The Obscure Italian Overdrive is a faithful but updated reproduction of the Jen Harmon Booster, which was literally an obscure Italian overdrive built in the 1970's and briefly imported in the US under the Gretsch Playboy moniker.
Utilizing a unique 7 transistor topography, this proto-overdrive provides a very natural sounding breakup and integrates nicely into a variety of setups both vintage and modern. Updates to the circuit include reverse polarity protection, power filtering, modern transistors, and a toggle switch to bypass the circuit's tone stack which results in increased output and mids.
This particular custom model features a grip of select vintage NOS components from John's private collection; the 7 transistors are a matched set of NOS metal can BC549B's, along with some select vintage caps. These transistors have a notably mellower character than the standard OIO models.
This sweet little dirt box is very lightly used, and we'll ship it to you super fast and super safe in its original box! Feel free to give us a call with any questions you may have about it!