Drive CD200-8G Combo

Got that amp for 170 ??? (euros)in late 2003. It was my first amp, and I didn't really knew lot about amps. I had to trust others advices, and I trusted the wrong person. This amp was supposed to have crystal clean sound, and I liked the 8 effects since I couldn't afford more money for another amp or extra pedal effects.

My amp has serious problems. It has to be about the circuit and I suspect it's the digital effects that ruin it. the result is that channels get messed up randomly. Channels lose serious gain (90% +). Effects are randomly getting on/off. I tried to get it replaced from the shop I bought it. They said that other amps of this model had the same problem. No meaning in giving me another. No wonder this model didn't last more than half a year in the market and it got discontinued.

I want to state this : this amp is completely different from the series cd200 that is now in the market (the one with buttons for the effects, not a knob like mine). The new ones are great. I have the experience to tell whether an amp is good or not, and I played with them. At least they are worth their money.

Although the features of this amp are rich, they are wasted from it's electrical problems

To be honest, my amp is so f***d up now, I can't really judge it. I remember that (before broblems became appearing too often) the clean channel was bright but not warm. Playing with a single coil guitar produced a very dry sound that was annoying and tiring for my ears.
Same goes for Distortion, which is even more dry. The only good thing about the drive, is that it had tons of gain compared with other solid state amps of that price, so it could replace a metal pedal and suit a cheap-o amateur Poser Rocker or Metal player.

The effects are funny at a first look. After some time, you realize that they are very restricted. an extra 1-2 knobs for other parameter adjustments would change that but what do u expect from a 200$ - amp with effects. The new CD series has fewer effects but more adjustable ,thumbs up. But mine.. no big deal.

The amp was rather loud for 20 Watt.
Finally I still can't see any difference using some EQ knobs

Since I mentioned these electrical problems, I shouldn't need to add something. After 2 years of usage I was too dissapointed to use it anymore, so it doesn't have hard use. I noticed that my gain knob can turn round it's base and exceed it's stop point even with light pressure. I turn it another 300 degrees and it comes again to it's normal possition :)

I'm still trying to find an e-mail or an official internet site for this company. Practicaly there was no warranty.

I'll put it simply: If u ever see a DRIVE amp with an 8-possition effect knob, stay away. If u already have it, paint it blue and drop it in the sea. U should also remove first the amp front cover so fishes can live in it. If u have a fireplace and have the time to remove the plastic, u can use the wood also

I received one of these amps as a birthday present in November 2003 as I wanted to learn to play electric guitar. It's got a 20W 8" speaker, headphone jack, footswitch, 3-knob EQ, and clean/distort channel. The big difference between this amp and the standard CD200 is the addition of two knobs to the panel: one to select one of eight digital effects, and one to choose the level for the effect.

Now, the effects are really nothing special. You get a choice of various reverb/delay settings, flange, chorus, and tremolo. They're all preset to certain values (e.g. "320ms Delay") - it would have been nice to offer another knob to allow you to tweak the effects further. Additionally, they don't sound all that great. Serious players would undoubtedly opt for specialized pedals or a processor and probably never find a real use for the built-in effects.

One thing that I can say for the effects though - and this is especially applicable to the beginning player: They're FUN. Eight different sounds, plus clean and distort, gives you a lot to play around with. You aren't going to find pro-quality effects on ANY amp in this price range, but the somewhat large variety available on the CD200-8G will give the budding guitarist plenty of enjoyment.

From what I can tell, you can add a 2-button foot switch (Drive model FS-1 if you can find it) which lets you switch between clean/dirty and turn the effects on/off. This would add to the 'fun factor', but as the amp probably won't see much use outside the practice room, it isn't necessary.

The best advice I can offer in determining if it's worth the additional money for a fun-but-essentially-useless feature: try the amp out first! The fun of playing with the effects might give a (young?) impulsive player more reason to stick with the instrument. Those who are more serious about learning probably don't need the effects and may not even have a practical use for them - in which case a better basic amp from a different manufacturer would be the way to go.

The amp offers a clean channel which unfortunately gets a little distorted at high volumes. When you're on the drive channel, you can crank the gain way up for a very crunchy distortion. That gets a little noisy too (bad noisy), but you can get lots of feedback, so maybe that's a plus?

I play my cheap Strat copy mostly in a quiet setting with the volume turned way down, so these things don't bother me. If I ever started a garage band I'd probably get annoyed with them real quick. I imagine 20W isn't enough power to make this much of a gigging amp anyway.

As stated above, the effects don't sound all that special. They're usually muddy and aren't tweakable enough. If you want e.g. a tremolo, just buy a dedicated pedal - you'll find it far more versatile than the amp version here.

Realistically, it's just a practice amp with a selection of low-quality effects. You plug in the guitar and sound comes out - not good at any particular style, but not bad either.

I use the amp only as a practice amp and don't play it often or turn it up very loud, so I can't accurately gauge the reliability. It feels solid and has been through three or four moves without damage.

Never dealt with them. However, their website is difficult to find on Google (it's here: http://www.switchmusic.net/ ). Also, the amp is now discontinued, so I bet dealing with customer service would be a hassle. I believe the CD200-8G originally came with a five-year warranty.

I haven't been playing long, and I only play this with a very low-quality guitar. As a practice amp, it does exactly what it says on the box: it makes me loud enough to be able to practice.

If stolen or lost I probably wouldn't buy another CD200-8G however. I'd like my next amp to be much more versatile: something I could use in a band setting, something more suited to my style, and something with room to grow into (you only grow out of your first amp...) Also, as I amass my own collection of effects pedals, I have no use for digital effects on an amp.

Bottom line: Read the CD200 reviews, decide if you really want to pay more money just to play around with the effects, and realize that it's just a practice amp - don't expect world-class sounds.