When I first pulled The Dude out of the box I was immediately hit by the weight and solidity of it. I’m not sure what they have in there (a block of lead maybe?) but this little pedal is heavy. The controls are a bit different then what you may used to be seeing, they are Treble, Deep, Level and Ratio. Treble and level are pretty self explanatory, though you may be a bit surprised by how much volume this pedal puts out so you may need to run the level a bit lower than you’re used to. The appropriately named deep control is a very low bass boost cut that is excellent for adding some thickness to thinner sounding single coil pickups such as those on a stratocaster. Last but not least is the ratio control which mixes the distorted signal in with a clean direct through signal, giving you great articulation and attack transient even at the higher settings.
The Dude is J Rockett’s take on a Dumble-esque pedal that can go from clean boost all the way through high gain, but with a very smooth thick character that is reminiscent of a boosted Overdrive Special. As hinted to above, this pedal really excels at giving single coils some girth, and I especially like it at lower gain settings where it gives some creamy grind to the sound but lets the clean signal ring loud and clear, preserving my much beloved guitar straight to amp sound.
The Dude by J Rockett Audio Designs is an awesome pedal full of great tone for all guitars and amps in a reassuringly well built attractive enclosure. There’s a lot to like, and nothing to dislike, even the price is completely reasonable at $199 new on the street so I highly recommend you give The Dude a try.