ProTone has issued updated editions of its Dead Horse and Fuzz pedals in the form of their Essential Edition series. With the Essential Editions, ProTone offers the best of both worlds: small and affordable maneuverability that’s perfect for your pedalboard and absolutely killer tone.
The first Essential Edition pedal we got to try out was the Dead Horse Overdrive. Typically, the Dead Horse MKII is about twice the cost of the new Essential Edition Dead Horse — and at least twice the size. The new Essential Edition Dead Horse, however, is a streamlined version of the Dead Horse drive sound we all know and love, sporting just three basic knobs and eliminating the diode selection switch to save space.
And if you’re a fan of the TS808 circuit, you’ll love the Essential Edition Dead Horse drive. As ProTone’s take on the classic circuitry, the Dead Horse features the legendary JRC4558 IC for that old-school mojo that makes the TS808 so beloved. Using this 4558 chipset, the Essential Edition Dead Horse offers a deeper bass, far smoother mids, and a sharper bite when the drive knob is dimed.
As straight-ahead as can be, with its basic level, tone and drive controls, the Essential Edition Dead Horse can sound great with low chords and rhythm sections or with higher, searing leads. Although it’s intuitive, the new Dead Horse doesn’t sacrifice tone for the sake of simplicity.
The second pedal we got to play with was the ProTone Essential Edition Fuzz. This compact fuzz is perfect for both bass and guitar, with the ability to fill out your low end for a booming buzz or ramp up to a totally gated sound. Thick and flexible, you can wring pretty much any fuzz tone you can dream up out of this thing.
With easy-to-use tone, fuzz, volume and shape knobs, getting the fuzz you want is pretty self-explanatory, but the fun really starts with the shape and tone controls. Using the tone control, you can roll it down and cut the highs while adding and boosting what lows you do have, or crank it and strengthen the sound of your mids and highs.
The shape knob is where things get really funky — this control changes the Essential Edition Fuzz’s wave shape. If you turn it down low, you’ll get a smoother, thicker, creamier sound, but be warned: when you dime it, you’ll thin out the wave and get a wild, gated fuzz with a bite just as bad as its bark.
Check out both videos to hear the ProTone Essential Edition Dead Horse Overdrive and the Essential Edition Fuzz, and then click on the banner below to shop for these pedals and other Essential Editions from ProTone on the company’s official Reverb shop.
ProTone Pedals