When Carl Martin designed Panama, they weren’t chasing nostalgia — they were addressing a problem we’ve all run into. You dial in a classic British-style overdrive, push the gain, and suddenly the tone starts to feel soft, loose, or overly compressed. The attack disappears, and the sound loses definition.
Panama is their way of taking control of that moment.
At its core, Panama is a hot-modded British overdrive with a strong, articulate midrange and plenty of gain on tap. But what really sets it apart is the Damping control. Instead of shaping EQ in the traditional sense, Damping lets you adjust how tight or loose the low end responds under gain.
Turn Damping up, and the overdrive becomes more aggressive, focused, and cutting — tighter lows, faster response, and more definition. Dial it back, and the sound opens up, getting thicker and deeper with more low-end movement and dynamic feel. It’s not about adding frequencies, but about controlling how the circuit reacts when you play.
That flexibility makes Panama easy to adapt on the fly. Different guitars, amps, cabinets, or rooms all respond differently — and with Gain, Tone, Level, and Damping, you can fine-tune the feel just as much as the sound.
Under the hood, Panama uses our DC/DC converter circuitry, allowing the pedal to run from a standard regulated 9V supply while operating internally at ±12V. The extra headroom keeps the overdrive clear and controlled, even at higher gain settings, and gives the circuit room to breathe.
All analog, compact, and built to respond — Panama is about shaping overdrive from the inside out.
Key Features
Dimensions: 60 x 115 x 50 / 2.36″ x 4.53″ x 1.97″
Weight: 0.34 kg / 0.75 lbs
Specifications
