To the page content

Tone City Bad Horse - Boost / Overdrive

4.7 out of 5 stars from 21 customer ratings

Effect Pedal for Electric Guitar

  • Boost / Overdrive
  • Based on one of the most famous and expensive overdrive pedals
  • Extremely wide gain range, from rich clean boost to fat overdrive sounds
  • Germanium diodes for clear timbre
  • Full of harmonics at higher gain settings
  • Controls: Volume, Tone, Gain
  • Bypass footswitch
  • Status LED behind transparent gain control
  • Metal housing
  • True Bypass
  • Input: 6.3 mm mono jack
  • Output: 6.3 mm mono jack
  • Mains adapter connection: Barrel connector socket 5.5 x 2.1 mm ( centre negative)
  • Power supply via 9V DC power supply unit (not included in scope of delivery)
  • Current consumption: 10 mA
  • Dimensions (L x W x H): 94 x 45 x 48 mm
  • Weight: approx. 266 g

Note: Battery operation not supported

Note Register your purchase at shop.warwick.de/en/warranty-registration for an extended warranty of 4 years.
  • Available since February 2022
  • Item number 536646
  • Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
  • Overdrive Yes
  • Distortion No
  • Fuzz No
  • Metal No
  • Effect Types Boost, Overdrive
£48
All prices incl. VAT
In stock
1

A classic with cult leanings

The Tone City Bad Horse is a boost/overdrive pedal that clearly takes its sonic cues from one of the most legendary boutique overdrives in music history. Despite its compact footprint, this pedal still serves up an impressively wide palette of sounds, from subtly boosting the original signal through to harmonic crunch and singing leads, all with plenty of overtones. A particularly noteworthy feature is Tone City's use of germanium diodes, which make the Bad Horse's gain structure extremely transparent and musical, and the pedal retains its natural response and clarity even at high gain settings. All of this clearly sets the Tone City Bad Horse apart from other, more aggressively voiced overdrives and allows it to shine thanks to its highly musical character, broad dynamic range, and intuitive operation.

Tone City Bad Horse boost/overdrive

Organic overdrive tones

Players can place the Tone City Bad Horse anywhere in the signal chain and use it to provide a clean boost, tonal colouration, or gritty overdrive, depending on how they set the controls. The Gain knob turns the pedal into a clean boost when dialled all the way to the left, gradually adding more overdrive as it's turned clockwise; the Tone control in turn acts as an effective high-cut filter that lets musicians adjust the tone to suit their setup, and the Volume control sets the output level, making the Bad Horse ideal for squeezing more saturation out of an already-driven tube amp. As mentioned above, the pedal's germanium diodes give it an organic and overtone-rich sound, and its true-bypass switching means the dry signal remains unaffected when it's switched off. The best place for the Bad Horse is in front of the amp or other overdrives, where it responds with excellent dynamics and delivers a highly musical sound.

Tone City Bad Horse boost/overdrive, side view

An overdrive for the vintage crowd

The Tone City Bad Horse is particularly suited to players who are on the hunt for a warm-sounding overdrive with a very dynamic response. It's an ideal stage and studio companion for those who prioritise a natural playing feel and a sensitive gain structure with plenty of overtones – especially if they already love the way their tube amp sounds and want to give it that little something extra. The pedal's intuitive control layout and compact footprint will find favour among minimalist pedalboard users as well as tone-chasers who are looking for a "transparent" boost that will enhance rather than colour the sound of their guitar and amplifier, all of which makes it an interesting choice for fans of vintage tones!

Tone City Bad Horse boost/overdrive, logo

About Tone City

Tone City is a guitar effects manufacturer that is based in China and specialises in manufacturing pedals that are compact and affordable but do not make any compromises in terms of sound or build quality. The company quickly gained a good reputation, particularly among guitarists looking for the sound of boutique gear in a space-saving format. Tone City creates modern interpretations of classic circuits, which are served up in intuitive, user-friendly pedals with a sturdy metal construction. The company’s pedals are renowned for their organic tonal characteristics and impressive dynamics, and they are ideal for pedalboard-based setups thanks to their sophisticated circuit board layouts and true-bypass switching. With an ever-expanding product range that includes everything from overdrives and modulation effects through to delays, Tone City offers musicians a viable alternative to expensive boutique pedals.

Flexible enough for any pedalboard

The range of applications that the Tone City Bad Horse will handle is extensive: It can be used as a clean boost to raise the volume for solo passages or push an amp on the edge of breakup into full-on overdrive, and with the gain dial set higher, the pedal delivers the perfect overdrive tones for Classic Rock, Blues, and Indie. Thanks to its compact footprint, the Bad Horse will fit onto virtually any pedalboard, and it works well with both single coil and humbucking pickups. While most ideally used in front of a tube amp to bring out every nuance of the latter's tonal character, this pedal will also cut a fine figure when combined with modelling amps or when used as part of a recording setup, e.g. as a sound enhancement when tracking via DI.

21 Customer ratings

4.7 / 5

handling

features

sound

quality

17 Reviews

AH
Great!
Anga Hansi 15.08.2025
This is a great sounding little klon type overdrive pedal. Plenty of sounds available. My only gripe as a grumbly old man with sausages for fingers is the tiny volume and tone knobs which, however fully functional, aren't very pleasant to use. I bought one as a mostly pedal noob and have gone on to more expensive pedals, but I am still holding on to this one, because it just sounds good. Recommended.
features
sound
quality
handling
0
0
Report

Report

google translate de
Unfortunately there was an error. Please try again later.
SK
Klare Kaufempfehlung
Sören Kl. 21.03.2022
Das Clean Boost/ Overdrive Pedal ist hochwertig verarbeitet und super platzsparend. Dabei darf gern in Kauf genommen werden, dass die Volume- und Toneregler etwas klein sind. Alle Regler haben ein weites Spektrum, was mir wichtig ist, damit sich der Boost auch lohnt. Soundtechnisch ist das Pedal als Kopie eines klassischen Klon-Pedals einzuordnen, wie die Engländer sagen würden: ein Klon-clone. Sehr trockener, kratziger, höhenbetonter Overdrive. Macht alleinstehend Spaß und besonders in Kombination mit einem etwas matschigeren (Röhren-)Overdrive. Im Lieferumfang waren passende Bodenklebeflächen mit Klett männlich und Schaumstoff dabei.
features
sound
quality
handling
8
1
Report

Report

google translate de
Unfortunately there was an error. Please try again later.
D
Backup für Wampler oder MXR
DocRe 01.08.2023
Ich habe ein kleines 2.-Effektboard zusammengestellt, für das ich bewusst gebraucht gekaufte oder preiswertere Pedale verwendet habe. Ein Pedal aus der Richtung der Pedale, die oft irgend etwas mit Zentauren oder Pferden im Namen stehen haben muss dabei sein. Also das Bad Horse von Tone City. Ich habe bereits mehrere Tone City Pedale und bin mit den Klangergebnissen mit Ausnahme des Compressor Pedals zufrieden. Die Pedale sind massiv, gut verarbeitet und in einem interessanten Preissegment.
Das Bad Horse geht klanglich in die Richtung wie erwartet. Für sich alleine liefert es entweder einen Boost, der nicht "clean" ist, sondern schon etwas eingefärbt, sobald man Gain aufdreht, bekommt man einen ordentlichen Overdrive, der sogar harsch werden kann. Etwas Klangverfärbung machen meinem Eindruck nach alle Clones, vor allem in den (höheren) Mitten.
Momentan nutze ich das Bad Horse Pedal vor einem Fender Princeton Tonemaster zusammen mit einer SG Standard und einen Tele mit Texas Special Pickups. Funktioniert und "frischt" den Sound der Humbucker auf, obwohl die SG gar nicht so dumpf klingt wie einige andere Gitarren mit diesem Tonabnehmertyp. Der Sound ist für mich gut brauchbar. Störgeräusche oder Rauschen erzeugt das Tone City Pedal nicht in einem für Overdrives üblichen Maß - wo man was verstärkt kann halt auch ein Nicht-Nutzsignal entstehen.
Zum Vergleich habe ich einen Wampler Tumnus V2 mini und einen MXR Sugar Drive (mini). In meiner persönlichen "Hitparade" gewinnt der Wampler Tumnus. In Anwendung als Clean Boost (mit Färbung) klingt er wunderbar und ich habe den Eindruck, dass der Tumnus etwas "geschmeidiger" klingt als das MXR und das Tone City Pedal. Dem Tumnus wird manchmal vorgeworfen, dass er etwas komprimiert. Kann sein, mir taugt das aber. Der Sugar Drive ist etwas harscher und nicht so weit vom Bad Horse weg.
Zusammenfassend ist für mich das Bad Horse Pedal - auch im Hinblick auf die Preisklasse und solide Bauweise - eine gut einsetzbare Variante der "Clone" Pedale.
features
sound
quality
handling
6
0
Report

Report

google translate fr
Unfortunately there was an error. Please try again later.
N
Super overdrive
Nikomikomike 14.03.2023
Très bon boost/overdrive qui ne quitte plus mon pedalboard...Pourtant j'en ai eu beaucoup avant cette pédale !

Son effet est très progressif, elle est très versatile et s'adapte à pas mal de situation. Je m'en sers essentiellement comme boost lors de solo ou en overdrive sur le canal clean de mon ampli pour un son crunch de toute beauté !

Très satisfait au point de craquer sur la summer orange chez Tone City toujours, lui aussi de très belle qualité !
features
sound
quality
handling
3
2
Report

Report