Hermida Audio Technology Zen Drive

First things first. The guy named "Michael" that said the Zendrive sucks is NOT a musician. He may know how to play guitar, but he probably plays a Teisco or Squier Strat. Or he could be deaf? He could be dead? Who knows, but he knows squat about tone.

This is the easiest pedal I've ever owned to get a good tone out of. It just depends on "which" one you want to use! No manual, but if you can count to FOUR, you don't need one. And I've owned dozens and dozens of pedals over the years.

Using with a PRS Santana III and a Music Man Silhouette. Amps are a Mesa Boogie Mark I Reissue, 60/100 watt with a Rect-O-Verb 1x12 Cabinet underneath. Use Eminence Patriot Texas Heat speakers in both cabs. Also have a Rivera Clubster 45 w/Texas Heat speaker.

Have to honestly say this is the BEST sounding pedal I've ever had the pleasure to play out with. It's not a distortion pedal though. It's a tone monster with drive. It always sounds truly wonderful. I use it for Santana, Ford, Allman Bros., Los Lonely Boys, and it's unstoppable!

It's only noisy when you get the volume turned up near maximum. Otherwise it's not too bad at all.

I've only owned it for two months, but it seems to be solidly built and I believe it will last for a long time. If not, I'll buy another one.

I use my Zendrive 2 for drive and a Barber Small Fry for distortion, or both for an orgasm!

Never had to but I heard Alf is very dedicated to his products and support.

Rock, blues, southern rock. Been at it for 40 years. If stolen/lost would replace it for sure. I just love the tone/sounds I can get with it. It's unlike anything else I've ever heard. It's subtle, but stands out. Almost bought an MJM Blues Devil, but when I played this, I was in lust. It brings a good amp and guitar ALIVE. This is probably what was wrong with "Michael". You play with mierda, you stink. You can't expect a Chevy to ride like a Rolls eh?

Get on the list. Get one. Be HAPPY!

The controls are very simple to use, the tone and filter are interactive. I started at 12 o'clock on all settings and found it very usable right out of the gate.

I play a Suhr Classic and Anderson Cobra and Drop Top. Run through a Bogner Shiva into a Soldano 4x12 cab. Other effects - TC Electronic G Major, MXR Phase 90, Keeley BD-2 (which I love also, but it's much different than the ZenDrive)and Keeley compressor. The zendrive sounds great with all my guitars and is the perfect "in between" OD between clean and high gain. The tone is so transparent, but yet adds a nice mid-sustain. Very warm and musical. Using it playing with a band at full volume, it really helps cut through without sounding harsh or grainy. Remarkable.

Seems well built, don't anticipate problems.

I ordered through web site in Dec '07, at the time it said there was a 6 month wait but I recieved mine in March, so that was cool. Good communication on shipping, so no problems there. Alf also quickly responded to a couple of email questions after I recieved.

I play rock/alt originals and 80's-90's covers. Have been playing over 20 years and have had a million pedals and amp combinations. This one has lived up to the hype. It's not an over the top gain/fuzz, there are other pedals (or amps gain settings) for that. This delivers as promised, a warm, transparent overdrive for that in-between sound that simply makes what you play sound better. If I lost this or was stolen, i'd definitely replace.

4 knobs, volume, gain, tone and voice. Tone and voice are interactive with each other.

It is a Zen DRIVE, not Zen FUZZ or Zen DISTORTION. Which means the purpose is to DRIVE your amp. In order to really drive that thing you need to crank the amp. Are you really cranking a Fender Twin loud enough to get the benefit of the ZenDrive? If not then don't give misinformation in your reviews.

The ZenDrive is heavenly. So smooth. Even with max gain it is still very articulate and responsive.

Well built.

Mr. Hermida is very pleasant. He emailed me when mine was ready and again when he received my payment. He sent me a third email with tracking when he shipped. I assume he would be very helpful if I needed anything in the future.

The problem with all the hype is that some people can have unrealistic expectations.
If you don't have a good tube amp turned up loud enough to be getting some breakup then you're not gonna get very good tones. That's not Mr. Hermida's fault. Again, this is called the ZenDrive. If you want to play at low volumes, get a distortion or fuzz which might sound good at lower volumes. Overdrive pedals and boosters need to be pushed through a tube amp that is already breaking up (see the Keeley website).

Spent hours trying to get some kind of non am corrupting tone out of it... waste of time and effort

Fender Twin
Noisy gain
Cheap sounding
Ruins amp tone
The thing sucks

If it hadn't cost so much I would throw it off a building to see it it would make it sound better.

No Manual, virtually no communication from the so called tone expert named Alf. Must be a marketing genius however!

Don't buy the the Zen Drive to play buy it to re-sell it and make a profit.

Well this is a boost / distortion pedal so it's not rocket science. Pretty easy to use. Start at noon and twaek from there. No manual but not necessary.

It has been mentioned that Robben and Larry's tone is here. I would definitely agree but there is also Brad Paisley's tone and Sanatana who also use this pedal. I play an early 80's Fender Master Series Esprit (Pre Robben Ford model and no it's not for sale) with SD '59 neck and JB bridge humbuckers as Robben had used in this model. Also have a strat with Abigail Ybarra '69 custom shop pickups through a Kingsley Deluxe 30. (2002 guitar player magazine's editors pick) Very quiet pedal and very creamy smooth overdive. Best I've used in 40 years of playing. I hate giving tens but whe you get an incredible sounding pedal like this it's hard not to and adjectives such as pristine, elegant and smooth and especially musical, all apply.

Don't know. Haven't had it long enough.

Alf was and is awesome!!!!

Play blues and rock -40 years- also have a 1965 Fender Pro Reverb but my Kingsley is a much better amp than any Fender. See (Kingsley Reviews on this site)and has a great overdive on it's own but I was looking more for the voice that a Zen provides. the voice control is my favorite feature as it's much more than a tone control it is a voice control which is a bit hard to describe. Also have an Analogman KOT (also awesome pedal but very different than the Zen (I use both for different sounds / different songs) Would buy again at twice the price. Definitely helps me make music and I would ad that if you want a tube screamer sound this is not the pedal. This pedal is for very classy players who would like to capture a little Dumble style magic without having to pray for the miracle of finding one, paying 20k and then realize you really should just take some lessons or buy Robbens DVD's and get to work.

The best thing about the Zen Drive is that U plug it in, and it sounds great. End of story. No tweaking around with a lot of knobs marked with ultra cool"street" like names. This pedal has: Volume, Gain, Tone, Voice. That's it. Very simple. Deadly effective. Just tune it in to your taste and it ROCKS!!! Sweet, fat sound. The Voice control is very powerful and changes the character of the distortion in cool ways.

Just tweak it to your taste and it always has a very natural, fat sound. My new CD Swinging Guitar Sounds of Young America is an homage to radically different types of music and groups. Each cut is completely different than the one preceding it. I acquired the Zen Drive towards the end of recording and it proved to be exactly the right sound for a song called "Ringo" which is a Beatle tribute. I needed a good George Harrison slide sound and the Zen Drive nailed it exactly. I went direct as well! Not many pedals can pull that off. I also used it on a song called "Wilson Beach" and it nailed the Jeff Beck like sound I was going for. Again, I went direct. Two completely different sounds yet the Zen Drive got it right both times.

I've had it for about a year and it seems solid and reliable. I like that it's small.

Very nice people, very cooperative. Real musician like people obsessed with good tone.

I have been playing a long time and variety is my whole thing. I was with the Joe Jackson Band for 7 years, I make hip hop sample CDs, play sessions, compose music for movies and TV shows etc.... I like equipment that's versatile and easy to use. The best thing I can say about the Zen Drive is that U plug it in, and it sounds great. I have over 60 distortion pedals and lately, the Zen Drive is my go-to pedal. I have a lot of great sounding pedals and they all have their uses. I won't stop using them but when I get a last minute session or I'm in a hurry to overdub a solo, it's the first pedal I reach for cos' I know it will be quick to tune in a sound.There are three pedals I find indispensable and the Zen Drive is one of them. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's a very cool looking pedal as well.
Peace,
Vinnie Zummo

Very easy. Just begin with everything at 'non' and then gradually correct as a function of your style and the song.

I used to have 3-4 pedals and now I use ZenDrive ONLY !

I plug my $1k Strat or Paul to ZenDrive and then to my $700 Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue - and it sounds like $10'000+ Dumble boutique set-up !

By adjusting the gain you can go from country and jazz all the way to singing Santana.

I use it all the time.

He is nice but overloaded so you cannot get a reply immediately.

I play since early '60s and I play regular gigs and I was able to throw out the MXR (or any other) compressor as this pedal sounds so good.

With a good amp like my Fender Deluxe you can and will sound as if you have an expensive boutique Dumble ... 'nuff said.

I've been wrestling with this unit for a month or so now trying to get the incredible sounds everyone says are in it... out of it. So far it's a fine overdrive, no fizz or phoniness to it, but very sterile and stiff to my ears. A little delay warms it up, and I AM using it with the fairly unforgiving Carmen Ghia from Dr Z. But I'm really not hearing the amazing tonal qualities that everyone else seems to.

I bought it because sound samples were rip roaring Robben-Ford-in-a- Box type tones, a sound that you'd have to be out of your mind not to want to have on hand. It's not a high gain pedal, but it's not wimpy. You can get some very cool John Jennings country grind out of it, and as I say, with a little delay it's an above average tone. Very clean and plays well with others as a boost.

Solid as hell. I bring a Clark Gainster along in case of frustration.

I'll play anything. 30+ years and 100+ overdrives have gotten me to this point, and I plan to keep on working with this pedal to figure it out. About a zillion terrific guitarists can't be wrong, and so I must have some work to do with it. If stolen, I'd probably just buy a second Gainster with the settlement and use the balance for something else. But it won't be stolen, and I DO plan to keep this until it dawns on me...

This is the best dumble pedal out there today. It's very easy to get an excellent tone. This pedal was made to produce Robben Ford's Dumble with midd boost.

I have a Bradshaw rack which is a wet/dry/wet rig. Like Lukather, VH, Landau. I use TC D2 and G-Force for efxs. For amps I use a Bogner XTC head and Marshall 4X12 loaded with Weber Chicago and Thame 60w speakers. For wet I use Addrock 2X12 and Vincenzo 2X12 loaded with (1)Thame and (1) Chicago 60w speaker in ea cab. all cabs are 16 ohms. I also tested the pedal with out the w/d/w which is coming up.

This pedal is very quite and Alf nailed the Robben Ford tone! I use my XTC on plexi mode.The whole trick I found with it is that you have use a lot of pick dynamics instead of rolling off your gtr volume. Also have to get some pwr tube distortion happening to and slam the preamp tubes. I use my XTC plexi setting on the Blue channel with this pedal. I have the gain on my XTC at 3:00, Treb, Midds and Bass at 1:00.

I set pedal as so:
volume 1-2:00, tone varies. 9-3:00, Gain 11:00 - 1:00. Voice: 3:00. I use my drop top Anderson with Humbucker. I also roll off the tone to fat up too. Have my delay set at 116ms and rythm is dotted 1/8 note. I use a (TC D2) and DL4 on my small board for mono. This get's you into Robben Ford Land. The pedal is excellent and was Voiced to get the Robben Ford with his Dumble that has Midd boost. Again Alf really nails the tone! I also found the pedal better using a 4X12 Cab. Again I use Marshall loaded with Weber Chicago and Thame speaker all 60w and at 16 ohms. Also sounds cool using V30's. I know this pedal takes awail but there are only Alf and his other tech doing his whole line of pedals. Alf also test ea pedal for tone a quailty.

Alf has built this pedal like a tank and the best components! I haven't needed or worry about backup! It's really built that well.

I have delt with Alf and his tech. I was on vaction in FL and was the first time I meet Alf and his Tech. They are top of the like and even made me a home made rum smoothy drink. I tried out Alf's whole like and loved them all. No This is Customer Service! I have E-mailed the CO and always got a reply too.

I've been playing very long time. I have played and know major Artist and very picky about tone. I studied Robben Ford and Larry Carlton and always searched for there tone. This pedal IMO is the closest you can find without buying 10,000 - 50,000 Dumble. Again with this pedal you have to practice dynamics and work on being a very clean player. If your looking for a pedal that is high gain for metal, Grunge, Neu Metal or VH this is not it. The tones it will get are: Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, SRV, Santana, Blues, Jazz, Fusion.
www.nashvillerocker.com

WOW - you can have it ON all the time and just alte the GAIN or TONE.

Just keep the volume fixed and all is on 12 but you can alter it as you require in real time.

This thing is effectively another pre-amp in a box if you know how to use it, and it is so transparent and fluid that you will like it ...
it is very transparent and adds no coloration to your amp. Of course when you use it in front of the THD Univalve you will notice some fine difference in thin-thick high notes yet that is to be exepcted.

Basically you can have this pedal ON all the time:

Clean gain is at 8am and all else say at 12.

Bluesy, gain is around 9ish and you may increase volume to 2pm.

Singing Santana: gain is at 2 pm and all else at noon.

Singing Brian May - you push also Voice to 2-3 pm or
even to maximum if you want it to trable-sing !

I have it ON all the time (with a 9V vintage battery).

The best in the business for sure.

Some people like V-stack.com some like Barber or Fulltone pedals, Visual Sound Jackill & Hyde or vintage TS808 or Mesa V-box or ToneBone Classic and TriTone or Tech21 SansAmp ... but this pedal can do all of it and more - in sort if you need to have just one pedal then it's the ZenDrive : my Strat can sing Santana through the clean amp with this pedal (usually I need 2 pedals ...). Perfect also for blues and you can use it as an effective pre-amp and have it ON all the time as the gain and tone and voice have HUGE RANGE so by buying this pedal you are buying your second amp that you will enjoy a lot !

A bargain of the century.