Product: Carl Martin Heavy Drive
Price Paid: US $134.95
Submitted
01/26/2002
at
08:41pm
by
T-Ray
Ease of Use
:
8
This pedal gives you just enough control to find the sound you want. It has gain, attack(mids), edge(treble) and level control knobs. You can go from a heavy overdrive to an almost recto sound! It takes a little time to adjust the controls with the range of tones available.
Sound Quality
:
9
I use G&L, Fender and Carvin guitars through a Fender Deville or Marshall AVT50 amp. The overdrive sound is nice and thick. The high gain tones, including scooped mids, sound very full and smooth at any level. I love the individual string definition at even high levels of distortion. There is some noise level at high gain settings, but no more than one would expect. Overall, this is a great sounding drive/distortion pedal. One minor note, when the pedal is disengaged,
the bypass sound loses a little amp tone that I handled by readjusting my amp's eqs.
Reliability
:
8
Seems to be a well-built dependable pedal. I have had no reliability problems so far, though it has just been a couple of months.
Customer Support
:
10
I must say the manufacturer, East Sound Research, has been terrific. I e-mailed them about the slight tone alteration in bypass mode and they gave suggestions and agreed to research the situation and provide a new pedal when they tweeked the bypass circuit. Pedalgeek.com, whom I purchased it from, were also great and offered help and contact with the manufacturer. I thank you all!
Overall Rating
:
9
If you want smooth articulate heavy drive/distortion, try a Carl Martin Heavy Drive pedal. I have been playing off and on for 27 years and this pedal is among the best I've used. It makes me play some heavier styles I have not always played. Give it a listen!
