Pete Cornish SS-3

The Pete Cornish SS-3 is an analog overdrive pedal from English builder Pete Cornish, described by RockBoard's PedalPedia as an overdrive, booster and filter in one unit¹. RockBoard's PedalPedia calls it "great for crunchy rhythm and a nice thick bluesy lead; the sound is very much like an overdriven vintage valve amp"¹. It sits in the maker's Deluxe Series and is currently used by Noel Gallagher of Oasis¹.

What sets the SS-3 apart from most overdrives is its front end: the input is Pete Cornish's high impedance, unity gain, Class A buffer preamp with RFI rejecting capability, feeding a low impedance audio output². The maker says this buffer prevents "Ghost Distortion" in bypass mode and allows extended cable runs with the pedal switched off².

What the SS-3 does

The SS-3 is an overdrive pedal at heart, but RockBoard's PedalPedia lists it as three things at once: overdrive, booster and filter¹. The filtering comes from its two tone controls, LO-CUT and HI-CUT, which shape the signal before and after the drive stage. According to Aion FX's circuit analysis, the SS-3 appears to have originated from the MXR Distortion+ circuit, with passive low and hi-cut tone controls added, along with the classic Cornish buffer at the input⁴.

Aion FX also notes that the SS-3 uses a dual low cut control, cutting the bass both before and after the clipping diodes⁵. For a player, that means the LO-CUT knob can clean up a bass-heavy drive signal in two places in the circuit rather than one.

The controls: LO-CUT and HI-CUT

The two tone controls are the heart of the SS-3's design, and both are specified precisely by the maker².

The LO-CUT control is the pedal's reason for existing. Pete Cornish states that with the LO-CUT set fully clockwise, the frequency response returns to that of the original SS-2². Aion FX puts it more bluntly: the SS-3 is an update to the earlier SS-2 that adds a low-cut control, "since the original was fairly bass-heavy"⁴.

The HI-CUT control works the other end of the spectrum, and unlike the SS-2's passive top cut, it can boost as well as cut: fully clockwise it adds +6dB of harmonic content rather than simply leaving the signal flat².

The pedal is housed in a rugged die-cast box with a heavy duty all-metal footswitch and Hi-Brite LEDs².

How the SS-3 differs from the SS-2

The SS-2 came first, and Pete Cornish marketed it as a "SOFT SUSTAIN WITH PASSIVE TOP CUT," totally different from any overdrive or distortion effect previously available⁶⁷. The SS-3 keeps that circuit and adds the LO-CUT control, so the two pedals are the same machine at one end of the knob's travel².

Aion FX's analysis confirms the relationship from the circuit side: with the low cut control set fully clockwise, the circuit is identical to the SS-2⁴. The practical difference for a player is headroom over the low end. The SS-2 was fairly bass-heavy by design, and the SS-3 lets you dial that bass out, which matters most with humbuckers, louder amps, or long effects chains where low frequency buildup muddies the sound.

There is also a Deluxe SS-3 in the Cornish range, which carries the same description of crunchy rhythm and thick bluesy lead through an overdriven vintage valve amp sound⁸.

Power and battery

The pedal is also listed as battery powered¹. The related SS-2 gives a picture of how Cornish handles batteries: it takes a 9V battery of the MN1604 type, switched on by inserting a jack into the INPUT/PWR ON socket and replaced through a removable drawer in the enclosure⁶⁹.

Hand built in England

Each unit is hand built, wired and tested by Pete and Lynda Cornish at Unit 5, Silveroaks Farm, Hawkhurst Lane, Waldron, Heathfield, East Sussex, UK³. The pedal carries a two year warranty from date of purchase, with repairs of original manufacturing faults carried out at the maker's address; the warranty is voided if the guarantee labels are damaged or removed, and it is not transferable².

Price

The SS-3 is listed at 449.60 GBP (ex VAT) for UK and international buyers, or 539.52 GBP inc VAT in the UK, as of March 2026¹⁰. The two figures are the same price with and without UK value added tax.

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