Riepl & Rodenberg Team Up!
For studio work, sessions & on stage Tom uses GAS pedals - extraordinary
overdrive units handmade by German manufacturer RODENBERG

Tom Riepl's comment on the GAS-809 TOMTONE

Well, now I'm the 2nd guitarist besides Lee Ritenour
to have his own signature overdrive pedal designed and built by German manufacturer Rodenberg.
Of course I'm a little (very) proud of that, yet more
important to me is the fact that there is an overdrive
unit out now which matches my ideas at 229%.
Yes, there are other company's pedals which are quite good but something
is always missing with those boxes. Not with the Rodenberg GAS 809 Tomtone
– this pedal has got it all and more…

First of all it's got of course 'my' sound and that's when the gain control is
set to the middle – that's my sweet spot. But that gain knob has a wide range and in combination with the (preset-) tone and level switches and the 809 switch ( 8 is the Blues/Fusion mode, 9 is the Rock mode including 3 times more gain) almost everything is possible with the Tomtone overdrive. And that's exactly what makes it one really versatile overdrive pedal.

Besides my (Tom-) tone it includes Blues sounds a la Peter Green, Eric Clapton and Robben Ford as well as Fusion tones in the style of Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour, up to Gary Moore gain, Steve Morse overtones and Van Halen's brown sound. Hey, as it happened J that's all my ol' heroes in there… and always
super transparent – never muddy!

Van Halen's tone may be 'brown', the 809 Tomtone is ' cool-blue' AND
'red-hot'! Just switch over and let the fancy jewel-lamp show you the mode…brilliant!
Did I mention that this thing looks absolutely Hollywood-Hot-Rod-Classic-Monster-Custom-Back-To-The-Future-like…?

Thank you Mr. Rodenberg

Best regards
Tom Riepl / CGP

Keith Kemp's comment on the GAS-809 TOMTONE

Hi Tom,
I can honestly say that this is the best quality and the most flexible drive pedal that I've ever heard!!! My own preference is for something that delivers a softer drive with a touch sensitive clean to break-up sound which your pedal does superbly and also does so much more besides!. I have a great pedal collection and the only other pedals that have been able to achieve this are my 3 old
'early - mid '70's MXR distortion plus's - 2 script logo's and 1 block logo, but these have now been relegated to my Studio in view of their age, value and now - my new Tom Tone Pedal !
I'm also very lucky to share my house with a large and very wonderful Guitar
and Amp collection. When Doug was here we extensively played the TomTone through a particularly fine sounding 70's Silverface Fender Princeton Amp and used my '66 Cherry 335, a '70 Goldtop Les Paul Deluxe, a '94 LP Standard, 2 '90's LP Specials - one TV yellow like Larry Carlton's and a cherry one set up for Slide Guitar with a nut extender, an '88 Eric Clapton Strat, a Japanese Hank Marvin Signature Strat with Custom Shop Pick-ups, a 90's US Tele Thinline with Custom Shop Nocaster pick-ups and a '68 SG Standard.

Each and every Guitar really sounded superb through the Tom Tone and all retained their own individual tone and sound - It suited all of them !

Congratulations to you and Uli Rodenberg on producing a truly wonderful and practical product - a Brilliant sounding, well thought - out Drive Pedal.

Tom Riepl's comment on the GAS-808 Overdrive

I love it! What an amazing sound, sweet & nice like sugar & spice.
Works perfekt with the ES-335 and actually sounds like a smooth overdriven tube amp. Velvet tone - outstanding! Best overdrive pedals I've ever played...

Tom Riepl

Tom Riepl's first comment on the GAS-808 Overdrive

I didn't know this pedals until Lee Ritenour mentioned that he used them on his latest CD (...) made me curious and I ordered a 909 model. What an amazing sound, sweet & nice like sugar & spice. Rodenberg also sent me the 808 model in order to try it out. Works perfekt with the ES-335, very responsive, actually it sounds like a smooth overdriven tube amp. I liked it so much that I kept it along with the 909. Recently they sent me a 707 Clean Boost. Man, you won't even notice what that pedal does - UNTIL YOU SWITCH IT OFF! Velvet tone - outstanding! The Rodenberg GASes are the best overdrive/boost pedals I've ever played! Many thanks to Mr. Rodenberg for the great support...

Tom Riepl / May 2007