What it does
As an overdrive, the High Rider is designed to work with an amp's natural break-up, adding gain so the amplifier is pushed harder than it would go on its own. Where it sets itself apart is in tone shaping: rather than a single tone control, it offers what the review called "a flexible configuration of controls that allow refined tone sculpting"1.
The controls break down like this:
- Tone knob: sets the overall high-end character of the drive
- Two toggle switches: used to tame high and low frequencies, trimming the extremes of the signal independently1
That arrangement gives a player more control over the balance of the drive than a typical one-knob tone section. A player who finds an overdrive too bright can roll off the highs with one switch, and one who finds it too thick or boomy can trim the lows with the other, then fine-tune with the tone knob. For players comparing it against the more familiar two-knob-plus-tone designs covered in the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison, the added toggles are the main difference in how the pedal is set up1.
Videos
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Questions
What kind of pedal is the SUV Pedals High Rider?
It is a mid-gain overdrive. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as a mid-gain overdrive that is perfect to push your amp beyond its inevitable gain limits, meaning it adds drive and saturation on top of what the amplifier already produces rather than replacing the amp's own distortion entirely.
What controls does the High Rider have?
The pedal uses a flexible configuration of controls aimed at refined tone sculpting. It has a tone knob and two toggle switches, which are used to tame high and low frequencies. That combination lets a player cut or soften the extremes of the signal while setting the overall amount of drive with the pedal's main controls.
Sources (1)
- SUV Pedals High Rider Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2020-12-09