Mesa Boogie Cleo Transparent Overdrive Boost Pedal

The Transparent Gain Stage Hand-Built in Petaluma

The Guitar Sanctuary is excited to present the Mesa Boogie Cleo Overdrive Pedal—a masterfully engineered low-gain overdrive built by the exact same artisans who handcraft the legendary Mark Seven, Dual Rectifier, and vintage-voiced California Tweed amplifiers. Unlike high-gain clipping circuits that alter your core instrument's character, the Cleo commands the foundational lower end of the gain spectrum. It serves as a transparent boost and highly dynamic overdrive that enhances, rather than masks, the natural resonance of your guitar and amplifier setup.

From Dynamic Clean Boost to Harmoneous Mid-Gain Drive

The Cleo is a highly articulate, feel-oriented pedal designed for players who control their tone through picking dynamics and volume-pot adjustments. It delivers exceptional, wide-open top-end clarity with smooth, musical saturation. This design makes it perfect for anchoring raw Blues, indie rock rhythms, or edge-of-breakup Roots styling. Whether you need a transparent level boost to push a tube amplifier over the edge of breakup, or a rich, harmonically complex drive for classic solo work, the Cleo maintains absolute note definition even when playing wide, extended chord voicings.

Hidden Control Layout: Under-the-Hood Custom EQ Voicing

While the top panel features simple, responsive controls for Level, Gain, and Tone, the real secret to the Cleo's versatility lies hidden beneath its rugged aluminum top plate. Removing the bottom cover reveals an internal two-position EQ Voicing DIP Switch:

• EQ ON (Factory Default Setting): Tailors an articulate, slightly Mid-Scooped EQ curve that is exceptionally well-suited for crisp, percussive Rock chording and tight rhythm tracks.
• EQ OFF (Flat Response Setting): Bypasses the internal EQ sculpting to deliver a linear, punchy, and midrange-forward output. This configuration adds immediate body, vocal definition, and focused thickness to single-note guitar lines, especially when running lower gain parameters.

Premium Build Specifications

• Handcrafted in the USA: Proudly built in Petaluma, California—The Home of Tone®.
• Switching Architecture: True Bypass on/off mechanical foot-switching protects your direct dry signal from any tone degradation when the circuit is disengaged.
• Status Monitoring: High-visibility blue on/off status LED indicator.
• Power Options: Flexible 9V battery operation or standardized 9VDC external power input (Negative Center, 2.1mm x 5.5mm jack barrel, minimal 15mA current draw).
• Dimensions: 4.77" x 2.87" x 2.31" compact enclosure footprint.

• Best For: Blues, Roots-Rock, Indie Alternative, Country, Modern Worship, and Studio Session Work.
• Tone Profile: Open, Transparent, Articulate, Dynamic, and Touch-Sensitive with a Sweet Top-End Bloom[cite: 5].
• Compared To: Klon Centaur, Analogman King of Tone (Yellow Side), JHS Morning Glory, Keeley Katana[cite: 5].
• Sanctuary Expert Note: "Most players look for a boutique overdrive that doesn't mess with the tone of a high-end guitar. That's exactly where the Cleo shines. It functions as an extension of your amp's front end. Flip the internal DIP switch to 'EQ OFF' to push a clean single-coil neck pickup into thick, touch-sensitive Texas blues territory without making it muddy."[cite: 5]