Zendrive

[Open lane]

Re: Zendrive

Thanks! Not really a matter of settings. I find most of the setting i choose, the resulting sound is similar.

I'm not sure but i'm pretty sure the gain is probably set relatively high in the clips. It's not really too high of a gain pedal, subtle yet effective

 

[Diego]

Re: Zendrive

Man. Rodney Gene's posts should include some popcorn.
Damn good reading material, always!

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Zendrive

Rodney's the man. SD member since ??? 1996?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Zendrive

Not really. The 'Zen Master' is a nice lower-gain drive which I have used a ton over the past couple years, but it has few qualities of a Zen Drive into an amp and will not provide you with any real-life reference. The ZDs most unique feature is the voice control which is supposed to be emulated by using the low-cut on the Fractal (likely because the voice control ..is.. a low-cut).

Still, the default clipping diode on Fractal is 'variable' not op-amp (with 12 other choices selectable, op-amp included) + clip 'shape' + some combination of low-cut, hi cut, bass, mid (para), treble, drive, tone, bias, slew etc.. Even if you don't use all of the settings and you choose op-amp the actual drive function/feel and response is not like the ZD in the least IMO. It's missing the super smooth mids. Zen Master is a great drive on it's own though.

However, to geek a bit further if you do want the sound of say the Zen Drive through a Twin (which is phenomenal) skip the drive block and choose the ODS 100 Ford-1 amp. Input drive at 5 straight up and Overdrive set between 4 and 7...and the rest to taste. Done some amazing pre-session trial tracks with that setting and is spot on of using a ZD and Twin which used to be a live rig of mine. RG

This is great info. I had worked a bit with the ODS 100, but since I wasn't that familiar with the original, I couldn't get the same sounds I heard other people get. I will try this, as well as trying to build a decent Zen Drive in there.

 

[Gunslinger_505]

Re: Zendrive

The zendrive is a lot smoother than a TS. People say the ZD gets dumble-esq tones. I used to compare it to the TS and would prefer what i could get out of the ZD every time. Now, i realize they both just shine in dif applications.
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I completely agree. I have both on my board and use them both, sometimes even together.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Zendrive

Rodney's the man. SD member since ??? 1996?

Yeah he and Butch Snyder recommended the pickups for my triple P90 guitar back in 1999 on the early incarnation of this board.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Zendrive

good forum back then!

 

[Rodney Gene]

Re: Zendrive

Man. Rodney Gene's posts should include some popcorn.
Damn good reading material, always!

Rodney's the man. SD member since ??? 1996?

This is great info. I had worked a bit with the ODS 100, but since I wasn't that familiar with the original, I couldn't get the same sounds I heard other people get. I will try this, as well as trying to build a decent Zen Drive in there.

Yeah he and Butch Snyder recommended the pickups for my triple P90 guitar back in 1999 on the early incarnation of this board.

good forum back then!

Thanks for love brothers, always appreciate the good words. Sincerely~ And brother Jeremy, definitely alot less places to stop on the Internet guitar highway 18 years ago. Forum was a bonafide concentrated resource of different experienced players. Couldn't 'google' answers so alot fewer folks available to help. Even brother Donzo was around (pre winding days) and alot proper trolling by Dimarzio users, LOL. Yeah Dave, seems the ODS tones or the Dumble tones in general are hit miss, love/hate for some and really sensitive to small tweaks. Personally I dig em alot and have found on the Fractal, the Ford ODS-100 is just a super resource for me. Cheers, RG

 

[wahwah]

Re: Zendrive

I've got one of Alf's original Zendrives, great little pedal, doesn't feel or sound anything like a TS, because it isn't, as RG correctly pointed out. Oddly, it ended up being a great pedal with the rig I was using at the time to do these two Jeff Beck covers (or covers of Jeff Beck covers!) a few years ago.








Cheers.................................... wahwah

 

[Open lane]

Re: Zendrive

Wow, that does sound pretty good. What are the settings on those clips (I have a ZD model in my Fractal to try).

Unlike some OD pedals, the thing captures a similar sound with humbuckers too. I usually use mine with a marshall class5 amp. However, noticed the sound was nearly identical when i rigged it to my DSL. Cool pedal all around.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Zendrive

I've got a 7 knob Menatone Howie headed this way thanks to RG making my GAS worse. Thanks bro.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Zendrive

Wow, that does sound pretty good. What are the settings on those clips (I have a ZD model in my Fractal to try).

Sadly, my experience with the AxeFx ZD doesn't remotely approach the enjoyment I got from the real deal.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Zendrive

I've got a 7 knob Menatone Howie headed this way thanks to RG making my GAS worse. Thanks bro.

IME, the Howie is a different beast from the ZD. Also owned a HAO Rumble Mod for a bit. It too is a nice box but doesn't curl my toes like the ZD.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Zendrive

Sadly, my experience with the AxeFx ZD doesn't remotely approach the enjoyment I got from the real deal.

Well, I think I can get there ither with the model or as RG pointed out, the amp.

 

[Rodney Gene]

Re: Zendrive

I've got one of Alf's original Zendrives, great little pedal, doesn't feel or sound anything like a TS, because it isn't, as RG correctly pointed out. Oddly, it ended up being a great pedal with the rig I was using at the time to do these two Jeff Beck covers (or covers of Jeff Beck covers!) a few years ago.

Cheers.................................... wahwah

Sounds fantastic bro. Nice playing~

I've got a 7 knob Menatone Howie headed this way thanks to RG making my GAS worse. Thanks bro.

Ha not gas, just a bit of tone exploration. That's how we really begin to see the truth in all of this. BTW, if you don't dig, flip it to me. Mine is currently on loan to friend in Houston and even though I'll get it back soon I don't mind a second for another board...it stacks like a mythical God. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

IME, the Howie is a different beast from the ZD. Also owned a HAO Rumble Mod for a bit. It too is a nice box but doesn't curl my toes like the ZD.

I hear you. In my experience I think all of the 'D" pedals sound different though many of the new pedals (Dude, GS124, WIZ Pedal, MojoFX Dumble etc...) have a huge cross pollination range where they sound the same now. The GS RED as cheap as it is today is a Jetter handmade goop covered joy to play, worth 3x the asking price and a virtual ZD brethren. As for the Howie, it depends on version. The 7-knob I recommended to Scott stacks with the Zendrive like few other combinations. It has a 'clean' Dumble sound or clean side that is amazing to say the least. Like all exceptional gear, it takes building a relationship with. The only 'true' D circuit I know of (gain stage levels, EQ order, type of shelving, bell, number of gain stages etc).. in pedal form is the Ethos OD with the HRM mod. But it is a preamp. The other 'D' style preamp that is mind-blowingly good but really only a ONE trick deal (Really, just one) is the Van Weeldon Royal OD. The heavy side of Dumble. Does not do low-gain or mod gain well and requires 18 volts with 400 ma to sound right. But holy goodness does it do what it does well! Cheers, RG

 

[Mincer]

Re: Zendrive

Been playing with the Zen Master into a Twin model and an ODS-100 Ford 1 (what cab are you using for this?). They do sound different, but they both have some weird tubby/splatty low end thing going on. Does the real thing have this?

 

[Rodney Gene]

Re: Zendrive

Been playing with the Zen Master into a Twin model and an ODS-100 Ford 1 (what cab are you using for this?). They do sound different, but they both have some weird tubby/splatty low end thing going on. Does the real thing have this?

I know what you are experiencing. It just takes tweaking, honestly. Not much of a Marshall or Fender plug n play. So much of what makes a D amp so responsive etc is the order of gain/eq. EQ before the gain changes the compression dynamics and might result in flubby low end. But you have alot of options to manage that. And with the Fractal, it really is all about the IRs. I'll sit and switch IRs till I find it, depending on the guitar and then save the setting. For the ODS I always use 2-12 cabs. Seems best for my ideas. Own Hammer, Amp Factory or factory cabs like the G12-65 JM. Honestly, a lot of players feel these amps don't gain enough, squeak and sponge enough on first blush. If you get to know it, something really special emerges IMO. Cheers, RG

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Zendrive

The Howie had the splatty thing going especially on the fat E. I had it set like I had the Zendrive. Once I backed the gain down slightly and fiddled with the knobs, I was coaxing some Knopfler fingerpicking tones out of my Tele and Bassman.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Zendrive

looks fun!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Zendrive

I know what you are experiencing. It just takes tweaking, honestly. Not much of a Marshall or Fender plug n play. So much of what makes a D amp so responsive etc is the order of gain/eq. EQ before the gain changes the compression dynamics and might result in flubby low end. But you have alot of options to manage that. And with the Fractal, it really is all about the IRs. I'll sit and switch IRs till I find it, depending on the guitar and then save the setting. For the ODS I always use 2-12 cabs. Seems best for my ideas. Own Hammer, Amp Factory or factory cabs like the G12-65 JM. Honestly, a lot of players feel these amps don't gain enough, squeak and sponge enough on first blush. If you get to know it, something really special emerges IMO. Cheers, RG

I appreciate this. It is hard to tweak a sound that you've only heard in videos, and on CDs, and have no reference in 'feel'. I don't hear that splatty thing in the recordings, so I am assuming that should be dialed out. I have been using the (stock) Boutique 2x12 cab for this. Right now, it is sounding like a fuzz pedal with half the gain up on a Twin. It isn't a bad sound, but it isn't quite 'the' sound I have been hearing. So far, it is almost like a TS, with the mids shifted lower.