The Sublime Guitar Company Hippy Joel Overdrive is an overdrive pedal aimed at players after a transparent, low-to-medium gain boost. Pedal of the Day reviewed it in November 2015, with the reviewer finding that "This pedal really shines on transparency and does not muck up the sound of doing a light boost to a soft smooth clip wit"1. It sits in the same broad territory as other overdrive pedals, but with the emphasis on letting the character of the guitar and amp come through.
What it does
The Hippy Joel is built for transparency. Pedal of the Day's reviewer put it this way1:
"This pedal really shines on transparency and does not muck up the sound of doing a light boost to a soft smooth clip"1
Mike B, Pedal of the Day1
In practice, that describes a pedal for pushing an amp or adding a gentle layer of grit on top of an already good clean tone, rather than reshaping the sound the way a heavier fuzz or high-gain distortion would. The reviewer's verdict places it firmly in the light-boost, smooth-clip camp1.
The Umphrey's McGee connection
The pedal is named for Joel Cummins, keyboardist of the band Umphrey's McGee, and the review unit carried the band's marks: Joel got the whole band to sign the pedal, with signatures from Joel, Jake, Brendan, Ryan, Kris and Andy1.
Cummins himself tried it beyond its intended use. As he put it, "The Hippy Joel pedal, while clearly designed for a guitar, added some interesting weirdness to the mellotron"1. That is a keyboardist's observation rather than a recommendation, but it says something about how the pedal behaves when it is fed something other than a guitar signal.
Where it sits in Sublime Guitar Company's range
The Hippy Joel is one of the Sublime Guitar Company pedals covered by Pedal of the Day, whose reviewer described it in transparent terms, saying it "really shines on transparency and does not muck up the sound"1. Players weighing it against other overdrive pedals will find that transparency is the quality the review keeps returning to.
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Questions
Who is the Hippy Joel Overdrive named after?
The pedal carries the name of Joel Cummins, keyboardist for the band Umphrey's McGee. When Pedal of the Day reviewed it in 2015, Cummins tried the pedal himself and noted that while it is clearly designed for guitar, it added what he called interesting weirdness to a mellotron. The review unit was also signed by the whole band.
What does the Hippy Joel Overdrive sound like?
Pedal of the Day's reviewer described the pedal's forte as creamy blues breaker tones, and found it shines on transparency, doing a light boost to a soft smooth clip without mucking up the sound of the instrument feeding it.
Sources (1)
- Sublime Guitar Company Hippy Joel Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2015-11-08