Xvive Mini OverDrive Guitar Effects Pedal, (Sweet Leo O2)

Xvive is an interesting company. At first glance, they look like just another Chinese company making cheap drive pedals and clones in Hammond 1590A boxes. But actually, they're a U.S.-based operation (apparently started by a former Electro-Harmonix employee) that uses Chinese manufacturing to put out original circuits in boxes that are far better built than pretty much anything at this price point. I actually was not familiar with Thomas Blug, but he is a German guitarist obsessed with tone, and this is one of four pedals in his signature line. Probably the most popular one is the Golden Brownie, which I bought first - it does an excellent Marshall JCM/Brown Sound.But the Sweet Leo overdrive is more of a tour of vintage tube amps of the 50's and 60's. The distinguishing feature here is the "Growl" knob. Sure, it sounds like something you'd find on a cheesy DOD pedal from the late 1990's, but what it actually does is morph from a "Class A" (think "Vox") chimey and expressive light overdrive to a driven Fender Tweed sounds. And it blends those two sounds as you explore the intermediate knob positions, so there's a lot of tonal variation.I really enjoyed the light overdrive settings on the "Class A" (counter-clockwise) side of the growl knob. With the Level at 12:30 and Drive at 9:00, the pedal was so transparent, I questioned if it was actually on. But then switched it on and off and realized how much subtle chime and tube-like saturation it was adding to my otherwise flat clean tone. I own a Vox AC10C1, and the Sweet Leo does a pretty good job imparting the qualities of that tube amp onto a fully solid-state setupThe "Tweed" (clockwise) side of things might seem bizarre or even broken at first, but it's actually just an extreme representation of a vintage tube amp being pushed to the max. Tweed-style amps have a unique tendency to produce a fuzzy overtone. I could actually get the Sweet Leo to do cool gated-out effect by cranking the gain and slamming a low-frequency note. At the same time, you could roll back the volume with single coils and have a fairly clean tone with the same settings.So you have a single pedal that does something analogous to Vox chime, Fender overdrive, and gated fuzz...all for $60? What's not to like?

4 stars. Seems to be built good. Mine had a noisy volume pot, it made a noticeable sound when turned. I'm returning it. I bought this to possibly replace my Joyo American Sound. It came close but not as versatile as the Joyo. The Leo makes a great sound. It does a real good midrange without having to try. I tried to dial in the sound I prefer from my Joyo. It came close but only when i pegged the Tone knob. The Joyo's High knob has some more sweep to it which I prefer. The Leo does seem to be a more "powerful" pedal which I like. I wish the Leo had more useable sweep in the tone or possibly an added separate high knob, then it would be the one. Update, if you want some Fender amp tones on the cheap then the Joyo American Sound is the pedal. It's 3 eq knobs make all the difference. If you want something smaller, then the Joyo Clean Glass is the next best choice. It comes close to the American and the tone knob can get some clear highs like a Fender. The Leo can't get the same highs. Also I don't get the jaguar thing. Its called sweet Leo, maybe a Lion would have been a better choice? I think something gets lost in the translation, kind of like the description too.

I have had this 2 days now. I will update if my opinion changes, but right now it seems very much like a good tweed style overdrive. The drive alone is a little fizzy. Blending in the growl makes it feel much more small amp like. More raspy than fizzy. One of the other reviews says that it sounds like he cranked his blues jr so he just does that instead. But... thats kind of the point of an amp-in-a-box pedal. If i can step on it and have a sound like a second channel of a fender amp, then that is exactly what its supposed to do.Heres the thing though. Alone it sounds really bass-y and thumpy and maybe a little too raspy with a decent mid scoop. But it stacks pretty well at the end of a chain. Running a J Rockett Blue Note (bluesbreaker style) into it sounds great. Tightened up the bottom a bit and smoothed out the top. Also sounded really good after my Honey Bee. Sweet spot was blue note as always on clean > honey bee as drive > kick on the sweet leo with drive below noon, growl over noon, and tone below 9:00 for some real crunch. It might be honeymoon phase, but i like it a lot for that.Also its sitting at $20 which is just crazy. Might have to try the dynarock too. The feel rock solid and the knobs are way better than the mini pedals from mooer. Wish the golden brownie was $20...

For the money, this thing shouldn’t sound near as good as it does. The relationship between the drive and growl knobs produces a silly amount of tonal varieties. This thing lives to be a go-to midrange overdrive and it’d be hard to argue that it hasn’t achieved that goal... solid, sturdy build in your hands.. cool design and really stellar sounds. I bought two, one for church and one for home/outside gigging. Seems to stack well with other gain pedals and can really do cleanish overdrive to full on almost Supra fuzz type overdrive tones. The growl knob alone is a force you’ll enjoy tweaking around. For the price, you really can’t beat it. Very transparent tonally, keeping your original guitar integrity (again especially for a pedal for $45!) and just really will battle very competently for the spot of “go-to” drive on your board. Worth it. Buy it.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  Xvive Sweet Leo O2 Lead Distortion Pedal Demo I’m not a great lead player and even I am able to dial in some great tones with this pedal. The Xvive Sweet Leo O2 Distortion pedal is a great budget lead lead pedal. I’m super impressed with the build quality and packaging from Xvive as well as the tones. If you are looking for a good lead distortion pedal that functions like how a tube amp works, you may want to consider this pedal. In this video I test it out on my Stratocaster (Partscaster) with humbucker pickups.