Carl Martin Rock Drive

It's very easy to use. It's got a gain control and a volume/level control like most overdrive pedals, plus the "attack" and "edge" knobs instead of the traditional "tone" control on most of its counterparts. Mine came without a manual (I bought it second hand). I don't know if it has been upgraded, but probably not: if you check the Carl Martin website, you'll see that even the reviews they show are about 10 years-old.

I'm a bit of a tone freak, but even if you are not, you'll agree that a good sound is the result of a combination of factors, and even a bad cable can kill your tone. Before I actually parted with it about a week ago, I used to plug into two different sets, the first being a stock 40W 1993 Fender Blues DeLuxe, and the second was my Marshall JMP-1 preamp / Carvin F150 power amp / Marshall 1960A cabinet set. I can run both sets simultaneously and will occasionally have something in the JMP-1's FX loop. Right now I'm also using an all-tube 100W Marshall JCM 2555SL head.

The Rock Drive is very good, but it doesn't have much character. It's not creamy and smooth at low settings like a good Tube Screamer, but at high settings it's bolder than a Boss OD1 or SD1. What it gives you is a lot of flexibility with the "attack" and "edge" knobs. Those are probably sort of parametric EQs for mid and treble frequencies respectively. The mids control was likely dubbed "attack" because depending on the frequency you dial, not only does it give you a certain tone, but also enhances or downplays pick attack, which is handy. Anyway, I found the pedal to be very useful, but I never fell in love with it. It also cuts back on the low end a little too much, which I hate. I currently own a Vox Big Ben and a Fulltone OCD, and I'm pretty happy. If I were to purchase another Carl Martin pedal, it would definitely be the Hot Drive & Boost and/or Chorus XII, which I've tested and would rate at 9-10.

Never had any problems with it, but even though this one is very well built, it's never a good idea to gig without a backup. Some of course are more reliable than others, but any pedal of any kind or brand can go dead in the middle of a song, so if you're gigging frequently you should have at least a backup of your most important stompboxes if you can.

Right now I'm touring with my band, we play hard rock. I've been a guitar player for 24 years now, played blues, pop rock, some jazz, some Brazilian... My guitars are a souped-up 1993 Fender 40th anniversary AmSt strat, stock 1996 Clapton strat, Gibson '76 Explorer, stock padauk Washburn N4 and a hot-rodded De Armond M-75, plus a custom-made neck-thru-body mahogany electric with DiMarzio pickups.

It's pretty easy to use, you just need to plug it in and play, but pay attention because the attack knob also turns up the volume!

OMG the best overdrive pedal of ever. I play an original 1985 strat in a peavey express 112, which is total crap. Howevwer this pedal kills, it has a really transparent sount and I really don't find it noisy. The only problem is that it has really few gain, whith single coils it MUST be boosted with a cranked compressor before it or maybe with the amp's gain if you have a tube amp. with humbuckers everything should be easyer. to give you an idea of the sound try to listen the intro solo of "stone cold hearted" by my guitar god JOE BONAMASSA
good low end and mid response!!!!!

it should be immortal...

As I said before I'm really fine with it for power blues, light rock'n roll it's perfectif you boost it it's also great for hard rock chords, definitely not a hi gain pedal, it's more similar to a clean channel of a marshall tube amp with the gain cranked all the way up!!!
if somebody noticed something different from What I said please let me know!!!!!
e-mail: vittopascu.ilmito@hotmail.it

Anyone who knows how an Overdrive pedal works should be able to make sense of this...Though as always "less is more". Nu-metallers look elsewhere....

Love it, love it, love it! Worth every penny. Spending money on a decent Drive pedal is worth every penny. Blows so-called industry leaders like Boss totally out of the water. Really enhances the natural tone of your instrument and EVERY setting is just killer. I've got a snarling dogs Very tone in front of it (as a volume boost..see seperate review) going into a Washburn BD40 Amp (not ideal but I have to be mobile and relatively lightweight around Bangkok). I play an old Ibanez Artist...This pedal makes the simple setup sound really brlliant. I play classic UK Punk and New Wave from the late 70's and this unit just Shines...I've had all sorts of fx overdrive/ distortion units in the past and this stands head and shoulders above them.Really. No signal loss, change, loss of highs, lows ,clicks, hiss... Not noisy at all. Gotta watch battery life..you might get about 10-12 hours out of them..strangely the LED still shines strong when the battery and sound is swimming around and dying so don't be fooled by a visual test!!!

Seems to be solid enough...you'll need a screwdriver to change the battery though..no biggie!!

n/a..website is useful enough

I think this is quite an old FX from their stable...Not even sure if they still make it now that the "Hot drive'n'boost" is in it's 3rd reincarnation. Working and playing in South East Asia I wanted a non-mains battery operated, stand alone , quality Drive pedal and this fits the bill perfectly. It truely creates top notch professional rock sounds (even at bedroom levels through a tiny little practice amp..amazing!). It was my first foray into the Esoteric world of "boutique" FX and I'm very glad to say how happy I am. My bandmates have all commented a number of times on how my sound has been transformed and how much better we sound as a unit! I had to buy a volume boost pedal to cut through during solos (Hence the drive'n'boost pedal they make nowadays I suppose)but again no biggie as it doesn't affect my basic rock sound. Haven't seen one since I bought mine on Ebay...Pretty sure they've been discontinued. If it were lost or stolen I'd be seeking the Carl Martin distributor here in Bangkok and looking for another. All those industry standard Zoom/Boss OD users out there..you don't know what you're missing....

Rock drive is a middle-size stompbox, 4 knobs, switch and that's all. Very easy to use, a lot of good sounds inside.

It's a overdrive pedal, similar to Boss SD-1, warm clear overdrive from nice crunch to sweet, long sounding, lead tones.

Carl Martin pedal is one of the best sounding overdive I've ever heard. I must say - I'm very impressed by quality of its sound. Dynamic and very clear bass response (better than in Boss pedals), sweet mids and nice high tones without harsh and squeal. It adds a new quality to your sound without impacting oryginal tone. It also has true bypass which is very immportant.

I play funky, blues and rock - this unit together with Boss SD-1 fulfills all my needs.

Solid, build like a tank, no problems here, but You have to take care of the knobs becuse they are unprotected (stand up above the unit)

N/A

I've bought this podal without testing it, I've only read some reviews. After one live performance with my band, I think it was one of my best purchases at all. I'm really happy I have it, definetly if it was stolen or broken I would buy a new one.
If You play rock, blus or funky - test it, You will love this sound.

The Rock Drive is a very easy pedal to get a good sound out of. Gain(distortion), Attack(mids), Edge(treble), and Level(volume). The manual gives sample settings but I found it easier to just use my own ears because everyones setup is different.

I used this pedal with a Marshall SLP 100w amp, a TraynorYCV40, and a Tech 21 Trademark 60. I used a 2003 Les Paul Standard and a Fernandes Ravelle Elite with sustainer pickup. I noticed previous useres stated the unit was noisy and I noticed they were using single coil pickups. The guitars I was using had humbuckers and I had no noise at all from this pedal unless I turned the gain up all the way and I never use the gain at full anyway. Like the pedal says, it gives a good rock distortion, great for rhythm and throw a boost in front of it and the solos just sing without adjusting any of the eq settings. This pedal makes me sound like ME, not my favorite artist. Favorite artists being Michael Schenker, Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, etc. It doesnt color your sound at all, just adds to it

The footswitch doesn't seem that rugged, but I've been using this unit for over a year now and so far no problems. I always have a backup for all pedals, there is always something that can go wrong no matter how expensive or well made they are, better safe than sorry.

I play rock and blues. This pedal I use for my rock band. The blues band I use other pedals(MJM Blues Devil) for one. I've been playing about 30 years and I have numerous overdrive, distortion, flanges, chouses, etc. I dont use one distortion or one overdrive pedal all the time, I like to switch now and then. I may use a Tonebone one week and switch to the Carl Martin pedal the following week, depending on mood or whatever I hear in my head at any time. I gave this pedal an 8 only because there are obviously better pedals around that deserve higher. If it were lost or stolen, I wouldnt sweat it too much, like I said I have backups but I like to have a variety of pedals so I would go out and buy a new one. For the price you cant go wrong with this pedal.

easy enough...the attack (mid) and edge (treble) are fairly sensitive..the gain knob seems to max out at 2 oclock or so

using with an original 1965 fender twin with RCA's, EH 12ax7's, new Jensen C12Ns and I'm getting a delicious, fat, crisp detailed tone, very, very close to an old cranked Marshall, but bettter because it's portable and has a killer clean channel. EJ, Robben Ford, Scott Henderson territory easily. The guitar I'm using is from USA Custom Guitars - chambered mahogany, beyond huge maple neck, short scale, Duncan Cool Rails in the back, with a bumble bee tone cap rolled way back, which is critical. The pedal has excellent detail and transparency, no goosed up low end, and is beautifully controllable in the mids (1k) and treble (12k) for getting a warm tone that can still be dialed to cut a mix.

heard some stories about CM pedals here on HC, but looks well enough built

email was returned

playing for 30 years, professionally for 5..this pedal is noisy, with a pronounced hiss, but I'll live with it, as the fix would likely kill some treble detail...I'm using it over my Blues driver with Keeley mods for now because it has a less boomy low end and has a dial in mid punch capability for getting through a stage mix - especially with other guitar players using Devilles with tubescreamers and drummers bashing for their lives =)

It is really easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. Just dial in the amount of gain you want and set the Edge control to taste. I recommend to keep the Attack control near center position (it's effect is enormous).

I use this pedal with a Fender Blues Deluxe amp and a US Strat with Texas Special P/U's. The pedal is a little noisy on higher gain settings, especially with single coils. Used with the bridge P/U it can give me an almost spot-on Keith-Richards-Start-Me-Up crunch. I love it! It also sounds awesome with the neck P/U for power blues.

It is built like a tank. The controls feel a little cheap but do their job just fine. I wouldn't bother bringing a backup. I recommend using a power supply as it eats batteries faster than the blink of an eye.

I haven't had any problems with it (so far).

I play mostly blues and rock (Clapton, Stones, to name a few). For that purpose it is perfect. If it was stolen or lost, I would definately buy a new one. The thing I like most about it is the sound. It just rocks! With a little tweaking and a bridge humbucker you can make a very convincing Angus Young sound. There are only a few things I dislike about this pedal. The footswitch is too small, the controls feel too cheap and you have to remove the bottom plate to change the battery. But it all doesn't matter much when you hear it's sound!