Diablo Dual - Overdrive

The OKKO Diablo has been the brand's absolute best-seller since its inception. These two small devilish horns have established the Diablo as one of the best overdrives available on the market for about fifteen years now. The Diablo is designed for guitarists looking for a low/medium gain, "amp-like" overdrive, meaning it can replace an amp channel and offers exceptional response and dynamics.

In 2018, the German brand delivered a very nice update: the Standard and Gain+ models are no longer available, replaced by this new version, the Diablo Dual.

In terms of construction and aesthetics, no surprises here: the overall design is very pleasing, the casing is top-notch, and the manufacturing is flawless, as always with OKKO! And frankly, we love the orange! ;) Let's quickly detail the front panel: 2 channels, each benefiting from independent Level and Drive controls. These two channels share an extremely broad equalization. There's a standard Tone knob that works as expected. But there are also, and this is what makes the Diablo so powerful, two original knobs. "Feed" acts like a Contour, impacting the lower spectrum to add thickness and a more or less "boomy" effect in the lows. "Body" affects the general compression, which is quite unique on a pedal of this type! It's a bit like an amp that is pushed and compresses naturally. There are also 2 mini-switches that allow for more or less boosting the mids and activating multiple gain stages. Finally, the old switch for regulating internal voltage is now a rotary knob called Dyn. This allows the voltage to vary from 6 to 18V for a soft and mellow sound, or maximum headroom and punch.
With a Superstrat and ES-335 in hand, on a high-quality clean channel, what immediately impresses is the enormous interaction with the effect and the precision of the controls, which allow it to be perfectly tuned. The settings are ultra-responsive and progressive, and the range of use is extremely wide, especially the Gain range, which allows the Diablo to be comfortable in a wide variety of styles. Another strong point of the Diablo and OKKO pedals in general is that whatever you play, Strat, Les Paul, or anything else, it will sound good. The same goes for the amp: a rare thing, they work with many different amps without any specific requirements. So with the OKKO Diablo Dual, you have a pedal that can potentially be used with a multitude of setups. This is uncommon and extremely valuable.
The Diablo excels on a quality clean channel, and stacks superbly on a crunch for a BIG bluesy lead. It's simple: for a "pedal," the dynamics are incredible, the sensitivity is top-notch, and the response is full of nuances, which is truly rarely seen, especially at this price. The Diablo Dual respects your playing and is very versatile thanks to the onboard settings and especially the voltage switch, which radically changes the dynamics and sound. It goes from a mellow drive that squashes on attack, with more muffled highs, to an open drive, with a tight and ultra-responsive bass, boosted high-mids, and plenty of headroom, which explains why the pedal cleans up beautifully with the volume knob.

We have been selling the OKKO Diablo for 15 years, and it remains one of our best references, as its qualities are immense and matched by very few models on the market. A safe bet, approved and used by us for all this time. An important detail that might make you put it in your cart: after hundreds of units sold, we have only recorded one return... No need to argue further: OKKO is one of the most reliable brands we have offered to date. Hats off!