Keith Merrow Demos The Seymour Duncan 805 Overdrive

Posted on by Walter Bryant

The 805 Overdrive by Seymour Duncan is a classic overdrive aimed at getting you that smooth and crisp bluesy tone one minute, and a high gain metal tone the next. Well, Keith Merrow is here to show you the latter end of the spectrum. Email sales@themusiczoo.com if interested in ordering this pedal. Check out the list of specs below, as well as some additional info from Seymour Duncan.

From Seymour Duncan

The 805 is a very transparent, classic Overdrive pedal designed using the chip found in the legendary 808 as a starting point but eventually ending with the MC33178, a chip we felt had superior sonic characteristics along with a lower noise figure and longer battery life. The 805 features an expanded gain range and 3-band active EQ that is not commonly found in 808 style overdrive pedals. It’s so versatile that you can use it for a smooth, lyrical bluesy overdrive one minute and a modern metal crunch the next. We started with the classic overdrive tones we all know and love but we tightened up the bottom end and added more sparkle in the highs as well as more detailed note articulation. Whether you’re after ringing cleans, a subtle boost, fat crunch, or even screaming sustaining solo tones, it’s all in there. And unlike other overdrives that become thin when you refine the gain, the 805’s 3-band active EQ lets you take back control over the low end while also fine-tuning the mids and highs.

Subtle Boost
With the Drive control fully counter-clockwise, the 805 Overdrive acts as a signal booster with 8dB of gain, adding more life and sparkle to your tone along with the flexibility of further contouring your sound with the active 3-band EQ. In this setup you may just want to leave it on all the time.
Scooped Mid
Setting the Mid control around 10 o’clock gives a bit of a scoop to the normally mid-range predominant punch, accentuating the beef and clarity for both picking and chunking. The Drive control around the 11 o’clock position gives you control with both your volume control and playing intensity, ranging from sparkly clean to fat crunch when you dig in.
Valve Howler (Thank you, Mr. Thesarus)
Push your amp’s front-end into overdrive, with some additional rich, tasty grit from the pedal. The personality of the tone will depend upon your specific amp and settings, so let your curiosity be your guide!
Keith Merrow recommends:
“I have the following setting, which I use for a tight modern metal sound in front of a high gain amp.”

 

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