It arrived yesterday so I put it against a Klon and several other pedals.
I wanted not to like the Klon but was won over by its transparency. The Archer is very close indeed. A/B/A+Bing with both set not to colour the sound show both to be equally transparent.
Adding drive is actually easier on the Archer as its controls are set so that their ranges has more useful range than the Klon’s.
Neither does particularly good ‘pedal drive’, and both overdrive nice amps near breakup beautifully as does the Gravy Train from SJ Effects who make the London Guitar Club’s ‘The One Pedal’.
By contrast, the Jan Ray and Rothwell Hellbender do suffering small amp really well and the Barber Burn Unit, Dum/Zenkudo, Alpha Drive, Ultimate Drive, HBE Power Screamer drive amps quite nicely and do drive into clean as well and the Dover Drive is higher gain, almost fuzz so different. The Providence SOV-2 may be favoured by some but is outclassed by all these to my ear. It’s just a bit brutal, but I’ll persist for while yet.
Is the Klon’s drive ever so slightly more open than the Archer’s? – I really couldn’t say, they’re that close. A remarkable pedal for £149 in a really neat small housing that actually fits on a board. I’d buy one if I were you, but then I already have one. Ha.
