SIB Varidrive

The question here is not "how easy is it to get a good sound out of it", rather, the question is "How difficult is it to get a BAD tone out if it?" I can't find one. It sounds great no matter what I do. I suppose I'd prefer un-notched controls, but I'm used to 'em by now.

I'm using it with a Vox AC30, and either a Matchless DC30 or Rocket A10 in a dual-amp setup. My main guitar is a Guild BHM Signature, but I also use a Yamaha AES-1500 retrofitted with Gretch Filtertrons and an Ibanez Talman with lipstick tubes. The Varidrive seems to bring out the best qualities in each guitar. I can't live without it now. I've finally put away the Rat pedal that I bought used in '80, and always depended on until the Varidrive.

There was one problem with the switch (see below), and that's been it. This thing is built to last. It's like the Humm-Vee of effects pedals. A truly heavy-duty piece of work.

With the switch problem mentioned above, I took the pedal into Rick's shop. The switch had indeed gone bad, and Rick replaced it right there at no charge.

Now I do have a caveat here: I know Rick. For a long time, he did amp and guitar repairs at a shop I frequented. However, that actually put me off of buying one. Not because I don't think that Rick does good work, rather I was just worried that I'd buy it, not like it, and not want to return it for fear of hurting his feelings. But I finally broke down about a year and a half ago, and I feel so stupid for not buying one sooner. This is one of the best investments I ever made. The controls have such a great range, and the sound is so expressive. For a while I had a 12AT7 in there, for a little less drive, but I went back to the original 12AX7 about five months ago. Either way, it sounds great.

The Varidrive is a unique overdrive/distortion pedal. It uses a single 12AX7 (12AT7/12AU7) in a push/pull configuration, creating much more distortion than is commonly thought from one 12AX7. It uses both sides of the tube. One side clips positive, the other negative, as a power tube would. The manual is a simple photocopy. The detachable power cord with no wall wart is a great feature. I couldn't believe the size of this pedal, it's HUGE.

I bought this pedal to get more distortion out of my Vox AC30 Top Boost re-issue. The amp has an amazing chimey clean tone, but with only a master volume, it can't distort without being turned up full, and a rather muddy distortion tone at that. This pedal right out of the box sounded good, but I wasn't blown away. It came stock with a bad sounding Chinese 12AX7, so I took it out and tried a few different brands. THAT WAS THE PROBLEM! The Fender Sovtek 12AX7A, dealt by Groove Tubes sounded incredible. Very rich, full and warm, but didn't get quite as distorted as I'd liked. A great choice for rhythm work and blues with lots of bottom end. Though I like my lead tone more sustaining. So I tried the Tesla 12AX7A. WOW! Everything that the Sovtek had, except that it could distort more, and with a much thicker tone. It cleaned up the bottom end well. I then replaced the stock 12AX7's in my AC30 to the Groove Tubes Sovtek's, and kept the Tesla in the Varidrive. This is without a doubt the best distorted tone I've ever heard! I love the guitar sound on Van Halen's "Fair Warning" album, as well as The Stone Temple Pilots "Purple" album, very thick and sustaining. I can nail these tones now with this set-up. I can't stop playing guitar now! I am completly re-inspired! The Stone Temple Pilots and Van Halen actually own a Varidrive.

I've been using it almost non-stop for a month now, no problems. I'm sure this could withstand road use. It's all steel, heavy and very large for a distortion pedal. I can't honestly give it a rating in this catagory though.

I e-mailed Rick at www.varidrive.com with a question about the pedal and he responded right away. Again, I can't rate this either.

I wouldn't turn away from this pedal if you're not into a heavy overdrive. I play alot of styles and it suits them all. It sounds incredible with the distortion slightly on, and being able to switch tubes to a different brand and/or type makes this the most versatile pedal I've ever come across or used. The sound you're looking for, I'm sure, is in this pedal. The best tone purchase I've ever made. I can't say any more without sounding like a salesman!

Typical overdrive unit controls- Drive, Volume, Hi-Mid-Low.
To add to the thread about the dented control- I thought it was a nice touch, not only because it's dented for the "clock" ticks (meaning that 10 o'clock has a dent in it), but that it's only a guide. If you don't want to use the dents, just eyeball it, and it's done too. I personally believe that the criticism about these controls is trivial.
The one thing I would've liked, though, is an LED for whether the overdrive is active or not. Not the end of the world, but it would make things easier.

See below- this could be an 11.

Powder-coated steel casing, painted a gorgeous blue. As the manual says- "Don't drop it- you might hurt your foot"

Never tried, but they seem to have a good relationship with my dealer.

After buying the FatDrive, I've been hovering over the Varidrive until I finally caved in and got one.
My setup- Strat hardtail with Lindy Fralin pickups, into a Sovtek MIG-60 head then out to a 2x12 Bassman cab with Mojos 30w.
Simply put, it's the sweetest sounding overdrive unit around. Many units have hyped-up frequency spikes (no doubt to compensate for dead-sounding amp speakers, or to fill out the mids) which gives each pedal its own personality. But this pedal makes my single-coil Strat sound like anything I want. I can still do the Twin Reverb jangle bite thing, but I can also make it sound like a Les Paul Jr. driving a Marshall (no small feat for Strats). All I have to do is turn up the drive, and settle back the volume. And no matter what the setting, there are no offending frequency spikes.
What makes this pedal special is that it actually handles the P-90 "growl" sound much better than any other pedal I've tried. It still has some bite (though not as much as a Tube Driver / Real Tube Overdrive and certainly not as much as some of the solid-state pedals), but it has a very even, very clear overdrive where you can hear every string individually. The playing response feels like you're playing into a driven amp head.
I haven't tried using other tubes in it (I just have the stock 12AX7 in mine), but the pedal handles the low "just breaking up" distortion better than any pedal I've ever heard. It still does the max overdrive lead tone extremely well (sounds even better with a volume boost or compression pedal hitting it), but I think the real story is its rhythm/chord sounds. Amazing!
When I use it with a volume boost on the front end, it saturates the tube very nicely.
Besides the LED indicator suggestion, the only other criticism I can levy is that the switch, although self-cleaning and really sturdy, sometimes can make an audible click. This shouldn't matter for most applications (this is a loud pedal), but something to be careful when using for direct recording.
If your setup is on the clean side, and especially if you're doing direct recording, this is the prayer answered. The arms race is finally over for me.

This pedal is extremely easy to use, as most are. Almost anyone with an amp is familiar with treble, middle and bass controls. The Varidrive has them. It also has Volume (simple) and Drive. It's VERY EASY to get a good sound out of this pedal with minimal twiddling. The manual provides very little info except for specs (voltages, etc.) I bought this pedal brand new, so it has not been modified. I don't know what changes the Varidrive has gone through, so I don't really know what version (if any other then one) it is.

I play a '77 Gibson Les Paul Standard, with Seymour Ducan JB Humbucker in the Bridge, and stock pickup in the neck. I run this first to an Ernie Ball Volume, into the Varidrive, into a Hiwatt DR103 Custom 100 amp. I have a Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabinet. Most of the reviews that I have read on Distortion and Overdrive boxes are Blues based, and I'm a HEAVY rock player, so I didn't know what to think. I went into a shop and lined 'em all up. MXR, Rat, Danelectro, Fulldrive, Budda Phatman, H&K Tube Factor and the Varidrive. The Varidrive sounded warm, full and LOUD. The others really sounded harsh at certain settings (except for the Fulldrive and Budda, which just didn't have enough gain for me) or just not crunchy enough for my taste. The Varidrive didn't have the harshness in some frequencies, like the others did. I play the Drive around 4:00, the Volume around 2:00, Treble:10:00, Bass:12:00, Middle:1:00. The Varidrive does seem to be a bit on the trebly side, though my Hiwatt may be just as guilty of Brightness. Other than the occasional brittle sound, the Varidrive is all tube POWER. This pedal is loud, and goes from Blues, to Clean Boost, to full Crunch with a turn of the Drive knob. The Drive is very sensitive, and doesn't muffle the notes. I play a lot of 6String chords, and the VDrive carries all the notes through, rather than turning them into a wash of distortion. If you like the sound of tubes driven into saturation, then I would be very surprised if you did not like this pedal. I give it a 9, simply because the notched knobs don't allow me to set the controls exactly where I want them.

This thing is heavy. I haven't really taken it out too much, as I'm a big home recorder, with no ROCK musicians in town, so I'll lay off giving a rating.

I haven't ever had to contact them, so, again, I'll refrain from a rating.

I have played mostly rock for 13 years. I have so many Distortion pedals that haven'y given me the tone that I was looking for: 1) Rat: too many MIDS. 2) MXR D+: sounds more like a fuzz box at higher settings, and washes away chords. 3) Danelectro Daddy-O: Same as the MXR. 4) Boss HM-2: WAY TOO METAL.
My main frustration is that chords wash away with almost all OD/Dist pedals. NOT the Varidrive. This pedal, using Class A hand wired circuitry and a 12AX7 tube, holds every note in the chord. It helps single notes by adding beef that is smooth and punchy. On lower settings, the Drive acts as a Volume boost, with a little bit of dirt thrown in. I regret having tried to find true tone in cheaper non-tube pedals. I you are willing to spend the dough, get one. It is versatile, and true to the tone of the rest of your rig.

This pedal is easy to use. I did not get a box or a manual when I bought it. I found no need for a manual...its an overdrive pedal not an Eventide! This pedal is really a preamp on the floor. The box is really rugged...if you drop it move your feet...you will break a toe. The controls are, Drive, Vol, Bass, Mid, Treb. Try keeing the treb way down, and don't turn the gain too high. It comes with a mains power cord...no bloomin' ac adaptor.

I am using this box with a maple top/mahogany bottm guitar with a Seymour Duncan Custom humbucker, and Vintage Rails neck pick-up. I didn't like this pedal when I first got it...I actually hated it. Then I realized it was me. I hadn't played as much as I had been and my hands were way out of shape. After getting my hands back into the swing of things I started over. I set the pedal and the amp, a Budda Dual Stage 30 to all extremes to see the range of tones I could muster. I was really surprised to find that my out of shape hands made all the difference in the world. This pedal and amp combination really kicks. The overdrive is sweet and smooth with more sustain than Nigel's '59 flametop. It rules...if this pedal were a car it would be a mint '68 GTO with bikini chick included. It is a tiny bit noisey...but that is the nature of pushing an electron tube to the point of break up. I used to freak-out if my rig was noisey...and I still do kind of...but the way I see it a little noise just means raw live music. To my ears this amp captures the chest-crushing tone of a mid 70's JMP Marshall juiced into a load box and gently fed into a warm tube power amp like a 2:90 or a 295. This box is a winner.

Treat your gear well and you won't be let down. If this thing breaks you must have horrible Karma. May need to replace the tube in 3 years or so.

The SIB! company is in San Fran, and they have a website if you are more curious. I haven't needed to contact them.

This is another must have piece. I've had a slew of pedals in the past year or so. This one is a keeper for sure. I went through a TS-9 reissue, a DanSucko something?, an experience pedal, a yardbox and a Big Muffy and a Red Llama. I no longer own any of those pedals. I use this pedal on one amp and a Fulldrive on another. I A/B between them and it works really well. I have also eliminated all digital poison from my signal path...I do have a Boss RV-3 as an emergency pedal. The SIB! is really worth investigating.

The unit has only five knobs- level, overdrive, bass, mid, treble. There is no manual for it so you have to tweak it to your liking.

I tested the unit through a black face Twin along with a Turbo Rat and a Boss Super Overdrive. I recently switched from using an ES 335 to a Roadhouse Strat. I used to play the 335 through a TS9 and got a pretty good sound. However, when I switched to the Strat I wasn't getting the fat sound I was used too. Bottom line is that this pedal sounds great at any level. Many overdrives rely on the amps power tubes to get cranked before they really sound good - but not the SIB!. I had the twin at a modest 2 and I was getting a nice fat Allman Brothers blues tone out of my Strat.
In comparison to the Rat and the Boss I would have to say I prefer the SIB! for soloing but the Rat for punching up my rythmn work, especially when there are vocals on top. The SIB! has a much fuller sound and tended to get muddy with chords where as the Rat seemed to add distortion while still allowing the clarity of the guitar. The Boss pedal sounded thin allaround, even at full drive.
For Rock/Heavy Blues playing the SIB! can't be beat. It's not heavy metal, it's more like a Tube Screamer on steroids. Nothing unnatural about the sound. Smooth and creamy.

Built like a rock.

Haven't dealt with customer support.

This pedal is Exactly what I was looking for. I wish I could afford another. It is definitely musical.

Takes some knob twiddling to find the tones, but is not too bad. Otherwise not very hard to operate.

I've been using this pedal through older blackface Fender amps with a '65 Strat, Tom Anderson Pro Am, Various Les Pauls, and a reissue korina V. The pedal was A/Bed with a Mesa V-Twin and an old Chandler Tube Driver. The Varidrive was quieter than the V-Twin and much quieter than the Tube Driver. The Varidrive's tone was far less "colored" than the V-Twin or the Tube Driver. Much more of the natural sound of the guitar and amp came through. I think this pedal was designed for overdiven tones, rather than a clean boost, as there was some grit to the tone when the gain control was turned all the way back. This unit has quite a bit of drive to it, so you might change the 12AX7 to a 12AU7 or 12AT7 for less gain, though I haven't tried it yet. The pedal also has a lot of output and low end, so be careful how much lows you pump through old speakers. I know one person who blew up his Jensens with a Varidrive with the bass cranked when playing with his Gretsch's bigsby. Lots of punch for a pedal.

No problems. I took a peek inside (couldn't resist) and found high quality construction. The case is beefy steel that is heavily painted inside and out. Seems pretty rugged, on par with the V-Twin.

Never dealt with company.

I play rock, blues and some jazz. I think this pedal would suit a person who likes a fair amount of overdrive, say for Claptonesque style blues or '70's rock. Not for a person who wants a shred or thrash pedal, buy a Boss Metal Zone instead. I would think a person who wants more than what a Tube Screamer can deliver would enjoy this pedal, and is much more tweakable. I prefer it to the V-Twin I own, and it totally blows away my old chandler Tube Driver in tone and performance. I think I would buy another if this one disappeared, but I would like to investigate other pedals too. I've been playing for 16 years and I have collected over 200 vintage and boutique pedals and I like this one a lot. I like it a lot better than the Fulldrive 2 I recently purchased. I still like my old Tube Screamers, but this pedal does something different that I like.