Dennis at ProTone Pedals has made a name for himself by introducing face-melting, metal-styled pedals with names like Dead Horse, Body Rot and Ram’s Skull. Heck, even his chorus – the Raven – looks intimidating, thanks in part to the fantastic enclosure art by Felix LaFlamme. So it was curious when ProTone chimed in with news of a set of three premium overdrive pedals they had in the works. Even more interesting, their classic and reserved enclosure finish. Obviously a different animal, we bribed Dennis with beer and cookies to send us one. He obliged with the Red Label Premium Overdrive.

The Red Label Premium Overdrive is the ‘clean boost plus sizzle’ member of ProTone’s P.O. family. The other two siblings, the Black Label and Gold Label, are more gain-y with the Black being the Marshall-esque spank similar to that incorporated in the company’s Jason Becker signature distortion. According to Dennis, none of the Premium Overdrives are tube screamer-based. The Red Label sent to us for review was a prototype, so the contents of the ProTone-stamped little white pedal box was simply the stomp along with a nifty ‘mechanics’ rag branded with the ProTone logo. The pedal itself has four straight-forward knob controls – Volume, Bass, Treble and Gain.

Firing up the Red Label with the Strat in hand, neck pick-up, we dial up a little medium boost setting with some bottom end. With the Volume at 2 o’clock, Bass at 3 o’clock, Treble at 2 o’clock and Gain at high noon, the pedal boosts and thickens this simple roots riff. First clean, then the OD.

You can really hear the boost power of the Red Label in that clip, and the thinnest layer of grit adds a little sizzle to the mix. To the bridge pick-up, we pull back on the bass and treble, but add a little more gain. Here’s the pedal with the Volume still at 2 o’clock, the Bass at 2 o’clock, Treble at noon and Gain rolled up to 3 o’clock. A little chicken pickin’ gets a helping hand… first dead, then Red!

Over to the Les Paul, we open the Red Label up and hopes she goes down smooth. Volume and Bass remain at 2 o’clock, Treble at 3 o’clock and the Gain is dimed. If your blues could use a shorter fuse, listen in… clean first, then the pedal.

We were attracted to the amount of punch the Red Label has on tap. The pedal offered a true organic flavor and was right at home pushing the tubes in the Hellhound combo. It offered good transparency and acted as a natural extension of the amp with minimal tone coloring. It was not difficult to dial in a tasty tone with either the single coils of the Strat or the humbuckers on the LP. The Red Label will likely get compared to similar pedals that offer the same qualities, and it should stack up favorably. The price may be a stumbling block for some – likely around $300 to $350 – but if you’re looking for a pedal to put in front of a tube amp that will push it in some pretty solid, toneful directions you might want to check out the Red Label. That’s our opinion anyway… your mileage my vary.

PLEASE NOTE: All YMMV Review clips are played through a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 combo amp with 1×12 extension cab. No reverb or other effects were added to the clips. Guitars used in this review include a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.