Two Transparent Drives, One Gold Enclosure
The Summer School Electronics Double Major takes one of the most-copied transparent drive circuits of the last 30 years and doubles it inside a single handbuilt enclosure. Instead of choosing one favorite setting, you dial in two — a clean-ish boost and a thicker drive, a rhythm tone and a lead tone — and switch between them or stack them however you want. Built by hand in Syracuse, New York.
Both channels are electrically identical and fully independent, each with its own Vol, Gain, and Tone knobs plus a toggle for soft or hard germanium diode clipping. Red knobs run one side, black knobs the other, so you always know which voice you are touching. Soft clipping keeps things open, compressed, and amp-like; hard clipping tightens the attack and adds bite. Because each side has its own clipping choice, two of the same circuit ends up covering far more ground than one.
How It Fits Your Rig
Run one side as an always-on thickener and kick the second in for solos. Set one as a low-gain boost in front of the other to push a tube amp into real saturation. Or stack them in the opposite order and let the first stage do the clipping while the second adds volume and tone shaping. With two footswitches and independent channels, it replaces two separate drive pedals and the patch cable between them — useful on a crowded board or a fly rig.
Features & Specifications
Features
- Two identical, independent transparent-drive channels in one enclosure
- Channels usable separately or stacked in either order
- Selectable soft or hard germanium diode clipping on each channel
- Red and black knob sets to identify each side at a glance
- Two footswitches with individual LED indicators
- Handbuilt in Syracuse, NY
Controls
- Vol — output level, per channel
- Gain — drive amount, per channel
- Tone — treble roll-off and top-end shaping, per channel
- Hard/Soft Clip — germanium diode clipping toggle, per channel
Connections & Power
- Top-mounted input, output, and DC jacks
- 9-volt DC operation via external power supply
FAQ
Can I use both channels at once? Yes — engage both footswitches and they stack, in whichever order you place them.
Do the two sides sound different? The circuits are identical; the differences come from your knob settings and each side’s soft or hard clipping choice.
Does it take a battery? It is designed for standard 9-volt DC pedal power.
Is it good in front of a clean amp? That is where transparent drives shine — it keeps your amp’s character and adds gain and grit rather than reshaping your tone.
Two favorite drive settings, always at your feet.
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