent: Pedal of the Day called it "loosely based on a classic green overdrive that may contain the numbers '808' in it," and the maker's own description of the circuit confirms that its base is the legendary "808" drive pedal, reworked rather than copied²³. The pedal is now offered by Animals Pedal, whose current version carries the same circuit with some practical refinements³¹.

A crunch pedal loosely based on an 808

The Surfing Bear's circuit family is no secret. The maker states plainly that the base of the circuit is the "808," the legendary drive pedal better known as the Tube Screamer, and that the design departs from it in pursuit of a more modern sound³. Pedal of the Day put it more colorfully in its 2017 review:

For a player, that lineage means familiar territory: a mid-focused, warm drive that stacks well in front of an already breaking-up amp. The maker describes the VOL control as having a high output level, so with the DRIVE knob turned down the pedal works as a clean boost, and with DRIVE turned up it produces a mild, warm tone that recalls the legendary "808"³. Pedal of the Day likewise found that "a good chunk of volume output makes the overdriven sounds nice and noticeable"².

The wider 808 family has been reimagined many times, and the Surfing Bear sits in that tradition. Runoffgroove's well-known UBE Screamer project, for example, aimed at "an overdrive pedal that has some air of the original TS, but with more attitude and character," which is the same kind of departure from the stock circuit the Surfing Bear pursues⁷⁸. Players comparing classic 808-family options can also look at the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 comparison.

Controls and what they do

The control set is minimal, in keeping with its 808 roots:

Power, bypass and current draw

The Surfing Bear Overdrive runs on a 9V battery or a standard center negative 9V DC adapter, and it draws only 15mA²³. That draw is low enough that the pedal is easy to accommodate on a shared power supply. Pedal of the Day highlighted both figures in its verdict:

The Animals Pedal version of the pedal uses true bypass switching as well, so the bypassed signal path is unchanged when the pedal is off⁹.

Artwork and the Animals Pedal versions

The Surfing Bear's look is a big part of its identity. The artwork was created by Jonas Claesson, a surf artist active in Australia, and Pedal of the Day noted that his work appears on each and every pedal in the Ninevolt Pedals lineup²³. The maker describes the image as a bear taking a coffee break while surfing, on a bright blue enclosure²³. Delicious Audio covered the Ninevolt Pedals line in January 2017 as part of its look at Japanese effects builders⁵.

The pedal now lives on in the Animals Pedal catalog. The current Animals Pedal Surfing Bear Overdrive keeps the same circuit and function, but the enclosure was redesigned: battery replacement is easier than before, the footswitch sits further forward for better playability, and the artwork is larger³. The maker says the sound and functions are largely unchanged, with the overall tonal range widened and fine-tuned to suit more amps and guitars⁶.

From the same circuit, Animals Pedal also developed a bass version, the Surfing Polar Bear Bass Overdrive Mod by BJF, in which the noted effect builder BJF modified the Surfing Bear circuit for bass, drawing just 4mA¹⁰. There are also charity editions of the pedal, including the CHARITY EDITION SURFING BEAR OVERDRIVE, the KUMAMOTOKEN edition and the I LOVE KUMAMOTO edition, all built on the same 808-based circuit and drawing the same 15mA⁸.

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day reviewed the Surfing Bear on January 30, 2017, and its verdict was positive on value:

The same review summed it up as "a well-made crunch pedal that could easily make its home on any pedalboard"². Delicious Audio's coverage of the Ninevolt Pedals line the same month helped bring the Japanese maker's pedals to a wider audience⁵.

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