gearmanndude | 9 years ago

http://www.drzamps.com Don't think anyone's more pumped for this one than I am...longtime Z Fanboy, and the wait was well worth it IMHO! Two different flavors of drive to dial in, which use a shared ACTIVE EQ and each have CUT switches to tame it for Humbuckers or Single Coils. The pedal has a LIFETIME Transferrable Warranty, which is just the shizzzZ. I look forward to getting to know this one better over the years...the Germanium (Green) side was my personal favorite, and to my ear, really gave the tone I think of when I think of "Z" amp style overdrive.

from the web:

"The z-drive is designed and manufactured by EarthQuaker Devices and available exclusively from all Dr. Z dealers. It is a dual channel light/medium gain overdrive with a universal active 3 band EQ. The germanium side is lighter gain with a more open feel while the mosfet side is higher gain with a tighter response. Each channel has a bass cut toggle to further fine tune and differentiate the tonal response and tailor it to your rig."

The Z-Drive starts with an active global EQ and gives you a choice between two distinct sounding preamp channels (via the channel footswitch). The germanium channel uses NOS germanium diodes and is a lighter more open sounding overdrive. The mosfet channel is a more compressed, higher gain overdrive. Both gain stages use hi-fi OPA 2134 op amps. Becasue the signal goes through the EQ first, turning the EQ controls clockwise can increase overall gain/distortion.

With the Z-Drive you essentially get two pedals in one. You can use one channel as a cleaner boost and the second channel for full overdrive or dial in overdrive sounds to bring out the different characteristics of each channel. Between the two channels and the full EQ the Z-Drive will open up a world of possibilties while complementing the tone of your amp.

Specifications



Controls: Germanium channel: drive, level and cut switch. Mosfet channel: drive, level and cut switch. Global EQ: Bass, middle, treble, Channel and Bypass footswitches.

I used my http://www.mjtagedfinishes.com MJT Stratocaster , loaded with http://www.jgcpickups.com JGC custom wound pickups, the mighty tight Quantum Silver flavored Dr. Z ANTIDOTE head and 212 Cabinet, and the http://www.thedivinenoise.com Divine Noise white coily cable of taste and romance. YEP!