Revv Amps Dirtdog Review

Still hoping to reproduce the album’s tonal vibe onstage, Landreth approached his friends at Winnipeg-based Revv Amplification with the idea of creating a pedal that could conjure the kit amp’s sound from something more flexible and road worthy for touring. The Dirtdog pedal is the result of the collaboration. Made in Canada, the pedal features true bypass switching, top-mounted jacks, and highly interactive controls for gain, level, and tone, which adjusts the midrange voicing. Those three controls are complemented by a fourth that regulates the high end. (It’s called “bite,” of course, keeping with the canine theme.)

“With the gain at zero and the bite and tone at maximum, an eerily accurate ‘Communication Breakdown’ chug is possible.”

Tested with a T-style guitar and a ’59 Les Paul reissue plugged into a dead-clean Fender Princeton Reverb, The Dirtdog produces a range of tones that evoke the natural compression, slight sag, and rich harmonics of a very old, small amp at the edge of breakup—and beyond. The joy is that there is none of the cabinet rattle, blown speaker noise, or occasional smoking transformers that often also come with the real thing. With the gain at zero and the bite and tone at maximum, an eerily accurate “Communication Breakdown” chug is possible. Higher gain settings range from fully bearded ZZ Top overdrive (it would almost be surprising if Billy Gibbons didn’t get hip to this pedal soon) to mega-distorted, doom-approved sludge that goes beyond most small amps’ ceiling.

The Verdict

Clear in its tone intent but broad in its range, this is a pedal that is not only eminently functional but can assume many personalities—from dirt, to dirtier.