My Favourite Drive Pedals
- The American Guitar Academy
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
Drive pedals are one of those strange things that guitar players love, despite the fact that most of them are derived from a select few circuits. Some people buy specific models because their favourite player uses them, and manufacturers like to over complicate things by having a million different drive sounds in one.
Josh Scott of JHS Pedals proved that you can make something cheap like the Digitech Bad Monkey sound almost indistinguishable from an original Klon Centaur, so really the only deciding factor is what you like the look of, features you might need and what fits into your current rig – I’ve never met someone at a show that would say the guitarists needed to use a TS8 instead of a TS9!
In this blog post, I will tell you about some of the drive pedals that I like to use myself and in contrast I will present some that I have used, the reasons why I do not like them and help you make your own decisions moving forward.
The Good Ones
Many years ago, whilst watching a rig rundown with the inimitable Guthrie Govan, I eagerly listened as he explained the risks with hiring amps from backline rental companies, or relying on whatever equipment a venue has to hand. He used an older Boss pedal to ‘Fender-ize’ an amp if needed, and this neat little red pedal for ‘Marshall-ize’ others. That pedal was the Providence Heat Blaster, which is a domestically produced brand in Japan, and the story ended there… for a few years.
Fast forward a few years, and having been through numerous drive pedals during the interim, I found myself living in Japan and at the mercy of the standard issue Roland JC120s and Fender Twins – I needed some dirt and I thought back to that rig rundown with Guthrie from years prior. It turns out that there are several different versions of the Heat Blaster, but I went for the HBL-3 because it has a ‘bass boost’ switch. The pedal does exactly what I want it to do, with no frills and predictable tone.
For best results, I recommend you use it in the front of a clean amp for a great Marshall-esque tone, or in front of an already dirty amp for some serious thickness!
The Rumble Drive from Mooer is the cheapest pedal on this list but do not let that fool you into thinking it does not pack a punch! I paid around ￥6000 for a used offering, haver never played this model before but willing to take the risk as the price was extremely forgiving.
I have tried the Vertex and MojoHand FX offerings, as well as various other offerings of pedals that aim to replicate the Zendrive/Dumble amp sound. All have come up a bit short for me, apart from the real deal pedal which is superior in sound and feel, but at a cost of over ￥150000, it is hard to justify. The Rumble Drive has a surprising amount of anger within it, but does a fantastic job of giving a clean sound some more character at a low gain setting, or providing some angry blues sounds when you turn the gain up. The ‘voice’ control in combination with the other parameters makes it a versatile little drive that will not break the bank!
Historically, I am not a fan of fuzz pedals and I can never seem to make them work in the way that I want them to. They are either underwhelming, or too crazy and the sound degenerates into a giant mess (which some people love!).
Even though I eventually gifted away this pedal because it also came into my hands as a gift, I thought I would mention it as one of the few fuzzes that have been somewhat tameable in my own opinion. I will not lie, I have no idea what the ‘wicker’ function did, but I got some interesting and actually useable sounds out of it. Give it a shot if you are unsure where to start with fuzz pedals – it helps that it is only ￥16000 new!
This is another drive pedal that replicates that sound of an angry Marshall, and it features a boost all within the single pedal form factor. Whilst I have never owned one, it is always my go to pedal for when I want to try out a guitar or another pedal in a store. I do this because it helps replicate the Heat Blaster and Victory sound I use with my own gear. It is a versatile pedal, more than it has any right to be, and if Andy Timmons has lent his name to this, you just know it is going to be good!
Whilst not cheap at around ￥35000, I would still recommend it to anyone and I will likely get one myself in the future.
Ones That Disappointed Me (not necessarily bad)
Ibanez Jemini
The Ibanez Jemini distortion looks very cool – super wacky and reminiscent of a time when swirl paint finishes were all the rage. They are very rare, so I jumped on the chance to try one out when I saw a used one for sale in a store. Immediately the sound was just ok, nothing special. Both sides of the pedal are very similar, but you do not have the ability to stack them together! For me this was a deal breaker, although there might be other revisions where the sounds are a bit more different between the sides, and you can stack them together.
If that is something you want, have a look at the Masatone Caesar X or Xotic Effects BB Preamp +.
Hudson Broadcast AP
Thanks to a picture competition with Andertons Music Co. in the UK, and a strategically posed picture with my cat and a ukulele, I won a small selection of prizes, the main of which was the Ariel Posen signature Broadcast Pre-amp pedal from Hudson Electronics. I got the pedal, being extremely grateful all the while, and could not for the life of me get a sound out of it that I liked. To me it seemed very ‘lo-fi’ where I wanted a precise sound, and I felt it was quite big for something so simple.
I soon sold the pedal, but it definitely has fans because several people practically bit my arm off trying to buy it from me! The eventual owner thought it was the best drive pedal he had ever used, so I am glad it went to a good home!
J.Rockett Holdsworth
Any guitar player worth his salt would go to any length to simply understand only 10% of what Allan Holdsworth could pull off in his sleep. After selling the pedal mentioned above, I stumbled across the J. Rockett Holdsworth pedal, designed in collaboration with the legend himself. The pedal is very rare, and I managed to find a NOS offering from a store in Germany.
I bought it, played it then sold it again. It was good but it did not make me sound like Allan – not that I was expecting this to be the case anyway, but it really did not work in the way I imagined it would. I retrospect, I probably should have kept it because it had man useful features, but I have since learned that he never used it live anyway (at least to my knowledge!). Up until he died, Holdsworth used a series a Yamaha Magicstomp pedals for all of his tone and effects.
MXR/CAE Boost/Line Driver
I found myself in need of a boost pedal a while ago, and given budget restrictions I opted for the MXR/CAE Boost Line Driver. I knew from experience that MXR pedals were solid, and I was happy with the simple layout. In my experience, the pedal boosted different sounds at varying levels – it was not a consistent increase in volume across the board. There was also too much colour in the boost, in that it was not entirely transparent like I wanted.
Also, having played the dual version which includes a drive circuit, I was disappointed. The boost side is the same, but the drive is more of a fuzz than anything – definitely not up my street!
Final Thoughts
As I have said many times before, it really does not matter what I think. You should consider your own requirements, equipment and location. I would advise you always check the pedal out yourself unless you are willing to take the risk, and never make a choice purely on budget – you will be much happier if you save up for a bit longer rather than going for the cheapest option.
Why don’t you ask your teacher what they use, why and see if they can help you out on your journey? Keep rocking!