I got the HL-01 over the weekend and tried it out with several amps, cabinets and guitars. Also tried it direct to disk with a speaker emulator. The HL-01 Hyperlead has the triple gain circuitry (like their Tri-Metal altho I doubt the HL sounds much like it) The HL is a very solid, hefty, well built Japanese made ANALOG distortion. Sonically it's in the ballpark with some of the boutique distortions I've owned ala Tonebone HB and Menatone KOB. Its got plenty of gain. I rarely ran the gain knob past 12:00 even with a Tele. The sweepable range control along with the ability to boost or cut via the mid knob allows for plenty of tones. Dialing in the right midrange voicing is the trick as the tone controls have alot of variation. The bass control seems to have plenty of thump on tap. The treble control adds or cuts plenty of highs without being too shrill. I A/B tested the HL with a Tech 21 XXL and a Line6 DL4 which both reside in my pedalboard. The HL held its own pretty well. I used a humbucker equipped Strat and a Les Paul with stock humbuckers. Amps included a Fender Bandmaster, a Tophat, and a 50 watt Marshall. Speakers were Eminence British style 12s, Celestion Vintage 30 and G12H greenbacks. This pedal works best with a clean sounding amp or one just on the verge of breakup. I think this pedal is intended to be used as an *added channel* for heavily saturated liquid solos and crunchy rhythms and palm muted chords. Others have speculated that these new Zoom pedals are intended to capture some of the boutique market. I think the HL-01 is a contender especially for the price. Tone tweakers should like it.

Good review "fiftywatt". Can you comment on how well it works with a wah pedal in front of it? Thanks.

FWIW I recvd one of those FoxRox wah retrofit buffer units last night. Tonight I plan to install it. I couldn't do it last night because I went to see the fairly recent remake of The Planet of the Apes. After I've installed that thing I may have some insight into the whole wah before other pedals question.

Hey pH...

My main wah is one I got in 1992 before we had such good stuff as Teese, Fulltone, Budda, etc. Its a Roger Mayer Type 9090 circuit (with the 2 way toggle) installed into a Dunlop shell by North Star Audio. I suspect it has some sort of buffer in its circuit so that it works properly in front of distortion pedals. I've got a Tonebone H-B after the Mayer Wah along with the HL-01. It seems to work fine. I can get the vocal effects I'm used to. I'd like to hear about that Dave Fox buffer unit too. I've got a hankering for an RMC1 with that mod.

I also use an old Maestro Boomerang with the Elrad inductor that sounds fantastic. Tom at North Star modded it to true bypass. It does an excellent vomiting sound.