One of the stand out things that I saw at Winter NAMM 2017 in January was easily the Beetronics booth in Hall E. What caught my eye was the look of these pedals. They have an aesthetic and I love companies that can identify a vibe and run with it. Beetronics has got this dialed in. Filipe (the owner talked with me) and I was blown away by the everything they had to offer.
Since that NAMM show, Beetronics has really been causing a buzz in the pedal world, and I was super stoked with Filipe contacted me to see if I wanted to check out the Overhive. Hell yes!
I keep talking about the ‘look’. They have distressed enclosures, where every one is unique. I love the large ‘lamp’ (Amp Light) as the light indicator. I also like the fact it’s not blinding bright. I’ve been in the market for a great drive, specifically in that range of above what I call medium grit, but below ripping high gain overdrive. This thing hits that sweet spot. You can get a very nice thick, warm, rich, sparkling overdrive. Controls are Tone, Volume and Honey as well as two toggle switches. The Tone and Volume are as you expect, but love that they’re small knobs – hard to accidentally adjust, etc. The “Honey” is the drive and that is a big easy knob to adjust.. again, smart. The two toggle switches are “hive switch” and “body switch”. The Hive Switch appears to adjust the break up character, I loved both settings. The Body Switch adds low end to the circuit. At first I didn’t understand this, since I wanted the higher frequencies, but setting that with low and changing the my Jazzmaster pickup to Neck, I was really getting into some creamy breakup. Would be great for a solo/lead character, etc.
I have to say that the Beetronics Overhive is one of the best overdrives I’ve ever played. It’s a rhythm monster, with that sweet medium gain overdrive tone. This thing is sweet!
You can pick up the Beetronics Overhive for $230 directly from their site. I love the value of this pedal. The tone is amazing. The build is fantastic. They look amazing. Thumbs WAY up.
Let me know what you think by commenting below!
