- Woodbrass is releasing two 100% analogue effects pedals at €24.90 each: the Green Dreamer (overdrive) and the Hard Clipper (distortion).
- Each one runs on three simple controls: Drive or Gain, Tone and Level. No screen, no menus, no presets to manage.
- Each one hides a mini switch that changes the character of the sound: Classic / Super on the Green Dreamer, Full / Tight on the Hard Clipper.
- Mini pedal format in an aluminium enclosure, true bypass, running on 9 V DC at 20 mA: built for a first pedalboard.
This time round it’s a slightly unusual video: I’ve got not one but two new pedals on the table. And better still, they come straight from Woodbrass. On one side the Green Dreamer, a lovely overdrive. On the other the Hard Clipper, a proper big distortion. Two characters, two power levels, and one thing in common: these Woodbrass pedals each sell for under €30, which is tiny.
I’ll tell you straight away: €24.90 each is the price listed on the product pages, and it completely changes the way you go about building a first pedalboard. I’ll take you through both of them: the sound, the three controls, the little switches tucked away on top, the format and the power supply.
Green Dreamer: the 100% analogue overdrive from Woodbrass
Let’s start gently with the Green Dreamer. This is a 100% analogue overdrive with a fairly classic philosophy: three controls, Drive, Tone and Level, and that’s your lot. No screen, no menus to scroll through, no preset to save before you play.
What really matters here is the circuit. It responds beautifully to your attack and to your guitar’s volume. In practice: roll back the volume pot on your guitar and the sound cleans up all by itself. Dig in harder with the pick and the saturation wakes up. That’s exactly the kind of behaviour that ends up keeping an overdrive plugged in on the pedalboard permanently.
Overdrive and distortion are not the same family of saturation. Overdrive works in a gentle zone: it thickens, it warms, it keeps plenty of dynamics and lets the character of your guitar through. Distortion goes much further in squashing the signal: more gain, more compression, more density, and a noticeably longer sustain (how long the note keeps ringing). That is precisely how the roles are shared out between the Green Dreamer and the Hard Clipper.
From lightly dirtied clean tones to proper bluesy saturation
With a touch of Drive, you’re simply dirtying up a clean sound and adding a little more warmth. It sounds lovely behind a rhythm part: it thickens without altering your tone. Then wind the pot up gradually and you start reaching those lovely natural saturated tones, perfect for the blues.
Tone lets you dial in the brightness to suit your guitar and your amp, and Level sets the output volume of the pedal. Three pots, three decisions, and you’re up and running in ten seconds.
The Classic / Super switch: two overdrives in a single pedal
There is one little quirk on this Green Dreamer though: a Classic / Super mini switch.
- In Classic mode, you keep the original character of the circuit, including those really lovely mids. It’s the old school, articulate side that puts the guitar right up front.
- In Super mode, you move to a slightly more modern voice: a bit more gain, more natural compression, and a sound that’s a touch more open, a touch brighter.
The benefit is very practical: it lets you change the behaviour of the pedal quite noticeably without having to touch any of your settings. You flick the switch, the character changes, and your three pots stay exactly where you left them. On stage, that’s the kind of detail that counts.
The Green Dreamer as a boost
Obviously, an overdrive like this one doesn’t have to be used purely for saturation. You can set very little Drive and push the Level to use it as a boost pedal. You then hit the front of your amp with a few extra decibels, a slightly more defined attack and a signal that’s a little more compressed.
Main solo overdrive, light rhythm crunch, or a boost in front of an amp that’s already running hot: this Green Dreamer can do plenty of jobs. It really is the classic overdrive to get on a pedalboard very, very early on.
For a nice clean boost, keep the Drive almost at zero and take the Level past halfway. Then set the Tone by ear: that’s what decides whether your solo cuts through up top or sits in the mids. And don’t forget the Classic / Super switch, it changes the boost too.
Hard Clipper: the analogue distortion for rock and metal
Where the Green Dreamer stayed in overdrive territory, the Hard Clipper takes you into a whole other world.
We’re still on a 100% analogue circuit, again with three very simple controls: Gain, Tone and Level. This time, though, you’re going after a lot more saturation, with a denser, more aggressive character, aimed squarely at metal or rock.
And despite the big amount of gain on tap, the idea is still to keep things precise. Riffs stay readable, notes hold their definition when you play fast, and the natural compression of the circuit stretches the sustain out.
The name of the pedal comes from ‘hard clipping’, the signal clipping method its circuit uses: the waveform is shaved off sharply, which gives that dense, immediate saturation with a real distortion flavour. The practical upshot is the part to remember: the Gain pot changes the texture enormously, but the perceived volume very little. So set your Gain first, your Level second.
The Full / Tight switch: thick down low or cutting through the mix
Here too you get an extra little switch, which lets you go from Full mode to Tight mode.
- Full mode: the classic distortion, thick, with plenty of low end. It’s the mode that fills the space, the one you want for big power chords or an intro that needs to take over the room.
- Tight mode: the low frequencies are trimmed slightly for a more defined, more cutting sound. It’s the mode that keeps palm mutes nice and tight and makes you cut through when there’s a lot going on around you.
And then, with the Gain, you can push, push and really enjoy yourself. If you fancy a very, very big sound, this is the one for you.
Mini format and 9 V: two Woodbrass pedals built for a first pedalboard
Both pedals have been built in really small formats, and that’s hugely practical once you start stacking effects on a board. The product pages list, for each of them, a 97 x 51 x 50 mm aluminium enclosure weighing 181 g, 6.35 mm mono jacks in and out, an impedance of 100 kOhms on both sides, and true bypass with an indicator LED. True bypass simply means your signal passes through the pedal untouched when it’s switched off.
Power-wise, you’re on 9 V DC at 20 mA, through a 5.5 x 2.1 mm barrel plug with a negative centre, the standard for guitar pedals. There’s no battery compartment and no adapter in the box, so plan for a power supply. The good news is that 20 mA really is very little, so you can run several of them off a small multi-output brick without making it break a sweat. Ideal for your first pedalboard.
If you’re only getting one to start with, let your style decide. Blues, rock, pop, indie, and a craving for warm crunch or a solo boost: the Green Dreamer. Hard rock, metal, saturated riffs and a big wall of sound: the Hard Clipper. And if you get both, put the Green Dreamer before the Hard Clipper in your chain: you’ll be able to use it as a boost stage into the front of the distortion.
My verdict on the Woodbrass Green Dreamer and Hard Clipper pedals
Two pedals, two characters, two power levels. The Green Dreamer for crunch, blues, warm solos and boost duty. The Hard Clipper for rock that pushes and metal that shifts some air. In both cases: three pots, one switch, 100% analogue, and a format that doesn’t eat half your board.
Honestly, thank you Woodbrass, because finding two essentials like these for under €30 each is a genuine pleasure. What more can I say, other than that we’re now waiting for the next ones? Delay, reverb, chorus, who knows.
That’s it from me, and thank you very much for reading this article. Do leave a comment and ask us your questions, we’ll do our best to answer them. It’s Zacharie as always, and it’s always a pleasure to be of service.
