Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax Dual Overdrive Pedal Reviews

The EHX Hot Wax is one of the best sounding pedals I've ever played. The Hot Tubes side is probably the closest to the tone of a cranked tube amp of any pedal I've used. It can go from mild to wild and then some. The Crayon side is a totally different character, it's very similar to the BB Preamp from Xotic. On it's own it gives a nice, full crunch that compliments any guitar and amp combo, but the real magic happens when it is used as a boost for the Tubes side.

The only reason this pedal isn't seen more is because it hasn't been seen on a famous board yet, or because they think EHX pedals are cheap because they're low priced. A glance at the circuitry shows the assembled in USA craftsmanship that is on par with any of the big boutique brands here. Operation is as quiet as my other much more expensive OD pedals.

If I wanted to criticize anything, it is the lack of being able to reverse the order of the two sides. It also uses the old style hard latching 3PDT switches and side mounted jacks. In 2024 I hope to see EHX move to top mounts and soft touch relay based switching.

The Hot Wax is a STEAL at this price! Two stellar sounds in one box! I usually use it as the last of my tone centered pedals, with the red channel always on. I'll kick in the green when I'm looking for a type of grittier overdrive sound that doesn't change everything that's already happening on the pedalboard; but rather adds to it.

This is great by itself or if you're mixing in fuzz or high gain.

Another hit out of the park for Electro-Harmonix. As you probably know, this pedal offers the 'Crayons' and 'Hot Tubes' pedals together in a single unit. Both are very good on their own, and depending on the sound you're looking for, can be even better when used together. The gain does not not to be set to high levels to achieve some fantastic overdriven sounds. Set the Crayons and have it drive the Hot Tubes for anything from a silky smooth overdrive to punchy, crunchy grit. The Hot Tubes may not emulate that classic tube sound perfectly (what pedal does?), but in my opinion it's about as close as you're going to get. Spend time tweaking the knobs; little adjustments can have a pretty significant impact. I've also used the 'Soul Food' pedal to drive through the Hot Tubes, and that also sounds great and presents many additional sonic possibilities. Another great pedal from Electro-Harmonix.

I have had 9 distortion, fuzz, or overdrive pedals before this one. This one is considerably better than any of the other ones I have had. It has several useable settings that I have found so far, and I have only begone to use it. It will give a very nice distortion, yet still keep a clear definition of of the notes you are playing. Hard to explain, but If you ever get a chance to try one don't pass up the opportunity. I would have to say this is one of the better pedals I have ever bought, brings my playing up to a whole new level. A friend of mine bought one and couldn't say enough good things about it, so I bought one from Taylor at Sweetwater, as usual they gave me a great price. This pedal is well worth the money. 2 thumbs up on this one.

I've played mainly straight into my tube and for several years, but wanted to be able to take my sound to anything. This pedal going into my tube or solid state hives me that ability. Zero issues and much happiness ha e ensued. Going into my tube head with just the crayon yields grit and awesome response, click on my full tone boost and I'm at the border o hard rack and heavy metal. Clicking on the hottest side pushes into completely chaotic fuzziness.

Out of all the overdrives that I have bought and tried over the years, this is the one I keep going back to. Being a metal player, the crayon drive is perfect for tightening up that tone on a high gain amp and give you that clean crunch attack that everyone loves. The added bonus for me is the hot tubes. I have my hot tubes side set up as a boost for when you go into a lead riff and it just adds that extra sustain and gain you want when going into a solo. Getting both overdrives into one pedal for this price is a steal.

I have a few overdrives I use for bass, including the Pigtronix Bass Fat drive, but this is my favorite. It has a lot of variability between choosing from the Hot Tubes or the Crayon, or both stacked. What I love is that this pedal can provide a very slight effect, with a lot of variation in that subtle mode - just a touch of Hot Tubes or Crayon, or even a clean boost. Pedals that go to more extremes on the high gain side can be harder to adjust when only adding a little dirt. Not so with the Hot Wax. Even apart from the gain adjustment, there's also the mix adjustment as an alternative way to diminish the effect, which yields a different result from gain reduction. Yet for all the variability in the subtle effects, stacking the two sides (only option is feeding the Crayon into the Hot Tubes) can yield a large amount of overdrive, moving into the distortion realm. I use this pedal with both a passive and an active bass, and both sound good through it. This is likely one pedal I'd buy again if I were to lose it, even with all the drive pedals out there.

I rotate a LOT of gain pedals on my board. Most of my effects come from a Plethora x5 unit, but those don't do OD/dist/fuzz. Anyways, of all the various drive pedals I use, this one (well, two in one, really) hasn't come off the board since I got it.

I've tried over a DOZEN Overdrives in the past 12 months. Each had what, for me, is a fatal flaw.... they sounded pretty good if: 1. you were playing a Strat or a Suhr on the bridge pickup, 2. your volume was HOT, HOT, HOT, and 3. You never played soft...and I don't mean just rolling the guitar volume down. This HOT WAX addresses all these issues for me. I play my PRS SE Standard Santana with 85/15 "S" pickups into a Keeley Compressor Plus, then into a Joyo American pedal to sculpt the shape just a tad, then into the Hot Wax, then into a delay pedal, a reverb and then the amp. The humbuckers going into the 'Crayon' side of the pedal give a texture that I've been looking for a long time. It's full bodied, but there is some real magic happening in the upper midrange and treble range of this pedal. It BEGS to be played. It's dynamic, touch sensitive. It's soft but firm. If it was a woman I'd put a ring on it. Then you hit the 'Hot Tubes' side and it ROARS...but in a sensitive, manageable way. That's all I'm gonna say...I'm really enjoying the new sonic territory this pedal has opened up for me. I just might have to buy another one to save as a spare...hide it in the closet. I might just do that, and pick up a Crayon and Hot Tubes single units while I'm at it. You just KNOW these models change with the seasons and disappear all too soon. Thanks for your ear.

Great sounding pedal lets you choose either or both of the Hot Tubes and Crayon overdrive pedals. This pedal will get you to the finish line with the bass and treble ranges to dial in the perfect musical road trip!

I mostly play through a Laney Ironheart, which only does metal well on it's own. The two different OD's allow me to not only get a more balanced tone when switching between guitars but it allows me to combine it with the amp's clean Channel + Amp Boost to be able to get full expressive tone for other genres and styles, which I could not before. This opened up a world of options for tones for me.
Of course it really helps light up the Rhythm and Lean when appropriate. but no one is surprised about that.
With it's flexibility, I take it with me when I'm not bringing my full rig, because it almost guarantees I can get a good tone out of anything I'd be playing out of. There are some pretty good video review out there, worth a listen.

I am in love with this pedal! I'm not strong for technical jargon, but if you're looking for a signature drive sound, no doubt you'll find it here.

Got one of these a while back and really dig it, wide range of sounds and really easy to dial in. Working on a project away from my main studio and needed some overdrives for guitar and bass and am on a tight budget. The Hot Wax is doing the job wonderfully. Sounds great with guitar, but the clincher for me is that it works just as well with the bass - great idea by EHX to have the blend knob so I can keep my clean bass signal and mix it with the overdriven signal. Working perfectly for me!!

Was toying around with getting either the Hot Wax or a Hot Tubes and a Crayon: with the Hot Wax the Crayon side always goes into the Hot Tubes side - cannot reverse the order, but the Hot Wax has that special design for bass (the wonderful blend knob). Talked to Chris Barry about what I thought were the advantages and disadvantages of the two buying options before me, and he confirmed by belief - this is not merely a combination of two pedals, it is a unique pedal in its own right that is great for either guitar or bass. So glad I went this way; thank you Chris Barry of all the great things you do for me!!!

I"m a bass player, and have been for around 26 years. I was looking for something that would give me a gritty sound without losing the low end. I use the crayon side more than the hot tubes because of how it gives me the distortion that is not over the top. I love how I can blend the dry sound with the effects. I highly recommend this pedal.

I've had this overdrive since last fall, and it's absolutely incredible both for electric guitar and bass. I've played a Fender Telecaster, Ibanez SZ520, and Schecter CV-5 (bass) through it and all three sound superb. In terms of the two overdrive channels separate, I generally favor the Crayon side for guitar and the Hot Tubes side for bass. However, using both overdrives at once is pretty much magical. EHX did a fantastic job with this monster.

I absolutely love this thing! Finally got a chance to record some tracks with this, running it through a clean channel on my Carvin Quad-X. I"ve got amazing flexibility with this pedal!

If you're looking for neck pickup tones for your strat, I can honestly say that the Hot Tubes side of this pedal can't be beat. I don't kick in the crayon as often (can be used for boost or additional drive), but the Hot Tubes is always on. The reason I haven't replaced this with the Hot Tubes standalone is because of the EQ - the ability to tweak the bass and treble in a live mix is unreplaceable...

I've put this tone against other drives (Tubescreamer, OCD, Sunset) and it's really, really hard to match. For blues tone, I'd challenge anyone playing a strat to find a better always-on.

This is a fantastic overdrive pedal. Sounds amazing with my Vox Ac4. I can get a very light overdrive to a fuzz like overdrive stacking the two option! Worked out perfect for me because I really didn't know what I was looking for in an OD pedal so this pedal gives you all the options!

As an owner of a boss sd1, tc electronic mojomojo, and the Ibanez tube screamer I can say this thing is the best OD I've ever used. Both the crayon and hot tubes sound great, but together they sound fantastic. This pedal can be used for a clean boost all the way to high gain metal tones. Honestly the only OD/ Distortion you need.

This is the exact sound I was looking for.Been playing both Crayon side and Hot Tubes side and both stacked.You can dial in almost any amount of tone/distortion(like the other comments state).I am very excited about this pedal.Using a Gretsch G5435 Electromatic Pro Jet-Limited Edition, but can't wait to hear this through my hand built Strat, and my 78 Les Paul Deluxe.A solidly built unit that I hope will give me years of good use.I've always liked Electro-Harmonix products.Keep up the good work and innovation!Great Hot Wax video demonstrating what this pedal can do, and appreciate the Jimi Hendrix riff.Thank you Sweetwater and E-H.

It's fun experimenting with tones, degrees of fuzz and blending ... it's a pretty cool pedal. I'm working on developing a John Entwhistle sound with it if at all possible.

One note: The pedal takes NO BATTERIES and in fact, is supplied with a power supply in the box. Be wary on that issue.

I got this pedal for Christmas, and all I can say is wow! You can play anything from blues to metal with this thing! It"s a great sounding pedal with enough EQ adjustment to dial in a tone you like in short order. I love this thing!

This is a crazy cool pedal with amazing sounds and versatility. I actually replaced my Fulldrive 2 with this pedal and I'm glad I did. I could never get quite what I wanted frim the FD2, but this gets me where I want to go. I've only had it a short time, but so far I'm loving it.

This is an outstanding overdrive pedal. I use it with my bass, so I especially love the blend knobs. It's extremely versatile--you can dial in any kind of distortion you want you want. Want a subtle crunch? You got it. Want a Geddy Lee growl? The Hot Wax has got your back. Need the meanest metal distortion that can sustain for days? It does that too.

This pedal offers great tone, and monster distortion. The combination of the crayon and the hot tubes is perfect for chunky rhythm, or searing hot leads. It's like having three easy to use pedals all in one, at an unbeatable price!

You can adjust the overdrive-effect to nearly zero, that makes it suitable for Keyboards as well. I use it with my Nord Clavia C1 organ, combined with a neo Leslie pedal. The sound is amazing.

Always wanted a dual overdrive pedal there are many ways to adjust the tone you want. I personally like the crayon side for some awesome lead work. Overall very cool pedal

I can't stop playing with the settings on this versatile OD pedal. Combining the Crayon and Hot Tubes pedals into one unit with the EQ and blend knobs is just brilliant! I have been able to get some clean boost from the crayon side if you need a little OD boost as well. So many options in tonality for a single pedal. It is a great addition for keyboards that need to add overdrive in the effects chain as well. I'll have to pull it from my guitar pedal board when I play keys now.

Electroharmonix blows it out of the park again. This thing is great. With the crayon and the tubes you are able to stack these drives for some gnarly drive, or you can run them individually for a light OD fuzz effect. With the EQ and blend at your fingertips you are able to achieve almost any overdrive/fuzz/distortion you want. I also own a 5150 EVH overdrive, and I love that pedal. My Hot Wax replaced a blues driver/ soul food/ and a big muff nano PI. Get you one, you will love it. How about those awesome graphics too, that will spice up any pedal board. 5 stars all the way.

The Hot Tubes side is slightly different than the Hot Tubes nano version, in a good way. EQ-wise, it is less scooped, more crisp, and has less obligatory low end. Bass and treble controls (instead of a switchable tone control) make things easier. I think the Nano HT is awesome, but this cuts through better.
It can be tricky to dial everything in, since both sides share the EQ controls, and the HT is noticeably brighter than the Crayon. Embrace this! It's like having both a bright sounding amp and a warmer sounding amp right under your feet. After a while I was rewarded with three good separate sounds... the Hot Tubes alone (at low gain), the Crayon alone (at medium-low gain), and both at the same time for a nice chunky medium gain (which happens to respond really well to the guitar's volume knob). Into a clean amp, neither side sounds much like a pedal, more like different amp channels.
I was having trouble finding two different overdrive pedals to use with my rig. The Hot Wax solved that problem! The two sides engaged at the same time sound way better than any two different pedals i would stack... more clarity, less mush. And the blend knob is useful for maintaining note articulation, especially as you turn the gain up.

I usually use on board overdrive with my tube head and got this pedal to induce some chaos on a solid state combo. This pedal gives warm tube drive and good levels of high gain. Only improvement would be a master volume for the pedal. No noise when switching and very responsive.

This pedal is articulate, responsive and dirty!! Stacking it gives you all out, awesome overdrive! However, playing one channel at a time (either one), gives you a warm, round overdrive tone. This is a "must" on your pedalboard!!

I have yet to meet an ultimate go to pedal -- Things go stale/bored after a month or so and I have to rotate through pedals to keep things exciting. The Hot Wax is definitely in the rotation now; I did not take to the Tubes side at first but that has changed it is really sensitive to the attack and is either a clean boost or pushed tubes sound, this side is not an overdrive for me. The Crayon side is instant love it -- I am thinking it sounds a lot like the TS10 on a Bonsai but with full range EQ. Sounds great through a Princeton with EC Strat and PRS CE24 and Voodoo power supply. The pedal is a keeper.

I like the fact EH is bringing back and combining old school heroes like these. This is a good example. What I appreciate from EH is that they have some respect for musicians and their lust for vintage sound.

I had my eyes on the hot tubes pedal for a while, but when I saw what this pedal could do on Bass guitar signal, I was hooked. With HD videos now I know exactly what I was getting. So even though I was not familiar at all with the Crayon and some how familiar with the hot tube, when I hooked it on there was no surprise, no shock, exactly what I heard on the video + the color of my personal rig.

Hooked it in front of my Tech 21 VT Bass and gives me that instant magic tone I was looking for. Gives me 3 extra tones from simple operations and settings. Perfect for an old cranky guy like me. I love it, exactly what I expected.

Talk about King Crimson, Yes, Cliff Burton, you name it, you get it right away and it really sounds convincing.

I did not buy this for guitar, but when I'm better at solos, I will probably use it, since the crayon is a nice in your face tone.

EH is like Fender and MXR, not that I want to give them all my business, but they produce simple stuff that sounds and feel just the way I like.

Now I don't like to boast about my rig but after wasting tons of money on junk I ended up using real gear exclusively, and I realize I'm giving a lot of business to EH.

Bass: EH Next Step Volume -> EH Micro QTron -> EH Electric Mistress -> EH Hot Wax -> VT Bass -> PA or Bass amp

Guitar: EH Next Step Volume -> Dunlop Classic Wah -> MXR compressor -> EH Electric Mistress -> MXR Analog Delay -> EH English Muffin (now that's a nice one) -> Peavey Classic 30 which

You see how much EH is in the signal path? Notice that I can use many of then on both bass and guitar! Noticed there is no Asian gear in my signal path? Same with my instruments and amps. I tried and currently own some top quality Asian gear, I just don't use them because they sound too politically correct.

I prefer US/Russian gear because they are NOT politically correct and are not shy of showing their strong personality :)

This pedal sat in my closet for 6 months. Then I pulled it out, plugged it in, liked it again, and stuck it on my pedalboard, next to the Roebuck overdrive. It can get very creamy, crunchy, over-the-top and that's just the sound I was looking for. Not sure about the Hot Tube side yet...but the Crayon is perfect.

I bought this for bass with the goal of adding more growl with a touch of hair. The Hot Tubes side worked best on bass for me, but the blend knob had to be almost all original signal in order to maintain the fundamental. The drive is a bit too guitar oriented distorted for bass, but used in small bits, you can somewhat simulate a tube pre.
The crayon side was just plain useless for bass.

Now for guitar, it's much more versatile. Keep the hot tubes side tame, otherwise you get this funny clip. Most of the drive knob sweep is lost on this. The crayon side is a great overdrive. It's touted as an OD that isn't boosted in the mid-section. That's perfect for my taste and feels a bit more organic than OD's in it's price range.

Overall, I'd say if you're a bass player, save your pennies and look else where, It's a one-trick pony. If you're a guitar player, I think you'll be pleased if this is meets your budget. There are better OD's out there for more money... duh.

Four stars because it does have a good offering for guitarist. Minus that 1 star because it's not very versatile for bass. However, it is a guitar pedal first.

Probably the most compact dual overdrive you'll ever find, was smaller than expected, but the switches are still spaced far enough to easily hit them separately without issue and saving board space is great. The crayon side is my favorite, it goes from very light drive to medium gain blues/classic rock territory and always stays clear and defined. The hot tubes side is higher gain and goes from heavy to flabby and undefined at Max drive. Stacked can take you into extreme gain if that's your thing. Ive been running this to a clean amp with crayon always on for my drive and hitting in the hot tubes at about noon gain for heavy songs or solos and it sounds great! With this pedal you cover alot of overdrive territory in a small enclosure and the shared tone controls help balance the two together so switching channels doesn't ever mess up your eq. I Haven't used the blend knob much, keep it around 3 o'clock always sounds good. I imagine the blend could serve well when using in combination with certain modulation or for bassists using this pedal and not wanting to wash out their tone.

The Crayon sounds great alone, and it gets as crazy-fuzzy as you like when driven by the Hot Tubes. That part I'm happy with. But the Hot tubes circuit just doesn't sound very good on its own. It certainly doesn't sound like over-driven tubes. I tried it with Strat coils on one guitar, a Seymor Duncan '59 humbucker on another, and lastly on a Jazzmaster, all with the same lackluster results from the Hot Tubes side. I'll keep it because I like the idea of boosting the great-sounding Crayon without a second pedal, but I was hoping for better tones from the Hot Tubes and it just doesn't deliver.

This pedal when played with humbuckers has a problem of cutting out when both sides are on(volume drops to almost nothing). EHX is aware of the problem and doesn't seem to think this is a huge issue. The pedal sounds great, but you will need to mail it to EHX in New York, which takes about three weeks, just to have the pedal work properly.

I am not happy with this pedal. I should have reviewed further before buying it. I now wish I had the two pedals separate. This combo pedal does not sound like the two originals. I think this is just a gimmick that I fell fore. I dont think I will be buying any more EHX pedals.