Hermida Audio Technology Zendrive

It takes a bit of time to figure out how the voice knob and tone knob work in relation to each other.

There is magic to this pedal that is hard to describe. You'd have to play through one to really get it. With my rig it sounds almost 3 dimensional. I play in stereo with 2 vintage Fender Deluxe Reverbs with a Strat in the middle/bridge position and use the Zendrive to add a hair of breakup. I've set the controls on this pedal in a way that is probably very unusual. Experimenting is the key.

So far so good.

I've read all the hype and this pedal far surpasses any expectations I had. I've been a pro player for over 30 years. This pedal has magic to it - that's all I'm going to say.

I ordered this pedal blind bacause a couple of friends recommended it. I used it in front of a TC electronic nova system going through a radial switchbone to a Marshall dsl50 and a Fender Supersonic combo. My guitars are a Les Paul Standard and a Fender Custom Shop Classic when I gig and a PRS Hollowbody II that I have not gigged with until recently. This pedal was easy to dial in from day one. My band constantly referred to our new sound. This pedal cuts through the mix very well while remaining transparent to my amp and guitar.

I'm pretty jaded when it comes to sound quality but I was so overwhelmed with this pedal that I have developed an email relationship with Alf. My Les Paul with burstbuckers sounded awesome and while I still go with a Keely modded BD-2 for my SRV tone with my strat this pedal has been able to handle pretty much everything with a little tweeking. But until I tried it with my PRS Hollowbody II I did not know how good this pedal could sound. I had keep this guitar at home and used it to practice with using a Fender Champion 600. I was scared to take this guitar out because it cost so much but when I tried this pedal with it. WOW! The archtop pickups in this guitar and this pedal was incredible. Now this guitar and pedal go on every gig.

I have been using this pedal without a backup for the past three months. 26 shows and no problems. I talked with Alf about some of his other pedals to see if he could improve my strat sound but I will probably break down and buy another zendrive as a backup.

Alf seems like a great guy. Granted I have been a fan of this pedal since plugging it up but there was no long waiting list for the pedal and when we have emailed he has always responded quickly.

We play rock, blues and popular music. Most of you know what I mean when I say we play for pay and need to eat. So if they need two country sets thats what we do. This pedal is a must have for the professional musician who is looking for a defining tone that delivers night after night. I have owned or own boss gt 10 & gt-6, mt-2, bd-2, Ibanez 808, Asonix Texas Dirt, Hardwire, Radial tonebone, and Fulltone OCD. Zendrive is the keeper of the bunch even though there is some good sounds from these others. No question, if stolen i would replace it. I have been playing since 1977.

It's got Volume, Gain, Voice and Tone knobs so there are many variations of great tone to be had but it takes a little time to get to know.
I wish the AC plug was on the top instead of the side, makes it a little less convenient in chain.
No manual, not needed though.

Best I've heard. I play through an old Twin and an old 30W Fender 4x10 so pretty clean tones without the pedal, probably allows this unit to shine.
Not metally at all which for a blues rock player is perfect.
Different combinations of the gain, voice and tone knobs along with volume control from the guitar gives a variety of sound alike tones. Ford, jazzy Vaughan, the Dan guys, Gibbons, Walsh...doesn't nail these guys but close enough for me.
It's creamy and brown but with enough bite to dirty things up.

No problem so far. Metal case, plastic knobs, metal foot-switch, inside is solid looking. battery moves around a little.
I'd never rely on one pedal so I take an 808 modded TS9 along for different tones which would get me through the night if this broke. I'd be getting it fixed right away if it did though, wouldn't want to be without.

Ordering and shipping communication was good, told me it was coming. Haven't needed him since.

I play blues rock / classic rock mainly, have been for 30 years. I'm a bit old school in my gear, older tube stuff and Strats, a wah, the TS9/808, a Boss tuner pedal and the Zen are all I really use.
If I lost it I'd buy another, they're not cheap but in this case you get what you pay for.
Love the tone, gain doesn't act as a volume knob which is a good thing, lots to get from it if you're in a twiddle the knobs kinda mood. Like said the AC should be on top but nothing's perfect and it's probably a design thing based on it's small size.
I've tried lots of O/D pedals and this one is a step above all else.

First off nobody is going to shell out the dough for this pedal unless they know what they are doing so the lack of a manual isn't that big of a deal but still it lowers the score. No presets. Basically start with the gain at 12 oclock and turn it up from there. Volume is self explanitory and just play with tone and voice to get your desired sound.

This is what it's all about. I tried a Boss Blues Driver and a TS9 tube screamer before getting this pedal and the zendrive blows them all away. I use an american tele through a blues jr nos and this pedal really brings out the great qualities of both the guitar and amp. Anyone who said this pedal is no good with single coil pickups is crazy. Very versitle I can get a nice overdriven tube effect or crank it up and get a nice crunch for heavier stuff. You won't be playing metal with this pedal but on the right settings you could hold your own with your band playing metal.

I've only had it a couple days so I can't really comment. The pedal seems sturdy and on par with other pedals similar in construction. Unless you run it over with your truck I think it will hold up nice.

Alf Hermida still handles most of the emails although he does have help building and filling orders these days. He is a great guy and you really get personal service from ordering from him. He will email you back promptly with any questions and it's nice to get such personal service in the walmart age. I'm confident if I were to have a problem with the pedal that with one email Alf would respond promptly with instructions on how to fix the problem.

I play mostly classic rock, blues, and country and this pedal really shines with those genres. Compared to similar products I think its no contest the zendrive outperforms them all. Of course the boss blues driver and ts9 are half the price so it's something people need to consider when choosing which pedal to purchase. For me i'll pay the higher price for what you get with this pedal, it's not a one trick pony that's for sure. I'll still keep my metal zone around for heavier stuff but this pedal will now be the main overdrive on my board.

THIS PEDAL IS THE BEST OVERDRIVE UNIT IN AMERICA just simply put the best...I dont know about any small shop or boutique pedals from Europe ..Austrailia..South America or Japan and the Orient..im sure there are a hell of alot of them out there..i hear the Mad Proffesor stuff kiks tonal butt..not sure have not heard it yet...but one thing is for sure..of all the commercial overdrive units and the boutique stuff i can get my hands on here in Texas and owned by friends and buddies who jam..one thing is very clear Zendrive is the best Overdrive pedal i have ever used bar none ! and i have tried almost all of them out there...

i own over...15 differant valve heads...i mainly play old Marshall...Vox Ac 30's (also hooked up through 4x12's i might add) old Vampowers..old Boogies from 1970's old Carlsbros..old Garnets
and i own a new SamAmpV.A.C 40..and all these tube heads sound super sweet and amazing with the Zendrive pushing through them...i have 11 Marshall cabs at my disposal...look on my myspace no.B.S. HERE Iknow my stuff...and i know tone ...and i have like i said used every type of overdrive pedal out there the Zendrive is one of the wisest decisions a person can make for an overdrive stompbox
i love Gary Moore's tone..i love Thin Lizzy's Tone..i love Wishbone Ash 's guitar tone...i love Marc Bolans wacky unigue guitar tone..i love Bill Nelson;s of Bebop Deluxe guitar tone..i love Angus and Malcoms guitar tone..i love Van Halens guitar tone...i really love Eric Johnsons tone he is my number one hero of tone no B.S. here and with an old Marshall Head a 4x12 cab and a Zendrive buddy you can nail all these tones...Humbucker and single coil guitar not with standing..

lets put it this way..for 75 to 85 percent of guitar players out there playing classic rock..blues..psychadelic or jamband music with a valve head and a 4x12 if you need a good overdrive ..get a Zendrive and your search is over and youll be an extremely happy camper..

just the bomb as i stated above...great tones out of this 4 knob box..when i heard Carlos Santana Eric Johnson Robben Ford and Larry Carlton and Brad Paisley ( a rocker of a guitar player i might add ! )were using the Zendrive i said to hell with it i want one...when i got it in...(by the way all of this B.S that it takes a long time to get one is some crazy wrong stuff...i got mine pretty quick..once i ordered it..notmore than 2 months wait maybe 6 weeks at the most..not bad for a small shop pedal...a buddy got his in.like 10 days ! no big deal.) people make a big drama over the time factor its..just drama...but then again i got my life to live other people got theres to live..the sounds are awesome folks...i 1st used it with a 1973 handmade randall smith boogie combo..and a old 1976 Gibson Flying V and i nailed Santana Lead and Overdrive tones right away..i backed off on the gain and was wailing jazz blues like larry and robben in no time what a sweet pedal...i also pulled out an old 1986p.r.s and it sounded great..
i have always loved the ibanez ts9 the old ones like Eric J.and S.R.V used...( i got up on stage in mcallen texas 1988 i grabbed and felt srv's number one and stepped on his tube screamers no B.S HERE BUDDY i got many people witness to prove it also...s.r.v did use old 808's ts9's and the newer 1980's and early 1990's tube screamers ! )anyway..i have always loved tube screamers..and the Zendrive on my pedalboard gets used more now..than the screamers by at least70 percent more during my leads and bumps in tone.
folks you cannot go wrong with a Zendrive.

its built very solid and very tuff...an intresting thing..my band a power trio ..played a show this past july2008 in the sweltering South Texas Heat our guest of honour was Roy Z famous producer for (Judas Priest..Malmsteen..Halford Bruce Dickensen..Valles Flying Machine..you get the picture) and one thing both Roy Z and I noticed is that when the hot sun hit all the pedels on the stage they started acting up..I notied this 1st and commented to him live on stage..the only thing that did not freak out and was stable and sounded very good the whole show was the Zendrive...im not gonna name any names..of pedels im not like that but if you go to myspace you can see the pedals both me and Roy Z had onstage during the concert..Zendrives are not only great sounding but can stand the sweltering Texas Heat.with out ..going haywire or fizzing out..a reliable pedal if i might say so..

absolutely the best..my pedals have never busted..i have the Zendrive and the Zendrive 2 ..but everytime i have called Alfonso Hermida..he always answers my calls..and or ..emails right away and he is very friendly...and ..kind...its true he chases or goes to big name rock shows ...but if you happen to call him ..while he is onstage with Los Lonely Boys Dream Theatre Santana Brad Paisley or the like chances are
if he hears the fone ring he answers your calland helps you out right away..! ha ha ! i know cuz it hapened to me when he was at a Dream Theatre gig..Alf is a very kool guy and he helps you out anyway he canand to the best of my knowledge..sends out his products as fast as he can also...he is a great guy and he has your tone in mind and he will help you..im not famous or rich ..and he is always kind and helpful with suggestions and questions..anytime i email or call him..

you get a good product The Zendrive and you get a good knowlegeable tone guru in the deal Alf Hermida..and the benefit of all this is you get the best or one of the best overdrives you will ever own in the deal for 179 bux...in the end more than likely 70 to 90 percent of guitar players who get a Zendrive will be very happy with it forever as long as they own it..i know im very pleased with both my ZENDRIVES AND IM GOING TO PURCHASE HIS OTHER PEDALS ALSO..SINCE I LOVE PEDALS..

GO TO MY MYSPACE IF YOU WANNA HEAR MY TONE ITS PRETTY DAMN GOOD...IM NOT HIDING FROM ANYBODY AND IM NOT ANONYMOUS..AND I BACK UP ALL MY TALK WITH MY FACE AND MY NAME...IF I BELIVE IN A PRODUCT I WILL talk about it on Harmony Central this is a fabulous place to read about gear and i thank all the cats who put up constructive reports of guitar gear.!

here is my myspace go take a look at my Zendrive collection..hit me up as a friend ok..? thank you

www.myspace.com/vallesflyingmachine
sincerely
texas joe valles
a guy who loves Zendrive Overdrives

Some call this a Dumble-like tone. Not alot of crunch to be had, but nice violin like leads. Cleans up really nice when you back off the guitar's volume knob. Standard volume, gain and tone, with an added voicing knob that really dials in the mids like an early TS-808. A little pricey at USD179.00, and the terribly long waiting list to get one. A Fulltone FullDrive2 produces comparable tones and you get an added boost feature for a little more than ten bucks less. A little more bang for your buck. As with most esoteric pedals, you get what you pay for, a good, but sometimes unreliable device, the switch broke on mine after three months. Good pedal for a modern jazzer, jazz/rock and modern blues. Heavier rockers will want something with a little more hair on it.

Used with a '76 Twin Reverb. Dialed in good tone pretty much right away, It's a pretty straightforward pedal. You can get a really good Steely Dan tone, especially on an old tweed Princeton, some pretty decent Robben Ford Evil Twin bluesy tones, but can't quite get the more saturated Gary Moore Marshall JTM blues tone. Not the quietest pedal for it's high price, but didn't cause any squealing or unnecessary feedback even at fairly high volume. If your amp's a little noisy like some some older vintage jobs, this pedal's gonna let you know about it. Don't use with a solid state amp, sounds like crap. Was made to help push a tube amp into a more natural OD.

The switch broke on mine after three months. Here's the funny thing. I have a Danelectro Fab Overdrive that I keep on my pedalboard for a couple of songs, Steely's "Don't Take Me Alive" and Reelin' in the Years" without having to use a fuzz pedal. It uses the same JRC4558D op amp the Ibanez TS808 and TS9 use, only it does not have the famous(or infamous)"mid hump" the Ibanez has. It is a fuzzier OD. It's a USD17.00 pedal and I have been stomping on that thing for two years without a problem. Seventeen dollars, no problems and it's plastic. Now I'm not gonna compare tone, because I use the Fab for a specific, fuzzy type drive. The ZenDrive is used for my modern stuff. It's a reliability comparison and just from my personal experience.

It gets worse. I wound up having the pedal repaired by a great local guy because I could not get a response to email from Mr. Hermida. He spends an awful lot of time chasing famous bands around on tour rather than improving his turnaround time and customer support, he's still filling orders on a waiting list from 2008. If you need yours repaired and send it back, be prepared for a heartbreakingly long turnaround with no eta. Mike Fuller is much better. Repaired my old first generation grey Fat Boost within seven days. Had it in ten with shipping.

A good, but pricey pedal, there are alot of readily available pedals that are just as good and in some cases a little more transparent sounding. Poor customer support unless you're famous.

Very easy to use right out of the box, but the real magic comes when you spend some time with different settings. Incredible with a boost pedal in front of it.

Sound quality is smooth,creamy, and organic. Beautiful mids... very responsive and amp-like.

I play 2 different cathode biased PTP hand wired 30W Retrodyne Custom Heads, G&L ASAT Classic Maple Neck, David Myka Custom Guitar #077, Van Den Hul Cables, Trailer Trash Pedal Board, Budda Wah, Fulltone Fat Boost, Hermida Zen Drive, Keeley Fuzz Head, MXR Carbon Copy Delay, Little Lehle (A/B Box. 2X12 Open back cab with 30W AlNiCo Weber Blue Dog / 30W Ceramic Weber Silver Bell. A 2X12 Dr Z "Z Best" Cab loaded with 50W AlNiCo Weber Blue Dog / 50W AlNiCo Weber Silver Bell.

It actually went down after 2 months, but I'm going to consider it a fluke because the unit is very well made. Cold solder joints happen. I'd use it without a backup.

As good as the pedal sounds, here's where Hermida really shines.

When the pedal went down, I emailed Alf. He got back to me the same day. I shipped it to him and he had it fixed and back to me in 6 days. He also called me as soon as he got it, told me he was fixing it at the moment, and shipping it that day.

For someone who is as busy as he is, he treated me like I was his only customer. I can't imagine better service.

I play mostly Soul, R&B, and Jazz but I've been playing a bunch of blues gigs lately. It's my go to dirt pedal. I read some reviews that bashed the Zen Drive. I will say this: Perhaps you are playing it through the wrong amp. No all amps are pedal friendly, and OD pedals are designed to overdrive a tube amp.

In addition to my amps, I've played this through Dr Z's, Fenders, and Bad Cats. Stellar through all of them. I tried it through a Little Marshall combo and a cheap printed circut board vox (all bells and whistles / no tone) and it didn't sound good at all. If you're using a sub par amp, you will still get sub par tone. Nothing against Vox and Marshall. The old stuff is great.

And yes, I gave it all 10's. It's that good.

Had the pedal for a few months and gigged with it frequently. All of a sudden it broke down for no good reason. Two of the four controls were completely unresponsive. Would definitely not rely solely on the zendrive.

This is the reason I'm writing this. It took me several emails over several days to get Mr. Hermida to respond. He finally responded and asked me to send him the pedal, which I did. He has now had the pedal for 17 days. I've sent him three emails in the last 8 days, asking politely if he could give me an estimate for when I could have the pedal back. I haven't received a single response. I understand that Mr. Hermida runs a small company and is probably swamped with work, but I think it's incredibly unprofessional to not provide a reliable way for customers to contact the company. There's no phone number available on the web site. Now I'm sitting here wondering if I'll ever see my pedal again. It's incredibly frustrating. I don't care how good the product is, it's completely useless without reliable quality customer service. I'll never buy another Hermida product until he fixes his non-existent customer service and starts running his company like a professional.

Simple. No instructions, no name printed on the box just a zendrive with 4 knobs ready to go.
This is not a 'dial and go' pedal it does require an hour or two of messing around with the settings. I also think that the combination of guitar and amp is also important here. Some dudes below didn't seem to like the zendrive when plugged into a Marshall or Mesa. My thoughts are that this pedal is designed to be a 'Dumble in a box' therefore scince a Dumble Overdrive Special is based on a Fender Twin, thus a Fender amp is what these pedals seem to work best with.

I use this with a Gibson Les Paul Standard into a Fender Twin Reverb. I have also used this with a Telecaster and they both sound awesome. My favourite settings are all the knobs at 12 Oclock, this is where you get into the Robben Ford, Larry Carlton sound, I saw Robben live with this pedal and a rented Twin and it was tone heaven!
Funny enough, you don't seem to get any SRV tones out of it, even with a Stratocaster! I guess you guys will have to stick with your TS808's.
The pedal is not noisy and DOES NOT SUCK TONE.
To sum up the sound I would say that if you think this pedal sucks then you probably suck at guitar. This pedal will make your playing transparant so any mistakes will show up, like wise if you are playing your heart out it wil help you along.

Seems well made however for the bucks I would have thought it would of been made of metal not plastic.

Don't know, everyone says Alf is the man!

I play blues / jazz, and yes I am a huge fan of Larry and Robben, hence why I bought the Zendrive. I do however play in a band doing blues Rock / ZZ top stuff and it also works great for that. I run a Boss SD 1 in front of it and it pushes the Zen over the edge slightly for more overdrive. Metal fans will not dig the Zendrive.
I have been playing for 18 years and am a Tone hunter. If it were lost I would get another in a heartbeat. I go through gear very quickly and am always changing my mind. I have now had the Zendrive for over 5 months on my pedal board and it is going nowhere!
I also had a Fulldrive FS 2, nice pedal. I sold it when i got the Zen. Enough said.
Check out my You Tube demo here... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFXr1y-DDQ

Easy to use.

I was led to believe that this was a transparent low gain OD. It is NOT transparent. It totally colored my tone and I sold it 2 weeks later.

Seems reliable.

I bought a Mosferatu at the same time and talked to Alf a couple times. Nice man.

Been playing 45 years. Mostly roots rock, country, blues. I play Teles and Strats through a 64 Vibrolux. I love the tone of my amp and was looking for tranparency in this pedal.I was really disappointed after all the hype. I went back to my old reliable Reverend Drivetrain II. I've since bought an M.I.Audio Blues Pro. It has more gain, but at lower settings it does what the Zendrive claims to do.