Screw Driver Mini Dlx
Versatile touch-sensitive tweedy overdrive
Versatile low, medium, or high-gain overdrive with a "tweedy" character
The perfect marriage of sparkle, grit, and growl. Featuring a detailed, cutting twang & jangle and at the same time a smooth, thick, touch-sensitive, mellow response, you will be amazed at the beautiful tones you will hear coming out of your amp. Just the right amount of compression and a wonderfully biting attack along with a sweet, singing quality on leads. Chords, arpeggios, double stops, single notes; everything cuts through and sits perfectly in a band mix.
You will hear familiar shades of Stones, Zeppelin, Floyd, Hendrix, SRV, Trower, Skynyrd, and REM; and you will definitely find your own unique voice loud and clear.
This pedal is so classic rock and yet so versatile and modern, it promises to do away with every other general-purpose overdrive on your pedal-board.
Incidentally, you will probably find that the Screw Driver has more output volume than you need, but it's there in case you love to push your amp.
A synthesis of clean boost, overdrive, and distortion
One of the most touch-sensitive pedals ever, this unique Skreddy Pedals design features a mosfet treble-boost input stage followed by a highly modified, tightly-controlled, mild fuzz circuit. (Note: I use a low-gain silicon in place of the former germanium transistor; after a thorough review and revision of the circuit to dial it in perfectly it sounds identical to the former version and will be immune to temperature variations and will see lower failure rates.)
Every aspect of the Screw Driver™ has been optimized for maximum versatility, lush and controllable vintage 'dirt' voicing, noiseless performance, and ideal tonal balance.
Controls: Volume, Gain, Sharpness, Brilliance and Pre-Gain.
- The Sharpness control dials in the amount of bass going into the distortion section,
for everything from thin, twangy treble-boost to midrange grit to thick, fuzzy breakup.
- Gain controls the tamed-down hybrid fuzz section (old-school silicon into germanium) and takes you
from slightly gritty clean through touch-sensitive overdrive all the way to
aggressive distortion.
- The Brilliance control lets you get a lot more brilliance and bite or make it darker and smoother,
to suit your amp and taste.
- The Pre-Gain control sets the gain of the mosfet input stage. I added this control to let users of humbuckers and other higher-output guitars get the same clean-up ability as single-coil users, but anybody who likes their overdrive to be clear and bell-like will love this feature! You can go all the way to a rich-sounding clean boost with full, meaty bass frequencies undistorted (if you also turn down the Sharpness and Gain) OR, you can dial in a more aggressive, modern, compressed tone by turning up the Pre-Gain control.
Reviews
Dr. Tinnitus
" I bought the 'Screwdriver' and right when clicked it on, I was very impressed. My treble happy SG Junior sounded even and full. I was able to
dial in very usable EQ across the spectrum. The range of fuzz and dirt is so wide. But the touch sensitivity is the most impressive part. I don't need to roll off the
volume or disengage the pedal, I just need to lighten the attack. It's just as good as an amp. Single notes still sound full, rich and chimey. Once I hit harder, all
the dirt comes right back.
I don't know how you did this, but I've never experienced a pedal like this.
Thank you Marc. This is so far removed from anything else I've owned."
Warren
"I received my ScrewDriver mini deluxe a couple of days ago and I must say,
*I am COMPLETELY confused with this thing.*
Can you please enlighten me as to *where* to set the knobs for the unusable,
totally useless, tones that are found on all my other OD's. I have tried my
best to find them but I am about to give up. I don't think they exist in the
ScrewDriver and it has caused a great deal of frustration. I normally have
to spend weeks, sometimes months trying to find the "sweet spot". This pedal
has NO sweet spot. ALL the spots are SWEET and I am blown away.
Seriously, what a fantastic unit. I have been playing (and searching) for 36
years. Spent way to much money on Hype and Fluff and got burned most every
time. That all ended thirty seconds after I fired the SD up. Unreal tone,
feel, etc., etc., etc...all the cliches the "other guys" use in their
descriptions.
Just wanted to say thanks for a truly great product that goes way beyond a
simple OD pedal - it actually *is* that elusive tone I've had in my head for
all these years. (Get the hell outta my head)."
Dave
"marc-
all i can say is WOW...WOW!! i have searched for a pedal that works for
playing predominantly rhythm and for alt rock. this is IT!! i have had a
boatload of OD pedals incl xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx,
xxx...etc, and this one provides the tone i have been on a mission to find
for years!!
thanks, marc!! it took me 45min to zero in on THE TONE. it is on my board
with my timmy and keeley java boost. band rehearsal sunday night, the screw
driver is going to get a work out!! unfortunately, work got in the way this
am after i received the pedal as i had only an hour to play before i had to
go to work...drives me nuts when that happens!! got to generate some cash so
i can look at another skreddy pedal!!"
John
"Marc
I just received my screw driver. Finally, the sound I have been hearing in
my head for 40 years is coming out of my amp.
Amazing. Thank you
...
I was so happy last night at my first gig I couldn't believe it. In my pedal
board is an OCD and a Voodoo labs sparkle drive. I thought those two were
the best combo I have ever had. In comparison the screw driver is a notch
above, but in combination with the sparkle drive the guitar pretty much
plays itself and I was just there for the ride. I have been playing for 40
years and have a serious collection of guitars, amps and effects. I ordered
the pedal after reading the roundup in Guitar Play and it was well worth the
wait to get it.
Thanks again"
Michael
"I write/produce/record for a living, mostly pop and/or rock and/or
roots, and generally use nice germanium fuzzes for overdrive tones as
well as for fuzz. I've owned so many overdrives and none ever moved me
like a fuzz. Well, your Screwdriver hits the nail on the head --
overdrive and distortion for someone who prefers fuzzes to any
overdrive or distortion pedal. I was able to easily dial in the trim
pots in less than two minutes, and am certain this pedal of yours will
become a mainstay for my higher gain needs.
I love vintage 70's tones, but am working on a lot of stuff right now
that requires more modern tones in the general realm of Avril Lavigne
or the Veronicas. The Screwdriver nails it. The voicing of the
sharpness control is as if you read my mind. The gain control responds
perfectly. Guitar volume rolloff response is just what I would hope
for. It's going to be so easy to dial in a variety of tones on the
fly, without the low-mid buildup that's such a drag when you're
layering multiple distorted guitars. It's just ultra intuitive on
every level."
...
"Your Screwdriver really has made me crazy (in the best possible way).
I'm literally figuring out what other pedals I can sell so I can order
another -- the idea being to have one Screwdriver for my board, and
one to float freely about the studio."
Jonathan
"Hi Marc, I've been a Skreddy user for about 8 months now and I just wanted
to drop by a line and say that your pedals have well passed the honeymoon
phase. It may not mean a lot for you cause I'm no superstar but anyway for
me it's worth a lot. I just started to do some session work for a guy who is
releasing a cd this fall and I've been blowing away the producer and the
band with the mayo, screwdriver and pink flesh (bought them from Cowtown).
My own band released a cd last winter and unfortunately the recordings took
place before I got my Skreddy pedals but at every show since then, the sound
guys are always blown away by how my sound cuts throught the mix and how
great it is.
It's not easy to find pedals that have such great tone and that are so
inspiring. A great tone is always the starting point to getting songwritting
ideas or to create some parts and my Skreddy pedals are helping doing just
that. So thanks for that!"
Gary
"The Screw Driver arrived yesterday ahead of schedule! This is
simply the best pedal I have ever played (and I have a very impressive
collection)! IF I had to choose only one pedal, this would be it. It
instantly brought my amp alive with dynamics and harmonics. I do mean ALIVE!
For the first time, I felt my whole rig was responding to my slightest
touch. The Screw Driver goes from sparkle to grit or vocal singing - at the
same setting - based on picking dynamics. The Screw Driver is the definition
of 'Touch Sensitive.' The attack is wonderful, chords and double stops are
articulate and the pedal is completely noiseless. All the tones are just
amazing. You could easily play all night with the pedal on. Kudos to you for
the clips you put up because I could easily recreate those tones. This is
such a rare treat. As I told you, those clips were the sound in my head and
now I'm going to do some really wonderful things with them now that they are
at my fingertips.
I was impressed with the build quality of the Zero, but this is even
better. I don't think I've ever seen those 'can' looking components...
Thank you for building this pedal for me and for personalizing it."
Rob
"Hello again Marc, this afternoon I received my pedals and fortunatly the
house was empty so I was able to connect them to my board and give them a
good test drive. Holy shit, my friend. These two pedals both exceeded my
expectations. Ive never ordered pedals before with a wait time, so needless
to say I was a bit reluctant and nervous to see if I would even like them.
My doubts are gone now.
I want to personally thank you for the fine pedals and service you offer.
Its been a pleasure doing business with you and I hope nothing but the best
for you and your future pedal building. Take care for now and talk soon,
Thanks again."
Rick
"I can tell you that it has the nicest tone control of any OD I have used. I like how you can dial in just the amount of bass that gets fed to it as well as being able to add some crispness via the trim pot. It has plenty of gain but I have been digging it at the lower gain settings. It pairs up very well with the Blues Pro and also does a fantastic job of pushing the Mayo over the edge. The low gain tones out of it are really nice and defined. Hard to explain but it just feels right. Nice and glassy but not harsh or brittle. Can be darkened plenty as well. Think of the FD-2 being able to sweep through Comp Cut to Vintage but all be the turn of a knob and not having to hit the switches. But where the FD-2 can leave me sounding a little flat at times, the SD just has a nicer roundness to it. It is very dynamic and reacts really good to your picking."
John
"When I choked down on the sharpness (back to 7 o'clock) the Screw Driver immediately hit me as being something that gives me back some low-mids I always want but have a hard time getting on the dinky little Blues Jr. Junior sounds wonderful turned up in a jam situation and gives me an amazing array of harmonics and color and dynamics. But in this (apartment) setting, I can't get it loud enough to hear any of that. Which is amazing as it's just about the lowest-powered tube amp I could find that sounds decent. I wanted something I didn't have to turn up too loud to start pushing the tubes. Anyway..... The low-mids are the tones that don't 'sell' when you're just blasting on an amp in the music store but they are a secret weapon when recording and playing with other instruments. If you listen to that recent track I did (all plug ins) the left channel was my attempt (fleeting and not very ambitious) to get that tone - it's a bottomy sounding big-cabinet soup with reverb. I can tell that this Screw Driver would give me that sound, only more precise and defined and colorful, without any effort at all. It's also got what I would call a 'subtle crunch' like what Pagey uses on riddum stuff - nothing so 'metal' that it's obviously a pedal distortion. Just a bit of carne with the beans. I'm sure it's an all-around pedal but this is the first blush - I have the settings like this; volume 12 o'; gain 4:30; sharpness 7 o'. The sharpness is really cool. It had been up around 12 but when I turned it down I immediately heard that big-cabinet acoustic."
Daniel:
"Just thought I'd write to say that the Screwdriver rocks. I truely think that it is perhaps the best overdrive pedal ever made (not just saying that). Compared to all other pedals I've tried (and thats a lot) the Screwdriver just sounds better."
Steven
"From the Screwdriver I got SRV, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Page, Mark Knopfler,
Myself.
This one's gonna take a while to explore; it's a journey I'm happy to have
in front of me.
Thank you so much for sharing your talents with the larger music community.
I'm glad I purchased these pedals from you.
Two hours into my relationship with them and I already know it was money
well spent."
Chris
"This pedal KICKS ASS! Unique sounds that I can hear incorporating tones I
like from other pedals. Sharpness has a profound effect on low end, so you
can dial it end right where you want it. I kept the Gain below 9 o'clock on
this one too (guess I'm a pussy), and it was amazing! Sustain of a Mosferatu
Dynamics of a Honey Bee Lower OD sounds reminded me of my Eternity (KINDA)
This pedal really has a voice all its own.
Nice, accessible Brilliance pot on the side... I can tell this pedal would
fit into any rig."
Mark
"The Screwdriver seems to be an unusual and innovative design. According to
Skreddy's website it, 'features a mosfet treble-boost input stage followed
by a highly modified, tightly-controlled, hybrid fuzz circuit.' And I can
tell you that if you crank up the Brightness pot it will do treble boost, or
if you crank up the gain and turn down the sharpness a bit it does take on a
fuzz quality (not the best fuzz, but definitely fuzz). However, everything
in-between comes out as a very natural sounding overdrive with sparkle and
clarity. Also, if you turn the gain way down and set the Sharpness and
Brightness to taste, it does a very respectable job as a regular boost.
I probably wouldn't use it as a fuzz, but it does do a very respectable
treble or clean boost. The main thing, however, is the very clear,
transparent, and dynamic low-gain overdrive that it does (again, with
sparkle and a 3D quality to it)."
Dan
"I received my Screw Driver a couple of days ago and have spent some time
with it. Marc, I'm very pleased. A great range of super tones, very
sensitive, and very compatible with other pedals. Excellent engineering and
build quality. The trim pots are fantastic.
Thanks for the wonderful work."
Brett
"... It sounded so fat and toneful.
... And you're right, it's very amp-like.
...
Man, I just can't get over this thing. I am quite honestly shocked that the
Screw Driver isn't getting more hype than it does. It's one of the most
unique and satisfying pedals I've ever played.
...
Well, just had to let you know. I've been playing this thing almost nonstop
since Wednesday, and I absolutely love it."
...
"Hi Marc,
Just a quick update now that I'm a couple more weeks in with these pedals.
Bottom line: I am simply thrilled with both of them.
I use them separately, stacked, whatever --- just sound great. The SD is my
main dirty sound into my Fender style amp, but I use it as a tone
shaper/slightly hairy boost into my Marshall style amp and it's wonderful.
And of course the LM sounds great into the Fargen (Marshall) and equally
great when I run it into the Screw Driver when I'm using the SD as an always
on dirt pedal into the Sewell (Fender BF).
Love em both!"
Sound Clips
Music Toyz
Michael Moody of Magic Amplification
Nice and Loud, a SWEET Solo Gibson SG -> Screw Driver -> Magic Amp AC15 cloneSam Vilo
Amp is Aiken Invader EL34 30w clean and loud.
Part one: all knobs on Screw Driver at halfway
Part two: Screw Driver's gain knob at full
Michael Dukes
"...bridge pickup in my
early 90s Paul Reed Smith EG, which is a TV Jones FilterTron.
There's a bit of ambiance in some sections, it's an EchoCzar/Angelbaby.
The amp is a Brit from Magic Amplification, which is
sonically very close to a vintage Vox AC15. The mic is an
Audix i5; the rest of the signal chain is vintage Neve 1272,
Distressor, Apogee Duet into a MacBook Pro running Logic
Studio. All the music itself is just being made up on the
fly.
Screw Driver clip with drum loop
Part way through I dial the gain all the way up and the
sharpness all the way down, just to show the extreme.
And I was beginning to think I needed a Les Paul..."
Tri99er
Comprehensive video demo showing different settings of the Brilliance and Pregain trimpots...
Teddy Boy (Daisy Band
Hi gents,
Came up with this foolish pseudo-Zep riff today and though I'd test the Screwriver with it. Sounds pretty nice IMO. The guitar is mostly Gibson Custom Shop VOS R8 through a Fender DRRI with an Eminence Swamp Thang. There's a bit of AV62RI in there for flavour too. Even the bass is recorded with the Screw Driver. There's a little surprise element at the end, an old friend I haven't touched for a year, you can hear the reason why, it's pretty difficult to master. I used the Screw Driver for a preamp on that too. Hope you enjoy!
Copyright © 2006 Thomas Lilley
TastyRiffs101
Open this huge folder of aggressive clips, showing a meaner side of overdrive!: Tommy Foytek
Featuring a faded SG guitar and a Roland BC-60 amp
Copyright © 2006 Tommy Foytek
The Gainster
- first Blues/light jazz picking over backing track
- second Bypassed sound, then effect on, demonstrating chords
- third Bypassed sound, then effect on, playing exact same sweeet licks. Then some more just for fun! :) Equipment: PRS > Screw Driver > Mesa Boogie Blues Angel
Copyright © 2005 Mitch Wyman
