Seymour Duncan Forza

This classy looking pedal might be a better fit at the Monaco Grand Prix then on a pedal board in a dive bar, but for some, this will be a nice addition to their signal chain. Seymour Duncan have endeavored to create a tonally transparent pedal, but in the process of creating a nice clean sound, they might have overlooked the need for some more dirty gain. While this pedal will give you a nice amount of tonal control and a fair amount of higher gain drive, it could also fall short of the grit and intensity that many look for in a drive pedal.

External Control: None
Cost: $$

HornFX Review

Interface:  3.5/5
As with most 5 knob drive pedals, this one gets high marks. The only critique is that the bass, mid, and treble knobs can be hard to identify from a far, and it can be even harder to tell where they are set to, especially on a dark stage.

Versatility: 2/5
This is a fairly wimpy drive pedal. It never seems to really give your sound a kick in the ass. That being said, if you turn the drive knob all the way down, the pedal can be used a really nice clean boost.

Tone Reproduction: 3.5/5
When in its clean boost mode the pedal sounds wonderful, but when the gain is added the pedal’s wimpiness is exposed. Your tone will be audible and it will maintain much of its integrity, but there will be very little edge or punch.

Live application: 2/5
If you are looking for its particular brand of drive, then the Forza could be good for you. Unfortunately it seems to be a bit of a soft pedal and won’t provide you with much intensity or crunch if you find yourself needing it. The issues with reading the EQ knobs do not help its cause.

Product Information

Summary

The Forza is a full-range, highly adjustable and transparent overdrive for players who want more gain without losing the natural voice of their guitar.

Description

While many overdrives emphasize particular frequencies, the Forza gives you a more even spread across the frequency range. The voicing is very open, and it sounds just as good through a clean channel or hitting an already-overdriven amp. In addition to up to 37dB of gain there’s a three-band EQ for controlling the lows, mids and high end, and the Level control has plenty of range to allow use as a clean boost too.

The Forza uses a glass diode, back-to-back stack overdrive circuit. It features True Bypass switching and is made in the USA.

Type of circuitry: The Forza uses a glass diode, back-to-back stack overdrive circuit
Bypass: True hard-wire bypass
Control Functionality: Gain Control Range – 11dB to 37dB Bass – 90 Hz +/- 11dB Mid – 750 Hz +/- 11dB Treble – 2.1 kHz +/- 12dB
Bypass (Footswitch) – Engages the overdrive effect
Input Impedance: 470k Ohms
Output Impedance: 1K Ohms
Gain: Unity (0dB) dry; off to +3dB wet. THD @10mVrms input @ 1 kHz with 12 dB of gain: 0.045% 
Max Output Before Saturation: 0.6Vrms Power: 9V battery or external 9V to 18V Regulated DC Adapter (center negative) 
Current Consumption: 4.5mA
Dimensions: 2.61” X 4.90” X 1.45” 
Weight: 0.8lb without battery

Product info taken from the Seymour Duncan website.