Romanian effects pedal specialist Becos Effects has teamed up with Hot Crazy and Ratt electric guitar player Jordan Ziff for a new addition to its catalog of overdrive pedals – the Ziffer Overdrive.
Taking inspiration from Becos Effects’ existing offering, the TS8-MS, the Ziffer Overdrive features an incredibly streamlined construction, as well as a stripped-back, no-nonsense control layout that speaks volumes to the brand’s ability to cram numerous sonic features into small, pedalboard-friendly packages.
The pedal's sound is adjusted via a trio of knobs assigned to Gain, Tone and Level parameters, which are pretty self-explanatory in their operation. Working alongside these are two toggle switches that flick between Classic/Asymmetric/LEDs clipping options, as well as Classic/Deep frequency response modes.
In an effort to allow Ziff to push his favored 1959 Plexi amp even further, Becos has also equipped the axeman’s signature pedal with parallel clean processing and a tilting equalizer – both of which can be used to dial the Dry signal into the Wet signal for fine-tuned tonal tweaks.
Per Ziff’s request, the effects powerhouse also swapped out the one-transistor buffers of previous pedals in favor of audio-grade op-amps, which are said to result in a lower noise floor.
“I’ve been using the Becos overdrive for about a couple of years now, and the overdrive itself is just my favorite sounding overdrive ever," commented Ziff. "We designed one that’s a little more compact and one that can just do everything. It’s really versatile.”
The Jordan Ziff Overdrive has a listing price of $169 and will be available to preorder directly from Becos Effects from August.
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Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.