Well the Bondi Sick As has been around for a while now and most people in worship circles have heard of them. That being said we felt like we needed to chime in and do a review on these. One of the reasons is so that we can provide accurate information and perspective for worship guitarists but also because we really wanted to see what all of the buzz was about.
First off I feel like I need to speak about Jon Ashley the genius behind Bondi Effects. Not only is Jon a great pedal builder but he is really just a joy and blessing to chat and network with. I cannot say enough great things about Jon and Bondi Effects.
Ok without further ado the review. The Sick As comes well packaged in a burlap style bag similar to Mojo Hand FX and other pedal manufacturers have done. One of the things we noticed was the quality of the finish. The finish of the pedal is very thick and does not appear to have been just thrown onto the pedal. The knobs are extremely sturdy and are not loose and sloppy. The clickless footswitch is incredible. There is nothing that will ruin a reflective moment in worship or prayer like clicking a pedal on or off. These footswitches are silent.
We must highlight that the only bad thing about clickless footswitches is that they have to be hit evenly and if you hold the switch too long or hit it too light the pedal can enter into true-bypass mode and cannot be engaged. We have had several other pedals including a JHS Panther Cub that have done this and 99% of the time it’s never a problem. When it does happen signal still passes through the pedal it just cannot be turned on. Fixing it is as simple as unplugging the 9v adaptor and then plugging it back in.
Now to the tone! This thing is loosely based on the Klon Centaur but I would not call it a clone. It has some similarities but is one in it’s own. In my opinion the pedal is clearer and has slightly more gain. The frequency response is very balanced and there is no muddiness or frizziness. The pedal pairs well with a wide variety of other overdrive pedals including these that we tested it with.
- Electro Harmonix Soul Food
- Visual Sound Jekyl & Hyde – Version 1
- JHS Morning Glory
- Bondi Effects Del Mar
- Cusack Screamer
- Ibanez TS9
Overall this is an absolute must have overdrive pedal for worship guitarists! Most classify it as a stage 1 overdrive which it is good at but we loved it as a stage 2 overdrive. Flip the switch up for slightly more gain and pair it with the Bondi Del Mar with gain at 8 oclock and the switch down and you have the perfect pair.
Go pick this pedal up now at BondiEffects.com or Reverb.com!
7 Comments
I really love the ts9 but was still looking for a good boost pedal. I was initially going for the superoverdrive by boss, but I think this is worth the extra 50 euro’s. Thank you so much for this.
I’ve been playing punkrock music for over ten years and I’m about to serve at the worship team at my church and your aite helps me alot with gear but also woth having and maintaining the right attitude.
Thanks a ton for the kind words Peter. We highly recommend grabbing this pedal. It will make a great overdrive and boost for you. The super overdrive from boss is decent but not even on the same planet as this guy! Glad to see you serving in your church. Let us know if we can ever help you with anything!
Thanks Aaron I will and I’ll keep you updated on my gear through instagram 🙂
Thanks for the review! I saw that you paired it with a JHS morning glory. How’d you set the sounds up? Did one serve as a kind of stage 1, the other stage 2 OD? And if so, which one was which? I’d love to hear some thoughts on how to pair it since I just bought a sick as today, and have the morning glory in my rig. Thanks again!
Eddie, Thanks for the comment! I tested it in both OD1 and OD2 positions. Everyone likes it as a OD1 but I did not. it is two thick and not transparent enough. At least in my rig. I like it as a 2 or 3 OD. I set it up with bass and treble at around noon. Gain at like 10:30/11:00 and volume to taste. But I also run my morning glory at just above breakup and have it on most of the time. The Sick As to me was a very Superbolt sounding thick girthy overdrive. Doesn’t do distortion so it is still in the low to medium gain territory. It is also very scooped to my ears.
We also did a review of the Delmar by Bondi. That pedal is by far the best overdrive I have used to date. It does the morning glory thing better than the morning glory and has alot more range on mid’s and highs. Running that as the OD1 and the SickAs as the OD2 was the best combo. Both Bondi pedals did really well with a third stage overdrive after them as well. They blended well with the TS9, Morning Glory, Jekyl and Hyde, and Super Bolt that I had running after them at times.
Hope that helps. Thanks for checking out the site!
I’ve found it really depends on your guitar and amp combo. Sick As works perfectly for me as a first-stage OD (mostly always on) with my single-coil Tele and 65 Princeton Reverb combination, as it thickens things in a very pleasing yet transparent way. With my ES-335 (a thick resonant sounding guitar) with humbuckers, it proves to be a little too heavy handed in this position, but works nicely when I need a boost to dial in add a lead part.
The funny thing is though, that I used to use a Timmy and OCD for my two stages of OD, and I like the Sick As better than either in both of their respective places!
I would definitely agree with you there. It definitely loves single coils! The Timmy and OCD are both great pedals but the Sick As just cannot be beat as far as clarity goes! Thanks for visiting the site. Look forward to hearing from you again!