CMATMODS Signa Drive

This takes some tweeking, but is a labor of love since all toggle positions sound great.

Just a brilliant pedal. You can go from Tube Screamer to T.S. modded and much more sustain. Even at the highest gain setting, it has unbeatable tone. This pedal covers a great deal of ground. It makes for a fantastic recording device allowing you to get so much sound from it. The tone is out of this world. He could sell this pedal for over three hundred dollars, and it would be still be worth buying. I bought mine for $135. What a buy.

It's tough, but I have not had it long enough to take it on the road.

All contact has been via email

Blues/Funk/R&B - 30yearsplaying - Yes I'd relplace it - TONE TONE Versatile - I wish it was a two channel pedal, so I could have more of this beautiful tone.

Standard drive, tone, level
Three-way swtich:
up- a really open drive with alot of presence (the best setting to my ears at least)
middle- a nice clean, kind of thick, boost
down- alot like the up position but with more gain, less presence, and with not as much of a volume boosting capability

I think people who like the sound of their amp cranked will like the the up and middle position the best.
For those looking for more of a drive the down position will be for them. Very versitile.

I'm playing a 2000 american strat and a 2002 gretsch duo jet into a vox ac-30 w/alnico blue celestions.

Before i bought this i was using a keeley 808 mod plus tube screamer as my main overdrive i say that because it being my main overdrive before makes it a bases for comparison. I liked the 808 alot and its a really good box i still carry it around as a back up but after playing the signa for a couple of weeks it no longer has a place on my board.

Its almost like my tone had a blanket over it because the best way to describe the signa is "open" I have to admit it took some getting used to because i was so used to that mid-heavy "boxy" smoothness the 808 gave me. Which is good for some applications but i can honestly say the singa is superior!
I'm so impressed with this pedal but i think there are some misconceptions about it: For one i don't think it sounds like a tube screamer, its completly evolved, although its based on the same chip used in most 808 clones i just don't hear it. Which in my opinion is good gear should always be improving and not be stuck in the past.
I also don't think it sounds like a marshall and i've owned a few ( a bluesbreaker, a 18watt plexi clone, and a dsl 2000 to be exact) It has a nice drive and i think its unique.

Very sturdy construction I don't foresee any problems.

I bugged Chad at cmatmods with so many pestering emails and he was always courteous and polite. When i was going though a mid-hump withdraw after switching from the 808 he even offered to add the mid-hump, i'm glad i didn't do it!

Great box worth every penny, if your on a fence just buy it you won't regret it.

Ive only had this pedal for a week. However Ive already found much more pleasing tones from this pedal than I have in the last 4 years of owning my fuzz and TS808.

"How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?"

Very easy. My ears like this pedal only after about a week of use. All settings are rich and useful.

The only thing lacking is a description of the pedals three way switch settings. Its not a big deal as you can hear the differences but Im a little bit "pedal dumb" so I could use all the help I can get :-) Thats the reason for a 9 instead of 10.

"What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?"

I play either a MIM Strat or home-thrown together Tele straight into this CMATMODS Signa drive pedal, into a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue amp.

"Is it noisy? On what settings?"

The pedal isnt particularly noisy as far as pedals go.

"Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?"

I really dont have any particular artist tones in mind with this, but I can get a wide array of tones - cleanish boost, to a light crunch to all out gainy - but I can keep it smooth - thats what I like the most. Not quite like Eric Johnson's smooth OD tone but close... thats mostly because I play through a DRRI not Marshall's...

Havent gigged with it. Looks sturdy though and seems solid.

Chad is a good guy to deal with. Friendly to deal with.

"What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?"

I play mostly pristine clean stuff on the Deluxe reverb - blues, country, jazz, rock...

This is a perfect match for any style needing mild to moderate overdrive on the pedal.

"How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?"

I had a TS808 until after I got this pedal. Still have a dunlop fuzz.

"If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?"

Id get another one of these exact pedals. I love it.

This pedal is so rich with harmonics. I can turn up the gain and at low volumes get some beautiful feedback from the amp...

Great pedal! Check out www.cmatmods.com for sound clips too!

Very easy to use. Has a gain, volume, and tone knob - all self explanatory. The key is the three way switch which changes diode clipping to give you three very overdrive different sounds. I am still not sure exactly what these sounds are approximating but I will give a brief description of what I think they sound like. Up position sounds like a Plexi Marshall and there is moderate boost capability. Middle position is lower gain but works extremely well as a semi-clean boost as there is a fairly large volume that can be added in this position. If you have other overdrive pedals on your board, this position is very useful to push them even harder. I use next to a TS9/808 (Analogman)to get that SRV running two 808's sound. The down position has the highest amount of gain on tap and the least boost capability. It is a great sound by itself and remains transparent even at the highest gain setting. There is more gain in this position than my tubescreamer ant the sound is similar to a more modern Marshall.

I use this with my two main guitars - PRS McCarty and Fender 50th anniversary deluxe strat into either a 65 Super reverb (Not reissue) or Rivera Chubster. Sounds incredible with either guitar or amp .The tone knob is very useful over a wide range to help dial in you sound which I find very helpful since I switch between 6L6GC and EL34 amps. I also have several other pedals including Chad's Signa drive, a CMATMODS modded CE-2, CMATMODS modded DD-3, TS9/808 (Analogman), Analogman Fuzzface, Vox wah, and a few others. Works very well with all of these pedals.

Only had it for a few weeks but seems as sturdy as all of my other product from CMATMODS.

I can't praise Chad enough in this category. He always responds within 1-2 hours to my e-mails and has one of the fastest turnaround times on orders I have ever seen. You can send a pedal to him for a mod on Monday of one week and have it back by Monday the following week (It helps that I live in VA - Chad is based in TN). New pedals have gotten to me within 3 days.

I think for the money, this is the most versatile overdrive pedal I have used. I have played an OCD V3 and did not like the fact that I couldn't dial out the gain. I am sure there are better pedals out there but nothing that is even close to this in bang for the buck value.

Very Simple, Tone, Drive Level, and a 3 way toggle. The difference in the middle and top toggle settings are hard to discern, But basically they all scream. The bottom setting is a thicker Gain.

I've had this effect for about 9 months. I used to use two tube screamers in sequence, but the second one on top of the first could just get muddy, and if the levels arent perfect, you could click it on and it was quieter than just one. So basically I wanted a second quality OD for solos. I use either a 68 Fender twin, or a Carr Rambler for smaller gigs, with a couple of PRS's and a Strat. This pedal can get some searing lead tones. I think its as good or better than fulltone fulldrive 2, Zen Drive,tubescreamers, and obviously any boss OD. Then a friend lent me a Clay Jones OD (the unaquireable $1000 one) and upon playing it thru my Rambler, I did think it was worth all the hype. It certainly sounds great, but when I ABed the two last night at practice, I think the Sigma Drive is a little brighter and certainly more versatile, what with the 3 way toggle. The Signa can cut thru any Mix.

Its been quite reliable, Its got a really really bright LED, which I'm not sure I love for gigs. But Its been lugged around and had a couple beer spills on it, so I think its more than reliable.

Havent spoken to Chad, but I got it promptly. Looks like he puts alot of care into his products. I'm going to order a deeelay soon.

I've been playing for 20 years, in Bands for most of that time. Play classic rock, originals, Jam band -Allman brothers sort of stuff, and this certainly fits the bill nicely. It does make a tube screamer sound like its housed in cardboard, as some other poster here mentioned.

3 knobs and a switch. Up switch, marshall tone. Middle switch, tube screamer without mid hump. Down switch, somewhat of a compressor in it, also has a more fuzz like sound.

I use a gibson les paul, homemade strat, and epiphone les paul through a crybaby wah, mxr distortion plus, signa drive, and digitech rp 200 through a peavey valveking. I used to play a marshall mg. Made mg sound like a tube amp!!! Just buy this, it is sick. It blows the Dist. + out of the water. I love whenever I'm playing a clean song, I just roll the gain knob back to 9 o'clock, sounds insane. The only thing is there isn't enough gain but it don't matter.

Oh yes, its reliable.

Chad is a great guy. Helps a lot.

I play classic rock, punk rock, alternative, ska-punk, and some other rock. Mainly I play Led Zeppelin, Green Day, Sublime, White Stripes, Jimi Hendrix, and Foo fighters. Sounds great with all of them. Would buy another if it needed to be replaced. Just love it. I do wish it had more gain. PLEASE BUY THIS

Very easy to use, level, gain and tone knobs, unlike many other OD/Dist pedals, are usable on all settings. The 3 way switch changes the gain structure and is also usable in all positions.

9V power jack is on the side which is a bit irksome, but obviously, it is still easy to use.

I'm running a Telecaster, a Strat (with Lawerence Blade Pickups), and a Les Paul through a 62' Gibson GA-77 amp (think fender-like). I play classic rock, jazz, and country.

It sounds different with every guitar because it doesn't sound "like a pedal". It is truly amp like in both dynamics and transparency. Even with the gain and level cranked, there is very, very little noise.

On positions 1 (think tubescreamer with less mids), and 2 (think plexi-ish, not super high gain, but a nice crunch) sound is punchy but creamy. The 3rd position is very higher gain marshall-ish (not medal, but anything to Guns N' Roses type gain) and still cuts through great.

Mine's at least 5 months old and it's been solid as a rock, feels sturdy, built extremely well.

Simply the best, Chad (the builder of all CMATMODS pedals) responds to emails promptly, even if they are stupid questions, great guy and really stands behind his products.

Great sound, great value, best overdrive I've personally played, complements my playing style and tone preference perfectly.

Drive, Tone and Level controls plus a 3 position switch for the different drive voicing. Not much to confuse any of us here. It does take a little time to experiment with the 3 different voicings... this is not a pedal problem, it's because you will get lost in tone land somewhere during the process and forget to come back.

I run the pedal with a Fender reissue 60's strat into a Fender Reissue 65 Deluxe Reverb amp. I have Chad's delay pedal as well as his compressor (both of which sound amazing as well). I sold my Visual Sound Route 66 pedal which i loved and replaced it with Chad's Signa Drive. The Signa Drive is the quiest most transparent overdrive that I have ever used in 20 years of playing. It responds extremely well to your pick attack and there are so many good sounds in the pedal that I will be finding new ones for awhile. The drive knob has a real effect on the sound combined with the 3 position switch that controls the voicings. The pedal voicings, to my ears are a tubescreamer type sound (without so much mid hump) in the down position, a fat loud plexi marshal type tone in the middle position and a dumble kind of a sound in the top position. They are all good and the pedal is very inspiring.

No problems so far. The pedals have been built with quality components so I expect they will last a good long time.

Chad has a 5 year warranty on the pedals and he has been amazing at responding to all my questions via email within a short time period. Quite frankly I was shocked.. I don't recall this kind of service from any of the music companies other than from Schecter guitars when my son's bass had a circuit go out.

Overall, I am thrilled with the pedal and have in fact ordered a second one for my pedal board so that I can have one set one as a plexi boost and one as an overdrive.

Took a bit to figure out the toggle but I get it now. Down = TS tone, Middle = A Plexi or Boost tone, Up = Kind of a mix of both but with more of a Marshall voice. "A hint" The toggle reacts differently with the pedal's gain at different settings.

I use Strats & Fender Amps.. This is hands down the best OD I have ever used... It has everything you should need. The TS tone, Boost or the Marshall voice. Lots of gain on tap. I can use it alone or with a boost pedal in front of it (Keeley Java or Pharoha Class A Boost) This pedal is outstanding!!!!! The bass is tight. The highs cut through (without being shrill) & the mid is solid but without the hump. It's creamy in TS mode, Punchy in the Boost/Plexi mode & it always remains clear. It reacts well to your guitars volume knob. I wish it cleaned up better with the volume knob but thats an opamp for ya. The germ pedals do that better, but this cleans up better then the other opamps I've had. This crushed my TS808 (trademark 1980 JRC) & was much more versitile. Great tone where ever the knobs are set. I've never had a pedal I could say that about. Spend the money you will not regret it. Trust me on this one. I sold my TS808 for $510.00 & bought this for $100.00. Like I said the Signa crushed the TS!!!!!!!

Seems solid, Good build, Chads a great guy & would do what he needs to do to help out. "A Great Guy"

Excellent

If your looking for a do all Overdrive. STOP HERE!!!!!!! This is it..... A great buy, Chads awesome to deal with & the pedal isn't overpriced like just about everything out there.

It??s very easy i belive...there really are a lot of useful sound here.
Three knobs and one three-way minitoggle switch.

I will keep this short. This is a very musical overdrive pedal at least according to my ears!
There is A LOT of really good sounds to dial in IMHO and they are found with ease (everything from just a slight push to over the top distortion) and the pedal also has one of the most musical boost-functions that i have ever heard (i would have bought the pedal just for this)!! Of course it starts with that i??m really happy with the rest of my gear (An excellent CS-strat and dito handwired tube amp combo). I have played for a lot of years and under this period had a lot of pedals (some good n?? some bad). This pedal is among top three in "overdrivepedal" category and the best (really)that i have heard when it comes to "boostpedal" category". This pedal also works great along with other pedals such fuzz, wha, delay, tremolo.

Looks well built inside...i have only had the pedal for two months so... but i??m sure it will hold for long.
My pedal was a bit "scratchy" underneath and also excessive glue there...

Nice to deal with builder. Fast answers during the buying-process.
Thanks again.