The EBS multidrive and Metaldrive don't get much exposure on TB. Been meaning to get myself a Multidrive for a while now and then found that Thomann were offering the Metal drive for £55 (GB) - usually retails at £125 ish. I also read one of the few reviews here in TB about the Metal drive being able to cop low overdrive as well as much more grind on tap.
Youtube videos sounded pretty good so had to get one to try out
Now i've tried it i'm very impressed. It definitely does the low OD really well. Don't be put off by the name..a lot of people avoid any pedal with "Metal" in the label. However this is a really nice OD, Distortion and more of a fuzz type of distortion. I like my pedals simplistic - this has only 2 dials: distortion and output level and a rocker switch for selecting between Tubesim, standard and flat. So basically 3 flavours of OFD/distortion. Breakdown of each mode:
Tubesim -
I've read a few people complaining about the treble roll off on the Tubesim mode on the multidrive and i can see what they mean. It approximates a more vintage tube tone (probably with vintage speakers) by rolling off the top end. To my ears it sounds almost like a low pass filter set about 4khz ish. Personally not really a sound i use. However i found a couple of uses for it:
1. With the distortion dialled down really low so you have a fairly clean tone it could be used as a simple LPF in a pinch
2. I found it sounded great on guitar with bright single coils...really warms it up nicely
Standard -
My favourite setting! Produces an authentic grindy tube distortion which is very dynamic to your playing. The nice thing about this (compared to my other OD/Distortion pedals i've tried) is that the distortion does not effect the low end which is completely intact. It also doesn't do that horrible buzzing on higher end frequencies either, but a very nice grind in the mid frequencies. Sounds pretty transparent to me, not mid scooped at all. It almost sounds like it boosts the clean low end very slightly, although i may have imagined that.
Flat -
Applies the distortion across the whole signal so becomes more like a fuzz. The signal levels drops as a result so needs raising on the output level (no big deal). I'm not a huge fuzz user, but sounds ok to me.
Build -
Pedal is reassuringly solid. Switch is one of the soft press switches so you don't get a sudden clunk as the pedal comes on. Feels pretty quality. It's also True bypass. Can't hear any loss of tone with it in my pedal line-up.
Overall £55 for a solid pedal with really nice grindy distortion which is very dynamic to playing, keeps a really clean low end and can be dialled down for some milder OD is a winner. Definitely a keeper! If i get some time and there's some interest i'll record some audio samples.
Youtube videos sounded pretty good so had to get one to try out
Now i've tried it i'm very impressed. It definitely does the low OD really well. Don't be put off by the name..a lot of people avoid any pedal with "Metal" in the label. However this is a really nice OD, Distortion and more of a fuzz type of distortion. I like my pedals simplistic - this has only 2 dials: distortion and output level and a rocker switch for selecting between Tubesim, standard and flat. So basically 3 flavours of OFD/distortion. Breakdown of each mode:
Tubesim -
I've read a few people complaining about the treble roll off on the Tubesim mode on the multidrive and i can see what they mean. It approximates a more vintage tube tone (probably with vintage speakers) by rolling off the top end. To my ears it sounds almost like a low pass filter set about 4khz ish. Personally not really a sound i use. However i found a couple of uses for it:
1. With the distortion dialled down really low so you have a fairly clean tone it could be used as a simple LPF in a pinch
2. I found it sounded great on guitar with bright single coils...really warms it up nicely
Standard -
My favourite setting! Produces an authentic grindy tube distortion which is very dynamic to your playing. The nice thing about this (compared to my other OD/Distortion pedals i've tried) is that the distortion does not effect the low end which is completely intact. It also doesn't do that horrible buzzing on higher end frequencies either, but a very nice grind in the mid frequencies. Sounds pretty transparent to me, not mid scooped at all. It almost sounds like it boosts the clean low end very slightly, although i may have imagined that.
Flat -
Applies the distortion across the whole signal so becomes more like a fuzz. The signal levels drops as a result so needs raising on the output level (no big deal). I'm not a huge fuzz user, but sounds ok to me.
Build -
Pedal is reassuringly solid. Switch is one of the soft press switches so you don't get a sudden clunk as the pedal comes on. Feels pretty quality. It's also True bypass. Can't hear any loss of tone with it in my pedal line-up.
Overall £55 for a solid pedal with really nice grindy distortion which is very dynamic to playing, keeps a really clean low end and can be dialled down for some milder OD is a winner. Definitely a keeper! If i get some time and there's some interest i'll record some audio samples.
and I think EBS failed to give it a better name.
