DRIVE: The amount of overdrive. The Revolver acts very much like a tube amp, so you can set a low gain and push it with the Booster, or use it to generate the
needed gain by itself.
LEVEL: Output level of the overdrive when the booster is not engaged.
TREBLE: Treble control. Turn to the right for an open and bright tone, and to the left for a darker sound.
MASTER: Output level of the Overdrive when the Booster is engaged. This allows you to raise the output of the effect at the same time that boosting the input, to further overdrive the amp or get the perfect level for lead guitar parts.
GAIN: Gain applied by the Booster. A stronger signal gets into the overdrive circuit, getting more saturation and sustain out of it.
OVERDRIVE: Turns on/off the Overdrive. This true bypass switch allows your sound to remain intact when the effect is off.
BOOSTER: Turns on/off the Booster. This true bypass switch allows your sound to remain intact when the effect is off.
The Revolver is the third version of this circuit designed to give a touch of valve-style saturation. For this we use a MOSFET circuit but not in the usual diode clipping configuration, but as amplification elements, with carefully chosen cutoff frequencies to achieve that tone that goes directly to the root of the electric guitar, the origins of distortion. Cream, Creedence, The Beatles, The Faces ... This circuit is used also in the Booster section.
It evolved around the idea of the tube close to rupture, when you get that sound that seems clean to the listener, but at the hands the guitar becomes soft and easy to play. This makes it ideal for use with transistorized amps, at low volume, or on any occasion where valve equipment cannot be turned up to a considerable sound level. In turn, as it is not an attempt at "modeling", it can be combined with any equipment and adds to the guitar/amplifier combo without imposing or corrupting their sound.
Turning the Drive up, the Revolver gets a very warm, straightforward overdrive, that when the Booster with up to 20dB of gain is engaged gets that classic lead guitar sound with great sustain.
As for the controls, it presents the configuration that we also used in the KAM6, its independent booster is clean but with cutoff frequencies designed to perform in conjunction with the Overdrive section. The MASTER control is enabled when both sections are active, and replaces the LEVEL control in final volume handling.
In practice this is used to obtain a greater volume when turning on the Booster in conjunction with the Over, regardless of the amount of GAIN applied.
