big tone music brewery

Big Tone’s Gray Box Overdrive does not disguise its relation to the original DOD 250, but it sure takes the concept a whole lot further. It adds germanium/silicon diode switching, which effectively makes the Gray Box a shape-shifting DOD 250/MXR Distortion + hybrid. It also adds a very clever, capable, and tunable EQ that enables you to focus the slap-in-the-face impact of those circuits or soften their harsher edges.

This is a fantastic pedal for overdubbing or double tracking rhythm parts—especially with a softer clipping Klon- or TS-style overdrive or a bass-heavy clean tone as the other half of the mix. I used it primarily with my silverface Bassman and 2x12. It was perfect top-end counterpoint to that amp’s belly-shaking low-end capabilities for both ’70s rock crunch and Steve Albini-, Sonic Youth-, and Pavement-style indie-attack tones.