Walrus Audio 385 Overdrive 5-stars Reviews

Unique drive

Great sounding pedal, very unique and refreshing. I can’t even find a reference to describe the sound, probably something like a « dod250 meets bluesbreaker»? « Odr1 meets bruesdriver »? Either way, with the Treble & Bass knobs, you can make it sound like a lot of things.

Dear Walrus, if you’re reading, this pedal deserves a facelift - a sturdier power socket, soft relay and top mounted jack in/out.

But yeah, the circuit is a winner.

My personal favorite drive pedal

I bought this pedal more or less on a whim, as the inspiration behind the pedal was interesting to me - a drive based on an old film projector is such a cool concept.

When it arrived, it immediately became my favorite drive pedal, and it hasn't been beaten by any since. Its great as a clean boost, and always on "clean" sound, a nice thick rhythm tone, a responsive drive for lead tones, and even something approaching a fuzz when you turn it to full gain.

Its tone isn't like any drive I've personally tried, but it can be as transparent as you like through use of the bass and treble controls, and it even gets close to a TS type tone if that's what you're into. That said, keep in mind that dialing in your ideal tone might take a while, if you're using the internal trim pot.

Its great for gain stacking, especially as a second gain stage which gives it a a unique but satisfying sound, and there's even an internal trim pot to adjust the gain range to your liking.

This is going to stay on my board for a very, very long time.

unexpected discovery

One of the best pedals that I have seen over 30 years of practice!

Reluctant pedal user

I play a 63 reissue Strat through an early 20's The Twin Fender using the on board distortion channel.

I wanted something between the clean and the overdrive with a bit of break up when pushed. The 385 does this beautifully when set straight up on the drive control through the clean channel of the amp. Really excellent. Sounded a bit solid state when played alone but in a band this goes in the mix.

Kicking it in on the overdrive channel can be good too depending on the sound you are after. Gives the neck pic-up much more cut.