FretFire
SingedFingerologist
Well, here is my initial review of the Zendrive after jamming with it for a couple of hours last night:
The gain from this pedal is probably the "cleanest" I've ever heard. I first used it in front of a clean channel on my amp, and for a few minutes I thought it was acting more as a clean boost. I had everything set at noon and was convinced it was a very subtle effect. After switching it on and off several times I noticed that simply wasn't true. The trick with this pedal is that it builds on what your gear already sounds like, rather than being a totally different character or what I call "an amp in a box". It's a very transparent OD, and sounds fantastic.
Volume: This one is self explanatory, it's the volume control. Seems like 9 o'clock is close to unity, use around noon for a nice solo boost. Plenty of volume on tap.
Tone: This one is also self explanatory, it controls whether the higher frequencies are dampened or allowed to pass through. Very useable throughout the sweep, it doesn't stick you with either muddy or harsh and bright like some other pedals I've played.
Gain: Yet again, easy to figure out. While there's not as much distortion (for lack of a better term) as I expected, there's still plenty here. With it set to about noon single notes still sound very clean, but when you hit a chord you can hear there is really more dirt there than you thought. Lows do not fart out, they stay tight and defined. The mids cut well, and have a nice singing quality to them. Highs don't get ice-picky either, which I like. Think about the level of gain Larry Carlton usually plays with, that's about how the 12 o'clock position sounds. The nice thing is that cranking the gain all the way up is still a useable sound, so there are plenty of tones available. The COOL thing about this pedal is how the gain knob interacts with the fourth knob...
Voice: This is the heart of the pedal. Turning it clockwise takes you from what I'd describe as a Fender-ish tonality, to a more gritty Marshall bite fully counterclockwise. From about 11-1 o'clock gets a very cool "Dumble" type tonality that I love. Everything sounds incredibly thick, but still sparkly. The low notes speak but don't ever flub out (even on the neck pickup!). Sustained notes will slowly drop into harmonics and feedback. Fun fun stuff
.
There are really a lot of tones available in this pedal, I need to sit down and really experiment for a while to figure out my favorites. If I had to pick one minor gripe, I might wish for a bit more gain but it's not a biggie really. I've heard this pedal likes to be pushed by a boost or another OD, and it also sounds fantastic in front of a dirty channel on my amp. I should note that it worked equally well with humbuckers and single coils, in fact turning the voice knob to around 2 or 3 o'clock (bringing in a slight spike in the mids, giving it more bite to my ears) gave the pedal a tubescreamer vibe, just a bit smoother.
Overall, it's a keeper.
The gain from this pedal is probably the "cleanest" I've ever heard. I first used it in front of a clean channel on my amp, and for a few minutes I thought it was acting more as a clean boost. I had everything set at noon and was convinced it was a very subtle effect. After switching it on and off several times I noticed that simply wasn't true. The trick with this pedal is that it builds on what your gear already sounds like, rather than being a totally different character or what I call "an amp in a box". It's a very transparent OD, and sounds fantastic.
Volume: This one is self explanatory, it's the volume control. Seems like 9 o'clock is close to unity, use around noon for a nice solo boost. Plenty of volume on tap.
Tone: This one is also self explanatory, it controls whether the higher frequencies are dampened or allowed to pass through. Very useable throughout the sweep, it doesn't stick you with either muddy or harsh and bright like some other pedals I've played.
Gain: Yet again, easy to figure out. While there's not as much distortion (for lack of a better term) as I expected, there's still plenty here. With it set to about noon single notes still sound very clean, but when you hit a chord you can hear there is really more dirt there than you thought. Lows do not fart out, they stay tight and defined. The mids cut well, and have a nice singing quality to them. Highs don't get ice-picky either, which I like. Think about the level of gain Larry Carlton usually plays with, that's about how the 12 o'clock position sounds. The nice thing is that cranking the gain all the way up is still a useable sound, so there are plenty of tones available. The COOL thing about this pedal is how the gain knob interacts with the fourth knob...
Voice: This is the heart of the pedal. Turning it clockwise takes you from what I'd describe as a Fender-ish tonality, to a more gritty Marshall bite fully counterclockwise. From about 11-1 o'clock gets a very cool "Dumble" type tonality that I love. Everything sounds incredibly thick, but still sparkly. The low notes speak but don't ever flub out (even on the neck pickup!). Sustained notes will slowly drop into harmonics and feedback. Fun fun stuff
.There are really a lot of tones available in this pedal, I need to sit down and really experiment for a while to figure out my favorites. If I had to pick one minor gripe, I might wish for a bit more gain but it's not a biggie really. I've heard this pedal likes to be pushed by a boost or another OD, and it also sounds fantastic in front of a dirty channel on my amp. I should note that it worked equally well with humbuckers and single coils, in fact turning the voice knob to around 2 or 3 o'clock (bringing in a slight spike in the mids, giving it more bite to my ears) gave the pedal a tubescreamer vibe, just a bit smoother.
Overall, it's a keeper.
