This is the first Truetone product I have ever used, and I must say that I am trully impressed.
Let's start with the tone. The pedal has two sides, overdrive/distortion. I bought this pedal primarily for distortion, but I must admit that I was also blown away by the overdive side. It produces an awesome range of tones suitable for anything from country to (very) hard rock. With the drive all the way down, it becomes a wonderfull fat, punchy and twangy boost that takes you all the way to Nashville territory. It is so good that it has removed the Way Huge Pork Loin from my board. Add a little bit of drive and you have nailed the perfect Lynyrd Skynyrd tone. There is also a "clean mix" knob that blends the drive with the clean (boosted) signal, which opens up a whole world of excellent additional tonal options. It really is one of the best overdrives I have ever used, both with single coils and humbuckers.
The "Hyde" side is a true distortion circuit. It can get very loud and very dirty, without sounding either shrill or too fuzzy. Think Mesa Boogie dual rectifier to JCM800, depending on the setting. There are two switches altering the brightness and shape of the tone, as well as two knobs controlling bass and mids. The latter can have a dramatic effect on the sound.
The two sides can work either independently or combined, for maximum gain and harmonics. What is remarkable is how relatively quiet the pedal is even at that setting. There is an internal noise gate which is on by default and apparently does a good job, as it reduces noise without sucking the tone. I haven't tampered with it at all, neither am I planning to as it works fine as it is.
Overall, I am very happy with this pedal. If I had to give away all my drive pedals but one, I would probably keep this one, as it provides a rare combination of flexibility and tonal quality.
