The Umbrella Company Hitchhike Drive is an overdrive/preamp pedal from Japan that, in the maker's description, delivers the tone of vintage American Tweed amps1. It sits in the same family as other overdrive pedals, but it is also voiced to work as a preamp, pushing an amp or the front end of a rig with a Tweed-style character. Like other overdrives, it differs from a distortion pedal or a fuzz pedal in aiming for amp-like grit rather than heavy saturation.
What it does
The pedal's core idea is a Tweed amp in a box. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as "an Overdrive / Preamp box inspired by the tone of American vintage Tweed Amps"1. Its three emulations are selected with an "Amp Type" toggle switch and are based on three classic Fender-style circuits: the tweed Deluxe, the '59 Bassman, and the '60s Twin1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Amp Type toggle | Selects one of three amp modes, labeled D/T/B, based on the tweed Deluxe, the '59 Bassman, and the '60s Twin1 |
| Saturate switch | Activates the "Dynamic Filter," which applies mild compression to only the high frequency bands1 |
The Saturate switch is the pedal's second main feature. Engaging it brings in the Dynamic Filter, which compresses only the high frequencies rather than the whole signal, a design aimed at taming top-end harshness as the gain rises1.
Gain behavior
As with a real tube amp, the Hitchhike Drive's gain is described as cleaning up when the guitar's volume is rolled back, in the manner of a tube amp responding to the player's picking and volume control1. That makes it usable as a always-on foundation pedal that follows the guitar's volume knob, rather than a fixed amount of grit.
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Sources (1)
- Umbrella Company Hitchhike Drive, Delicious Audio, 2019-05-10
