zendrive or ethos pedals

[boblazz]

is anybody using either the zendrive 2 or the ethos overdrive pedal with their express?

 

[Rockerduck]

After years of trying (and buying) all the latest distortion pedals. I still use my vintage TS808 and the OCD v4. Had had the TS808 for years and the OCD for a couple. Honestly, these two do it all. I owned two Zendrives, Dr. Jekyll, Blackstar, MXR's, Rat's, Boss pedals, red witch, and others. I've sold them all and kept the TS808 and the OCD. There hasn't really been anything new, just marketing a $4 board in a new box. IMHO

 

[boblazz]

thanks for the reply rockerduck. i know what you are saying about the marketing. although i did buy a bb preamp pedal and so far the tone i am getting is part of what i am looking for. great pedal.

 

[geetar_geek79]

i just got my ethos (w/ tle switch) today and to me it's amazing! i'm more of a metal guy and until about a year ago i started gassing for clean to medium gain amp to satisfy my blues/pop music cravings. i somehow ended my search with this pedal. being used to mostly tight amps (dual rec, quad, herbert), the ethos has this "chewy" feeling to it (in classic mode). i don't know. it's hard for me to describe since i'm new to vintage/bluesy sound. for now, i use it in front of my vetta 2 with the amp model set on bypass and all effects turned off except for a bit of reverb. it changed the way that amp 'feels.' i know i've only owned the ethos for about half a day. But i've owned the vetta for 3 years now and i think it's safe to say that the ethos changed the way that amp feels. i also own the ocd which sounds great as well, but on a different territory. i haven't tried them both yet since the ocd is not with me right now, but i'm sure i'll have some fun. i'll also try the other features like the DI when i have more time.

now comes what sucks about the ethos... the wait. i waited almost a year when i ordered mine just because i didn't want to buy something that costs more off ebay. but it was worth it, imho.

 

[mcbain]

I just got a Zendrive last weekend and although I've only used it once, it was for about 8 hours because I could NOT put my guitar down with that pedal in the chain!!! Really great dynamics with plenty of kick for anyone thats not playing in a Napalm Death cover band. I used the blues channel with the gain around 1:30 on the express and only about 8:30 or 9:00 if I remember on the pedal. "Dumble Tone" might be an insult to some people, but those are good words to describe the sound Im after in my head. This pedal was definitely hitting that warm, mid-rich clarity in strides.

To those that have used the Zendrive and OCD, how do they compare/ contrast to one another?

I really liked the sound of the Ethos too, so much so that I'm on the build list, but I needed something to hold me over for almost a year. I wasn't expecting to be so blown away by the Zendrive from day 1. Sweet problem to have! :lol:

 

[Wolfboy1]

I have tried the OCD but was really not a fan (I am probably in the minority on this). Three OD/Distortion pedal I have kept that I really like with my 5:25 1x12:
1) Wampler Pinnacle
2) Paul Cochrane Tim
3) Digitech Hardwire CM-2 (Didn't care for the SC-2 or TL-2 as much)

DLS didn't get it for me either as I think the amp itself covers this territory quite well (same with OCD)

 

[mtodd6]

I have tried the OCD but was really not a fan

I've looked at schematics for Ibanez TS & Maxon 808 & these things are mostly linear op amps. TS has some transistors in there. The old MXR distortion is just one op amp -- the kind of stuff you do in your first IC class lab. I bought a Digitech knock of MXR & it sounded like a mad can of bees. The Fulltone stuff makes a big deal out of using MOS FET transistors in such a way that mimics the gain stages in your tube amp, but don't know anything about the OCD. The only thing I've heard that really grabbed me was some kind of Xotic BB, but the guy was playing it through a Fuchs boutique EL-34 amp with no effects or reverb, so I wasn't sure how much was the pedal & how much was the boost & the vintage sound of the amp pre & power stages, output xform saturation, speaker break up, etc.

The bottom line is these are (cheap) solid state devices. The MOS FET stuff can be warm because I have some solid state hifi stuff from 1970s which sounds a lot better than this digital component stuff I've since thrown away. I really see no difference between these pedals and a high quality active electronics in your guitar, which would also be based on op amps, if you need a clean boost or active equalization.

Invariably, on a recording I really, really like, when I find out the setup, it was a production (basic) tube amp, like a Fender Twin, cranked to the gills with no effects except delay or reverb in mix down. All the boutique tube stuff is retro back to a simpler design.

 

[Rockerduck]

You got that right. Like I said earlier, most of it to me is marketing a $4 board in a metal box. Nothing new has been invented. Linear op amps and eq filtering.

 

[mtodd6]

Like I said earlier, most of it to me is marketing a $4 board in a metal box

I lost your thought in the thread, but that's a perfect way to characterize the whole "boutique" pedal scam. As for building them, there have to be some kits out there but with economies of scale they are not that cheap either.

This is where modeling could enhance the early 1970s IC and provide some kind idealization of a stomp box. I see some stomp box modeling out there, with Boss/Roland & Digitech & others. I have a couple of Boss MFX & they sound ok for the convenience/grab-and-go factor with the modularity & built in volume/wah pedal when all you need is a particular effect for a song or 2.

I still want to check out the Fulltone stuff if it's really all MOS FET, like a nice bass amp or 1970 HIFI component. Without the schematics, there's no way to know. If it has op amps, might as well go for a retro all solid state amp which you can get cheap (Tech21, old Roland Cube, Yamaha G100) and take advantage of the lower gravitational effect.

I still think there's a market for a solid state front end & tube power stage, like the old 1970s Music Man amps, but we're all convinced about tube amps & yet we keep sticking those $4 boxes in front.

Here is a good link for effects schematics.

http://analogguru.an.ohost.de/193/schematics/

 

[Newysurfer]

is anybody using either the zendrive 2 or the ethos overdrive pedal with their express?

No haven't tried these 2 pedals - why do you ask ???