Just last summer, ever-prolific rhythm guitar maestro Cory Wong was treated to his first signature guitar, a fantastically-spec'd, Sapphire Blue-finished Stratocaster.
Now, Wong has teamed up with Jackson Audio to create The Optimist, a signature dual overdrive pedal that combines a Klon-style circuit and Timmy-style circuit with Jackson Audio's MIDI control and a three-band EQ.
The Optimist's OD1 circuit is said to be a perfectly detailed recreation – built with "impossible to find" germanium diodes – of the legendary Klon Centaur circuit, with a bypass-able, active EQ to boot.
The rhythm-focused, Timmy-esque OD2, meanwhile, is designed to remain perfectly flat across the full range of the guitar, and act as a "harmonic enhancer" when users seek to further boost the Klon-style circuit.
"When the two of them [the overdrives] pair together," Wong explains, "it creates an even more boosted drive that doesn’t squeal because they’re both mid-level drives."
The three-band EQ, meanwhile, is based on a Baxandall EQ, and can be activated by pressing and releasing both the OD1 and OD2 footswitches. MIDI control, meanwhile, is available over both 'drives and the EQ.
“The Optimist is the most versatile overdrive pedal I’ve ever used," Wong says. "My goal was to design a pedal that could give me the full range of drive levels for punchy rhythm to soaring lead guitar lines."
Jackson Audio's The Optimist dual overdrive pedal is available now for $349.
For more info on the pedal, stop by Jackson Audio.
