Marshall Drive Master

It is really easy to get a good sound of of this pedal. The only hard part lol is finding and sticking with the sound that you want.

This is a sick pedal, I play a Ibanez Talman with PRS HFS and Vintage bass humbuckers / Schecter Omen with EMG HZs into a Red Witch Moon phaser, into a zvex machine pedal, into a effector 13 truly beautiful disaster and that sends out to a boss ph3 phase shifter into the drive master, into the Way Huge Swollen pickle. the drive master the ph3 and the pickle are in the truly beautiful disasters feedback loop range. It sounds great but it can be noisy sometimes. I use this pedal mainly as a treble boost as I use the Swollen Pickle fuzz as distortion and its low end can kill something, so I boost it with the drive master to get an insanley high gain rock / heavy metal tone.

This is a very very solid pedal not going to break ever I dont think.

Never dealt with them.

I play melodic hard rock, and this is very good and an extremley versatile pedal for any needs just a great pedal overdrive, treble, mid or low end boost, or just for some big gain lead tones, you name it.

real marshall drivemaster with black metal housing and 5 knobs. turn knobs and great sounds will amaze you if you have a decent TUBE amp. if you need manual do not breed!

woowie after dozens of pedals this IS my favorite transistor pedal. NOT NOISY and full of articulated tone. through my 50-watt ptp marshall artiste' head, 100-watt artiste' head and a few other tube amps this pedal kills. gary moore's shapes of things distortion assault can be duplicated easily as can other great sounding toneful overdriven madness sounds.

this pedal could be used to crack open a boss pedal. when marshall comes up with a decent product they discontinue it. pedal still works 100%.

marshall is decent while korg usa sucks ass when it comes to supporting marshall here in usa. don't believe me look on there website or get put on infinate hold on a toll call with korg and feel the frustration of a distributor that does'nt give a crap about supporting marshall products or marshall customers. usa customers must go through korg (aka: A BRICK WALL WITH 1 FOOT OF STEEL IN THE CENTER) so korg is customer support for me and deserves a -99999999 for my toll cal where i was put on hold till the fat lady sang.

a very high quality sound without the boss grainyness of transistors. this drivemaster has risen to the top of my distortion pedal collection and has caused me to sell most of the others. through a real amp should a real sound emerge with this dm.

Real easy. Just twiddle the knobs.

I play a good quality les paul copy into a JCM800 4212 Combo. The drive channe on the amp never sounded that great so I only use the clean channel.

The drivemaster is simply the best pedal I have ever owned (and I have owned 20+ pedals, half of which have been overdrives or distortions). It is really flexible, covering a wide variety of sounds from a very slight overdrive to a heavy, mid scooped sound.

My favourite way to use this pedal is as an overdrive. I can get a really good knocking on heavens door sound. No really. Every other overdrive I have tried has sounded lame in comparison. This one sparkles, retaining note definition while still having plenty of gain.

Bought it second hand but appears to not have been played at all...come in the original plastic bag within the orginal box.

Haven't had the pedal long so we will see but it looks strong.

Awesome pedal. No regrets.

It's easy to use. Gain, 3 band eq and level.

I chose this pedal for its 3 band eq. I play bass and most overdrive and distortion pedals are awful with bass. Those with eq generally don't have a mid control. This one can get very glassy and crisp with the gain cranked up, but that's not how I use it. I turn the level up to maximum, the mids up to maximum, and adjust gain, bass and treble accordingly (gain about 1/4, bass and treble about half mostly). In this mid-boost capacity it's excellent. Nice honky picked tones, with just a touch of dirt (with the master level on full, you only need a small amount of gain). It works a treat with the Boss OD-3 before it too (see my review if you're interested). I've just bought a Marshall Blues Breaker which sounded great in the shop, so I'll add that review soon.

They seem pretty good. Solid steel. Don't leave them anywhere moist though - they rust pretty readily.

I imagine it'd be useless. Marshall support in Australia's pretty crap, and you wouldn't take a pedal you can only buy secondhand to the manufacturer.

I like this pedal. I'm sure there are other nicer sounding pedals around - richer, warmer. However, I'm using it for a honky grunty middly sound, for which the eq's very good. With another overdrive (Boss OD-3, probably Blues Breaker) before it, you'll be guaranteed to raise some eyebrows and annoy some guitarists. If you find one cheap, snaffle it before some gear head does.

At first I had a hard time looking for that hard rock lead sound and after researching in the net, I finally got it!!!. It will require much of your patience to get the tone you want at first. But just wait fairly enough fiddling with the knobs and you will arrived in your final destination to a superb tone you?ve always looking for.

I would give it a 10 though you really have to push the gain knob to max. to get the fantastic mild compressed drive a marshall company would deliver. My setup is fairly simple( TELECASTER guitar--Boss CS3 compression sustainer--Marshall Drivemaster--reverb from my Marshall MG15cdr fdd amp) and lastly my fingers do the rest!!!(A good lead guitarist need not many fx pedals. Only crappy guitarist will require a lot of fx pedals to hide their bastardly way of playing!!!)

My setting is as follows

Hard rock lead sound
gain: max
bass: 4 o clock
mid: 10 o clock
treb:10 o clock
volume: 12 o clock

Fuck!! Boss overdrive pedals!!.Marshall Drivemaster will definitely eat them all to scrapmetal!!

This is built like a panzer tank, except the battery cover which comes-off easily and in turn I ?d lost it.!!

Overall I will still give it a 9!! I think more thick compression tone is needed in their future drive pedals.

Gain, 3-band eq, level, what could be hard. Plus, they all do pretty much what they say they do. True, you have to dial in what you want, but if you didn't you'd be looking at a Tubescreamer, am I right?

This is not a "best of breed" pedal, but unlike most "best of breeds", it is also not a one-trick pony. It is a very flexible pedal that actually does a lot of things quite well. (It isn't drop-dead gorgeous distortion, but, honestly, if that is what you need then go plunk down a couple'o'grand on a Dr. Z Route 66, or whatever flavor purebred tube amp you prefer, and get some cotton for your ears. This is a pedal, that's all.) By adjusting the controls you can get a pretty damned good tubescreamer impression (better than my TS-9 reisue, and quieter, too), or a scooped heavy rhythm sound, or an all-out pedal-to-the-metal Marshally grind. I doesn't quite get the spanky, live sound of an XXL, but, again, it gets fairly close, with less noise. Unlike some other pedals, the DM also adjusts well to different amps and guitars--it plays well with both my Fenders and my Traynor, which not many other overdrives do. I especially like using it together with other distortion pedals as a lead boost. Here the eq really gives you what you need, from a big mid-range boost to a Rangemaster-like treble boost, and the gain ranges down to clean boost. When used this way you can get a decent amount of harmonics and pick effects.
My signal chain, currently: Guitar (Pro Tone Strat, Dillion TT72 or Ibanez AS-120)>>Boss TU-2>>Boss AC-2>>Tech21 Comptortion>>Crybaby>> Ibanez PH7>>Drive Master>>Tech21 Double-Drive>>DOD 460 Mini-Chorus>>Dan-Echo>>Amp (SF Deluxe Reverb, Fender Champ 25 or Traynor YSR-1).
The distortion character of the DM is not exactly smooth, but that's fine, since I get that from my Tech-21 Double Drive, and the two work quite well together. It is fairly transparent, as distortions go, meaning that different guitars, pickups and settings remain distinct through it. At moderate gain settings with single coils it cleans up fairly well from the guitar. It is also not very noisy (quieter than, in my collection, a BD-2, TS-9, SD-1, Rat II and Tech21 XXL, all of which it has knocked off the board). I don't know if it is true bypass, but it doesn't appreciably tone-suck, at least not after a buffer (I keep one or more Boss pedals at the top of the chain). Maybe for recording you might want a specialized pedal to get that special sound, but for gigging, the variety of useful sounds this thing can deliver and its ability to play well with others are the ticket, IMO. BTW, I also have a Guv'nor pedal of roughly the same vintage, but for me this has a more useful range of distortion, plus it seems to have less IMD and better bass (not farty).

Well, I got it used, and I'm pretty sure they haven't been making it for probably 10 years or more, so I'd say it's pretty reliable. The enclosure looks solid, and the pc board is well mounted, IIRC. The only problem I have had with it is a scratchy treble pot, which is only to be expected in a pedal this old. I would (do) gig without a backupo, but only because I have two other OD/distortions on my pedalboard, so if any one of them craps out I can make do with the others.

I play a mix of '60s-70's pop, alt-country and bluesy stuff. I've been playing for 30-odd years, and I have a motley variety of vintage amps, pedals (mostly collecting dust) and guitars that are more players than collectable (like my ProTone Squiers--I'll take that ash body any day). If this pedal were stolen or lost, I probably would look for another one, since it is such a useful tool. I love its flexibility, the slightly coarse quality of its distortion, which is a nice contrast to my other pedals, and the way it works with amps and pedals. I can't really say there is anything I hate about it, although the way the PC board is mounted to the pots is annoying now that the treble pot could stand to be replaced. This pedal was in direct competition with four pretty good pedals for its spot on the pedalboard. It covered all of their respective grounds tonally, sounded as good or nearly as good as each of them, and was quieter than any of them. 'Nuff said.
More features? Only this (and I think all distortions should have this): A second output jack, so that you can have the option of feeding the affected and bypassed sounds to different fx chains or amp channels. But the truth is, there is at least enough room in this enclosure so that I could do that myself.

it is very easy to use. it has 5 knobs - gain, bass, middle, treble and volume. you can get a wide variety of sounds from it. you have to use it very often to get the sound you are looking for. i bought it used so there isn't a manual anymore but i got it with the original box.

my band covers weezer songs so i have to simulate the distortion sound they use. and the drivemaster can pull it off. i crank up the treble, gain and volume knobs, the middle knob halfway and the bass knob at a low setting (around 8 or 9 o' clock). when you set the bass knob a little higher, you'll get a 70's rock overdrive effect. and it can even do a metal effect, when you eliminate the bass and middle options completely. right now, i'm using it with just a 1w marshall ms-2r micro amp in my room, but i've used it with a jcm900 and you know how it sounded...also, it doesn't feedback on cue unless you activate the overdrive on your amp.

very dependable. i was supposed to buy a used ibanez tubescreamer ts-5 but someone else purchased it before me. i'm thankful i got this one instead because this looks more reliable than the ts-5 (which is made of plastic). and even (even) if the ts-5 sounds better than this, i'm sure it's not THAT superior, so i know i got the right pedal. i will use this on gigs/practices without any back-ups. i have the battery cover taped though.

since i bought it used and it looks pretty old (which is a cool thing), i doubt having to deal with the people at marshall. the previous owner plays guitar for one of the most popular bands here in the philippines so i know it's a good pedal and he even let me use it for a day before i decide whether i'll buy it or not. i also doubt that it'll require any repairs. ever.

this is the first effect pedal i've ever purchased and i'm pretty satisfied with it. i've been playing guitar for over 12 years now but only the past 4 years have i been using electric guitars and pedals. i use it with my vantage strat copy (i also made a review of it) and a marshall micro amp (well i really should get a REAL amp). i'm not really a gearhead but i can easily tell that i've found the right pedal for my type of music (read above). if someone steals this i will not hesitate to kill the theif, but seriously i will try to find another one because it's getting pretty rare. actually i don't think marshall makes them anymore. my friend owns a century distortion and a ts-5, this totally blows the former away, and the only advantage the latter have is that it feedbacks on cue (but as i said, it can be done on the drivemaster too). i also read reviews here on harmony-central so i pretty much scouted both products before i decided what to get. i want to buy a few more effect pedals, but i don't know which ones to get first, seeing that i only need a distortion/overdrive pedal for weezer songs. as chris berman would say it, "marshall, marshall, marshall".

Features : 5 knobs for Gain / 3 bands Eq / Volume.
It took 3 minutes for me to dial in the sound I wanted.
I set the gain cranked or almost cranked, the bass around 11 o'clock, the mids around 9 o'clock, the treble around 11 o'clock and the volume around 1 o'clock. I like scooped mids because the amp I bought the pedal for is pretty midrangey.

I play Telecasters in old Fender tube amps. My guitar is currently a 1969 Tele with great tone.
I play mostly blues or rock'n'roll, and nothing but an old Fender can deliver good crunch tones. But sometimes I get mad and wanna play with huge high gain. For that I use a Keeley modified Boss DS1, it works great with my 69' Super Reverb, but is not made for my 62' Super, because like any Brownface, it has loads of honky mids, and distortion pedals don't work with that. That's why I wanted a pedal with an effective eq section, which the Drivemaster has.

Playing at low volume, the pedal sounds crappy (IMO any pedal sounds crappy at low volume). But when I push the amp into crucn territory (around 4 at the volume dial) the Drivemaster shines. It turns my Super into an old 70' Marshall JMP ! Hey, I got all those great 70' hard-rock / punk tones now !

BTW, this pedal is just as bright as an old JMP, and the 3 band eq reacts just the same.

if I would dexcribe the tone in a few words ? edgy, grainy, bright... blahblahblah...

no problem yet, but I don't like the way it is built : the pots, jacks and switch are soldered into the circuit board, which makes any fix tough to do. I don't like that.
However the case looks sturdy. It is made of bent steel and should last an eternity.

way too old !

Great stuff !
Turns any good tube amp into an old JMP !
The 3 bands eq doesn't gives a lot of tone, but (and that's what I like) make the pedal useable with any amp, even with my old Brownie which I thought was 100% pedal-allergic !!!

Doesn't look so sexy though... who cares ?

Easy to use. If you lose the battery cover, it's even easier to put batteries in.

I used it with a Marshall valvestate head and a crap SG copy. It sounds class - not valvey at all, but a nice, harsh tranny sound.

Stamp on it too hard and the switch will break. I know.

Also, there's a slight gap between the change from clean to distorted when it comes on.

I use a grunge/punk sound, which the pedal was perfect for. Until it broke.

With the the 3 tone controls you can dial in any sound from really warm clean sounds to scooped metal. The range of distortion is the best I've ever heard in one pedal.

I play Teles and Les Pauls straight into a Boss TU-2 Tuner, then a Tubescreamer, the Drivemaster, and into my Peavey practice amp. Added noise is slight to non-existant. On a very low overdrive setting with the volume boosted it gets the warm tube sound from even a little solid state amp.

It's a reliable box. The switch is a little sticky sometimes. When you turn it on sometimes it will take a second for it to pop back out. That my only complaint. I would and have used it without a backup.

N/A

I play alot of things but mostly bluesy rock n' roll. This pedal is great for it because I can get so many sounds. I been playing for 4 years and was never really satisfied with the distortion sounds I was getting. I bought this pedal for $25 from my friend about 6 months ago cause he needed the money and didn't really know it's value. I didn't either at the time. If I lost this pedal I would try to find another one, but I've only seen a few on E-Bay and none anywhere else.
I guess it's getting pretty rare. If anyone has anymore info on this pedal I would appreciate it.