Hermida Audio Technology Zen Drive 2

What, no USB. Jeez


Jess kiddin

Four knobs and they rotate.
How hard is that.

I've found the settings I like and easily
go there, time and time again.

Simply great.

I have my G&L Special and my Fender Blues Deluxe RI
In between I have two od pedals

I plug into a SPF Greenline od. Man this is the bomb for
chord playing. Think Sco.
The Greenline gets pumped into the ZenDrive 2.

I choose to start a solo with the Zen and 1/2 way through
hit the Greenline. It still sounds like the Zen with more
umph.

As a stand alone soloing pedal, the Zen is the choice, nothing like it.

I go to the local blues jams and see all the Timmys and Eternitys
and TS mods.
and imo my tone kills them.
You've heard everyone descibe the tone. I just want to say as far
as the blues I hear in my head, this gets me closer than I ever have been. That's saying a lot.

Still works

Well they did finally contact me after two year wait.

This pedal is in the style of Ford and Henderson more than
SRV - for that check out the MJM BluesDevil. Texas Flood in a box.

The ZenDrive 2 is the best Robben inspired pedal I have ever heard
including the original Zen. It's just more. I have no need to switch tubes because I love the tone I have. But someday maybe I'll check it out.

I have to give some credit to my G&L Special, what a great ax.

The ZenDrive 2, my guitar and my Blues Deluxe amp truly is
a poormans Dumble. And it just doesn't sound the same when
using say a Mesa amp or a Marshall. It's like it was made for
my amp, the Fender thing.

I would have to get another if this was ever stolen.
I've been there and I would have to get back to here.

I already own a standard Zendrive- the Tube/Valve version has identical controls; but it's really one of those pedals where it's difficult to dial in a bad tone, whatever the setting. This features a 12ax7/ecc83 valve/tube in the circuit, which in a direct A/B comparison with the standard Zendrive, makes a difference & improvement (in my opinion) to the overall gain and lower frequencies.

I guess after years and years trying just about every boutique & el cheapo overdrive known to mankind- and been disappointed in some way with them all, it's kind of a relief to finally nail the sound I have in my head. I see no point in naming names but all the other overdrive pedals (bar none) had a really annoying nasal mid boost, and most importantly removed bass and much of the 'beef' from my tone. Compared to the original Zendrive the '2' has a touch more gain & most importantly an even flatter & 'woodier' bass response. Used with my Eric Johnson Strat & Les Paul through a Marshall Bluesbreaker, I could easily get that slightly 'flutey' compressed & 'singing' Robben Ford Dumblesque tone. Used with my band, it made my guitar cut through the mix easily, and picking dynamics and the actual real tone of the guitar shone through. Really fabulous stuff...

Difficult to judge as I've only just received it- but build quality is really excellent with very classy graphics and a tough coats of paint on the box. I'm based in the UK and Hermida Audio is in Florida USA- but going on the fast & friendly way Alf Hermida answered all my emails- I'm not losing any sleep here- besides I'm quite handy with a soldering iron etc... and repair most of my own kit anyway.

See Above...!

I've been playing semi-professionally for over 30 years, and have used and played just about every piece of kit available- some great, some not so good- but I have finally found a pedal to nail those elusive semi-clean/distorted sustained tones that are so important to blues & classic rock players like myself. I use a custom silicon Fuzz Face for my heavier full-on lead tones & switching between the Zendrive 2 & the FF covers all bases for me, along with the natural warmth & compression of a good valve/tube amp like the Bluesbreaker. The really cool feature is the interaction between the mid voicing and the tone control. I find I can dial in my tones whatever the acoustics of the venue pretty quickly- the pedal seems to flatter your tones rather than trying to hide it under a wall of fizz & nasal shrieking most overdrives suffer from. If it was stolen I guess I'd have to order another- though having another 18 months to wait for another may cause me to get all medieval on the thief's butt!

Partiendo como m??nimo de la base de un gran overdrive, se puede lograr manipulando los controles infinidad de matices y modificar el car??cter y la respuesta din??mica del pedal.
Excelente repuesta a la ecualizaci??n.

La comparaci??n inevitable es Robben Ford y Larry carlton, y una vez que lo conectas entiendes por qu??.
tanto con dobles como con singles, el pedal te ofrece ese sonido c??lido, con cuerpo pero definido en cada nota y lleno de matices que es caracter??stico de estos dos m??sicos.
Es uno de los pedales con un sonido m??s valvular que he probado (y no s??lo por la v??lvula, ya que ocurre lo mismo en la versi??n sin v??lvula) pudiendo adquirir la organicidad ed un Fuzz en ocasiones.
Pero lo m??s llamtivo es su repuesta din??mica al ataque, especialmente si utilizas los dedos en tu mano derecha a manera de Robben o Jeff Beck.
Respecto a la versi??n I, las diferencias son sutiles porque evindentemente es el mismo pedal con ligeros cambios (es dificil superar lo de por si bueno, pero se ha logrado lo que parec??a imposible: adem??s de aumentar el nivel de salida ligeramente (??til para uso como booster) ha mejorado la definici??n y la articulaci??n en cada nota, incluso con overdrives medios y acordes complejos.
Por supuesto, la v??lvula le a??ade a??n m??s calidad y cuerpo al tono , si es posible.
En resumen: suena elegante, articulado, c??lido y muy expresivo.

Desde mi punto de vista, el II es ??un mejor pedal que el I ( cosa que parec??a imposible)

Sin problemas en esto: s??lido y muy bien construido

Alf es una persona muy agradable y responsable con su trabajo, intentando responder a tus mails dentro de sus posibilidades (actualemnte la carga de trabajo que tiene por el elevado n??mero de pedidos es tremenda) de una manera atenta y eficiente.

Toco Blues y rock , tanto con dobles como con singles y suelo preferir amplis con 6L6.
Si lo perdiera, me pondr??a en lista de espera para otro de inmediato !
La calidad del pedal es excelente y hoy po hoy no hay nada equiparable en cuanto a su expresividad, calidez y din??mica, sin ninguna duda.
no es un pedal para estilos Hard rock ni AcDC. su tono no va en la onda cruda y agresiva de Marshall.Pero como overdrive medio para Blues, Jazz, solistas de rock (no Hard rock) es dif??cilmente superable.
Muy recomendable!

Same controls as the Zen Drive One. Start with the gain low and volume up a little. Start with the voice and tone set midway (approx flat) You should have something very usable almost immediatly. A minute or two of adjusting should have you very close to a setting you'll want to keep. Perhaps a little tweaking depending on overall volume and choice of guitars but that's about it.

I think the first reviewer pretty much nailed it but I would add a couple of things. I agree that the differences are slight between the ZD 1 and 2 but they are noticeable. Personally, I'm using the ZD-1 for low to medium overdrive which it does beautifully. I have the ZD-2 set to pick up where the ZD-1 leaves off. It's set to a medium -- thick overdrive and as with the first model, it retains all of the clarity.

There is a real warmth to this pedal and while it shines at lower gain settings, it just comes into it's own as you bring up the gain -- I have it set just past midway. This pedal really comes alive at medium to higher settings. On certain songs, I'll kick in the ZD-1 while the ZD-2 is already on -- to really put it over the top. These two pedals working together can create a third sound -- which is a real head turner. Warm and fat with amazing sustain and zero harshness or shrillness -- reminded me of that old Larry Carlton sound he got on "Last Night" and I get it with a telecaster with a Joe Barden bridge pickup or even with a single coil tele bridge -- not an old 335! Or was it Danny Gatton winding it out on Harlem Nocturne or Sleepwalk!

Seriously, these pedals, with the right amp can take you into some pretty cool territory.

Had both pedals for a while now and not one hint of a problem. Of course you always have the option of changing out the tube it comes with (mine is a JJ Tesler) but I haven't found the need for that because it just sounds great for how I use it.

As stated in my review of the Zen Drive One, CS is top shelf. Alf is a joy to talk with and one of the most knowledgable people in the field.

I'm usually not a 10 giver but both Zen Drives are deserving of high praise. I went back a read my first review on the ZD-1 and a few things have changed on my pedalboard although still using the Sewell amps. I've dumped all of my other overdrives including some not listed. I do sometimes use a Hoochie Mama pedal -- mostly for clean boosting. I have turned quite a few a road players on to these pedals but now finding out a lot more players know about them.

For those who care, I use a Barber Tone Press which is just before the ZD-1. The ZD-2 is next before hitting the effect pedals.

The Zen Drives have lasted longer than anything else I've ever used and expect they will be there for a long time.

AS with the original ZENDRIVE, this brand new model delievers an unbelieveable sound. It has the same 4 controls that the original ZENDRIVE does but it is tube driven. NO manual is needed. The four controls are Volume, Gain, Tone, Voice. Take some time and invest it in dialing in your particular sound. It's there, just dial it in. The tone, gain,volume and voice controls are very musical and the slightest of variance will make a real difference to the tone and punch and color of your guitar.

Here is where it gets a tiny bit tough to describe the difference between the original solid state ZENDRIVE and the new ZENDRIVE2. The note articulation and dynamics are very, very similar. What you gain here is the opprotunity to alter your final tone by being able to switch out the 9 pin tube that it is supplied with ( TeslaJJ12AX7) to whatever fits your ears tonal satisfaction. I personally recomend a GEJAN5751 because it is still of the 12AX7 variety but has a smoother response and warmer charachter. It is amazingly quiet for an overdrive pedal. The quietest I have ever encountered. No matter what setting you adjust it to it's dynamics, articulation and pure natural tube overdrive sound are virtually unmatched by any pedal I have ever heard or used and I've come across way too many to mention here. I use this with a 1959 Fender Bassman amp ( 5F6A) circut and a Boss Delay and a Sabine Compressor and the original ZENDRIVE and that's all I use. This pedal will absoultely nail about any artists overdrive sound that I can think of. In my opinion it's the very best overdrive pedal ever made and players the likes of Robben Ford, Brad Paisley, Marc Anthony, Bill Schuh and many more top level players don't use it as there front line OD pedal unless it delievers a sound that is second to none. Enough said.

Mr. Hermida stands behind his craftmanship 100% and I can see no known secnario that could hurt this pedal except theft thereof,so you can feel confident that it will never let you down but if your a professional player and never gig without a backup then get yourself a second or third because it's very reasonable in price.

Customer support is spelt... ALFONSO HERMIDA. He is the best at being there for support of his pedals to his customers and will answer any questions almost immediately. Mr. Hermida is extremely helpful and as nice a person as they come. It's nice when you can actually talk to the genius that invented this pedal and not a bunch of in between guys.

Let me say first that in my opinion, not much could rate a perfect score but this is one time that has to happen.If your in the market for a true overdrive pedal and you make your living playing guitar, then this is THE pedal to own ( or the original ZENDRIVE). I play blues, rock, jazz and country. If it were lost or stolen, I'd instantly get another then go on a man hunt to find my original one. I adore everything about this pedal, there is nothing to hate. There is no comparison to any of the mass produced OD pedals out there for mass consumption because every one of these ZENDRIVE2's are hand built to exacting standards and the only hands to touch them before yours are Alfonso Hermida's only. If you can't find your signature lead sound from this pedal or the original ZENDRIVE then you might want to rethink your guitar rigs total sound concept.