The Optimist Dual Overdrive & EQ

Good, but not perfect

Received few letters asking for a review even before I've got the pedal. Ok, here you have it. I really like the sound of this pedal, even use the EQ, which I didn't initially plan to do. Compared to another Klon clone and enjoy the OD1 of the Optimist more. OD2 is great, I have it on 90% of the time now. Dialling a great tone on this pedal is easy. Here are some downsides. Turning the effect on/off on release of the button is very inconvenient. It could be ok if it was possible to hold your foot on the button for any amount of time, but if you do that for quite some time then the button will just not work on release. That is pure frustration for me. Maybe MIDI solves that, but I cannot check. Next thing that I don't really get is what is the actual chain of the effects. Logically it should be from right to left, but that means OD2 comes first and naming doesn't make sense to me in this case. I expected to read about that in the manual, but haven't received one. Also the pedal wasn't sent on the same day, took 5 days at least for that + shipping time. Anyway, this pedal sounds awesome and I'm happy to have it

Spectacular

I honestly did't know what I was missing on my board until I tried this pedal. With the EQ, I get 6 different voicings. Paired with the Golden Boy, I have all my drive needs met.

Swiss army knife

The ultimate drive/eq section in a small footprint. It is truly a masterful display of tone and versatility. This pedal allowed me to consolidate because it is essentially kicking 2 other pedals off my board. I gave me more room to add some effects I’ve wanted to try.