GAMMA Atlas Boosted Overdrive Effects Pedal

Brandishing the potent strength of mythological Greek titan Atlas—who bore the entire universe on his shoulders—the GAMMA Atlas Boosted Overdrive has the power to elevate your guitar tone from a stout growl to a resounding roar. Created to produce fat, tube-amp-inspired grind, Atlas is one of six stompboxes in our exclusive GAMMA guitar effects pedals line—which also includes the Bacchus Dynamic Driver, Cumulus 3-Way Reverb, Eros Clean Chorus, Hades Metal Distortion and Narcissus Warm Delay. We’re Guitar Center, and we know guitar players, so we populated the GAMMA line with six effects that are absolutely essential for gigging. In fact, you can construct a versatile and professional pedalboard with the sextet of GAMMA pedals alone.

All pedals in the GAMMA guitar effects series feature stunning metal-flake finishes, gig-resilient chassis and knobs, scrupulously curated circuitry and buffered bypass (for consistent tone and signal output), as well as a compact size that won’t devour real estate on your pedalboard. Each GAMMA pedal can be run from a 9-volt battery or power supply (battery and DC adapter not included). In addition, we are extremely aware that the last thing players want is for their gear to crumble under pressure, so the GAMMA line was designed to defy the rigors of constant use and to sound sensational every time you plug in to play. 

Atlas Boosted Overdrive Controls and Features

The GAMMA Atlas Boosted Overdrive provides three of the typical control knobs (Level, Tone and Drive), but adds a secret sonic weapon—a Boosted/Normal switch. This feature isn’t merely a conventional level boost for hitting your amp’s front end harder or adding a soaring volume increase. While there is a slight level surge when Boosted is engaged, the switch is actually a tonal enhancement that simultaneously lifts up the low-and high-midrange frequencies, allowing players to bring on a warm, vintage crunch (Normal) or fire off some modern rock savagery (Boosted).

GAMMA pedals are also designed to endure the hardships of real-world use. Electrical footswitching protects against audible noise and other glitching that can sometimes occur when a mechanical switch begins to wear out. Buffered bypass ensures a strong and consistent signal is sent to the other pedals in your chain, so there shouldn’t be any volume dips or other anomalies when you swap or add effects on the fly. The heavy-duty metal chassis and knobs are durable enough to withstand being kicked off stages, tossed into gig bags and any other abuses that can occur during live gigs, studio sessions and gear transport.

Power User Tips for Overdrive Pedals

Although the Atlas Boosted Overdrive isn’t meant to offer a significant level increase, you can deploy it as a slight boost with attitude (meaning with some grit, rather than a pristine leap in volume) by turning Drive all the way down, Level all the way up and engaging the Boosted switch. Thanks to its natural crunch, you can also use the Atlas to mimic an additional amp channel. Simply set a one-channel amp to clean and stomp on Atlas for that creamy overdrive. Or, transform a two-channel amp into a three-channel beast by setting up clean and dirty channels, and letting Atlas boost the grind.