Revv Tilt

The Revv Tilt is a family of two analog pedals from Canadian maker Revv Amplification, both built around a single-knob tilt EQ. The Tilt Overdrive is a dual-channel pedal: a full overdrive channel plus a boost channel with the Tilt EQ, each with its own footswitch, developed in collaboration with Nashville session player Shawn Tubbs. The Tilt Boost is the boost side of that pedal extracted into its own smaller box, with up to 20 dB of clean boost and a Drive switch that adds the same overdrive back in¹².

Revv describes the Tilt Overdrive as providing "the dynamic response of vintage single-channel tube amplifiers with unprecedented tone-shaping utility," using an all-analog LED clipping circuit that simulates power-amp engagement¹. The two sections can be engaged individually or stacked together¹.

An overdrive and boost built around a tilt EQ

The Tilt EQ is the idea that gives both pedals their name. Revv calls it "a highly versatile single-knob pivot equalizer, inspired by the iconic Baxandall tone curve but engineered for guitar"³. One knob moves a pivot point: clockwise adds low-end warmth and rolls off the highs, counterclockwise boosts treble and trims bass for cutting clarity¹.

Delicious Audio's write-up of the original pedal offers a more technical reading of the same control, describing the TiltEQ knob as selecting "the frequency where the filter starts filtering out the bass range, rather than boosting or cutting the frequencies"⁴. Either way, the practical result for a player is one knob that shifts the whole tonal balance in one direction or the other, which is faster to dial in on a dark stage than separate bass and treble knobs.

The Tilt Overdrive puts this EQ on its boost side, while the overdrive side keeps conventional Bass and Treble controls, so the pedal carries two distinct EQ sections: a 2-band drive EQ and a Tilt boost EQ⁴.

The Tilt Overdrive controls

The Tilt Overdrive is a dual-channel pedal with a boost feeding an overdrive, each channel with its dedicated footswitch⁴. The two circuits can be gain-staged together, which Pedal of the Day highlighted as a way "to set the perfect tones right at your feet"⁵.

The Tight switch is a mechanical three-position selector for Half, Normal and Full, with Full keeping the most low end and the other positions cutting it back⁶. Revv describes it as a high-pass filter that "chops off flubby, sub-harmonic" content before the preamplifier¹. MusicRadar's launch coverage quoted Tubbs explaining that the switch is there to remove boomier low frequencies as required, depending on how the Tilt EQ is set⁶.

On the design brief, Tubbs told MusicRadar he aimed to capture everything from a little Tweed Champ up to a high-powered Tweed Twin, a Marshall Plexi, a JTM or a JCM, cramming all of those into one overdrive pedal⁶.

The Tilt Boost controls

The Tilt Boost is an all-analog clean boost, dynamic equalizer and light overdrive, extracted from the Tilt Overdrive's boost circuit². Guitar World's Paul Riario called it "essentially the extracted boost portion of the Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive, but with additional" features⁷. It launched at NAMM 2023⁸.

The Drive switch is what separates the Tilt Boost from a plain boost pedal. Revv says it "adds the same overdrive from the Tilt Overdrive, turning the Tilt Boost from a clean boost" into a touch-sensitive, amp-like drive². Guitar World describes that drive voice as fat, medium-gain overdrive with touch-sensitive clipping⁷. Tubbs himself describes the pedal as a means to "wake up" your existing rig⁷.

Power: 9 to 12V, center negative

Both pedals run on external power only, with no battery option. The Tilt Overdrive takes 9 to 12V DC, center negative, with a 35mA minimum current draw¹. The Tilt Boost takes 9V to 12V DC, center negative, drawing 18mA⁹⁷.

History: a Shawn Tubbs signature pedal and the Tilt Boost

The Tilt Boost followed at NAMM 2023⁸. Gearnews reported that it came about because Tubbs discovered many players using the original pedal had become enamored with its boost side, with some foregoing the overdrive altogether⁷. The standalone version launched in April 2023 with an MSRP of $169¹⁰⁷.

What reviewers said

Reception of the Tilt Overdrive was strong. Gearnews' Andreas Cordes, reviewing it in September 2024, placed it at the very top of his personal list¹⁰¹¹:

Andreas Cordes, Gearnews¹¹

Premier Guitar's reviewer found that "the Tilt absolutely nails the mission at hand," describing it as emulating the feel and response of a cranked single-channel amp, and calling the tilt EQ the standout feature of the boost side¹². Performer Mag's Chris Devine listed its pros as "clear, refined, articulate, reactive to playing, great drive tones, plenty of tweakability" with no cons listed¹³. Pedal of the Day found it "sounds simply fantastic" and "crushes with humbuckers or single-coils" across a wide array of amps⁵.

Not every observation was purely positive. On That Pedal Show, Mick Taylor noted a quirk in the gain structure¹⁴:

Mick Taylor, That Pedal Show¹⁴

On the Tilt Boost, Guitar World's verdict was that it is "essential for incrementally sculpting your boosted tones with clarity or as an always-on tone-shaping pedal" with touch-sensitivity and punch⁷. Guitar World's best EQ pedals buying guide repeated that assessment, and Guitar Pedal X named it among 2023's best new boost and overdrive pedals, calling it "a really clever extraction and enhancement of the killer Tilt Boost side from the Signature Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive"¹⁵¹⁶.

That Pedal Show reviewed the Tilt Overdrive in depth in March 2023, covering how the drive and boost sides stack and how the tilt EQ responds at different settings¹⁴.

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