RatingsPros:Amp-like responsiveness. Plays well with dirty amp settings. Cons: Too much top-end sizzle. Gain control maxes out at around 3 o’ clock. Could benefit from a tone control. Street: $199 Lounsberry Pedals Amp Rescue Overdrive blackbirdguitar.com | Tones:  Ease of Use: Build/Design:  Value: |
Billed as a solution for a less-than-adequate backline, the Amp Rescue is an amalgamation of overdrive, treble booster, and cleverly designed gain staging. The layout is a simple two-knob affair, with controls for level and drive. Under the hood is a multi-stage gain setup that features germanium diode clipping. In short, this means that even though there are only two knobs, the number of tonal colors is considerably more than the sum of this device’s parts.
With both knobs at noon, I was surprised at how present the top-end sizzle was. Through a rather clean setup on a Bad Cat Cub 15, the Amp Rescue pushed closer to Vox- or Supro-style bite quite easily. Given the gain staging in the circuit, the level control felt more interactive and added some real punch—even at moderate volume levels. With an amp set near break-up, the Amp Rescue really shined by adding some wonderfully rich harmonics and a fair amount of low end even with single-coils. Call me cynical, but would the Amp Rescue save your bacon if you showed up to a gig to find a Gorilla GG-20? Probably not, but you’d likely be better off with it than without.