The REVV G3 is one of those pedals that can easily get labelled as a modern high-gain distortion box. To be fair, it does that job extremely well. However, I think that description also sells it a bit short.
The interesting thing about the G3 is not just the amount of gain. Plenty of pedals have gain. What makes the G3 special is how much control you have over that gain, especially with the active EQ.
In this REVV G3 riff test, I’m using one basic setup for six very different riffs. The idea is simple: keep the amp and impulse response the same, then use the pedal to shape the tone for each song.
The riffs are “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness, “Bridge Burning” by Foo Fighters, “Gimme Something Good” by Ryan Adams, “Slither” by Velvet Revolver, “Congregation” by Foo Fighters, and “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater.
That is a fun spread of guitar sounds. You have classic rock excess, big modern rock guitars, a slightly more alternative Ryan Adams thing, Slash doing one of the best Drop D riffs ever, and Dream Theater waiting at the end to expose every weak point in the tone.
The Signal Chain for This REVV G3 Riff Test
The signal chain is simple. The guitar goes into the REVV G3, then into my Uraltone Jr set super clean with lots of headroom.
From there, the signal goes into a Two Notes Torpedo Live loaded with an OwnHammer Mesa Boogie Rectifier 4×12 impulse response.
The amp and impulse response stay the same throughout the whole video. So the main changes come from the guitars and the settings on the REVV G3.
The two guitars are both self-made instruments I built at a guitar building course. One is my Telecaster, which at the time had an SSS pickup configuration. It had a Tele-style bridge pickup and two DiMarzio Air Norton single coil-sized pickups.
The other guitar is my VHC Custom. That one is a semi-hollow guitar with Sheptone Tribute humbuckers.
For each riff, I adjusted the gain and EQ on the REVV G3 to get closer to the character I wanted. The mids are especially important here, because the midrange control on the G3 is incredibly powerful.
It can take the pedal from scooped and aggressive to focused and vocal very quickly. Unfortunately, the exact knob settings are not documented. So this is not meant to be a preset guide.
Instead, it is more of a real-world test. Same amp, same impulse response, different guitars, different G3 settings, and six riffs that ask different things from the pedal.
The Darkness – I Believe in a Thing Called Love
We start with “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. Honestly, I can’t believe how close this gets to the general character of the original tone. No pun intended. Well, maybe slightly intended.
There is something about this setup that works really well for that bright, confident and slightly over-the-top rock guitar sound.
I think a big part of it is the Mesa-style 4×12 impulse response. That cabinet flavour helps push the REVV G3 toward a big rock tone without making it feel too modern or too tight.
That surprised me a little. A lot of high-gain pedals can sound too compressed or too “metal” when you try to play classic rock riffs through them.
The G3 does not have that problem here. With the gain set sensibly and the mids dialled in the right way, it gets into that polished rock territory very easily.
This riff is a strong start, because it shows right away that the G3 is not only about chugging. It can do the big fun rock thing too.
Foo Fighters – Bridge Burning
After dialling in the tone for The Darkness, “Bridge Burning” by Foo Fighters comes together very quickly. This kind of huge, aggressive modern rock tone feels very natural with this setup.
Foo Fighters-style guitar sounds often need to be big without turning into a mess. That is where the REVV G3 can either help you or get you into trouble.
The pedal has a lot of low end available. Because the EQ is active, the bass can become massive very fast. That can feel great when you are playing alone, but in a mix it can get muddy almost immediately.
For this riff, the key is keeping the bass frequencies under control. You still want the guitars to hit hard. However, the riff also needs to stay tight.
Too much low end makes the whole thing feel slow and blurry. With the bass controlled and the mids sitting in the right place, the G3 gets very close to that big album-style rock rhythm sound.
This is one of the reasons I like the pedal so much. It does not just give you gain. It gives you usable gain. You can shape the low end, focus the mids, and make the riff sit where it needs to sit.
Ryan Adams – Gimme Something Good
“Gimme Something Good” by Ryan Adams is a different kind of test. The goal here is not really to copy the original tone perfectly.
Ryan Adams has used all kinds of interesting guitars, pickups and gear combinations. So chasing the exact setup would probably become a rabbit hole. And not necessarily the useful kind.
Instead, the idea is to get into the right general feel. For this one, the neck single coil on the Telecaster gets surprisingly close. Or at least, it gets me close enough that the riff feels right under the fingers.
This is where the guitar choice becomes really important. The REVV G3 has a strong voice, but it does not completely erase the personality of the guitar.
The Tele neck pickup keeps things a little clearer and less thick. That works well for this kind of riff, because it stops the tone from becoming too heavy-handed.
That is something I always appreciate in a distortion pedal. Some pedals make every guitar sound like the same guitar. The G3 definitely has its own character, but the instrument still matters.
The single coil sound still comes through. Because of that, this riff lives in a slightly different world from the Foo Fighters and Velvet Revolver tones.
Velvet Revolver – Slither
Then we get to “Slither” by Velvet Revolver.
I have been playing this riff for years, and I still think it is one of the best things Slash has written since the Guns N’ Roses years. It is heavy, simple, memorable and ridiculously fun to play.
Honestly, I would put it very high on the list of the best Drop D riffs ever.
The REVV G3 works extremely well here. This riff needs enough gain to sound mean, but it cannot become too saturated or fizzy. It needs punch. It needs attitude.
Most importantly, it needs that midrange voice that makes Slash-style riffs feel alive.
This is where the G3’s mid control really shines. You can push the tone into that focused, vocal rock sound without making it nasal or thin.
Too much scoop would make the riff lose its character. Too much bass would make it feel lazy. With the right balance, the pedal gets very close to the kind of tone you want for this riff.
This is also one of those moments where the pedal simply feels good to play. That matters more than people sometimes admit. A tone can sound technically fine and still not make you want to keep playing.
This one does. The riff reacts the way it should, the low strings stay tight, and the whole thing has that satisfying Drop D bounce.
Foo Fighters – Congregation
Yes, there is another Foo Fighters song here. But there is a reason for that. This setup just sounds really good for Foo Fighters-style rock tones.
“Congregation” works especially well with the REVV G3 set to a slightly lower gain level. I also like the high end toned down a bit for this one.
With this setup, the tone lands in that big stadium rock area. It sounds wide and confident, but it does not become overly aggressive.
It is not trying to be metal. It is just big rock guitar.
This riff is also a good reminder of how great a Telecaster bridge pickup can be in a rock setting. People often think of Tele bridge pickups as country, indie or cleaner rock tools.
However, through the right drive sound, they can be absolutely brilliant for heavier rhythm parts. They have bite, attack and clarity. That helps the riff cut through instead of turning into a wall of mush.
The REVV G3 gives the Tele enough size and gain. At the same time, the bridge pickup keeps the tone sharp and energetic.
That combination works really well here. It feels like the kind of sound that would sit naturally in a full band mix without needing endless fixing afterwards.
Dream Theater – Pull Me Under
Finally, we have “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater.
On paper, this one should maybe not work. A semi-hollow guitar with vintage-style pickups is not the first thing most people would grab for one of the most iconic progressive metal riffs ever.
That setup does not exactly scream John Petrucci.
But this is where the REVV G3 impresses me the most.
With the active EQ, the pedal can take that semi-hollow, vintage-leaning guitar and push it much further into progressive metal territory than you might expect.
You can tighten the low end, bring out enough attack, and shape the mids so the riff has the right kind of authority.
Of course, it is not suddenly the same as using a modern high-output pickup guitar into a dedicated prog metal rig. Still, it gets surprisingly convincing.
The funny thing is that when I play this riff with this setup, I have to remind myself what guitar I am actually using. That says a lot.
The VHC Custom is semi-hollow. The pickups are Sheptone Tributes. The amp is completely clean. And still, the sound holds together.
That is a pretty strong argument for the G3 as more than just a distortion pedal. It can almost behave like the centre of the rig.
The amp gives it headroom, the IR gives it the cabinet sound, and the G3 does the job of turning a fairly unexpected guitar into something that can handle progressive metal.
What This REVV G3 Riff Test Says About the Pedal
The thing that stands out across all six riffs is how much the REVV G3 can change character without changing the rest of the rig.
The amp stays clean. The impulse response stays the same. The guitars change, and the pedal settings change, but the core setup remains very consistent.
That makes the pedal the real focus of the test.
For The Darkness, it can do bright, polished classic rock. For Foo Fighters, it can do huge modern rhythm guitar sounds as long as the low end is controlled.
For Ryan Adams, it can back off enough to let a single coil guitar keep its personality. For Velvet Revolver, it has the midrange punch needed for a Slash-style Drop D riff.
For “Congregation,” it gets into that lower-gain stadium rock sound beautifully. And for Dream Theater, it proves that even a semi-hollow guitar with vintage-style pickups can be pushed surprisingly far into progressive metal territory.
That is a lot of ground for one pedal.
The low end is probably the one area where you need to be careful. The REVV G3 can sound huge, but huge is not always useful. Especially if you are recording or playing in a mix, too much bass can make the tone fall apart quickly.
Once you keep that under control, the pedal becomes much easier to use across different styles.
The midrange is the real magic. The G3’s mids are powerful enough to reshape the attitude of the pedal quite dramatically. That is why it can move from Foo Fighters to Slash to Dream Theater without feeling completely wrong in any of those places.
Final Thoughts on the REVV G3
This setup is a great reminder of why I like the REVV G3 so much. A super clean amp, a good Mesa-style 4×12 impulse response and a powerful distortion pedal can cover a lot of ground when the pedal is this flexible.
The G3 is not just about gain. It is about control. You can make it tight, thick, bright, smooth, aggressive or surprisingly classic depending on how you dial it.
It also responds well to different guitars, which is something I value a lot. The Telecaster still sounds like a Telecaster. The semi-hollow still has its own thing going on.
The pedal adds the distortion and shaping, but it does not completely flatten everything into one generic high-gain sound.
And yes, I still think the REVV G3 is one of the best distortion pedals ever made.
Not because it can do one sound perfectly, but because it can make so many different riffs feel convincing with one simple rig. That is exactly what a great distortion pedal should do.
Want to get your REVV G3? You can find affiliate links for all the products mentioned below. Using them helps support my work at no extra cost.
Get Your G3 Pedal on Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/617304?offid=1&affid=394
Get your G3 Pedal on Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/k4MqRM
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