I Didn't Get Robben Ford's Favourite Drive Pedal - The Zendrive
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The zendrive is a simple circuit. Just a noninverting op amp gain stage running into a buffer stage. the only different thing is it includes mosfet for clipping along with diodes. You won't hear the clipping until the gain is turn up high. The Ultraphonics is identical circuit just the input gain stage is inverting. The voice controls is just a variable resistor to ground in the clipping stage which affects mids. Be a cool mod for a tube screamer instead of the fixed resistor.
Right, the mosfets (there are two of them) combined with the diodes make the clipping more complicated than the usual diodes. I think this makes the nature of the clipping more dynamically responsive. And the voice control has a capacitor in series with the pot, so it's doing some EQ in the negative feedback path, as well as affecting the gain. So, "simple" is right, but it's quite clever. -Tom
You make anything sound good bro
That Pedal Show already posted with Robben Ford ..
Great interview.
Help The Poor is probably one of my favorite modern blues leads that I have ever heard! Nice homage to that tune! I would love to see you do a tutorial on that piece!
Many years ago my friend and I stumbled into a tonal anomaly with one of the original zen drive pedals that I had. On a whim we ran it through the effects loop of the mesa boogie dc2 head that I had at the time. Some kind of magic happened with that combination that produced a lead tone that was incredibly warm and rich with harmonics and had tons of sustain. It was one of those complete oddity things. After moving on to better gear I did try to replicate it again but wasn't able to. It was a magical thing that happened with that specific pedal and that specific amp with whatever tubes were in it at the time.
It is a good pedal and your observation of it seeming to prefer humbuckers in the Gibson matches my experience with it as well. For my experience messing with it the best use seems to be finding a great lead tone you like on an amp then adding the zen drive to it and using it more like a boost. It does really well at retaining a great tone that you get setup on the amp then clicking it on to give you a bit more of that tone that's just a little bit better.
The Warm Audio Warmdrive is a true reproduction of the Zen.
They use premium components for only $149.
I really like it.
Ab concur! By itself wil get LOUD quickly in my rig!
Warm make affordable versions of various gear, but they’re not the same. Don’t mind the ‘OC75’ mode of the Warm Bender, even though that doesn’t use actual OC75 transistors either …
The thing about the Zendrive is it loves a bit of power from the pickup such as a hot tele pickup or a humbucker or a P90. With a strat, I usually stack it with something really transparent to fatten it up a bit. It also loves a bridge pickup mostly with the exception of those mini humbuckers. The other thing about it is that the EQ is designed for the pedal to be used louder volumes. The EQ is pretty narrow so if you play it at bedroom volume it's just going to sound pretty thin and weak and bright, but up loud, it sings and sits in a really nice spot. Has those very vocal upper mids. People will also complain that it doesn't have enough gain. Again, to those players, turn it up! and it's smooth as silk and clear.
Yeah, my fav tone comes from stacking a JOYO Taichi > IRIN Taichi!! very touch sensitive and cheap pedals, but great tone!!
Dude, the be part to that intro song was freaking beautiful as heck, especially when the shimmer part started entering into the background.
Lovepedal/Hermida are very underrated people in my opinion. The Zendrive or the Amp Eleven are fantastic.
The intro jam was awesome!
I retired the Zendrive from my board after 12 years. Actually it’s not retired, it’s more “Grab & Go” when I would do a one-off or going to a jam session. It’s the back up for the pedalboard. It’s the backup for the pedalboard. Check out Robben’s playing on Neil Larsen “Oribt album. Some of my favorite Robben. I believe he is using a Zendrive / Super Reverb / Telecaster.
+1 for Neil Larsen and Robben Ford
Yeah, that "bloom" component to the tone is something I really love! Don't ask me to get too specific about what exactly it is or how the circuit does it, but I know it when I hear it and my favorite light/moderate overdrive tones tend to have it. -Tom
Awesome! Great work getting that tone and style!
God Bless!
I have a Zendrive that I use on my board too - it's my go to for humbuckers. One more tip that works for me - I use a Keeley compressor before the Zendrive as an extra boost (set the Zendrive for moderate gain, and the compressor is great for adding when you want to do leads). For my strats, I find that the Kingtone Soloist is the best drive pedal.
Chirpy Blooming - Cicadas are buzzing here in the US . If only we could capture that Tone.
Kind of does that fuzz-pedal-with-volume-turned-down thing. It has some low end to help lead lines sing/sustain. Has enough mids to stand out. I can see why they like it. Nice jam at the beginning! Jazzy and cool.
I use my Strat with a Zendrive. It's my go to OD rhythm sound. There's a nice compression and a mid-thump that makes playing octaves really sing.
Beautiful tone and playing !
I got to see EJ demonstrate and talk through how he uses the Zendrive. He started with the Zendrive, then turned on the Dover Drive, and Memory Man just for the preamp. It was fascinating hearing his tone develop in real time.
Must have been at the Andy Wood Event?
@@ksharpe10 Must have 😉. Well worth checking out.
@@jaysmoreymusic If I had the MONEY I would have Paid for JOHN to GO, Last August. I wanted him to meet and play with EJ, Andy Timmons, Andy Wood, he and Andy Wood are Instagram friends.
The most important control on the pedal is the Toneknob. Its best at around 4 for clarity, not 1. I do have an old Hermida Zendrive from 2008and it really blew my mind. It became my main Drivepedal. Not fizzy at all.
Nice altered licks John!
Its favourite picked a Zen Drive ii with the internal tube 10or more years ago at a steal… so grateful,
In my Fractal, I have the scenes named with typical things like 'lead', 'crunch', 'effects', etc.. To that list I have added a 'Cordy' descriptor. 😀
I love my zendrives. Have two love pedal versions (gold and vanilla mojo) and og hermida one like you have and the hermida zen 2 with a tube. They are all awesome. Some of my favorites along with the Tchula
Had a ZD direct from Alfie in 2009. Most of that time with single coils. Now it sings with P90, Goldtop. Use it for creamy leads, through a Lightning, YGM3 and now a TS1. I use Voice to help the front/neck pup through the mix, raise to taste. Will never sell it.
Additionally, I understood the ZD to have TS9 underpinning fundamental circuit, which would explain why I find it stacks really well with Klon circuits like Centavo and Tumnus, ala John Mayer taste.
@@TeleTonemonkey Can You Share A Bit More The Stacking with A Tumnus? I have A Tumnus Deluxe wich i like and looking for another drive for more variation.
@@robb4340 Hi, sure. @justinjeske has quite a bit on this topic in respect of John Mayer, who has often put a TS 9/10 style circuit before and/or after a Klon for his boosted OD sound. It’s still not high gain, (but it can be) since both John and I tend to use the Klon circuit as an always on low gain. I place the Zendrive before the Tumnus Deluxe in the chain. Hope that helps.
@@TeleTonemonkey Thanks, That sure helps, i have the Maxon tubescreamer on another board and can experiment with the combi. Still curieus about the Zendrive. It is on the wishlist with the TS10 blue anniversary Edition.
I’ve only used a digital “version” of the Zendrive in the HX Stomp, but I’ve found it works great for me. I play single coils and tend toward high headroom bright clean amp tones, and the Zendrive with medium gain, high voice and high tone settings gives me big thick gain sounds without getting spiky or harsh.
I have tried 20 OD's Dists and fuzzes. But tone heaven is usually a super light Barber boost in front of my 20 year old Zendrive (kicked on for solo's, primarily). The Zendrive is the most "amplike" for my pop, blues, rock, funk, clean, 3D tone. Also a set of old fralin Blues Special strat PU's plugged into my 20 year old Meteor (large cab 1 x12" combo) Tone King is a huge part of it. I also use AC Booster always on boost for many songs as part of rhythm guitar band RICH tone accompaniment.
Yeah man, I didn’t get the zendrive at first either. Then I realised it’s really best on the bridge pickup with a humbucker guitar - as the extra mid range fills out the bridge pickup and makes it more dynamic yet big sounding. Also I found if the drive is too low or too high it doesn’t work either. There’s a sweet spot in the middle. Oh and it really only works for that Robben tone IMO - but it does that so great but doesn’t work for much else.
I prefer soft clipping as opposed to hard clipping. The mosfet in series with a low forward voltage diode produces a soft knee to the signal as it's clipped. That is the key for the smooth/rich harmonics and "dumbleish" moniker associated with that design. Not a huge fan of the EQ controls though. If you put the Zen clipping in a Timmy you have the ultimate OD pedal.
Nice guerrilla marketing! Well played! Great content too!
"I didn't get it" ..the new tag line for half of your videos
All use. I have a coupla originals, knew Alf from a long time ago. Makes a great sound....sound even better. I just leave it on all the time and back off my guitar's volume a tad to clean up. I don't have to go searching for a pedal no matter where I am. I just turn the volume back up.
That run at 1:30 in was so delicious 🎉
I fanboi bought a HALO and while I like it and am not selling it anytime soon, it's taken me a while to get on with but I think that's because its really not that intuitive. Then to continue the fanboi buy, I recently bought a Muse and this one....This one had me chuffed straight away. Really love it. That RT Germanium switch is very cool. Pretty expensive for a Canadian but I am feeling like this was a very strong buy, even using it through pedal platform patches I've made in the Morgan and MLC_Zero vstis I have.
Personally, I dislike almost all drive pedals. I always use amp gain controlled with a expr. pedal or the volume knob on the guitar if I need more gain/boost. Except the Zendrive. For me it's the only drive pedal I've used that makes it feel like it's amp gain.
I would love to know how you use an expression pedal to control amp gain please. In the FX loop?
@@MrIantodd With a real amp you'd have to be creative :D A volume pedal before the amp could have an effect like that?
But I use a modeler with a built in expression pedal, so I can put pretty much any parameter on the exp. pedal (I find gain and delay mix most effective). Just one of the perks.
@@clouds5 ah right I see. Thank you for that. I thought you meant you put it in the FX loop of a combo or something
Love the intro - I'm stealing a few chord voicings. 🙂
What song is he playing? What’s the name of this song?
@@Rybocass Help the Poorby Robben Ford
That’s just some nice sweet dirt!!!
I love the Zen Drive, but it has been a ‘marmite’ pedal of late… but its still a great sound…
Another fav that’s surprising is the Vox Satchurator.
I had an original Hermida Audio Zendrive. Sounded great. Stupidly, I felt like a change so i sold it (for twice what i paid) and bought into the Klon hyperbole. Total disaster, apart from the profit on the Zendrive (though I would turn the clock back in a heart beat if I could have the Zendrive back)
I can get into the Dumblepark with my Soul Driven though ... and lots of other parks too.
I've just seen the pedalshow and your video and got a bit of FOMO. As you're my go-to expert for line 6 HX Stomp, I was wondering if you could achieve a sound similar to the Zendrive with the Dhyana Drive on the HX Stomp.
I have one, i love it but only with bridge pu
I’ve had an early Hermida Zendrive 2 for quite some time now, but I still think the Zendrive sounds better.
The Zendrive really really needs to hit an already breaking up amp, then it’s instant violin tone.
Try running the Warm Drive in front of an TC Electronics Dark Matter for the crunchy factor, n then a TS-10 to roll off a tad of the edge its UNBLVBLE thru my D style #124 Clean channel ...amp is ALL all tricked out i mean it is ab UNREEL! Will bloom to perfect clear octave at any vol setting Use a outbrd loop, Intellifex n use a TC HOF to add slit kik on leads.........live i slave out to a jet city combo fx rtn.... using last in line ditto looper b4 ampfx rtn.......
The zen drive was one of the earlier helix drives to draw my attention, the king of tone versions and the Klon kinda rounded it up along with the rat. A proper Hameida one I’ve never had the actual please but how would you rate Jake’s one vs the hxstomp based one? I know for myself the KLONE is perfectly fine , either analog or digital.
Wish I could purchase an original Hermida version.
Strat players often dont get the Robben Ford sound. The zendrive tries so reach early Robben overdrive, with plenty of drive
Crowther Hot Cake. I’ve owned 2 and sold 2.
I prefer my J. Rocket Melody. More tweakable and versatile.
Thanks JAKE for the LOAN.
How do you think it compares to the zen drive in the helix?
... that's a good question
Am i the only one that likes the zen drive pedal but think the line6 model sounds like crap in my pod go? Its so frustrating because I really want to use it but its so freaking fizzy no matter what I do. Could be I use the wrong set up around it but tried cleans vs ac 30 style amps and it just isnt hitting it for me
I much prefer the Gladio over the Zendrive
Loved the opening music!!!!! Most of the time I can do without the opening music on this channel, which is odd since John Cordy can play his ass off, i just only like about %10 of fusion jazz, most of it is like listening to Novocaine
Hermida or Love Pedal?
Watch that pedal show, make a video lol!
Bello! ❤
Tubescreamer...I've had a few and sold them. I just don't like em at all they don't do "it" for me. But to each their own
Help the Poor, and help poor me.
compare it with the line6 model :), through e real amp , like for like
Is it as good as the Royal Overdrive?
I have a Royal and a tube Zen2. Both great. Zen is more special. Royal is more versatile.
I’ve had the Zen for 10 years, and it will be the last pedal I ever part with.
My Royal…I’m looking to sell or trade.
But I can not emphasize enough…the Royal is the most versatile gain pedal maybe ever made. It has switches that, when combined in the correct way, allow you to use the Royal with any amplifier and sound great. Amplifiers have different input impedances and different gain structures, and some pedals just don’t sound good with certain amps.
The Royal can and will work great with any amp.
@@zenlandziplineInteresting. Out of interest, have you compared your tube Zen with a Dumbloid?
@@ashbody3499 no, I haven’t. I’ve never played through a Dumbloid or even a Big Bloom. I had a conversation a few years back with a guy who owned many of the same pedals I own, and he also had a Dumbloid. And, I asked him the same question you are asking me. From what I can remember, he basically said the Dumbloid was a great pedal, was different than the tube Zen, but didn’t say it was “better” sounding than the Zen.
From what I understand, the Dumbloid has a crazy amount of volume available in it. It’s a super loud pedal, but with that volume comes a lot of hiss and noise. It’s usually like that though: all the good sounding pedals produce a lot of white noise and/or hum. (Although, the Zen doesn’t seem to be real noisy)
@@zenlandzipline Very interesting. Appreciate your response. Have heard something similar i.e. that all Dumble amps are voiced differently and so it follows any pedals can only ever be interpretations of individual amps. I once had a Dumbloid clone, which I liked a lot. Agree it had a high noise floor. Tho’ it also had compelling harmonic content, verging on fuzz at higher gain levels. I guess I probably need both! Ha ha! Thanks again for your reply.
Big Muff, never got it to sound great.
Me either I called mine big turd and sold it quickly 😂
Well. I guess mine must be broken 😂 … it doesn’t sound anywhere near as good as yours 😅
Yep that’s got to be the worst sound I’ve heard on here. Zen drive indeed.
There's something about Robben Ford... I don't trust that guy.
Hair dye?
Both of you two…weird comments.