Benson Amps Portable Distortion 424 MKII vs Electro-Harmonix Signal Pad
The Benson Amps Portable Distortion 424 MKII and the Electro-Harmonix Signal Pad are both pedals sharing bright, transparent. The Benson Amps Portable Distortion 424 MKII leans saturated and edge of breakup. Current prices: $199 vs $51.20.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.30% — somewhat different
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- bright
- transparent
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$199via Reverb
$51.20via Reverb
The Benson Amps 424 MKII is a preamp and distortion pedal designed to recreate the saturation and harmonic character of the input stage of the Tascam Portastudio 424 MkII cassette four-track recorder. The circuit captures the non-linear behavior of cassette-era input electronics, spanning from subtle coloration and clean boost through compressed broadband distortion and unstable breakup. A switchable front-end buffer fundamentally alters the gain structure: engaged, it presents a high-impedance guitar input with tighter low end and increased headroom; bypassed, the circuit returns to a darker, fuzzier low-impedance cassette response. Four controls -- gain, trim, bass, treble -- cover a wide EQ range. Internal 18V operation provides increased headroom. Made by Benson Amps in Portland, Oregon.
The Electro-Harmonix Signal Pad is a fully passive, true bypass signal attenuator pedal. A single Level knob cuts guitar output from unity to silence. It requires no power — no battery, no power adapter — and the passive resistive circuit adds no coloration at moderate attenuation levels. Common applications include reducing overdrive or distortion output to match unity gain, or switching between a boosted lead level and a lower rhythm level without touching the amplifier. Discontinued in 2025.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Electronic
- Experimental
- Indie
- Indie Rock
- neo soul
- saturated
- edge of breakup
- fuzzy