A review of the Mooer Hustle Drive
First off, a blunt reminder. This does not use a battery?and it does not come with a power supply. You will have to buy a 9V DC power supply separately?which was something I didn?t do! Haha. I live in the US?and after waiting two weeks for this order to come in the mail, I had to wait another week before playing it because I made the mistake and thought this pedal used a batter. This was completely my fault?no one is to blame but myself. So?now you should know!!
OK. Let?s talk about the pedal. It?s small?yet completely sturdy. I have large, full size pedals that don?t feel as tough as this thing. I?ve had it for a while already?and it?s still rockin? and rolling like new. I?ve hauled it around with me to several shows?and not problems at all with it. I can?t see anyone having trouble with this because it?s like a rock.
The on/off foot-switch works fine. A part of me feels nervous about this long term?.but the pedal itself hasn?t given me a reason too. I?ve more use to the on/off switches of pedals like BOSS than this. Still, I?ve used it a lot. It?s clicking as good as ever? so hopefully, I will have nothing to worry about.
It has in and out jack?and a spot for power supply to plug in. All of it seems fine. I can?t see any potential problems with any of that.
The on light is good and bright, which I like a lot in darker atmosphere. I appreciate this.
The Hustle Drive comes with a tone knob, volume, a large white drive knob, and a High Peak and Low peak toggle switch. All of these knobs seem fine. The large white drive knob does kind of feel like a cheap plastic?which I guess the small tone/volume knobs are too?but the drive is what people see, and I adjust the most. As long as it lasts, it should be fine.
The volume knob is simply?a volume knob. You know what that does.
The tone knob does fine with adjusting the clarity of the notes. It can get muddy if the drive is up, and the tone is down?but hey, some people love to swim in those muddy waters. ;)
The drive knob, when cranked?can really add some overdrive distortion which?with the right guitar, sounds great. I haven?t used this pedal with any single coil based guitars, but have used it on a Harley Benton SC-Custom?and many of my homebuilt cigar box guitars which use piezo?s for pickups.
For blues, or old school rock, the tone this pedal gets with humbuckers are fantastic. I absolutely LOVE using this with my HB Custom, and then popping out the slide. IMO, the rockin? slide sound you get is one of the best you can ever hope to achieve. IT IS FANTASTIC.
For most of the time, I keep this on low peak. I have used the high peak with my custom a few times with using the neck pickup of my HB Custom. With the bridge pickup, it gets a bit too bright and scratchy for me. All of this ultimately comes down to the settings on your amp and the type of guitar you are using. HP and the Neck Pickup I honestly love?and everything else is LP?and it?s all good also.
OK?now I need to get to my Cigar Box Guitars. I build these?I sell ?em?and I needed a good natural distortion pedal to use occasional for my CBG blues. The high peak, with the peizo?s? I find to be a big no no. To high?to screechy? I?d rather rip my brain out through my ears.
The low peak tho, is great. I use this pedal when playing ?Dust my Broom? with slide. The tone is sooo beautiful? I have a video where you can see me jamming with the pedal. In fact, Mooer actually posted it on their Facebook page sometime back. For my cigar box guitars, the Mooer Hustle Drive is awesome. I can?t picture a pedal with a better tone. It?s been awesome?.especially for the price.
If you want a great, natural drive blues/old school rock pedal? this pedal is worth getting.
I hope I didn?t leave anything out! Thanks!
