Sugar Drive vs Tumnus

I think there may be at least one youtube video out there comparing these two. Look for klon shootouts or klone shootouts. At any rate, the Tumnus has more than held its own against a number of other pedals (mini and full size) and has compared favorably even to actual Klon pedals. Good luck. Let us know what you get.

 

I really dig the Tumnus for my Tele applications (Americana, alt country, country rock, honky tonk). Can't get along with it and humbuckers together.
Sorry, never tried a Sugar Drive.

 

Tried both.

Tumnus for me.

I can't really explain why, but the Tumnus had more of what I like.

 

Have tried the Wampler, ended up with a JRocket Archer Ikon, have not tried the Sugar Drive.

I hear nothing but great things about the Tumnus, never heard of it disappointing anyone. The Sugar Drive seems a bit late to a party thats already full of contenders. For that reason alone, it probably won't be as popular or have as good a resale. If you think you might want to resell it in the future, if thats a pattern, then I'd say just get the Tumnus - it will probably have the best resale.

If you have anyway to sit down and play both side by side, I'd suggest doing so. Listening to the few videos, I'd say the Tumnus has a bit more gain/volume on tap, but they do seem pretty close. OF course, there are many Klon clones that are very close...

Let us know what you end up with....

 

I found the Sugar WAY too bright. I much prefer my Chinese Klones, like the Crème Brulee, Bad Horse, and Clone Central Centaur. But, from what I've heard on YouTube, the Tumnus is awesome. Brian makes REALLY, REALLY good stuff. And he's a really nice guy too, who often compliments pedals from other makers in his videos.

 

Hard to beat a Wampler pedal.

 

As others have said, the Tumnus is an excellent choice. I'd dare even say I prefer it over an original Klon. Great pedal. Never tried the Sugar Drive, but didn't feel compelled to thanks to the Tumnus.

 

Sugar Drive incoming...I'll report back in a week or two!

 

Rimrock Mythical Overdrive, watch the demo below, watch until the end and listen to what he has to say....




RJ

 

Ya I had both. Now I only have one. The Tumnus sounds better as a clean boost. The Tumnus has a better buffer. The Tumnus has this organic complexity thing going on which you can't get on the Sugar. But the gain on the Tumnus didn't play well my Tele and Princeton. It had this certain frequency spike that was brittle and piercing. And eventually I grew tired of the complexity thing. It sounded fake to me. That might be the true sound of the Klon though. The Sugar just sounds like a good overdrive so I'm not sure it cops the Klon tone.

 

I just picked up an EHX Soul Food used for $50 and am quite pleased with it. I am not a Klon aficianado but I must say this modest pedal
has some special qualities to it. Currently it has kicked the OD-3 off of my main gigging board so my ODs are an SD-1 stacked into
the Soul Food. I'm sure the Sugar Drive is probably better, and the Tumnus even better still, but $50 is a great price.

 

Neither. If I was on the market for a mini-klone I'd go for a Decibelics Golden Horse:



It's a much better klone all around imho.

 

I tried a Tumnus and didn’t like it. Some reviewers say it has a slightly fatter sound than a lot of Klones and I agree. I found it muddy or woofy, so I flipped it pronto.
I didn’t have them side-by-side for an A/B test, but I preferred the Soul Food I tried to the Tumnus. It may be the difference between silver and gold Klons and Klones, I’m more of a silver guy, I think they are a bit thinner or brighter.

I don’t know how the Sugar Drive compares, but I’d be interested to hear it against a Soul Food.

 

I have not tried a Tumnus. I absolutely love the Sugar Drive. I'm very choosy about overdrive, and the one I've used forever is a TS10 on a very low setting - smooth.

I have not tried any Klon clone, but I tried the Xotic RC Booster 2. I missed the midrange boost - it was too transparent - I felt I could get what it gave me by turning up my guitar.

The Sugar Drive goes from a very mild clean boost to a very fat midrangey overdrive. I don't see the "too bright" comment, but this stuff is always very subjective.

Obviously the drive knob on the Sugar Drive is the most dramatic way to go from boost to drive, but you can get that effect to an extent just with your guitar's volume knob.

For reference, I mainly play P90 Reverends, but also like the Sugar Drive with my strat and with my tele.

 

I had a Tummnus deluxe for about 6 months & loved it. Problem is....It completely disintegrated (bypass stopped working, footswitch was finniky, & finally , it just died.
This is the 2nd time with the Tummnus that I owned that this happened.
DONE~!

 

I think I might have gotten a defective one, 'cause it doesn't sound too bright in any of he videos I've seen on YouTube. Maybe I should go to my local MXR dealer and try it again.

 

I'm going to not help you at all.

I've never used a Tumnus, but love the Sugar Drive. It does clean boost to good grungy dirt. Without messing with your basic tone.

I play harp with a guy who uses a Tumnus. It sounds great with both his Tele and his P-90 equipped LP Junior.

See? That didn't help at all. Except that I'm sure they're both good choices. My late wife would have just picked whichever one cost more and got it over with.