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Post by mickey on May 26, 2016 0:44:47 GMT -7
Appreciate your replies, many thanks. For some reason I seem to be holding off on the ZD. I'm curious because it's a Z, but actually I'm pretty satisfied with the overdrives I already have, and I'm not sure the ZD would give me anything more, though I could sell off a couple.....
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Post by dergit (Markus) on May 26, 2016 3:10:41 GMT -7
It really depends on what you want/need. I really like the Z-Drive and here's why: It feels like a remote for my MAZ more than a drive pedal. It doesn't really give me a completely different flavour of OD, it gives me something close to what my MAZ would give me if I set it differently. Of course, it's rather unpractical to be running over to your amp on stage, dime the Volume and Master, click back the Brake Lite another 2 clicks, crank the Mids and turn back the Bass. But it would give me something very similar to what I use the red side for. The green side I set up to sound like I run the Master at 3pm and turn up a fourth EQ knob somewhere between Mid and Treble so that's great, because that knob obviously isn't there on my amp.
So it almost feels like I have two additional "presets" for my MAZ rather than a drive pedal. For me, that's great. If you want a Marshall style OD in a box or a Dumble style OD in a box, there's pedals for that. The Z-Drive isn't that – in my opinion. Although it's very versatile with the EQ and I'm sure you could somewhat emulate completely different sounds as well. To me, it really shines if you want some of the flavours that are already in your Z amp on your pedal board. I don't know how it fares with non-Z amps and whether it brings the Z flavour to those but if it does, that'd be awesome for those unfortunate souls!
I sold my Rockett Dude (awesome D-style OD!) and now use my Klone for what it's really good for: pseudo-clean mid-treb solo boost at the end of the chain and my EP booster for what it's really good for: simple clean boost. All my dirt sounds are handled by the Z-Drive because I prefer Z dirt over other dirt.
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Post by mickey on May 26, 2016 10:32:13 GMT -7
It really depends on what you want/need. I really like the Z-Drive and here's why: It feels like a remote for my MAZ more than a drive pedal. It doesn't really give me a completely different flavour of OD, it gives me something close to what my MAZ would give me if I set it differently. Of course, it's rather unpractical to be running over to your amp on stage, dime the Volume and Master, click back the Brake Lite another 2 clicks, crank the Mids and turn back the Bass. But it would give me something very similar to what I use the red side for. The green side I set up to sound like I run the Master at 3pm and turn up a fourth EQ knob somewhere between Mid and Treble so that's great, because that knob obviously isn't there on my amp. So it almost feels like I have two additional "presets" for my MAZ rather than a drive pedal. For me, that's great. If you want a Marshall style OD in a box or a Dumble style OD in a box, there's pedals for that. The Z-Drive isn't that – in my opinion. Although it's very versatile with the EQ and I'm sure you could somewhat emulate completely different sounds as well. To me, it really shines if you want some of the flavours that are already in your Z amp on your pedal board. I don't know how it fares with non-Z amps and whether it brings the Z flavour to those but if it does, that'd be awesome for those unfortunate souls! I sold my Rockett Dude (awesome D-style OD!) and now use my Klone for what it's really good for: pseudo-clean mid-treb solo boost at the end of the chain and my EP booster for what it's really good for: simple clean boost. All my dirt sounds are handled by the Z-Drive because I prefer Z dirt over other dirt. A very clear explanation dergit, makes a lot of sense. I must say I've had some great sounds out of my Maz without using any pedals, but it's not as controllable on the fly, as you say. My KOT does me just fine, and I use my Klon like you do, but I've now made an offer on a ZD so we'll see what happens!
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Post by dergit (Markus) on May 26, 2016 10:36:15 GMT -7
Well, I guess I could have put it a lot simpler: There's colour drives and there's transparent overdrives. Klon and KoT are transparent ODs. Your amp will sound like it sounds but pushed over the edge. The Z-Drive is definitely more of a colour drive but if you have a Z amp, I guess they're the same colour so it seems a lot more transparent.
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Post by mickey on May 26, 2016 10:47:35 GMT -7
Well I'll soon know, as I just bought a Z-Drive, should be here in a few days. To be honest I don't find the Klon very transparent though. With the gain off yes I agree, but I hear a definite mid hump as I turn the gain up, though this can be compensated for, to an extent, with the treble control. My KOT is pretty transparent on the yellow side, but the red side has more mids, probably due to the high gain option. Thanks for your input on this thread, much appreciated!
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Post by mickey on May 29, 2016 4:32:51 GMT -7
Update....Z-Drive has arrived, a used but mint one I got for a great price. Haven't had time to really put it through its paces yet, but I'm sure I'll report back in due course!
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Post by douglong on May 30, 2016 5:09:06 GMT -7
Looking forward to your review. I'm very close to pulling the trigger for one myself.
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Post by mickey on Jun 6, 2016 0:58:21 GMT -7
Well, I won't pretend to be very good at objective reviews, it all depends so much on what you want the pedal to do, how you hear it, and how it reacts with your guitar and amp. But, apart from some trials at home, I took my Z-Drive to a gig a couple of nights ago, where I rigged it so I could switch between that and my KOT. I also took my Ghia head and 2x10 cab, which is unusual as my Maz Sr and 1x12/Gold gets 99% of my gigs. The outcome.....I need to try it some more, but it's clearly a very good pedal. The germanium side I particularly like, it has a nice natural, amp like feel to it, and I was able to get a really great sound with my 335, lots of bite but not too thin, still full bodied. Sounds good with the Strat too. The mosfet side is harder for me to get used to, as I found if I increased the drive the low end started to break up more than I would like. I like the low end to remain solid and piano-like, though I'm fairly certain that would be more to do with the amp; although the Ghia volume never went above 9 or 9.30 o'clock it does start to break up quickly, and the tone knob was set at about 2 o' clock, so with some bass dialed in. Also in retrospect keeping the bass knob on the pedal down but the cut off may help, as fewer low frequencies would be sent to the drive stage, but the bass would be added afterwards. (If I'm right, and I may not be, the cut operates after the drive stage, but the EQ controls before). There's a lot of variation available, so I think to nail it in one gig is asking too much. I'm not sure if it will replace my KOT, but it most definitely is a contender, or a fine alternative. The KOT has its own character which I like a lot, though I only tend to use it with my Strat, preferring an OCD for the Les Paul or 335. However the Z-Drive is more versatile, and I found I could get pleasing sounds with both single coils and humbuckers. I would agree with others who say that it can be set as an extension to the amp, preserving the core tone. One difficulty I do have with the Z-Drive is actually due to my color-blindness. When I step on the channel change switch the LED is hidden from view, then when I take my foot off I can't see clearly whether it is now green or red, so I do wish maybe that LED was placed away from the switch itself. Also, I like my drive volume to be just a tad louder than my bypass volume; this was a bit of a balancing act as there is so much volume available from the Z-Drive, and a small tweak of the volume knob at the lower end of its travel can make a big difference. It's a loud pedal! So there you have it.....for now at least! The Z-Drive is a great pedal for sure; next time I'll try it with my Maz, which I'm more used to. I hope this makes some sense to anyone interested.
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Post by mickey on Jun 7, 2016 10:43:08 GMT -7
OK, still messin' with the ZD. Been playing it through the Maz, and now I hear what dergit said, it's like an extension of the amp. Very nice, pretty much the same tone and drive character as when I turn the Maz's volume right up, master around 10 o' clock, and Airbrake on two or three clicks. Now ease that volume back to say 2 o' clock, switch in the ZD, and it's very close indeed, particularly on the green channel. Also, I notice the note separation with the ZD is very good, plenty of drive if you want it but you can still hear individual notes in the chord. More so on the green side than the red, but that's to be expected with the amount of drive available on the red. With the Maz, it's easier than with the Ghia to get the pedal volume balanced how I want it against the bypass volume. Also, turn the guitar down with the ZD on and it cleans up really nicely.
So, all good then. That's me done!
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