Cornerstone Gladio SC

The Cornerstone Gladio SC is easily up there with the best overdrives I’ve ever played. Mine previously belonged to guitar wizard Charlie Allen, so it has known more proficient days. Any remaining shortcomings appear to be upstream of the input jack and less to do with the pedal. Ahem... Into a juicy, turned-up, clean Fender-style amp, it's supposed to do a Robben Ford/SRV Dumble thing. Well, does it? I don't know, but what I do know is that it produces lovely enhanced cleans, rich overdrive and singing lead sounds without being super-gainy. The clean blend keeps some definition in proceedings, so I've captured some settings with various levels of clean blend mixed in. The compression can be a little overbearing with gain, but fortunately Cornerstone provided a switch, and the compression works nicely on cleaner settings. If you're going for that sophisticated Larry Carlton/Robben Ford blues fusion kind of sound, SRV Texas blues, or maybe a bit of John Mayer, I think you'll be satisfied. Avoid sterile, super clean tones as a base; it just sounds a tad anaemic. Enjoy ✌️