Reverend Drivetrain Overdrive

words i would use to describe this are: distant and hazy. When you turn up the gain it doesn't get more gritty/hairy/dirty. Instead it gets more hazy and distant.

True: it doesn't have a mid-hump.

True: is doesn't cut bass.

False: it is "transparent".

False: it retains your treble.

False: it sounds "tube like".

this pedal does not cut through AT ALL. Might sound good in you bedroom alone, but you will disappear out of the mix when you play live or record with it.

This pedal is not suitable for lead or rhythm work in my opinion.

i don't like this pedal at all.

it's a tubescreamer copy and tries to fix the problems that chord bashers have with tube screamers. some of those "problems" are what make tubescreamers "cut" on LEADS.

I'm not putting down people who don't play lead mind you. I don't play much lead myself. I'm just saying don't bring a knife to a gun fight.

In my opinion if you aren't playing lead you need to stop playing a tube screamer or any copy of one. these are square hole/round peg problems, not problems with the tubescreamer design (wich is in reality nearly perfect at what it was made to do).

they threw the baby out w/ the bath water here.

Don't bother with this. If you need a really great tubescreamer type of pedal w/ more bass and less mid i would direct you to the Cusack Screamer. The Screamer kills this thing.

Very easy - vol, bass, treble, drive. Child's play.

I think that this is definitely one of those 'sleeper' pedals.
It was pretty cheap when first out, was only made for a few years, and was only available direct from Reverend so you don't see them that often.
IMO it it the best TS808-type pedal I've ever tried.
I've owned it a few years and during that time have owned many other ODs including Fulltone FD2 Mosfet, Maxon OD9, OD808 & ROD881, 2 Boss OD1's, G2D Cream-Tone, Visual Sound Route 66 & Jekyll&Hyde, T Jauernig DGTM & Gristle King and Effects Pedal Boutique SRB808+.
For SRV tones the DriveTrain is UNDOUBTEDLY the best of the lot, and the addition of the two EQ controls allows for far more tonal variety than most TS clones out there.
Eventhough it was designed by Bob Weill (Mr Visual Sound), the Drivetrain's overdrive is much better than that of the VS pedals (which are still pretty darn good, BTW).
It doesn't have tonnes of gain or headroom, but it has enough.

No worries here.

For the price this thing cost new, when it was available, it was a total steal. Nowadays I could see prices going through the roof (if anyone actually knew about this pedal and someone was willing to sell theirs!) on the basis of its sound.
My only complaint is the rather large box - takes up a lot of room on my pedalboard.
If you want the SRV sound get one of these - you won't regret it - and forget about the more expensive boutique TS clones.

This is the old black model, the one that was discontinued in favor of the green version. Pretty standard overdrive, but with separate bass and treble EQ controls. Well-labeled, very intuitive.

I use this pedal for both bass and guitar. With my telecaster, I use it with a Marshall compressor and a Barber Burn Unit into a 70s silverface Pro Reverb. It does a great job of adding grit to my clean tone, and can get thick and gravelly when boosted with the compressor. Used alone, the output is not as high as some competitors, but I've always thought that letting your amp do the work was half the trick in getting great tone. (Same with using underwound pickups.)

With my basses, I use it with a Boss TU-2 straight into a Peavey 450-watt head and an Avatar B212 cabinet. With the treble and gain dimed, it sounds great for ballsy, distorted basslines.

I bought this pedal new back when Musician's Friend was blowing them out for $89. I can't remember how long ago that was, maybe four years ago. Anyway, I haven't had an single issue with it since. I have gigged with this pedal without a backup and had no problems. The housing is flimsier than some, and the battery compartment can be a bitch to access, but overall it's a winner.

No issues with the pedal or the manufacturer. I was little surprised that they discontinued this pedal so soon after I bought it. I have not had a chance to audition the new one either, and now its been discontinued as well. Reverend suggests that you now instead buy the RT66 from Visual Sounds. I had the RT66 and sold it to get the Drivetrain. The RT66 has a great compressor, but the Drivetrain is a much, MUCH better overdrive than the RT66.

This is a great overdrive for the roots-oriented guitarist using single coil guitars into Fender combo amps. I've heard of folks who used humbuckers into Marshall-style amps who thought the Drivetrain was a joke, so try before you buy if possible. It's also a killer overdrive for bass, as long as you dime the treble. Any lower and you won't cut through the band mix.

I've had this pedal a long time and never posted a review of it. I was recently considering purchasing the latest flavor of the month overdrive, and borrowed one from a friend to compare to the Drivetrain. For my tastes, the Drivetrain won hands down. The competitor had more output and smoother tone, but I like the grit and character that the Drivetrain had to offer. In fact, I was so surprised and satisfied that I decided to post this review.

These pedals don't seem to merit any "buzz" on the various gear-oriented chatrooms, so you can probably find them relatively cheap. If you're playing a strat or a tele into a SF Fender, this pedal was made for you. For low-to-moderate gain applications, I haven't heard a pedal yet that suits me better.

Update of original review 3 years earlier.Four knobs, two jacks, easy battery access

Tone knobs must be nearly maxxed to get fat sounds. Overdrive is decent, but I have returned to using a TS-9 when overdrive is needed, which seems to cut through better

One knob came off, I stuck it back on.

Never used it, heard it is good.

This is an updated review.It sounds pretty good around the house, but doesn't cut through live. I bought one of the first ones, paid a bit too much. It sits unused in my pedal drawer.

Pretty simple to use, start with the knobs on 5 and go from there.

I play a Les Paul, SG, and a Strat into the following chain:
VHT Valvulator -> TS-9/808 -> DriveTrain -> Boss Equalizer -> Boss CE-2 -> Ibanez AD-9 into a Fargen Dual Classic (blackface/tweed clone).

The Drivetrain is awesome, it sounds huge. It doesn't lose the Bass like the TS-9/808 does. I also think that the Drivetrain has more even ordered harmonics. It sounds more Marshally. If you can find one of these originals, pick it up!

Construction is a little on the cheap side. The housing is a relatively thin grade of metal. The knobs are somewhat uneven, etc. It's on a pedal board so I'm not expecting to have issues, but I wouldn't throw this thing around like a Boss pedal.

Don't know, bought it used

I'll give it an 8 overall. Construction isn't the best, but the tone is killer and that's what it's all about! I would definitely get another one if something happened to the one I have.

Very easy and basic to use. Volume, Treble, bass and gain nobs. Just stock, plug in, sounds amazing at any setting. Guitar Players review is quite accurate.

I use this mostly with a Tele with Torres handwound single coils, or a Strat with two PAF's running through two heavily moded silverface champs. I've also used the pedal on a Reverend Hellhound, 73' Twin, 71' champ, Vox AC15 and a Traylor 1x12.

Great pedal. Sounds anywhere from an old Ts-9 to a Fulltone. Can't say enough about how boutigue it sounds.

Built like a tank. Kinda appears like a Electro Harmonix pedal.

They couldn't be more easy to work with. I ordered direct. Joe Naylor runs a tight ship up there.

I play avante guarde/brit rock (radiohead, coldplay, travis, stereolab, etc)

The pedal is amazingly all purpose. I wish it had a second shannel like the fulltone boost pedal, where there were two indivigual gain channels. Thats the ONLY thing I would change on it.

In reply to Mr. Naylor of Reverend regarding the draining of the 9-volt battery, in all honesty I can barely replace a battery let alone start fiddling with the insides of the pedal.
However I have no problem running it with a 9-volt adaptor so I have no complaints, especially since other pedals like the Maxon pedals drain the battery when the cord is left in the output (not the input) jack in the pedal overnight, and so those Maxon pedals need to be totally disconnected from any 1/4 inch plugs when they are run on a 9 volt battery!

In response to Phil Montrose:

Normally the Drivetrain should not eat batteries when the input is not plugged into. You might have a wire from the battery clip lead pinched underneath a control pot washer, causing it to ground out to the box. If so, you can loosen the pot nut and move the wire. Please call me if you have any questions.

Regards,

Joe Naylor - Co. Owner
Reverend Musical Instruments
586-775-1025

This is just to let Drivetrain users know that based upon my experiences with this pedal, you cannot just insert a 9-volt battery in this pedal and leave it there- if you do the battery will discharge. Even if you store this pedal without any plugs in either of its two jacks, the battery will discharge by itself. I now only use this pedal with a 9 volt adapter.

Very easy to use. Four knobs for volume, bass, treble and gain.
I own the original black-and-white Drivetrain model. I bought it about a year ago.

I havent heard the new green Drivetrain 2 model, but this original black-and-white Drivetrain sounds just fine- great for crunchy rhythms, though I detect a bit too much compression for my taste when it comes to leads. Nice eq options. Fine workmanship.

Built very solid.

Hold the phone. Why cant Reverend allow some hot-shot music stores in New York City to carry their amps and pedals? Reverend makes it a huge issue that you must deal with them directly with PayPal or whatever- strikes me as sleazy. Just put the damn stuff in the retail music stores and people will buy them! I dont see Boss or ProCo holding you up by forcing you to buy direct only. Reverend- get a grip!

I own a ton of gear- The original Drivetrain is a good pedal but I wouldnt "upgrade" to the new green version because 1) Reverend is to much of a hassle to deal with, and 2) I doubt the new green model is much of an improvent over my original Drivetrain.