Alairex HALO Overdrive Pedal Reviews

5.0/5.0 based on 4 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

David L.
from Northern CA
November 30, 2012Music Background:
Semi Pro, playing in a band

A Most Excellent Overdrive Pedal

The title says it all, really. This is easily the reference standard by which most other overdrive/distortion pedals will be judged. This pedal is very easy to use and responds beautifully to your playing. You can get just about any conceivable overdriven sound you want from blues to heavy metal. Use a clean boost pedal before the HALO and get excellent controlled feedback effects. Do yourself a favor and get this pedal and your music and your mojo will thank you.

John K. Karros
from Randolph,N.J.
August 27, 2012Music Background:
Former guitarist/singer for Indie rock band, Marblehead (90-98) amatuer solo recording hobbyist

Halo Overdrive 'sent fromheaven'

Although i went to school with the developer ( he taught me guitar when i was in high school) i felt i was taking a chance because of the price & the fact that some effects just sound different with certain amp/guitar configurations. The Halo is a real treat to play & delivers consistent impressive tone. Especially with clean fenders, previously a real challenge to get good even & dirty tone from. The Halo's ' blue' channel boosts your amp signal & is a fine overdrive that goes from sparkling to pretty grainy. then the red channel picks up with slightly more power & huge distortion response. but probably the real kicker besides the 3 band shared EQ & center tone knob is the saturation/shape switches which either dial in a cleaner signal,a nice warm saturated signal or harmonic saturation that has hot overdriven tone on top of either full open chords or single picked notes. Strats & Tele's really benefit from the Halo getting impressive classic tones easily. from Clapton to Blackmore ,Beck, Gilmour & SRV. Plug in hum-buckers & your really biting like Gibbons,Santana, Page even Grohl. & this unit plays well with others effects. I am currently using a Flashback delay & Ross compressor, a Coronna chorus & MXR tremelo & they all come in loud & clear throught the input of the amps. It does feedback a little at higher volumes & there is some residual noise so I suggest a noise-gate but that maybe because of the close proximity of my guitar to the amp.(15 feet) @ half volume. I tested on a 75' twin reverb, a 64' Blonde Bandmaster , a Marshal DSL 50 & finally an Orange dual terror. All seven of my guitars performed perfectly. I have dumped three pedals from my board, replacing them w/ Halo. it has improved my tone 10 fold & that is the root of all good playing ,Tone. Alex was always known for his impeccable tone & outstanding playing. Now he has figured a way to deliver great tone from any guitar/amp configuration through this exceptional overdrive/distortion pedal that gives the guitarist the first & most important tool when playing, Tone!

Steve
from
June 14, 2012

Second to none !

Buy this pedal ! The array of tones and gain levels you can get with this amazing pedal will be a welcome asset to your board ! From sweet gentle, creamy overdrive to full bore highly saturated gain...you have it all in the HALO. It maintains the integrity of your guitars tone and is very transparent at high gain levels, even with complex jazz chords !! Probably the most transparent OD/Distortion pedal I've heard. Alex is a great guy that cares about his customers. And as the previous reviewer stated, the customer service from Alairex and Sweetwater make this a winning combination. If you're crazy about your tone then BUY THIS PEDAL. The tone junkie in you will be thankful.

Ernie
from CA, United States
June 13, 2012Music Background:
45 playing guitar

Amp In A Box

Does not color your sound but provides bite and OD the way you want it.
Add some clipping if you like, symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Allows you set two distinct sounds and switch between so it can provide you with three complete amp channels(clean, one & two) in the one box.

I have many OD pedals. This is without a doubt the most organic, reactive OD ever. Play quietly and it ODs quietly. Thrash away and it bangs with you. Never any mud, either. Clear ringing harmonics throughout.
Add to that Alairex & Sweetwaters Customer Service and you have one of the best combinations possible.