I have this pedal and it is the best ever! I have: Friedman BE OD, Friedman Dirty Shirley, Bogner Blue, SIB Cuda, Fulltone OCD, JHD AT, Carl Martin Plexitone ( Pete Thorn), Wampler Dual Fusion. Non of them have the feel, the dynamics, the tube like compression and the beautiful mids of the Royal. It realy is an exeptional pedal!
Man that OD sounds absolutely killer! Love the mid boost feature and 4 band eq. Would love to try this out in an extreme music setting. Fantastic playing as always.
Hey Pete, I've been watching your videos for quite a while now and I'm always impressed with your playing, your demo songs, your thoroughness with gear, and your general all-round gear nerdery! I've also been watching some of the Guitcon videos, and though I don't mean any disrespect to any of the other TH-cam personalities who were there and I truly think they're all doing great work and I don't want to turn the TH-cam community into some kind of guitar competition, I just have to say, in my opinion, you are the King of TH-cam guitar channels! We are lucky to have you out there churning out awesome videos. And we'll be even luckier when you get that second album done! ;-)
Nice demo, as usual. The pedal sounds really good. I probably wouldn't get it, though, because it's very large and they put the jacks on the side - it simply takes up too much room on a pedalboard. That said, it's great that they've fine-tuned the mode switches to accommodate different amps, which is an age-old problem with drive pedals. It's for those with very large pedalboards or as a studio tool.
First I thought that the demo sounded really thin. Then I realized that I hade my iPhone headphones the wrong way. 😂 Really great demo of the pedal! It sounds amazing!
What power supply are you using? I've read that Peter Van Weelden prefers the 1 spot 9v and theres magic at 9v. Also, does the pedal work as strictly a preamp as well where its run through the effects loop like a boost and uses the power section of the amp for a more direct sound?
Hi Pete - I don't know if I've ever seen you make a "guitar face" before. Love your demos as always, both the way you present things and your playing. My amp is always clean - Maybe I need to give this a try. Hope things are good for you.
Mal Reynolds - It's true sometimes that you get what you pay for. The top of the line stuff is just expensive to make. The way I see it though is the whole law of diminishing returns means that for a lot less money you can still sound like a rock star.
Omg! Tweekability overload! Jeez.... Can't.stop.buying.pedals! Im a drummer too and have the same problem with cymbals. Help! Tone addict!... Great demo as always Pete-much appreciated by us older dudes.
Great demo... sinister sounding riffs there Pete. The pedal sounds super flexible. Congratulations on reaching 100,000 subscribers, what a huge achievement. I hope you don't mind me going off topic: the Rivera cab/speaker load box and simulator , do you use that much? You have a fair few load boxes available to you, so I'm wondering what prompts you to use one for one situation and one for another? Perhaps you could do a video on your use of different load boxes at different times?
Van Weelden is known for Dumble clones, and it looks like a Dumble. But it doesn't sound like one? What's up with that? And how do we buy it in the US?
Hi Pete! Great video, as always. I just got a Royal Overdrive a few days ago. I really like it, but I feel it lacks some bottom end compared to some of my other overdrives. Would you agree with that? I struggle to find the good balance between thin on some settings and muffled on others... Thanks
The big problem with the pedal is that it would be easier to simply have 3 drive pedals; one for each amp [Fender, Vox, Marshall - or choose your 3]. It costs the same as 3 boutique pedals and is the size of 3 pedals - and you loose the versatility of have 3 pedals to stack/blend/switch between on the fly. It's a cool pedal that sound as great as any other boutique OD. But, unless you were somehow limited to only having 1 OD pedal, I think the "impracticality-level" is as off the charts with this pedal as the price. Respectfully.
Pete, great review man! I just acquired a RO and am blown away by it! It’s crazy good. However; I’ve got a question (I presented it to Mick and Pete on the guitar paradisio review as well) What would you consider to be in the same league as the RO, yet it’s opposite? Does that make sense? Thanks!
Another great piece of content Pete, killer playing & tones throughout. Your 335 sounded especially good through it & the tune you chose rawked. Btw I’m digging that Thinline T you have, it sounds mean. Is it a recent acquisition? Don’t remember seeing it until recently.
Couldn’t help notice when you had it looped there was a dip or delay when engaged/disengaged. I’d think that would be a problem live. Great sounding pedal though!
There is no delay but a volume drop when switching the RO on/off. It’s normal behaviour... I asked Peter Van Weelden himself. I use the RO behind a switcher unit so the volume drop does not bother me playing live. Even with this ‘flaw’ it still is by far the best OD pedal I have ever owned. Cheers!
No, the W is a W, not a V. Not in The Netherlands and not in Germany. The 'ee' should be pronounounced as ..., well, as in the word 'whale' (like a blue whale). And then you just add 'dun'. :-D
Mario Driessen Hi Mario; Thanks for the correction! Makes more sense to me. I'm actually going to Germany in a month. I'll ask my friends there as well cause I'm sure it's slightly different in each region. We pronounce words slightly different in each region of the States, why would it be any different there. Thanks!!
Nice demo, Pete! Congrats on the 100k mark! I had one but realised I was setting it for a light boost that was tube screamerish and thought it was a bit too expensive and big to just replicate my TS808. Such a killer lead tone with it though!
I had that same ES guitar form 1968-9. bought it in the 80s and traded it like a stupid kid at a horrible music store in Falls Church VA. traded for an amp. I hate that me and the rotten store clerk who saw me coming a mile away. nice playing
Overdrive overload. After awhile all the "good sounding" overdrives start to sound the same which isn't a bad thing but it seems like "a good one" can be dialed in to sound like any of the other "good ones". Gear Overload!!!!!!
You do make a good point, it is sort of a side affect of there being so many great choices out there these days. This pedal with it's flexible switching does have a uniqueness to it though, and it does have exceptionally good tone and eq.
The pedal sounds good of course, but I can't hear any difference when the mid boost is engaged. Same volume, same mids, definitely not a usable tone for leads. Is it because of TH-cam? I use good headphones.
If you don't need all of the brightness/mode flexibility, the Tanabe Zenkudo/Dumkudo pedal (as reviewed by That Pedal Show in the same episode as the Royal Overdrive, in their D-style overview on their old youtube channel) will get you into the same neighborhood for a lot less $$$ - and take up a lot less room.
I’m not sure about the Dumkudo getting you that close; I have both-the Tanabe does not have the same amount of gain. But its a great pedal in its own right. The Van Weeldon is in a class by its self, it really is like having another amps pre-amp on the floor to play with. It stacks well with other gain pedals too. But it’s not a plug and go pedal by any means. Pete’s review is a great representation of how to use it with other amps. But Pete could play a single stringed broomstick into a wash tub any make it sound good.
Congrats on 100k subs!! Always great videos. 🎸👍
I don't know if it was intentional, but there's an awesome Jerry Cantrell vibe to the intro song. Killer job as always!
i got the same vibe here
Definitely!
I have NEVER heard you demo a pedal that stands out in the track like that. The guitar parts are so clear and stand out very well from each other.
Great video - love the lead tones! Makes me want to watch the TPS episode on D-style overdrives again.
HKDavedis I’m with you!
I have this pedal and it is the best ever!
I have: Friedman BE OD, Friedman Dirty Shirley, Bogner Blue, SIB Cuda, Fulltone OCD, JHD AT, Carl Martin Plexitone ( Pete Thorn), Wampler Dual Fusion.
Non of them have the feel, the dynamics, the tube like compression and the beautiful mids of the Royal.
It realy is an exeptional pedal!
I agree it`s the best out there.
That solo just kept getting better- more please!
Song and solo in the intro were exceptional. Even for Pete Thorn!
That was freaking awesome Pete! I look forward to your demos, amazing creative tunes you create every time. Thanks for all you do!
+astro2069 thanks!
Man that OD sounds absolutely killer! Love the mid boost feature and 4 band eq. Would love to try this out in an extreme music setting. Fantastic playing as always.
Just bought this...really looking forward to it. I heard a few demos but this was the best for my needs.
Thanks for the wicked demos Pete. You put them in context.
That song in the beginning man...sooooo good. Killer track.
+Armando Peredia thank u!
I saw That Pedal Show using this one a lot, and I’m really glad you did a formal review on it!
Pete has some super licks, I enjoy watching him play guitar!
damn that demo song was so rocking. Pete you need to make a compilation of all your demo songs, they're so good!
Best OD ever! I'm a proud owner.
Another great pedal demo...thanks Pete!
+MarkAg47 thanks!
hi, Im from holland..your pronauncation of..van Weelden ..is very ok
great pedal and your presenting art..great..as usaul..greetz
took me back to the 90's. Awesome track Pete!
+borz666 thanks!
Nice features!!!!
Best demos on youtube and killer playing and original content Pete!
+Spencer Cachia thanks Spencer!
Cool pedal, sounded really great.
Came for the riffs. Wasn’t disappointed. Giving me a Foo Fighters vibe!!
Killer sounds Pete thorn!
+keith ellis thanks!
You rock dude! Makes me wanna pull out my 80's tapes 😂! Stuff used to make me drive too fast! Had to switch to country to slow me down haha.
+David D haha!!! Country music, so you don't lose your license!
I really want one of these. If it's good enough to make it on Mick Taylor's Desert Island Pedalboard (on That Pedal Show) it has to be awesome.
Hey Pete, I've been watching your videos for quite a while now and I'm always impressed with your playing, your demo songs, your thoroughness with gear, and your general all-round gear nerdery! I've also been watching some of the Guitcon videos, and though I don't mean any disrespect to any of the other TH-cam personalities who were there and I truly think they're all doing great work and I don't want to turn the TH-cam community into some kind of guitar competition, I just have to say, in my opinion, you are the King of TH-cam guitar channels! We are lucky to have you out there churning out awesome videos. And we'll be even luckier when you get that second album done! ;-)
It's bigger than my pedal board.
No really, it sounds killer.
Nice demo, as usual. The pedal sounds really good. I probably wouldn't get it, though, because it's very large and they put the jacks on the side - it simply takes up too much room on a pedalboard. That said, it's great that they've fine-tuned the mode switches to accommodate different amps, which is an age-old problem with drive pedals. It's for those with very large pedalboards or as a studio tool.
That was an amazing guitar solo
+DryverDave thanks!
Wow.....that Vox sounded ALIVE with this pedal! Really caught my attention...
Fantastic overdrive man!
That's a very cool tune Pete.
just ordered one.
You hit that thing on your AC30 and it was WOW! Great demo, great pedal! Oh, and cool song!
+mrjdlyon ya it turned the "meh" tone of the ac15 normal channel with no bright switch on into a great rock tone, right?
Pete Thorn Yeah, I was not expecting it to sound so good.
Nice clarity on the lows. Super clean distorted chords from an ES335? Impressive! Also congrats and stuff.
wow, your´e great :-) ...and this Van Weelden Royal Overdrive is sounding amazing!
Dude, that Es335 sounds AMAZING
I can't believe 9:34 is only an overdrive pedal. 😍 Wow!!
Would love to get one and sounds great but at $700 that is one expensive pedal
Wow, that sounds impressive!
First I thought that the demo sounded really thin. Then I realized that I hade my iPhone headphones the wrong way. 😂
Really great demo of the pedal! It sounds amazing!
Nice Jam Pete.
+Metal Head Hippie thanks!
The song is dope
+DeadRoman 🙏
Congratz on 100k Pete!
Pete; How about a side by side comparison between this and the Orgin "Revival Drive"? Thanks!
Please do a video on your new 1972 Marshall.
+jan de man oh I will!
What power supply are you using? I've read that Peter Van Weelden prefers the 1 spot 9v and theres magic at 9v. Also, does the pedal work as strictly a preamp as well where its run through the effects loop like a boost and uses the power section of the amp for a more direct sound?
A la jerry Cantrell, love the track. Outstanding. 90's grunge eat your heart out lol.
Hi Pete - I don't know if I've ever seen you make a "guitar face" before. Love your demos as always, both the way you present things and your playing. My amp is always clean - Maybe I need to give this a try. Hope things are good for you.
+Rick Milam sometimes I make insane faces!
The price tag on that thing. Wow.
Mal Reynolds - It's true sometimes that you get what you pay for. The top of the line stuff is just expensive to make. The way I see it though is the whole law of diminishing returns means that for a lot less money you can still sound like a rock star.
WiserInTime whoa, how is any single pedal worth that much?
Mal Reynolds, Ouch! Where are you that it cost $2000+? I see $650 and $695. Still too pricey though.
Mal Reynolds Please forgive my horrible mistake, so sorry to bother you.
That's how it should be done, Babette and Mal. With respect!
Cool solo...very Slash like
Great demo Pete! BTW Weelden is pronounced Veelden. Bought mine when it came out. Love it for that sound.
Hello Pete , should i use a Regular neck thornbucker on my strat bridge or a Bridge one? ( singles are goin to be V60LP)
great demo as usual ^_^
Nice video Pete, and a very nice pedal. But it's a bit out of my priceleague.
What would you suggest as an overdrive pedal for a fender blues deluxe??
that es335 sounds great.
would like to hear this in comparison to an origin revival drive
Where can I buy these in the US? On an unrelated topic, what's a superfluous internal organ going for on the black market these days?
Omg! Tweekability overload! Jeez.... Can't.stop.buying.pedals! Im a drummer too and have the same problem with cymbals. Help! Tone addict!... Great demo as always Pete-much appreciated by us older dudes.
Nice, what cab and speakers?
Great demo... sinister sounding riffs there Pete. The pedal sounds super flexible.
Congratulations on reaching 100,000 subscribers, what a huge achievement. I hope you don't mind me going off topic: the Rivera cab/speaker load box and simulator , do you use that much? You have a fair few load boxes available to you, so I'm wondering what prompts you to use one for one situation and one for another? Perhaps you could do a video on your use of different load boxes at different times?
Hi, Pete! Can you make a comparison between Plexitone Single, MXR 5150 and Friedman BE OD?
Van Weelden is known for Dumble clones, and it looks like a Dumble. But it doesn't sound like one? What's up with that? And how do we buy it in the US?
Sounds great but far too big. Takes up way too much space on my board. Great Demo.
Hi Pete! Great video, as always. I just got a Royal Overdrive a few days ago. I really like it, but I feel it lacks some bottom end compared to some of my other overdrives. Would you agree with that? I struggle to find the good balance between thin on some settings and muffled on others... Thanks
Matt B it took me about 6 months to learn the pedal, one day you'll just click with it!
+Matt B it's not got a ton of bass, that's true. But sounds right to me with bass up around 7-8
Pete, thank you for taking the time to reply, it's an honor! All the best
The big problem with the pedal is that it would be easier to simply have 3 drive pedals; one for each amp [Fender, Vox, Marshall - or choose your 3]. It costs the same as 3 boutique pedals and is the size of 3 pedals - and you loose the versatility of have 3 pedals to stack/blend/switch between on the fly. It's a cool pedal that sound as great as any other boutique OD. But, unless you were somehow limited to only having 1 OD pedal, I think the "impracticality-level" is as off the charts with this pedal as the price. Respectfully.
I need one
Pete, great review man!
I just acquired a RO and am blown away by it! It’s crazy good. However; I’ve got a question (I presented it to Mick and Pete on the guitar paradisio review as well)
What would you consider to be in the same league as the RO, yet it’s opposite? Does that make sense?
Thanks!
Another great piece of content Pete, killer playing & tones throughout. Your 335 sounded especially good through it & the tune you chose rawked.
Btw I’m digging that Thinline T you have, it sounds mean. Is it a recent acquisition? Don’t remember seeing it until recently.
+Done With It it's a Suhr Alt T and it's really cool!
Wow, amazing grunge tone in the intro !! Some Cornell inspiration there ?
+MusicHyde actually used the "Superunknown" tuning on this
Would like to see what it would do for say a Marshall lead 12?
+sneifert1968 i like those little amps! Remember them well
I think it’s modeled after a Dumble isn’t it? Not that any of us can run a comparison with a Dumble...I wish...
I wonder if it sounds as good as the Bondi sick as which is an amazing OD?
+Roscoe p Coltrane super different. Bindi is like a klon
Thanks Pete I like what I heard but I do like the klon type circuit.
Amazingly versatile and great sounding pedal. Sounds as expensive as it is lol. :D
Solo has a bit of a Michael Schenker feel. Nice.
Couldn’t help notice when you had it looped there was a dip or delay when engaged/disengaged. I’d think that would be a problem live. Great sounding pedal though!
+rclegg I believe it probably uses a relay so there's absolutely no pop. Doesn't bother me- I was impressed with that
There is no delay but a volume drop when switching the RO on/off.
It’s normal behaviour... I asked Peter Van Weelden himself.
I use the RO behind a switcher unit so the volume drop does not bother me playing live.
Even with this ‘flaw’ it still is by far the best OD pedal I have ever owned.
Cheers!
Very cool! What will the hard core metal kids do with the "mids boost" switch?! LOL!
What about solid state amps?
+sneifert1968 sure!
BTW, the correct pronunciation of the "W" in Danish & German is the letter "V". so Weelden is actually pronounced Veelden. ok? OK!
No, the W is a W, not a V. Not in The Netherlands and not in Germany. The 'ee' should be pronounounced as ..., well, as in the word 'whale' (like a blue whale). And then you just add 'dun'. :-D
Mario Driessen Hi Mario; Thanks for the correction! Makes more sense to me. I'm actually going to Germany in a month. I'll ask my friends there as well cause I'm sure it's slightly different in each region. We pronounce words slightly different in each region of the States, why would it be any different there.
Thanks!!
Haha, no problem! Have a great time with your friends in Germany. :-)
Nice demo, Pete! Congrats on the 100k mark! I had one but realised I was setting it for a light boost that was tube screamerish and thought it was a bit too expensive and big to just replicate my TS808. Such a killer lead tone with it though!
+Jollyboy Jay thanks!
I had that same ES guitar form 1968-9. bought it in the 80s and traded it like a stupid kid at a horrible music store in Falls Church VA. traded for an amp. I hate that me and the rotten store clerk who saw me coming a mile away. nice playing
Looks like you need a rack for your outboard gear!
Too expensive!!! But sounds great.
Love the last riff, has a Van Halen type feel
This pedal makes me proud to be Dutch! (just like Eddy&Alex van Halen)
GOLDEN EARRINGGGGG!!!
Haha , Cool too ! Not as good as Van Halen though (just my opinion)
Hey Pete how do you stay so skinny dude ?
chris pollard lot of drugs !!😂
Roby Nos 😜🤣🤣
+chris pollard no gluten! And... gym 3 times a week.
Pete Thorn no gluten huh? Do you have beers ? Or stay away from it ?
THE PEDAL OF MY DREAMS OHHHH I JUST MESSED MY SELF!
Overdrive overload. After awhile all the "good sounding" overdrives start to sound the same which isn't a bad thing but it seems like "a good one" can be dialed in to sound like any of the other "good ones". Gear Overload!!!!!!
You do make a good point, it is sort of a side affect of there being so many great choices out there these days. This pedal with it's flexible switching does have a uniqueness to it though, and it does have exceptionally good tone and eq.
Well said Pete. Keep up the great work.
The pedal sounds good of course, but I can't hear any difference when the mid boost is engaged. Same volume, same mids, definitely not a usable tone for leads. Is it because of TH-cam? I use good headphones.
+ScuffyTheDog it makes quite a noticeable but not huge difference. Gets throatier, and a bit more gain with it on
Pete Thorn throaty like a Sick As, right? It's my lead boost, my main OD is a Hudson Broadcast.
Sounds good, but not $700 "good." Are they high?
+austinfailz well, we are talking Holland here, so... 😂
LOL. I'm sure it's well made and all of that, and importing probably has an effect on price.
The most expensive od pedal on the market. =P (but it sure sounds great!)
If you don't need all of the brightness/mode flexibility, the Tanabe Zenkudo/Dumkudo pedal (as reviewed by That Pedal Show in the same episode as the Royal Overdrive, in their D-style overview on their old youtube channel) will get you into the same neighborhood for a lot less $$$ - and take up a lot less room.
I’m not sure about the Dumkudo getting you that close; I have both-the Tanabe does not have the same amount of gain. But its a great pedal in its own right.
The Van Weeldon is in a class by its self, it really is like having another amps pre-amp on the floor to play with.
It stacks well with other gain pedals too. But it’s not a plug and go pedal by any means.
Pete’s review is a great representation of how to use it with other amps. But Pete could play a single stringed broomstick into a wash tub any make it sound good.
🤘
Your riffs remind me of soundgarden/alice in chain imo...👍👍
+isaak irwan tobing it's in there, and it comes out sometimes
Pete Thorn lovely man..all pedals sound "delicious" in your hands 😊
Umm its suppose to be a 'Dumble in a pedal' like the Ethos
Kelly Jackson I don’t think it is, it sounds more Marshall than Dumble to me. Killer pedal either way.
I thought the pedal was designed to sound like a dumble.
😎🇬🇷🎸🎼👍✌
You should sell this riff to Alice in Chains
$500??? Nope
Such a dirty, dark sound. How much darker can you get this with?? None...none more darker.