# Pettyjohn - Gold! It just keeps on getting better!



## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

_* I just re-read this before hitting Post and I see that it seems a bit fanboy-ish, but, hey, it's true, so I'm posting it anyway.  *_



After a few decades of gear swapping I seem to be ending up with an all Pettyjohn board.
The tone and feel match perfectly with my playing, and the Pettyjohn stuff loves all of my guitars and amps. I'm never feeling like I'm missing or looking for anything. It's all right there, a few very easy tweaks away. Stephen Pettyjohn said it like this: a truly good piece of analog gear should only ever add to the signal, never diminish it. That's how I feel about his gear, too. 

The PreDrive changed my whole approach to my signal chain and is the one pedal I'd hate to be without. The best Boost/Buff/Lift/EQ device I've ever plugged my guitar into. Big and clean yet lively, bright, and full of body. By far the best purchase I made in the last year or two.

PettyDrive, V1 and V2. These things can do almost everything! V1 is much lower Gain but has a clearer voice; V2 is a lot more modern with a lot more Gain on tap. The PettyDrive is both the Chime and Iron pedals in one housing, which I like because of the single power cable and smaller footprint.

Fuze. Blendable Fuzz and High-Gain Distortion. Awesome and massive. Three different Fuzz flavours - Big, Bigger, and a spitty, high-gain gated Fuzz called Nuke. At minimum on the Gain knob the Distortion side is huge and aggressive, and it just goes "massiver" from there. The two circuits are blended in parallel for any kind of lead tone I might want. The Shawn Tubbs demo is spectacular: 




I have a Filter Deluxe on the way, and then it's a Crush for me. I'd love to find that it could replace my Effectrode compressor! (Turns out that despite how good Tubes sound, I'm just not confident on having them in pedals on the floor.)

Now if we can just get Pettyjohn to make a Delay!


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I've been wanting to try one of their pedals but haven't come around to it (yet). Cool group shot and enjoy.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I had a Pettydrive V1. It was a good pedal, well built. I liked the gainier side (iron), the boost side (chime?) wasn't really my thing. I wish they had labelled the knobs on the V1, I found it a bit hard to keep it all straight. 7 knobs and 5 switches with no labels, lol.


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

True about the controls. Pettyjohn has made some odd choices: on the PreDrive you flick the Harmonic Drive switch _down_ to engage the effect, _up_ to turn it off; the Mix knob on the Iron _decreases_ the wet/dry blend as it's turned clock-wise (maximum blend is fully counter-clockwise.)

And not just labelling is missing - most of the literature doesn't say what the knobs and switches do either, especially the switches. It takes some effort to find what position the Ge diodes are, which is LED, and whether or not the top position is both or something else.

But now that I've got it mostly figured out I'm not having any difficulty with any of it. But I'm not playing out anymore, either. I can see how a lack of labelling could be a huge pain on stage during a gig! The PettyDrive V2 is well labeled.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Indeed. I'd like to try the V2 some time. I know Charles at Electic Mojo carries the Pettyjohn stuff now.


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

The collection grows!

New - Pettyjohn Filter Deluxe EQ. A console quality EQ (inductor driven Mids) in a pedal format.
The Deluxe version comes with Pettyjohn's 990-style Discrete OpAmp installed.

I've been through a lot of EQ pedals over the last few decades, but only found one before that was good, the Empress Para EQ. But the Filter Deluxe EQ blows it very far out of the water. Like going from a Behringer mixing board to a Pultec console. No kidding. 

The frequencies Pettyjohn chose are just right for guitars - humbucker or single-coil - and the EQ itself is (and I apologize in advance for using this word) magic. And if you want that 3D quality it's there, too.

To me the two standouts of Pettyjohn's lineup are the PreDrive and the Filter Deluxe. There are a ton of great ODs and Distortion pedals out there, but these two units are the difference between a good tone and a studio-professional Tone.

You may find yourself playing Clean a lot more - imagine a Clean tone that's as complex as your overdriven tones.


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## CMCRAWFORD (Mar 17, 2014)

Love the predrive and plan on picking one up again. I am waiting to see what the next version is going to offer. I had the v1 and was close to picking up the v2 studio edition but heard he was working on a spring release of a live edition of the v2. Probably putting the tuner out option back in the v2. Also interested in the EQ and or Crush


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

From Right to Left:
- PreDrive
- PettyDrive V1
- PettyDrive Deluxe
- Fuze
- PettyDrive V2
- Filter EQ Deluxe










And, no, I _don't_ think I have too many PettyDrives. 

The differences between the PD's are pretty significant. V1 uses Burr Brown chips and sounds amazing; the Deluxe version adds 2.5 times the Gain per side, plus their Discreet OpAmp VCA chip (990 style) and sounds amazing; V2 is very similar to the Deluxe, but no 990 style chip sets, although you get to choose (and swap) between a Burr Brown or a JRC chip on the Iron side, and sounds amazing.

Because of the differences it's difficult to describe how each one sounds compared to another. The Deluxe and V2 are the closest, with the V1 being a very low gain type of the other two.

In most settings no one but you would hear a difference between the Deluxe and V2, but alone at home there's a slight bit more immediacy and clarity with the Deluxe.

I love the low-Gain tones of the V1! It's the best foundational Drive tones I've ever had! 

The PreDrive and Filter Deluxe are always on.


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## georgemg (Jul 17, 2011)

I've never tried any of the Pettyjohn stuff but have heard good things about them. I read a comment somewhere (probably TGP) that if you use a lot of drive pedals from the same manufacturer you're just being a fan boy, but I don't agree with that at all. All of my drive pedals are from Rockett. They just suit my sound and they all stack better with each other than any other pedals I've tried (and believe me I've tried a lot). I do feel like there's a bit of Pokémon fever by buying stuff from one manufacturer though. Gotta catch them all! There's one missing from my collection of Pro Series pedals (the Ten Ton Hammer) and I'm fighting the urge not to buy it (LOL). We'll see how long that lasts - good luck with your collection.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Man you need to become an endorsee!


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

Budda said:


> Man you need to become an endorsee!


I wish! With artists like Linda Taylor, Shawn Tubbs, and Pete Thorn using Pettyjohn gear I think they're set!

Sadly, I can describe my gear better than I can play any of it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Moot said:


> I wish! With artists like Linda Taylor, Shawn Tubbs, and Pete Thorn using Pettyjohn gear I think they're set!
> 
> Sadly, I can describe my gear better than I can play any of it.


Time to practice!


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

The Pettyjohn Gold.

Pettyjohn's take on a MIAB. I'm not vaguely an expert on Marshalls or their various "in box" forms, (the only other pedal like this I've had was the _outstanding_ ThorpyFX Gunshot,) but it sounds great and gets those Robin Trower sounds I so love. 

Hugely LOUD! Volume at minimum, Gain at half-way, and its output obliterates all my other pedals!
But dropping it to its Low Headroom setting bumped it back a lot. Since I'm using the Gold for its medium-gain range I don't miss the extra top-end clarity, but I kept the "modern highs" setting.

The Gold plays well with the other PJ's - Fuze (2nd Gain setting) into the Gold is pure Garry Moore. Chime into Gold - Magical. Gold into Chime - Brian Trower? Robin May? Just glorious.

The Mid control is what allows the Gold to differentiate itself from the other Overdrives of Pettyjohn. Without it it's pretty similar to the Distortion side of the Fuze. But that parametric Mid control really changes the Gold's character, and never in a bad way. 

I run all the Pettyjohns at 18v, except the PettyDrive V1 and Deluxe, which require 15v.










There's definitely an over-arching sonic style to Pettyjohn pedals. None of them are over-the-top or extreme. Indeed, "subtle" is a word that comes up a lot when I'm showing them off; every setting is useful and tasty.


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## Kosmicwizard (2 mo ago)

I'm also a fanboy, but not to the extent that you are. I got a pettydrive deluxe and that was the beginning for me. How can it sound nearly as good as my $1000 Kingsley Custom Jester V2 with Sizzle mod, at a fraction of the price? I'm not usually a MIAB guy, but you are right, about the EQ on the Gold, wow! Finally my chance came to get a Lift and it is now at the end of my chain. My chain goes Polytune, Coppersound Strategy V2, Pettyjohn Pettydrive Deluxe, Pettyjohn Gold V1, Kingsley Custom Jester V2 with Sizzle mod, Source Audio Collider, Pettyjohn Lift V1 into a Vox AC15C1X.


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Moot said:


> View attachment 177673
> 
> 
> _* I just re-read this before hitting Post and I see that it seems a bit fanboy-ish, but, hey, it's true, so I'm posting it anyway.  *_
> ...


Wow !!!! .... nothing beats the feeling of having the perfect set up to match up to your Sonic Dreams coming true !!!! . Every thing is so perfect and it's like walking on air !

I am in that same state of Bliss, with my current set up.
You know it's good when you know that you don't need anything more .... that's when you know you have a great set up !!!!
Congrats !!!! 😁👍


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## koffeetone (1 mo ago)

Man this makes tempted to try the Gold. I have an iron and a chime, both mk2 and they’re fantastic. I didn’t think I could like a OD more than the Iron until I got the chime and for low gain, I find it slightly edges it out. They really are fantastic pedals. Never tried anything else like them.


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## Slag (1 mo ago)

I have the Lift, Chime max harmonics mod, Iron and Gold, all MKll. I really like them all. But the Chime and the Gold hold a special place. Well actually they all hold a special place. Depends on the song I guess 😄. Awesome pedals.


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## koffeetone (1 mo ago)

Slag said:


> I have the Lift, Chime max harmonics mod, Iron and Gold, all MKll. I really like them all. But the Chime and the Gold hold a special place. Well actually they all hold a special place. Depends on the song I guess 😄. Awesome pedals.


Sounds like the Pettyjohn Limited series are the next logical step for you. M*A*S*H? Nutria perhaps? 😁 😇


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## Slag (1 mo ago)

koffeetone said:


> Sounds like the Pettyjohn Limited series are the next logical step for you. M*A*S*H? Nutria perhaps? 😁 😇


The Nutria certainly does interest me but I have not heard many demos yet. I guess I will have to get on that.


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