Santa Ana Overdrive

108
Guitarist July 2018
Tech Spec
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: Overdrive pedal
FEATURES: True or
buffered bypass
CONTROLS: Bass, Middle,
Treble, Presence, Level,
Drive A/B Voice switch,
LEDs On/Off switch, True/
Buffered switch, FS Select
(Drive/Level) switch,
Boost footswitch,
Bypass footswitch
CONNECTIONS:
Standard input,
standard output
POWER: 9V battery or 9V
DC adaptor (not supplied)
130mA
DIMENSIONS: 100 (w) x
125 (d) x 62mm (h)
8
Santa Ana Overdrive
£160
A
n overdrive pedal with
two voicings and an extra
footswitch for added boost,
the Santa Ana is designed with FET
circuitry to deliver valve amp-style
drive and it does just that. This is a
pedal that has nicely expressive touch
sensitivity and cleans up naturally
with guitar volume. There’s quite a
range of tones available from cleanish
boost to driven amp, shaded with a
set of four EQ knobs reminiscent of a
Fender amp front panel. The two amp
voicings are designated American
and British – the former is brighter
with a sharper almost percussive
chime, while the latter is darker and
a practical choice in front of overly
bright amps. The Boost knob can
be set to either boost the drive stage
where it can successfully bring in a
more aggressive upper mid presence
or to boost the output volume –
perhaps by a slightly larger margin
than we would have liked in the
absence of a boost level control.
VERDICT Natural-sounding overdrive
and switchable boost in one box makes
this a practical pedalboard proposition
H
ere’s the second of our
two-part look at Fender’s
new 2018 pedal range.
This time we focus on
the Santa Ana Overdrive, The Bends
Compressor and the Level Set Buffer.
If you missed our last issue, there we
covered the Marine Layer Reverb,
the Mirror Image Delay and the
Pugilist Distortion.
Designed by a team led by Stan
Cotey, the new pedals come in a
rugged housing that features a curvy
anodised aluminium top with a shiny
metallic sheen. All can run from a 9V
power adapter or battery and feature
a new battery compartment with a
magnetically latched hinged flap at
the end of the pedal (which just pulls
down and flips back when you let go
of it). With offset input and output
jack sockets to save space on your
’board, illuminated knobs (which you
can switch off ), a very Fender amp-
like LED ‘jewel’ bypass indicator,
there’s definitely plenty for you to
like here.
PEDALBOARD
MANUFACTURER
FENDER
MODEL
VARIOUS
PRICE
FROM £87
CO N TAC T
01342 331700/WWW.FENDER.COM
Fender pedals
Fender
Smart, shiny and practical
pedals to adorn your ’board
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Phil Barker & Joby Sessions
GIT434.peds_fender.indd 108 5/11/18 11:28 AM