SIB Varidrive

Very easy to use - wanted something solid and simple.

Sound quality is excellent - put a good vintage or quality new tube into it and life is good! Very transparent yet rich tube overdrive, no tone suck. No noise, either. Very quiet pedal.
I have three strats; two parts-o-caster players set up vintage for the most part that I love, and a'66 re-fret/refin that sounds like butter.
Also have two '65 non-reverb deluxes; one is stock and the other has the output tube section modded to take two 6L6GC tubes and a higher-watt 12" speaker which makes it louder and gives it more clean overhead. Kind of like a Fender Pro amp or a Vibroverb sound. Was done by Harry Kolbe, I believe. Both amps were bought used. Both sound great.

Yes absolutely.
Did have one mystery problem where signal came out very faint when activated, and footswitch & tube were not suspect - sent back to SIB and came back sounding even better. Really.

Turned it right around when I needed it. Thanks, guys!

Being primarily a strat thru a fender deluxe amp player, playing mainly blues and blues-rock for 15+years this thing is unbelievable. Goes from tube screamer grind to very hard rock-crushing gain. It WONT do the real scooped-mid death metal rasp, so forget it. Besides, it sounds much better than that.
The Varidrive is perfect if you have a clean-sounding amp or play single coils or both and you rely on a pedal like I do for your overdrive. But get one, whatever your setup is.
I even demo'd it on my friend's '89 Soldano SLO 100 thru a 4x12" Marshall cab, cleaned up the gain on the amp and stuck the pedal in front and it had all the gain and roar of the Soldano, which is a very high-gain amp.
But it's also great for getting a nice fat low-gain boost when you back off on the drive. It's like putting a killer pre-amp/gain channel on your fender amp. Perfect for blues and rock. Big, fat, warm, transparent tube overdrive. People at gigs have told me they love they way it sounds. I never had a tube overdrive pedal, but I traded some gear for it and haven't regretted it.
I have and had some good solid state overdrive pedals like Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer and Fulltone's OCD pedal and Analogman's modded Tube Screamers, no slouches either, but they just DONT compare, really. It's the bomb. Stupid good.
Maybe I would like it more if it were a little smaller and lighter, but hey, it's quality and built like a tank.

very easy, all knobs are self explanatory.

Man...this is seriously Great, I have experienced some O/D pedals, fulldrive2, sparkle drive, tonebone hot british & classic, Tubescreamers, RAT Deucetone, Gt 2 sansamp, etc. this thing produces Natural sounding, tubey sound with highest quality possible. I borrowed this from a friend, and I bought one the next day from Ebay, God bless ebay.com. brand New (US201.5)new design with additional gain switch on one side, black color., still havent arrived yet. so I'm reviewing the one I borrowed, blue casing,no gain swith. with 12AX7 TUBE, wow, it sounds warm and full with pure tone.

just borrowed it for 6days... but it's the old model, prety beat up and still run perfectly. I hope it will last for a long time

A killer pedal.... I have been playing for 8 years, own some other nice gears, if stolen, I will buy 2 more the Next day, one for the Gig, one for "sitting quietly in my bedroom" back up. I'll post a review of the newer design once I get in my hand, hopefully it's as good or even better. I'm very happy.

Self explanatory controls. The size, weight, power cable and hi voltage, make it a bit awkward for cramped beer-soaked stages.

The Varidrive is one of the very few tube based pedals that actually uses the tube as the ONLY drive element while putting proper hi voltages across the plates (just like real tube amps). This approach has resulted in the most authentic tube drive, feel and texture of any pedal I have ever tried (and thats alot). This pedal really does sound like a distorting tube amp when plugged into ANY clean amp.

Unfortunately the pedals voicing and tone controls are less than perfect. The low end is big and loose and cannot be tightened up. This sounds fine at lower gain but with higher gains it gets too woofy. The midrange is a bit flat for my tastes I would have liked a little more snarl as it seems to get lost in the mix to my ears.

SIB deserves a 10 for putting REAL tube overdrive at your feet. It really is just head and shoulders above any other Tube or SS pedal I have tried in this respect. However the voicing and tone controls need some work. The price and size of this pedal are also daunting. My overall impression is "really close...but no cigar". I would be VERY interested in a Varidrive 2 with some of the tonal shortcomings addressed.

Really nothing complicated here, like an amp or any simple stompbox.

Now seriously, there's very little reason to trust HC reviews, but I have to really emphasize how good this pedal sounds (actually it's a tube preamp on the floor). I have tried many of the big ones, and the Varidrive is the bomb. I could have saved so much money if I had tried this earlier. Here is a quick list of the OD's (and boosts) I have had expecienece with: Klon Centaur, Fulltone OCD Distortin Pro and FatBoost, Tim and Timmy by Paul Cochrane, Clark/Barber Gainster, Menatone Kar Krash and King of the Brits (6 knob), Banzai Cold Fusion, Xotic BB preamp and RC Booster, Tonebone Hot British, Barber DDSS, Tube Works 901 and 903. There are a few others, but there are the more important ones. Don't take thsi with a grain of salt, take this at face value: the Varidrive is way more tubey and natural sounding than ANY of these pedals! Why should be obvious to you, since it's an all-tube class A preamp running at high(er) voltages like any preamp. It sounds fantastic. The switch on the side for 1/2 gain works beautifully. It makes more noise than your average SS pedal, but that's to be expected. The noise is nothing terrible (worse when you run it cranked).

On to the sound, it's "heaven" for blues playing in the low-medium drive settings, and at higher settings, it's pretty heavy Marshally grind, something like a JCM800, but a tad more tame. It doesn't have as much of a heavy sound as the Toenbone Hot Brit or the Menatone KOB6, but it does make up for it in tonefulness. There's more air and tube feel than the Tonebone because the TB is not running at realistic plate voltages and the majority of the sound is made by transistors (or SS technology anyway) then fed through a tube for warmth. The TB is still an excellent pedal, but pales in comparison to the Varidrive if you really want tube feel with the harmonics and response that go with it. Combined with a good boost, the Varidrive offers SO MANY tones! The tone controls work very well, with no bad spots, except the bass can get boomy (like any tube amp). I tried a few different tubes, and you definitely hear the difference in response curve, noise floor and breakup. The guy I bougt it from had a Mullard 12AU7 which was great, and I tried a JJ 12AX7, NOS JAN 5751, NOS Philips 12AU7 and the JJ(?) 12AT7 I have in it now. The 12AX7's offer more gain, but it's harder to obtain the "cleaner" tones and there's a bit more noise. I find it the best balance between gain and ccleanup ability. The 12AU7 was a bit too clean, and the breakup was more gritty, somewhat harsh to my ears.

A little side note, the 1/2 gain switch has a difference in volume when you engage it. You have to tame the volume knob if switching from low gain to high (and vice versa). Not a huge problem, but it's there. I wouldn't dock points for something like that. This thing gets loud by the way!

Mighty solid construction inside, wouldn't worry about it.

I will say this: I can't understand why the 1/2 gain switch is on the side -it should really be a second stomp switch on the top of the pedal!

Never contacted them.

Awesome, awesome pedal. Everyone should have one if they use a single-channel amp. I have only played it through my Allen Tonesavor so I don't know how well it would get along with other amps (Marshalls, Class A, etc). For my needs, it's perfect -blends right in with my amp's tone. Overall, this is a professional piece of gear that is only hindered by the size and the power plug (matbe the price but there's tons of more expensive pedals that don't sound half as good!). Regardless, I put it on my board because it's the most natural 2nd channel for my amp that I could find. Better than Tonebone (in fact the guy ho sold it to me had just been sponsored by Tonebone so he had to start using their stuff, but he prefers the SIB by a mile). Can't recommend this enough!

Simple to use... knobs are self explanatory.

I use it with my Marshall Plexi... through various Marshall cabs. I also put a vintage Ibanez tube screamer in front of the varidrive for som extra punch... I can get the brown sound dead on with this... The tube screamer gives it some more bite and is great to kick in for leads

Never had a problem yet

never called

The thing that really interests me is that there is not a setting that sucks on this pedal... changing the tone knobs the drive etc.. all change the sound but never in a bad way... just different.

I love it

This is my second review of this tube driven overdrive pedal. My gear has changed over the past 5 years (99). It is still as simple to operate as a can opener. 3 tone controls (treble, bass and middle). Mine is an original. If there is an upgrade, I would hope that it would be the led turning on and off with the switch

I am using 2 Les Pauls. A D/C (double cutaway). with Humbuckers 57's and a 98 model standard with 500T and 390s respectivly. I have a 64 model vibroverb and a 65 super reverb reissue. I use the varidrive into an SIB FatDrive and then the amp(s) I am a blues guitarist and I don't have any favorite blues guitarists but I have lways liked Herb Ellis and the guitarist from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Like I said, Great overdrive

After 5 years, I have had a problem with the input jack lock nut stripping out. But it has never failed me

Called Rick one time and he answered my question

I have been playing for 35 years. I have a rack system also with a Mesa Formula preamp > T C Electronics "G Major" efects unit > Peavey Classic 50-50 Power amp > 2 Fane loaded 2X12 Cabinets. A great system that I might sell (I went back to combo amps for simplicity). With the 2 Blackfaced Fender amps the Varidrive is a great addition to my setup. I can play at any volume and still have great overdrive or incredable clean sound with the Fatdrive pushing the Guitar and od pedal. I would replace it if it were lost or stolen with haste. If anyone has any questions please feel free to email me.

I tried a new one in the store before purchasing my used one on line and found the store model a bit "spongy" for my taste. I prefer a little "edge" to my attack. However, upon receiving my model and trying it with my own gear, I found this to not be a problem. It could be that the previous owner performed the tube mods suggested elswhere on this page (I didn't open it up to find out) but I was able to get great tone with very little tweeking.

I play a Les Paul Classic, G&L S-500 and Fender Strat Floyd Rose Classic through an Orange AD1510. (Here's my chance to rant.) Before I knew any better, I owned a Marshall "two channel" twin amp. I thought I was getting a 2 channel amp with real tube overdrive. I learned later that it was, for all intents and purposes, actually a one channel amp with a built-in DOD overdrive pedal. If I wanted a one channel amp for my clean tone my first choice would NOT have been a Marshall and my first choice for an overdrive pedal would NOT have been a DOD. I'm very happy with the tone of my Orange and this pedal has given me the best overdrive tone I have ever had. I have a Class A tube signal all the way through my stream and the true-bypass on the Varidrive doesn't wreck my clean tone.

The only issue I had was the on/off switch was a little glitchy at first. I discovered that it was only a loose tube. It's no big deal but I'll knock off one point anyway.

Never dealt with them.

I would recomment this pedal for anyone looking for great rock tone. I personally am working on a one-man band featuring foot and hand activated drum triggers, foot activated bass module, Therimin, loops and pre-programmed material (ie: drum machines, prerecorded bass lines, etc.) In hopes of making my sound less like "space alien music" I have worked on my guitar tone striving for an earthy, organic quality. The SIB gets it done! I've been playing for 23 years and also own Electro-Harmonics Octave Multiplexer (for bass doubling) T-Rex Replica delay and a few other effects I'm selling or upgrading. I'd buy another Varidrive if stolen for sure. I compared it to the Fulltone Full Drive and preferred it. It was also far better than cheaper Tube Works overdrives I had in years past.

Very self explanatory controls.

I've owned 30 or 40 overdrives and distortion pedals over the years. The SIB is up at the top of the list with a few caveats. First, it needs a decent tube. I've found that a lower gain tube (12AU7 or 12AT7) brings out the harmonics and reduces the harshness, as does an NOS tube (I'm using an Amperex 12AT7). It means that it's truly and OD, doesn't really get into distortion territory. Secondly, it doesn't like all of my amps. For instance, with tweed or blackface Fenders, it's gorgeous-ringing harmonics, transparent to the sound of the guitar and the amp, just gives you more of what the amp is. Some of my european style amps seem to like it less (Bruno with EL84s, JCM800 with 6550s, TE Velocette). For them a Klon or a Tonebone Classic seems to work better. I wouldn't be without it, but it wouldn't be the only pedal I owned.

Occaisionally the footswitch has to be stomped a couple of times to get it to work. Otherwise rock solid.

Never tried

This is a great pedal in cases where it works, highly recommended if you can afford to own one expensive pedal...

Very easy to use---I have the newer Black box with the gain switch.
Very obvious how to set-up.

I use this in front of a Fender or Vox tube amp---single coil pick-ups. I changed the tube to a 12At7 to reduce the gain. Now the unit
can almost sound clean at min setting. Very natural sound and the EQ
is a big plus---An essential tool for recording electric guitar.

Unit was shipped with a bogus Chinese 12ax7a tube. Good tubes are
expensive, but for the price point SIB should watch it's tube quality.
The 1/4 jacks don't grab--even in studio the jack is a problem. I already had to tighten one jack---Should use a Nuetrik or Switchcraft
metal jack with grounding washer. Definitly recommend 90 jacks for live.

Seller was very helpful---tried to contact SIB for tube info, but
no response.

An essential tool---would replace. Industry standard. I like the switch for hi and lo gain. Sound quality is definitly enhanced with tube upgrade/mod.

No manual is really needed. Short almost useless notes on how to use it are given on the back of the unit. However no indications are given about the possibility of using different tubes to obtain different sounds. I had to look for them in the SIB home page. Strange, cause this is the best characteristic of this pedal.

Gibson ES-347 > Ernie Ball Volume > Ibanez GE9 Eq > MXR Dyna Comp > Varidrive > EH Electric Mistress > Boss CE2 > Boss DD5 > Aria AD10 (rare old analog delay)> VOX AC30. I also use a BOSS LS2 to switch between different pedal combinations and a Boss NS2 noise suppressor. The sound of the Varidrive is really impressive, but the best thing is that you can obtain very different sounds using different tubes. Other people have already said that the 12AX7 are pumped to high gain too quickly. The sound you obtain is full and fat but it is impossible to get a good crunchy sound at low gain. I found the best is to use a 12AU7. The gain control gets much more dynamic and the unit becomes more versatile with a wider range of sounds.
I agree with other people that the mid pot is too subtle.
Absolutely not noisy for an overdrive.
Blends well with the flanger and very well the analog delay. Not so much with the chorus, but i haven't really tried this combination seriously.

I have played for one year with no problem.

Extremely friendly. I asked Rick if he could make a 220-V version and he did it with no problems at no extra charge. He needed some time to find the right transformer and test it but now i have the very first 220-V varidrive in my rig!

I currently play in a contemporary gospel band, backing a 25-people choir. Our music is very varied, with a mix of rnb, funky, soul, and whatever you want to put in, so I need to use a very versatile rig, and the ES-347 (allows you to switch from HB to single-coils) does the job nicely. The varidrive helps me to obtain great crunch rythm and tube-driven lead without having to crank up my AC30, which the choir would not appreciate too much... The price is moderately high, but it's like having a new second channel in my amp. I decided to get this pedal after reading some reviews here saying that classical overdrives like the TS9 did not work well with the AC30 while the Varidrive could do a great job. Now I don't regret at all ! Take some time to swap tubes and eventually you'll much probably get the sound you want.

Vol, Drive, Bass, Mid Treble. very easy to use!

Awesome Sound! Very Clear Full frequency Tube Overdrive! I play a Don Grosh Strat through a Fender Vibrolux. I also use a Dunlop 535 Wah. The Varidrive sounds Great. I changed the Tube to a NOS Amperex Bugle Boy 12-AX7 and that helped a whole Bunch.

Very Solid Build! Should last a Long Time!

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Expensive but worth it! Extremly excellent sound Quality, and top quality constuction. Makes this a Must have pedal!

You really need to swap the tube out with a good 12AYT, then it's simple to use.

Use a 12AY7 tube with the gain switch down, gain knob -- 10::00 to 12:00, bass mid and treble -- 12:00, and you'll have the best mild overdrive sound available. Push the mids up for a more Tube Screamer-esque mid-hump.

Flip up the gain switch and set the gain knob -- 3:00, bass -- 9:00, mid -- full, treble -- 3:00 and you'll have a very good lead tone.

A tight, palm-muting tone does not seem to be available.

Into a very bright amp (Fender Twin, Showman, Vibrolux, Deluxe, etc) on the extreme settings it can be overly bright. I would suggest some sort of "presence" control for future revisions, and maybe a "bright" switch.

I had to replace the foot-switch with a TPDT (the same as those used in Perscription Electronics boxes). I've had to do this with ALL of the true-bypass boxes I own (except for the PE Experience) because they all use the same cheap switches. I wish all boutique stomp box makers would follow PE's lead on this issue, it would save them return repair time.

You want ABSOULUTELY transparent mild breakup, this is the only box to consider.

This pedal is set up the same as most distortion/overdrives and is a no-brainer. There is no manual, nor is one needed.

Whoa, overall tone is a tough thing to rate as this pedal is tube-based and the quality of the tube chosen makes all the difference.

At first I hated this pedal because I bought it based on the reviews written here. Some of the reviews spoke of this pedal as a very versatile clone machine that could cop a huge variety of tones including some that were Marshall-like. I find this not to be the case at all. Plugged straight into my amp it sounded more like an super saturated, compressed fuzz.

But...

Then I started playing with tubes. I hate using 12AX7 tubes because the VARIDRIVE just pummels the tubes too hard. This thing just slams tubes and the 12AX7 tubes have no chance to resist. 12AY7 and 12AU7 tubes atand up better and offer more complexity.

As far as the controls go the bass is voiced very aggressively and is way more than is needed. This control can knock your amp on it's ass if you are not careful. The mid controls are a bit too subtle for me and I set the treble at zero as I feel the pedal can get bright.


Marshall sounds? No. But I have never learned more about tube response than when I started playing around with the VARIDRIVE. I accidentally discovered how much I liked this thing while running it into my Sans Amp PSA-1 while recording. I was FLOORED! The complexity and response were stunning and I got Larry Carlton and Robben Ford tones through headphones. Amazing. I LOVE this pedal for sultry smooth lead playing. I never use it for rhythym, but for lead it is amazing. Roll back the volume and you get clean. Roll it up a bit and you get a nice clipping and full out nice sustain.

I really find that this pedal makes me want to play slower and really concentrate on my technique as it is VERY sensitive to picking changes. Ease up on the gain and add delay and you get Edge tones that are better than anything I have heard. This is where the class A design shines. Take off the bass and you can cop really cool lower gain Stevie ray sounds and with verb this pedal is stupid good.

As you can see I have many opinions of this pedal and i am learning more about it's potential every day. While I was initially disappointed that the crunchy shred tones were loose I now know how I will be able to use the pedal and for what it does it cannot be beat.

Very Unique.

Very tough casing. Much lighter than the previous reviewers stated but this thing is solid. If you can hurt this thing you are acting like an idiot.

AWESOME!

The treble pot pooped out and Rick replaced it no charge. Cool guy.

Tough to contact but he will stand by his stuff.

Try one.

If you like the full range of tube overdrive you will love this thing and tube freaks will play with this thing endlessly. Really cool.

If you want "Marshall in a box" or tight crunch this will not fit your style.

This is a very easy, It has volume, distortion, gain, bass, mid, and treble controls. What make this pedal unique is that it has a tube in it which can be swapped. This Pedal does not come with a owners manual and really doesn't need one.

I am using a Fender American Fat Strat and a Godin LGXT. These guitars are plugged directly into the Varidrive then into my THD Bi-Valve. The tone is outstanding. I can go from mild crunch to full marshal gain with just adjusting a few nobs. It turns my Class A amp into a two channel amp with adjustments at my feet. I can control the volume to match my clean volume which is cool. I have replaced the stock JJAX-7 tube for a Sylvania AT-7. The JJAX-7 sounds great, however it gets to high gain to quick. I found I had to keep the distortion and volume set at low levels other wise it gets to extreme high gain distortion like a plexi on steroids. Where as the AT-7 gives more of a nice gain sweep from light crunch to full blown Marshall Plexi gain.

Built like a tank A bit large and heavy. I don't think I would need a back up the internal components look top notch

I haven't needed any. Though others posted great support

I play a mix of blues/Rock originals and covers. Great match. I have been playing for 20 years. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it. What I love the most is the tone it simulates my natural tone of my amp. The THD Bi-valve is not a two channel amp but now it is with this pedal. I didn't really have the chance to compare it to other pedals. I was looking for a pedal which didn't color my tone and would push my Bi-Valve into its own natural gain stage which it does nicely.

Simple enough to not require a manual. Five knobs, as covered below. EQ knobs have a wide range and are very musical.

Setup = PRS Custom 24 / Fender Strat Plus / Fender Am Deluxe Tele -> Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah -> SIB Varidrive -> Maxon OD808 Overdrive -> THD BiValve amp.

Very quiet pedal, even at max gain - quieter than the solid-state Maxon. The Drive control goes from slight OD through crunch all the way (IMHO) to high-gain lead and rhythm tones. Coupled with the EQ, I can get anything from a Rolling Stones edgy sound to a VH-esque brown sound to a pretty convincing Creed/nu-metal scooped-mid sound. I can even get a fine SRV-ish sound, although this is easier to achieve with the Maxon. The one thing this pedal won't do is a clean boost - even with the drive on the lowest setting, you get a little dirt. But dirt is what I paid for, so that's ok!

Every setting sounds great. No kidding, this is a very flexible, responsive, great sounding preamp that works very well with my BiValve amp.

As noted many times, this pedal is built exceptionally well, and will likely take a lot of abuse. I don't abuse my gear, so I believe this pedal may outlive me...

Outstanding! I called Rick with a perceived problem after having it about 2 years - he said "send it over, I'll take a look." Well, turns out I was hearing things - there was no problem with the pedal, but Rick gave it a thorough checkout and tested it with a variety of setups (and other players!) just to be sure. And didn't charge me a dime. I would certainly recommend SIB to anyone - wonderful to deal with.

Been playing for 15 years, and play everything from fingerstyle jazz to pretty heavy rock - I just wish I could play everything I listen to! Played several amps and effects units over the years - this unit sounded great in front of solid state amps I've owned, and just kills in front of a good tube amp. I'd buy another asap if I had to. I love the tone and the flexibility. It's not cheap (hence the 9 rating), but great gear rarely is.

Extremely easy-only 5 knobs. The eq is very dynamic-the gain stages are even. No manual as I can remember (I bought this about 2 years ago). I don't think there has been any upgrade to it.

Excellent. One of the most quiet overdrives I've used. Even when dimed, I don't get noise. I've experimented with different pre amp tubes and I like using a 12AX7 best although it can get a little buzzy. I found stock EH or GT12AX7R3 (I believe they are the same tube anyway) to sound best amongst the non NOS tubes. I like to use the pedal to get a real heavy overdrive. It can get almost metal, but not quite. With a JJECC83s tube rated hot by eurotubes and the gain dimed, the sound is thick and fierce but never muddy.

Here's where the marks get a little lower. It is built like a brick. But I did have one switch problem and the transformer blew also. Rick from SIB told me he had a batch of bad transformers and that was the reason for the problem. In any case, the reliability issue was taken care of by Rick (see below).

Rick is extremely helpful. I've owned this pedal for almost two years and felt compelled to write a review finally based on Rick's help. Rick always answers e-mails and takes telephone calls. He offered to fix my switch but I just had a local tech do the work since that was easy enough. When the transformer started acting up, he told me to send it to him. I did so and will be getting it back shortly. But in any case, he did not charge me a cent, not even for postage. Rick is first class all the way. He and Z Vex are the two best pedal makers I've ever dealt with in terms of customer service.

I love the varidrive (I also own the digital echodrive and used to own the fatdrive). I have owned other tube driven pedals (the Mesa v twin; the Tonebone Hot British and Tonebone Classic), tried out others (Tube Driver; GTO; and Budda Phatman) and currently own the JT Pedals Valveboy (another excellent pedal). The SIB is one of the best overdrives units (tube or non tube) I've ever played period. It's versatile in that you can change different pre amp tubes and doing so really affects the sound (I hated the 12AU7 tube but some people swear by the sound of this tube with the varidrive). I like the fact the sound is very articulate no matter how high you have the gain. Lots of bottom end and lot of gain. Overall, this is an excellent pedal. I note that I've owned this pedal for awhile, so I'm not basing my rating on initial hype or impression. Furthermore, as stated, Rick is truly a class act.

Where as most OD/Dist pedals feature a single tone knob, this has 3..bass, treble, and mid.
In addition, there are volume and drive controls.
These are all self-explanatory.

In a word, INCREDIBLE!!!!! I have tried many boutique OD/Dist pedals, including KLON, Fulltone, Stamps, Matchless' Hot Box (haven't been able to get my hands on a Dirt Box), Soldano GTO, Budda Phatman, and many others. This beats them all HANDS DOWN!!!
I could always find something I didn't like about all the others. I am, admittedly, a VERY picky SOB. Both the Soldano and the Budda pedals I found "splattery" and kind of fizzy. In addition, the GTO had a "painted on" quality, IMOH.
If I were to describe the distorted tone I am attempting to achieve, I would say a blend of Eric Johnson, Eddie Van Halen's "Fair Warning" tone, and a hint of Gary Moore's "Victims of the Future" era tone.
I utilize a number of guitars including G&L ASAT's, Legacy's, Fender RI 57 and Hendrix Voodoo Strats, and a Gibson 135 w/ P 90's. I run these into a Blues Pearl Verbasonic.
This pedal never fails to delight.
It is VERY capable of doing the light OD Keith Richards/Sheryl Crow tones, which, in my experience, most pedals are not.
I can't say whether it will do the nu-metal scooped mid death sound, but you never know.
The pedal sounds AND feels as though it's part of the amp. Hell, even by girlfriend liked the sound of it.
The tone knobs are tuned incredibly well, and having 3 knobs is a welcome additon.
One point worth mentioning is that the knobs all have detents. That is, they don't turn smoothly, but are "stepped", for lack of a better phrase. The advantage? You can always duplicate your favorite settings. A nice touch that has not been given enough metion.

This is my second SIB pedal, and while I have not had trouble with it, I have had trouble with the switch on my Echodrive.
This seems to be a common complaint, and I suspect I will have to be prepared should this happen with my Varidrive.

Anyone know what happened to the SIB website? Any way to contact them?

What happened to the website? What happens if this thing goes up in smoke?

I play country, rock, and blues. I would say without hesitation this pedal goes well with any of them (the exception being the aforementioned nu-metal). I have been playing for (god, I HATE doing the math) over 20 years, and I have played Mesa, Fender, Budda, Marshall, and Matchless amps over the years.
If this pedal were stolen, I would most certainly purchase another.

Just turn the knobs and away you go!

I used to use the varidrive for guitar, but now i use it for bass. i had the distortion stage adjusted so it is a little less "gainy" than the stock setup. i like that it allows the "un- distorted" tone of the bass to come through, as well as the distorted sound. most dist. pedals will make a bass sound like a bunch of fuzz. basically i just add a little growl to the sound- and it is HUGE!

currently i am playing a schecter scorpion bass, using an svt3 pro through 2 - 15" svt speakers. when i was using it for guitar i was playing a gibson firebird through a '71 marshall, 100w super lead head with a marshall bottom cab with 80w celestians. again, a HUGE sound.

i have played the varidrive through crappy guitar amps and it doesnt really sound great. but through a quality tube amp it is a sound i swear by.

the switch constantly cuases me problems. i always play with it on, so i dont click the switch on/off very often. i am told by the the owner of the company that the switch is self cleaning and needs to be switched on/off often to keep it working properly. the switch eventually works properly after i stomp on it a few times. however this is really annoying. i always have to mess with it before a gig.

i own one of the first varidrives ever built, i think its #4. i had the on/off switch replaced once and the gain stage adjusted. there was no charge for either service. the pedal is at least 6-7 years old and still going strong.

i currently play bass thrash metal band. the varidrive adds the perfect amount of growl to fill in the bottom in a 3 piece band for a huge sound. i used to play guitar in a band more in the STP/ soundgarden stlye. i find for that type of guitar sound (STP/Soundgarden) it works great. i dont care for it for a "grindy - metal" guitar sound.

The Varidrive is very easy to use. Just turn the knobs clockwise fo' extra spank or growl.

Using new 2001 American Standard Strat with Dimarzio HS-3, HS-2, HS-2, into the Varidrive, Klon Centaur, (for boost) ADA Flanger, 69 Vox Cybaby, to Peavey Classic 50 410. I was using a Tubeworks 911 Tubedriver but, wanted something with a lot more clarity. I guessed at the Varidrive that I seen on E-Bay and went for it. Now I'm glad I did because it nailed what I was looking for. I put in a Yugoslavian 12AX7 in it because the one that was in it was shot. I don't know if that was the factory tube or not. Seems Yugoslavian 12AX7's are warmer and fatter than all other 12AX7's. Anyway, the Tubedriver was noisy. This is a whole lot quieter unless of course you're a gain hog and have to turn the drive all the way up. It is a lot like the Tubedriver but with that extra mid control, better clarity, better sustain, and all round fatness and punch, and the fact that it is not noisy. I found my best sound after a few bendovers teaking it at the club like this: Drive: 1 o'clock Volume: 2 o'clock Bass: 9 o'clock Mid: 9 o'clock Treble: Off.

I haven't used the Varidrive for long yet but, from the looks of this pedal, it should still be working fine 30 years from now.

No problems yet.

I've been playing for 15 years. I play any kind of music that moves me. The Varidrive really helps making the notes and chords sing and sustain. I have a lot more enjoyment now since I'm hearing phatass guitar coming from behind me. I would definitely buy another if it got lost or stolen. I don't have any regrets about buying the Varidrive at all. Someone really knew what they were doing when they designed this one.

Pretty straightforward. I never really messed around with anything once i set some eq that i liked. i use it for both all-out distortion, and some light OD sounds, its really easy to make it work for both.

Excellent. Best pedal of its kind IMO. It sounds nice and thick when i play it all out (well, about 3oclock drive).
Marshall 800, Marshall 2x12(silver jub) les paul jr.(exact gtr Corgan recently rocked out with.) Love it.

Hmm, shady here. Have one problem: Switch is going pretty bad on this unit..though this thing is so so clean on the inside. Looks like a quality piece of rockin equipment. Anyway, the switch. Im getting it not to bypass about half the time, and i lose of lot of signal. i have to stomp on it a few times to get it to go through all the way. Needless to say, i havent gigged with it for a while. Anyone else ever that problem? Otherwise, its been great.

Never dealt with em, though it seems its a very small company, maybe even only one guy. Not sure though..

In some guitar mag a while back, in the STP issue, they were saying that they really liked this pedal though.

9.5

It just sounds real damn good.
Thats all i really got to say bout it.

no sweat! vol., drive, bass, mid, high. you can switch out the 12ax7 for a lower distortion tube if you like. cool!

my setup... epiphone les paul classic 7-string + crybaby Q-zone + crybaby bass wah + sib varidrive + mxr noise gate + boss ps-2 delay/pitchshifter + soldano hotrod 50xl amp head. no doubt, the soldano has an awsome overdrive sound but it gets a little to noisy when i back off the volume to get a cleaner sound. i realize this is due to the fact that when you back it (volume) off you lose a lot of headroom and therefore allow the niose floor to rise. so my quest began for an overdrive pedal that would not color the sound of my amp and guitar but would allow me the convenience of a two-channel amp. actually, what i really wanted was to have pretty much the same driven sound of my soldano in a pedal. well, let me tell you, sometimes you get what you pay for. unbelievable! with all the settings at noon (amp and pedal) there was very little tonal differences... and believe it or not it actually improved my amp sound!?!? the soldano's pre-amp has a tendency to become darker the harder you push it. the varidrive tightened up the low end and put some sparkle back in the highs. i would have to say that the mid setting is a little weird. the negitive settings seem to cut out a lot more of the mids than the positive settings boost them. it doesn't take much cut to get a heavy scoop. also, at high volumes the pedal can be a bit noisy... hence the noise gate in my rig... and i should mention that the soldano is also slightly driven which will account for some of the noise. also, don't plan on using the varidrive straight to the board because it sounds nothing like it does in front of the amp (haven't tried it with a redbox yet). anywho, the sib goes from mellow drive to very thick creamy distortion and anywhere in between. sounds great!

it had better last!!!

i like to dabble with all kinds of musical genres from atmospheric and etheral to super heavy. i've had numorous rig setups including a mesa duel recto, rocktron voodu valve (big mistake), sunn solaris (nice clean amp), and countless pedal and rack fx rigs until i got the soldano which i consider the best sounding amp i have owned to date. so..., i needed an overdrive pedal that would remain transparent and give me a little more depth with a wider range of distortion. enter the sib varidrive! it's basically an extension of the soldano pre-amp as it is wired class A which allows the circuit to use the full potential of the ax7. good job sib! i could have gone through a handful of cheapo run-of-the-mill pedals and spent just as much without getting even close to the real deal. i also must thank harmony central's reviewers on this pedal. i've never seen such great reviews from people who actually seem to know what they're talking about. i don't think that the varidrive had one negative reviewer in the whole bunch. i knew there must be something to it!!!

Just the standard knobs to twist to get a variety of wonderful sounds.

Goodness gracious!!! I am playing an Am Std Tele through a Mesa Blue Angel 1-12 and had just about quit using my TS9 because it just seemed to take away some of the mojo of the amp. The varidrive is a mojo enhancer if there ever was one. The amp just sings and cuts through the mix like I would never have expected. The other guitar player in my band didn't notice the new pedal when we first practiced with it but as soon as I stomped on it he stopped playing and said "What the hell are you doing different!?!?!" He plays a Strat through a Pitbull and can't wait to get a Varidrive. The tonal complexity and incredible responsiveness of this pedal are in a class of their own IMHO. Turn your guitar down and it cleans right up; crank the guitar's volume and hear the 100lb violin begin to sing. The last time I was this excited about a piece of gear was when I was playing through a 55 Bassman at the local emporioum and the varidrive is a little cheaper than that baby was!

I bought the pedal used and have had it for about 6 months. The tube just died, but other than that this thing is rock solid.

Ne need to contact them. Although I really want to try the echodrive.

I play blues, soul, country, and pop. I would replace this jewel in a heartbeat if it were stolen, lost or died. I've tried the Hotbox, Dirtbox, Vtwin etc. and this is the pedal for me. The only thing I don't like about it is the cord setup- it will sneak loose if you don't watch it.

Very easy to get great tone out of, just turn it on.

Best tube pedal ever. OK i haven't tried em all but I'm stopping with this one. The gain control adds (besides gain, duh) a FATness that is uniquely tube, even through a solid state amp! Sounds like SIB reverse engineered the Custom Audio 3+ SE preamp because it sounds very similar to my ears.

Looks well built, but I just got it so I can't comment.

N/A

Great for blues, rock, fusion. I wanted something that would make any amp sound great and this is it. I got a fulltone FD-2 also; I use it when I need 2 gain settings AND don't feel like plugging in an AC cord. The varidrive (because its a tube device with probably a high plate voltage) has an AC cord dangling out of it. I haven't used it on a gig but I bet I'd probably kick that cord out at least once in the course of the night. Hmmm, hadn't thought about that before. I'm only giving it a 9 becuase it would be nice to have two different gain settings available via footswitch. There's just no pleasing some people :)

It has five knobs, Volume, Drive, Bass, Mids, Treble. All of the knobs are very responsive and have detents so you can find your favorite spots easily, but I'm not sure if I like that feature yet. I've been playing with thing for about 6 weeks now and I can't get it to sound bad. Sure, I've got my favorite sounds that I keep going back to, but everything else and everything in between is very musical.

I'm playing a Strat Plus and a Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop Historic Reissue '59 Flametop (2001, very sweet) into a TS9/808 by Analogman -->SIB Varidrive -->Clone Clone (Analogman)--> SIB EchoDrive -->into a Marshall Master Reverb 30 ( a SS practice amp that when clean sounds and responds remarkably like a tube amp - go figure) and occasionally into one of a couple of Fender amps (waiting for my Bogner).

The effect ranges from a subtle "just breaking up" to a completely over-the-top-string-melting tone. But it's more than just that. The sound is truely awe-inspiring. It's filled with rich and complex harmonics that makes the guitar not just sing, but actually lives and breathes as it responds to all the dynamics of your playing. The bass response is unbelievable and the highs are crystaline, never biting or harsh even when turned all the way up. I typically keep the drive under 12:00, but that's just my taste, there's lots of useful tone to be had between 12:00 and 5:00.

I often hit this with a clean boost from TS9/808 (another great pedal, but different in character) and the Varidrive really starts to give up the goods. Since it's a tube (12AX7 that can be switched out to Y7, T7 or U7s for less gain), pumping in more signal should have this affect and it is truly wonderful. The thing starts to sing like a violin. This is the perfect overdrive pedal. When run through a tube amp it it's like sex, but it puts a grin on my face even with the Marshall practice amp (that amp got really good reviews, so I know I'm not crazy - just surprised).

You must own this pedal.

I think I can depend on this more than I can depend on my playing. My performing days are over, so backups aren't really my concern. But having been there and done that, I would say that I could rely on this pedal, it's built like a brick and is very solid feeling. I would carry another tube of course.

I've been playing for nearly 30 years, blues, rock, pop, folk. For the last 10 years I've concentrated on acoustic guitar (Martin HD-28,Olson SJ) and am now returning to my roots and have picked up some of the stuff I haven't had to worry about over the years (effects, amps the LP). If it were lost or stolen it would be replaced immediately. I've never heard anything as full, rich, warm and complex as this and I couldn't imagine playing without it in my setup. I've compared it with a bunch of overdrive/distortion pedals from the big makers and it completely blows them away, no competition. It makes me want to play because it sounds so good and responds so well. It does not get in the way of my playing, nor does it change the sound of the guitars or amps that I use.

Simple to use. The eq is very effective. Dosen't come with a manual, just some indtructions which are screen printed to the back of the unit. It's not rocket science! Anyway this is a basic unit in that all you need to do is turn some knobs until it sounds good. Infact that's net even needed as the unit sounds fantastic at any setting, right out of the box, really!

Sounds fantastic! I have other boutique distortion/overdive pedals (FD2,Zvex, etc..)but non of them can do what the Varidrive can. This has't to be the hottest distortion/overdrive pedal. The distortion tones that come out of this thing are unreal! Very fat and warm sounding. Why do the words FAT and WARM always seem to be associated? I had girlfriend once, she was fat but she was a cold Bitch! explain that one! Anyway back to the review. This pedal is just a thing of beuty. The Vari can go from warm bluesy overdrive tones, all the way upto over the top scooped distortions. This pedal so so full of life! I currently use this pedal with two ,very different, amps using a switch box. The chain goes as follows: PRS Santana2 or Gibson Les Paul STD>>Fulltone Clyde Wah>>Fulltone FD2>>SIB Varidrive>> MXR Phase 100>>BOSS DD5>>ANALOG MAN Chourus >>Matchless DC-30 or Riveira Knuckle 100watt Head with 2/12 cab. The matchless sounds amazing on it's own but whan the SIB kicks in watch out! the tone becomes more heavenly. The riveira rig really makes the SIB shine in a different way. Scooped out mid tones are easily achieved. A clean amp with do very well with the Varidrive, howeve, this pedal will also make Class A's sing like an Angel. It's an all round great pedal.

Tough as Nails. Heavy as hell and built like a tank!

No experience.

Very awsome! Try one out if you get the chance. It's definately worth a try. I have never come accross such a full and rich sounding pedal. The distortion tones are massive and as smooth as butter. It's a keeper!

Simple to use. There are 5 knobs (Volume,Gain,Treble Mids and Bass. It doesn't get easier than this.

I use a Fender strat through an OrangeAD30R with various pedals. The veridrive fits nicely in the mix. I Love this pedal.Smooth Gain great for blues and Rock. Very warm due to the 12ax7 preamptube. This pedal is a must have IMHO.

NA.I.m not worried

a pure winner!

Simple to operate.

Very warm sounding and very Fat indeed. I have two of them (used with seperate rigs) the sound quality is unmatched. Distortion tones are Massive and sound gorgious. I have changed the the tubes in both of my units to Tesla JJ 12AX7A's WOW, What a difference. Just when I thought this thing couldn't sound any better. The Tesla tube's really tighten things up! and produce a more detailed high end tighter bottom that still sounds huge. Don't get me wrong the stock tube's are just as good but produce a different type of magical tone. I will try other's and write reviews on them in the future. Anyway, the Varidrive is great for Blues, Rock, Ska, Metal. It's a very versitile pedal that would probably be welcome in most anyone's rig. Great Sound, this one's a winner IMHO.

Seems to be built like a Brick. Thick metal Box with true Bypass and solid construction. A real Pro Tool.

I haven't delt with then at all. I've had both units for about 6 months now with out any problems.

This pedal is a fantastic value for the sound. It really deserves a good look into. I've played guitar and Gigged for many years (20) and have never come accross anything like it. It is a fantastic Fuzz Box that I have adopted into my rig and will never get rid of, it will probably outlast me. If you have the bucks than buy one. If you don't have the money than start saving, You'll wonder how you've lived without it for all these years! Rock On!

There are 5 knobs, you can't go wrong! No ither instructions, Some basic instructions are printed on the back, very simple to adjust and get a great sound.

I use a Gibson Les Paul STD. Know this: THE VARIDRIVE IS A WORK OF ART. There is no other way to explain what it's capable of doing. If you play rock/classic rock/blues than your in for a big treat! I use this pedal in conjunction with some others (Fulltone Ultimate Ocatave , Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and an MXR Ohase 100) The Fulltone stuf sounds fantastic when used before the Varidrive (Haven't tried it after thought) the phase is used before also, this seems to tighten things up in a really nice way. The sound/voice that this unot possesses is great. I can nail tones of many artists (Stane Temple Piolets, Black Crows, Clapton etc...) there isn't much of a learning curve, just tweek it and play, it's that simple. I've been looking for a box like this forever! I really like it allot. I am currently using this through a Peavey classic 30, I've tried it through my friends Roland Cube 30 but it doesn't produce the same result. A tube amp really brings out the monster tones in this creature. If your tone is good the Varidrive will make it bigger and better. I haven't tried replacing the tubes on my unit ,for the sake of variety, yet/ I don't find the need. There have been countless hours played through my VariDrive, each time feels like a whole new experience. I FEEL LIKE PLAYING IT KNOW! but it's too late and the wife is a light sleeper. This thing should sound Awsome with any rig (Except certain solid state amps) Althought playing the Varidrive throughmy bussies Cube 30 didn't do it for me it still sounded fat and good. If you can have steak why settle for hamburger, use your tube amps, the results just seem more natural but that's a whole other discussion right? beutiful sounding peiceof gear.

I've had the unit for 6 months now and have been playing it for ,at leat, 2-3 hours a day and it seems reliable. Built like a Tank. I would gig without a backup.

no experiences. The SIB web site is pretty cool but gets boring fast, They should have more info (Company History, Arstist etc...) on the site.

As I've mention before, I play Blues/Rock and this pedal is fantastic for my needs. There's no way I will replace this baby, ther's really no sunstitute for it. Just a Great Pedal.

Easily tweakable and versitility is excellant. No instruction manuals included other than some basic Info that is screen printed on the bottom of the unit. Sounds Great Out of the box anyway.

I am currently running the Varidrive into a Fender Hotrod Deluxe amp. The only other pedals that are in the signal path are FT Fuldrive 2 and a Vox Wah, they are both placed before the Varidrive. The Varidrive is dead silent, no unwanted noise. The sound is fantastic. I really like the voicing on this thing. I play Blues and some clasic rock and this pedal seems to work wonders for my tone. Some earlier reviewers say that by placing the FT fulldrive 2 before the Varidrive helps enhance the top end detail. This is true, however, I normally find myself just using one at a time. The Varidrive sounds amazing all by itself! This pedal really turns my crank. You can switch the 12AX7 tube that comes with the unit if you want to reduce the amount of gain. I haven't tried doing this yet but I can't imagine any vast improvements to what this unit already sounds like. I like mine at 100% Gain. I might try different brands however. This one's a keeper

Very sturdy. Too early to know. I just got it last week but I am confident that it will last a long time.

No experiences

The varidrive is a pricey distortion box but worth every penny. Anyway the bottom Line ,IMHO, is that this distortion pedal is in a class all on it's own, I really cant imagine someone not liking the Varidrive, perhaps some country dude (no offense). If you haven't tryed one yet, it's worth a look or just take my advise and grab one, You can't go wrong.

Very Easy to use. There isn't much to it. The sound is very adjustable and it's easily done. No need for a Manual.

This box puts aout an unbeleivable tone. It doesn't mess with your existing don't, the character still shines throught, however the Varidrive just pumps out some real Awsome FAT, Smooth musical sounding distortion with a BIG Bottom. There are no thin sounds here. Infact I just couldn't get a bad tone out of it at the Music store where I tried it out. I tried it throught a Fender, a Dr.Z MAZ18 Jr. and a VOX AC30 at the music store as I own two of these amps (Dr.z and Vox). Using a Fender American STD Strat and Gibson Les Paul STD. The Varidrive sounded unbeleivable throught the Fender, just Huge! Dr.Z Sounded really Yummy and Warm. and the Vox sounded very midrangy and smooth. I could Not get a bad sound out of any of these amps using the Varidrive. That's when I placed the two guitars back on the racks were they belong and aksed the sales guy to wrap one up for my I'm in Love! This pedal sounds nice and Thick and heavy. Although I wouldn't use it for Heavy Metal, depending on your setup it could fit quite nicely in a Metal Rig too. It certainly has Balls! I play Blues /Rock and this pedal has been adopted as essential part of my rig and now I can Not live with out it. When I took it home I was in for another shocker. My setup is as follows: Fender Anerican STD Strat or Gibson Les Paul STD >> Fulltone Clyde Wah >> Fulltone Ultimate Octave >> Fulltone Full Drive 2 >> SIB Varidrive >> PE Vibe Unit >> Boss DD5 >> Fulltone Sup A Trem >> Dr.Z MAZ18 or Vox AC 30. I have also discovered that the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 ,when hitting the Varidrive, adds nice details to my tone. WOW that really hit the hammer on the nail for me. I know have the best sounding rig that I have ever had. I absolutely couldn't do it without the Varidrive. Varidrive = Varyawsome!

Built well. I opened it up already just to check things out. Built with top quality parts, I don't expect any problems with this Unit. No backup needed.

No experience. I've read that the SIB dude is really helpful and freindly though. I don't expect to speak with him anytime soon however.

As I mentioned before I play Blues /Rock and the Varidrive delivers an awsome tone with it's BIG Bottom distortion. Nothing even comes close. This pedal is a must have IMHO. They are fairly expensive. Look at it this way though, You Get what you pay for and it's true bypass too!

So easy, the instructions are printed on the back of the stomp box. Only 5 knobs-bass; treble; mid; gain; and volume. Pretty simple indeed. Very easy to get different sounds out of this box.

OH MY GOD!!! I could not believe the sound that this box produces. Absolutely noiseless, even at max gain settings, this stompbox produces tremendous bottom end. As one reviewer said, putting a fulltone fulldrive 2 before the varidrive gives the sound much more clarity. I use the varidrive either with a Vox AC-30 or a Budda twinmaster 12. In two words-absolutely killer.

I have had this for about 7 months with absolutely no problem. Looks like a brick and is very heavy. I don't gig without a backup-unfortunately, I don't have enough money to have 2 varidrives so I use a Bixonic as a backup.

I play power pop and alternative rock (covers band). This pedal isn't heavy metal but it has more than enough gain for the type of music I play (lots of Teenage Fanclub, Oasis, and Ocean Colour Scene). I love the thick globs of bottom end this box produces. I stick a fulldrive 2 before and I get better clarity. I have yet to hear an overdrive as powerful yet somewhat transparent as this. I like my backup-the Bixonic Pandora but it does not even come close. I was trying out a Line 6 distortion modeler but that stuff is a toy compared to the SIB (plus I'm not sold on Line 6 reliability-too many question marks especially that listed here in Harmony Central)/

its so easy it hurts. if you can't figure it out, you have a few issues.

i'm playing a Les Paul standard with a '57 HB in the neck position and a Godin SD through a fender hot rod deluxe (don't laugh, it sounds great). i also use a fulltone clyde wah with this pedal. this thing is flawless. it posesses the best bass i've ever heard from a distortion unit. the EQ sculpts your sound wonderfully and really makes a wonderfully musical tone at all settings. this pedal is HUGE sounding. its so big and warm and poweful. it makes chords and single note lines so d@mn big its unbelievable. it will crush other guitar players' puny distortion tones. its true bypass makes it truly transparent when not on, which is rare. its sounds excellent playing heavy, distorted music such as King's X and it can clean up and give a nice, light crunch. it does clean up well when you back off of the guitar volume and it can really boost a tube amp into that perfect overdrive. this is the pedal i've been searching for. i've gone through tons of pedals to find a good hot distortion, to no luck until now. i can't say anything bad about it. its simply the best sounding pedal i've ever heard.

its built like a tank. i would definitely use it without a backup.

haven't dealt with them..... so i don't know.

i like to play heavy rock and blues rock, such as the black crowes and king's x. this unit was quite pricey, but the tone made it so impossible to pass it by. if it was stolen, i would have to replace it. it has become a necessity to my tone since purchasing it. definitely an excellent investment!

First of all....I Play thru Bogner Ecstacy 101-B Amplifier Heads.I am using # Bogner Heads thru six 4x12 Bogner Cabinets loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 Speakers.It is a Definite Reality that Bogner Makes the Best Amplifiers in the World...!
I was in the studio last week in LA when before calling Rocket Cargo to arrange Transport of Our gear back to Connecticut when the engineer told me to try this pedal before I tore down my gear to put in the road cases.I NEVER use or NEED any overdrives with the Amps I own....but the sheer size of it,and the fact that it is loaded with a 12 AX7 tube,and a High plate Voltage design with AC Power Chord instead of a wall wart made me curious.i plugged it into the 1st Channel of my bogner(out of the 3 it has)and using the setting I never change(my clean tone is super defined with lotsa "Chime" and "sparkle") I put the Varidrive on :Gain-2 O'clock,Volume at about.-2 o'Clock,Mid-10 O'clock,Treble-1 O'clock,Bass-12,O'clock.....and proceeded to Play.
This is the Most Satisfying Low/Med/High Gain Harmonic,Toneful,and Thick sounding Overdrive/Distortion pedal I have ever played-Tried-or Ever Bought !It will make ANY Amp sound 10 times better if you need a Boost-Refined sounding Tone with the help of a pedal.I was so amazed at the sound thru the Bogner-Which DOESN'T NEEDIT AT ALL...that I unpacked my JMP 50 watt head w/no master vol. and tried it thru that-well I Never heard ANY Marshall sound like this(we are a Speed Metal Band......)I got home to Connecticut,and called around.

I called : TEDDY at WWW.GASPEDAL.COM 1-888-400-7436/ or 516-338-4316
and he said he has them in stock,and would send one to Our Studio in Connecticut.It arrived the next day and I have never un-plugged it from the Marshall.. If there is a bad sound in this Pedal....i cant find it. No rocket science or voodoo involved....this is the Only pedal you need from Clean Boost,to slight overdrive, to Hard Rock,,,,,to METAL ! If you are looking for all the straight forward answers to your pedal hunting-Call WWW.GASPEDAL.COM at 1-888-400-7436,and ask for Teddy to help you OUT. Tell em Vince sent you. He will Gladly answer and provide you with all the help/advice and service you need to find the right pedal for you.This Pedal is simple to use....like an amp only smaller. It's Built like a Brick shithouse too.Dont drop it on yer foot,or you'll be limping across the stage,and not dancing !The manual is really not needed(good thing,as it is really not anything to write home about.)This unit can accomodate lesser gain tubes as well....so the extreme end of the Units tones need'nt be worrysome to the lesser gain crowd.It'll digest 12au7s as well as 12at7,and on down the line.

Sound quality is the BEST I've ever heard(unless you have a Bogner like me....then you dont need ANYTHING.)
I use ALL Jackson USA Custom Shop Korina KING VEES,Randy Rhoads RR-1 Customs,The Original Randy Rhoads PCS series,and a couple of PRS McCarty's and some Charvel (early 80s) Super strats,all USA San Dimas.
All my Guitars are loaded with Seymour Duncan JBs and an assorted bunch of other Seymour Duncan High output pick-ups....they sound anemic thru the Marshall...BUT with the SIB,they sound God-like !These pedals all sound good. I've now heard several others,and they all sound alike.I ONLY USE IT WITH THE JMP Marshall head....the Bogners NEED NOTHING in the weay of this Pedal....although i first played it thru the BOGNERS and it BLEW ME AWAY !

I would think this pedal will be around after ANYTHING in the way a Guitarist can put it through. I mean with a little care and "watchfull eyeballing"...whats gonna happen ? It can be used as a weapon to Kill the thief who would dare try to steal it after hearing
how good it sounds.

I wouldn't have the slightest idea of how the customer support is.I haven't needed it,and I doubt I will....but If I need anything in the way of Retail support,or Great service and advice I would call TEDDY at WWW.GASPEDAL.COM 1-888-400-7436 and get another if needed in a pinch,or needed at all.That Dude is the Most knowledgeable individual in the FX arena (retail wise),and the Fairest person Price wise I have ever handed $ over to!He stands behind the products he sells,and will certainly help you out,AND remember your name Way after the sale is Complete.I Rate the Guy I Bought My Varidrive from as "Incredibly Kind and Helpful" and i paid Full price(which is very fair in my Honest opinion.).Go to gaspedal.com and be Happy !

GO GET ONE AND BE BLOWN AWAY AT HOW Great IT SOUNDS.

This is a very easy pedal to use. Volume, drive, low,mid,high, switch, in and out. Acts like a preamp. I like that. It dosen't color the sound much. The eq is actualy usefull and acts like an amp,each knob interacts with the others.

Oh man have I searched for a good overdrive pedal. I've tried most everything and I really wanted one with a tube in it so as to not introduce any more silicon into my signal chain . But didn't like the Vtwin at all. I've owned several boogies and none of them sounded as dark and bad as that pedal. Anyway the Varidrive had one 12AX7, but it's wired in class A so that the tube is always working (both sides) at peak. You get so much more harmonic richness with a class A circut. It's really hard to find a setting that sounds bad. Max the highs, soop the mids and lows, and it still is not unpleasant. It can do clean boost, that hard to find just barely breaking up, a good imitation of Marshall style crunch, and Over the top, not quite Tremoverb territory but close. With the right pickup and amp you can get a very nice scooped mids metal tone that sounds so much more alive and real than any solid state pedal.
Which brings us to a quirk of the Varidrive. Maybe it's just the amp, but this pedal sounds amazing through my 70 Super Reverb. All the tones listed above sound best on this amp! I have a 78 JMP and it really dosen't do much for the Marshall. Dito with my VHT 50ST, and my Boogie Studio .22. But it is heaven with the Super! This pedal just comes alive with Fender tube amps. I've run it through bandmasters, twins, etc and they all sound great with it. I think that a really really clean amp is needed to appreciate the tone in this box. It's not noisy unless you are running it through an amp that already has a gain stage and you are cranking the drive. But that's not this pedals forte anyway.

Seems very sturdy. It's quite big and built with heavy guage steel. I did have some trobule with the switch the first day or two, but it was just dirty (it's self cleaning) and it went away.

Never tried.

I've been playing for over 21 years. I have the last 5 years been on the tone hunt that so many of us are, and I think I've got most of the G.A.S taken care of. If I had to have one setup it would be this pedal and my Super Reverb. It's so versital and does the clean, bluesy, crunchy, highgain thing better than anything else out there. It is a bit expensive, but it blows the V twin,HK, etc.. pedals out of the water. If you are looking to use a clean channel and a pedal to produce your overdrive this is it, If however you are looking to augment your already distorted amp, or you have a solid state amp, I would make sure and test it with your setup before buying, but even then I think you will find it the best on the market.

It is as easy to use a a master volume amp. It has drive, volume, high, mid, and low knobs.

My usual setup is a Gibson SG or Strat -> Fulltone Clyde Wah -> Fulltone Fulldrive 2 -> SIB Varidrive -> Boss CE-3 chorus.

This pedal has a nice warm, harmonically rich, tubey sound. Compared to this pedal, my Fulldrive 2 and Burn Unit pedal sound flat. It is a fat sound. So far in my pedal search, this is the next best thing to having a channel switching amp. In fact, I like it better than the drive channel on my Crate Vintage Club 50.

It has more gain than my FullDrive 2 and Burn Unit. I think it could be used for stuff like Pearl Jam, etc. I think it has about as much gain as the Mesa Boogie V-Twin pedal that I owned.

I bought this pedal as a replacement for the V-Twin because the V-Twin sounded too muddy through my Twin Reverb. It was also much quieter.

I like that it has true bypass. I like how it reacts to guitar volume changes. I like the fact that you can use a pedal like a fulldrive 2 to boost it just like you would boost an already distorted amp.

Sometimes the tone seems too thick. That thickness results in
less clarity. My Burn Unit in particular has much more clarity
than the Varidrive. At high gain, I don't mind it that much, but at low gain, I expect much more clarity. I only got to gig with the pedal once and I was disappointed about how poorly it cut through the mix. I ended up using my FullDrive2 most of the time at that gig purely due to clarity.

I discovered that the Varidrive actually sounds better if you use together with another pedal like the FullDrive2 with the Varidrive. The Varidrive gives it the warm, rich, tubey sound while the FullDrive2 will give the tone more clarity and focus.

By the way, the tube you use seems to make somewhat of a difference. Right now I'm using it with a Sovtek 12AX7LPS. I think this particular Sovtek tube made the pedal sound smoother.

I have not encountered any problems whatsoever with this pedal.

Never dealt with the company. Therefore I will not provide an opinion.

I mostly play 70's classic rock with some 80's and 90's.
I have been playing guitar since 1984 but have only been playing out the last four years.

I've owned Boss DS-1, original Marshall Guv'nor, ART SGX-2000, Fulltone FullDrive2, Barber Electronics Burn Unit, Boss Metal Zone, Tech21 SansAmp GT2, Mesa Boogie V-Twin, Blackstone MOSFET overdrive. I've extensively tried RealTube, Ibanez TS-9 reissue, Stamps Drive-o-matic, Klon Centaur. I think this pedal and the Blackstone MOSFET overdrive sound the closest to the overdrive channel of an amp.

Really easy to use.. Sounds good no matter where you set the knobs.. Very Vari adjustable.. Volume, Drive, Bass, Mid and Treble knobs.. When you move a knob just a little bit you notice a big time change, unlike most boxes..

I play a 70s Fender strat-o-caster through a Soldano Soul-O-Verb 2x12 combo..

This box is not even close to being noisy, I really don't know how SIB does it??

Like I said before, "tweak" any of the knobs and get huge changes!! The "Box O Tone" This thing has un real tube overdrive / distortion.. From Metalica to a cleaner funky 70s ka-chink ka-chink tone, you know like Prince..
I personally play "In your face" Blues, and this thag is great for my style of playing.. I really don't need my TS-808 anymore, the VariDrive does it better..

Very Dependable!! This box is built like a "Brick Ouse", Dig??

Never had to deal with SIB yet.. If I did need it fixed or Repaired I would bring it to WILLIES AMERICAN GUITARS in St. Paul Minnesota.. They always take care of me!! WWW.Williesguitars.com

Tell 'em "Shy Willy" sent you!!!!!!!

You really can't compare thwe SIB Varidrive to any other over drive or distortion pedal or even rack overdrive / distortion units!! I've tried many others and nothing even comes close to the VariDrive! The Matchless Hot Box is a grat sounding box but didn't suit my Blusey style.. I found the Hot Box to be way to harsh sounding for me, plus they cost like one million dollars now after Matchless went belly up.. (that "Collectable" thing you know!) With the SIB, I find that you can hear each string ringing on it's own even when you have the drive cranked! When you use a Rocktron or Digitec overdrive or Distortion unit the strings are melted together and doesn't sound very articulate or smooth at all..

I just ordered a SIB Echodrive.... I can't wait to see what the SIB boys do with ECHO, cho, cho , ho, ooooo

Not a bad sound in the box! When I first got it, for grins I thought I'd start off with the treble all the way up and everything else all the way down. The idea was to hear it at it's worst and go for improvements from there. It sounded great! Like adding a whole new front end to your amp.

I have a Gretsch Sparkle Jet, a Hamer, a Strat plus, two Teles, a Hagstrom and a Jerry Jones Baritone. I use a Mesa Boogie MK IV, a JC 120 and a Rocket A-10. I also have about 20 pedals (SIB Buttface, Z Vex, Menatone Crowther and others) and the varidrive is in a class all it's own. The clean tones (with the weaker tube options) are really nice. It's like an amp upgrade. The mid gain tones are very natural sounding and the high gain never gets fizzy. For a "colorless" boost for clean tones I set the treble all the way on and put the bass a bit. it seems to be voiced kind of dark which is great for me. Anything from the Metalica chunk to Mark Knopfler solo tones. Really thick and perty!

Like everyone else says, built like a tank. I do feel like I need to be careful switching the tubes in it. The socket is mountied to a circuit board that gives a little when you pull or push on the tube. No big deal though.

Being able to ask the designer and builder of a piece of equipment is great. He responds pretty quickly to emails.

I've been playing for over 30 years and I'll play almost anything. This is a pedal any hick or hair band could use. VERY versitile. Really beefs up clean tones on the lowest setting and the high gain sounds are very complex and thick in all the right places. Does the "just starting to break up" tones better than any other pedal I've heard.

The varidrive controls are straight forward, and easy to use. Volume gain treble, bass, and mid controls. The volume control has a great deal of range. I only wished that it had two sets of everything and an extra switch to access a second set of settings. (That is probably a bit much to expect from a pedal).

I use the Varidrive with a custom shop 57' les paul custom, and a 58' les paul flame top, through a 68' plexi marshall half stack with the original 25 watt celestions. When I first bought the varidrive, I didn't enjoy the way that the pedal was voiced. It was built like a tank, but sounded a bit like it was voiced for someone who plays at low stage volume levels, (I don't), with exagerated low end that was voiced very very much under the frequency that a guitar produces, and highs that were a bit Metalica like for my taste. The mids were also voiced a bit low. I called Rick at SIB and he was Extremely helpfull. He offered to revoice the pedal to my liking, and did a perfect job of doing so. I asked for the pedal to produce just more of the natural frequencies that my Vintage Marshall produces, and in no time at all the pedal was back in my hands, and sounded like a million bucks!

This pedal is built like a tank.

Rick and Tomo at SIB were both very nice, and helpfull. These guys are the best.

I play blues/rock and after the voicing change the pedal is perfect for my style of playing. The stock varidrive would be great for those of you looking for the scooped mid metal sound. Compared to a full drive 2, and a tube driver, this thing is in a whole other world. Full sounding, big, not neccesarily transparent though. It does have a sound of its own, but if you dig that sound, look out, your in for a little tone fun.

This is a follow-up to a previous submission. Very easy to usa. It would be difficult to get ea bad sound from the Varidrive.

This is what I wanted to report on. I am using a Les Paul with 500T and 396R pickups. Into a Boss GT-5 Processor. I have a Mesa Boogie Formula Preamp first in the Boss effects chain with the Preamp section of the Boss turned off. I come out of the Boss into the Varidrive and into the front end of the Mesa Boogie then to a Peavey Classic 50-50 all tube power amp into a Carvin 2X12 Cab. The Varidrive is superb! I use it on the clean channel of the Formula for a crunchy OD and on the two distortion channels of the Formula, the Varidrive send chills up my spine from the incredable great sound.

1 12AX7 tube and class a wiring. Built like a Brick

I have used the Varidrive in clean channels of Marshals, Mesas, Carvins and others. The Varidrive overdrive is much better in my opinion.

Good sound comes easy. 5 nobs Volume, Drive, Treble, Mids, Base. I did not rececieve a manual wit my new purchase.

I play an Epi Less paul with Gibson 510T and 496R into a Boss GT-5 eff. with the Varidrive first in the effects chain. My amp is a peavey classic 50-50 into 2 carvin 2X12 Cabs (stereo) I am a gear head and hav other amps as well. But who cares? I like chunky overdrive and quality (hear every note) distortion.My favorite guitarists are Albert Lee, the Eagles guysand Steve West

I would use this unit without a backup

I Emailed Rick befory purchasing and he got right back to me and still sends me notices of reviews. I like customer followup.

I have been a pro for 30+ years. I am no playing contemporary Christian music. The S.I.B. fills all my needs for quality overdrive. It's sound is my favorite feature and the AC power supply and the Trucklike construction. I opened it up and it is really well built and thought out. I may add a power brake to my system if I can find one the goes to 4 ohms. The only thing I miss is being able to tell when the unit is active or off (The power LED is onn when it is plugged in

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.