TWA RZ-01 Chemical Z Roy Z Signature Dual Channel Overdrive

The TWA RZ-01 Chemical Z Roy Z Signature Dual Channel Overdrive is a two-channel overdrive pedal from TWA (Totally Wycked Audio), designed by Susumu Tamura, the creator of the Tube Screamer¹. Pedal of the Day called it "a beast of a pedal for all musical genres" and placed it alongside the company's earlier Wahxidizer WX-01 and SC-01, which the same reviewer described as "AMAZING" overall¹. It sits in TWA's overdrive line alongside the Source Code, the Chemical Z, the Hot Sake and the Octoverdrive¹.

What it does

The Chemical Z gives you two overdrive voices in one box. Its CHEM-Z circuit is built around the "Magic" IC, a chip Pedal of the Day says was only found in limited runs of the best-sounding vintage TS808s, the pedal the Tube Screamer format grew out of¹. If you want to hear how that classic mid-forward drive character compares with its rivals, see Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and the wider field of Overdrive Pedals.

The second channel is where it departs from the standard TS recipe. Pedal of the Day describes it¹:

Those hot-channel diodes are now-defunct Panasonic DA2S00100L parts, the same diodes used in the Maxon OD808X Overdrive Extreme, and they have more forward voltage than standard clipping diodes¹. In practice, the reviewer found the hot channel delivers "more gain and output level, but also a noticeable bump to the low-midrange that helps thicken things up" for soloing¹. Clipping diodes with higher forward voltage clip later and more gently than ordinary ones, which is where the extra headroom and gain character come from.

Background

Susumu Tamura, the designer of the original Tube Screamer, designed the Chemical Z for TWA¹. Pedal of the Day's reviewer considers TWA "a rather underrated effects company"¹. The pedal is hand-assembled in the USA, which the maker describes as being done "using our very own nimble little fingers"¹.

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