May 11, 2022 | 08:00 by Stefan Karlsson

Pedals are very much like buses at times - when you get a number of certain types appearing at around the same time. We all know that pedal / circuit creation cycles can often take a year or two to develop - so it’s typically entirely serendipitous when two relatively similar pedals appear almost simultaneously - as is the case with the very recent J Rockett El Hombre, and this MLA Eliminator Overdrive.

Both are firmly aimed at recreating Billy Gibbons’ iconic and legendary ZZ Top Tones - from the Tres Hombres album, through peak-time Eliminator and Afterburner releases and beyond - touching on the key saturated and typically Marshall infused overdriven fuzzy-drive tones.

Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.

While both pedals are 3-Knob Overdrives, there are some significant differences in output and control parameters. For the J Rockett El Hombre, the third control ’Bite’ is pretty much a Presence / top-end control, while the Eliminator’s ’Tone’ control is far more expansive and starts you off in Fat, Thick and Chewy territory where cranking said dial produces brighter and sharper tones with a little less low-end.

Overall the Eliminator sounds slightly juicier to me and with more sizzle, and the El Hombre a touch more subtle and with a little less saturation. I have the El Hombre already - and really like it, while I’ve yet to get my hands on my Eliminator. The newer pedal sounds slightly more visceral to my ears - at least from the demos - which are entirely to my liking! I think Shane Diiorio does a particularly great job at showcasing the pedal’s capabilities - he’s very much turning out to be a sort of Muse for Missing Link Audio! And his Eliminator demo views are already at record levels for his channel!

The Volume control takes you from Unity output up to a very significant Boost - where the pedal’s High Input Impedance makes for quite superb guitar volume cleanup - where you can set your full-fat tone, and then just Ride the Volume and dynamically dial back the gain with a flick of your wrist / pinky finger!

The Gain is fairly potent here too - taking you from Sweet and Sassy through to really Gnarly extremes. At least from the demos it sounds like the Eliminator has a little more range on tap. While I can imagine the El Hombre would find favour with those seeking slightly more subtle output.

I’m a huge Billy Gibbons fan and have several and various ’Reverend’ style overdrive pedals - Expandoras and otherwise - and am very much looking forward to owning an Eliminator too - where I will then be able to share more intricate details.

The Eliminator is available right now for $189 from the Missing Link Audio Webstore. I know a lot of you ’Reverend’ fans will already have scored the El Hombre - while I feel you should really give the Eliminator a chance too.

I can’t say for sure yet - but it looks like I might just slightly prefer the more visceral / juicier output of the Eliminator - while I won’t know for sure until I get my hands on mine!

I’m planning to do a Billy Gibbons style Overdrive Roundup fairly soon - while I will likely try to have acquired at least a couple more candidates by then - including of course this Eliminator!

How many of you will be doubling down like me?