The Dead Man's Hand is a two-mode overdrive pedal from Outlaw Effects, a maker of guitar effects pedals. It carries the standard three overdrive controls, Tone, Level and Gain, and offers two distinct voices: Eights Mode for a typical mid-range drive sound, and Aces Mode for a hotter, louder push into the amp. Pedal of the Day featured the pedal on Thursday, May 21, 2015, and reviewed it that July12.
What it does to your sound
The Gain control covers a wide sweep. Pedal of the Day's reviewer, Mike B, wrote that "The Gain provides a nice tonal sweep, and will do clean boost up to a nice, warm but dirty gritty drive sound." At the low end of the dial the pedal works as a clean boost, and as you turn it up it moves into gritty drive territory1. If you want to hear how that range compares with other drives, the site's pages on Overdrive Pedals and Boost Pedals cover both ends of that spectrum.
Tone and Level behave as expected. Mike B noted that "Tone, Level and Gain are the three basic overdrive controls here on the Dead Man's Hand, and they function exactly like it should," meaning the pedal follows the familiar layout most players already know from other overdrives1.
Eights and Aces: the two modes
The pedal's two modes give it two distinct characters:
- Eights Mode: geared towards the more typical mid-range drive sound, the standard overdrive voice most players use to push an amp or add grit1
- Aces Mode: beefs everything up a bit, for a hotter, louder and more potent sonic attack on your amp, with a big fat dose of sustain1
In practice, Eights is the everyday drive voice and Aces is the fuller, hotter setting for solos or heavier rhythm work1.
Size and build
Pedal of the Day describes the Dead Man's Hand as a small, space-saving pedal. Mike B's verdict on the format: "This small but powerful drive makes a perfect pair with any pedalboard"1. A compact footprint matters on crowded boards, and this pedal is built to slot in without taking much room.
On the maker's quality generally, the reviewer added, "These couple of pedals of theirs we've reviewed have been quite impressive"1. Outlaw Effects has since expanded its range with other compact drives, including the Outlaw Effects Cactus Juice Overdrive and the Outlaw Effects Dumbleweed Overdrive.
Videos
Pedal of the Day
Kevys RC & Music
Kevys RC & Music
Questions
What is the difference between Eights and Aces mode on the Dead Man's Hand?
Eights Mode is geared towards the more typical mid-range drive sound, the kind of voice most overdrives aim for. Aces Mode beefs everything up a bit, for a hotter, louder and more potent sonic attack on your amp, with a big fat dose of sustain. Switching between the two changes the pedal's character from a standard drive to a fuller, hotter push.
Who makes the Dead Man's Hand pedal?
The Dead Man's Hand is a guitar effects pedal from Outlaw Effects. Pedal of the Day featured the pedal in May 2015, and its reviewer noted that the couple of Outlaw Effects pedals the site had reviewed up to then had been quite impressive in overall quality.
How much gain does the Dead Man's Hand have?
The Gain control provides a nice tonal sweep, and will do clean boost up to a nice, warm but dirty gritty drive sound, according to Pedal of the Day's review. In practice that means the pedal covers everything from lifting your signal without coloration to a gritty overdrive voice.
Is the Dead Man's Hand a small pedal?
Yes. Pedal of the Day describes it as a small, space-saving pedal, and its reviewer wrote that this small but powerful drive makes a perfect pair with any pedalboard, which points to a compact footprint that fits easily alongside other pedals.
Sources (2)
- Outlaw Effects Dead Man's Hand 2-Mode Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2015-07-12
- Outlaw Effects Dead Man's Hand 2-Mode Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2015-05-21
