Drive CD200R

Drive CD200r. Made in Korea. Looking at the serial number, the things seems to have been made in 1996. Still going strong. Those who posted reviews slamming the reliability must have been unlucky. Mine is 13 years old and shows no signs of problems.

The amp is versatile enough, but I don't push it in many directions. I pretty much play blues, jazz, rock.

The amp is a 2 channel, has a jack for a footswitch (which I don't have), has built in spring reverb, and a headphone jack. The OD channel isn't much good to me. I just use it to put a bit of dirt on my blues sometimes. Finding the sweetspot for dirt is pretty tough. Too little and its unnoticible, too much, and it starts to get metally. Other features worth mentioning are the fact that this amp has separate volume controls for each channel, and the clean channel has treble, mid and bass controls, which was one of my main reasons for buying the amp (along with reverb). This amp was bought to replace a Marshall MG-10, which only has a mid control.

I use the amp in my living room, which is where all of my guitar playing is done, and since I use it late at night, the power levels are fine. Volume usually lingers between 1 and 3, cranked to about 4 or 5 on weekends. I'm not a huge fan of excessive volumes.

The amp sounds good clean. Of course there is not as much character as a tube amp, or a better brand practice amp, but for what it is, it's a great little thing.

The guitars used with it are all Squier at this stage. A Jagmaster with a PAF in the bridge and strat single in the middle, and Affinity Tele with an Alnico pickup at the neck, and a Squier 51 with an unknown humbucker in the bridge.

My playing style revolves around an aggressive right hand. Think of SRV without 1% of the talent. I use a super-heavy pick for lead (a 2mm) for lead, and I play hard. The amp is very kind to my playing style. I get alot of attack and snap as well as a warm, round middle. The downside of this is that when the volume on the amp is raised, the sound gets to be more and more trebly. In the bad, shrill way.

Not much noise, just some 60-cycle from the single-coils, and a bit of buzz on the drive channel, which I think is normal. The amp is close to my TV, so the lack of noise is very good.

As for the variety of the amp, there is not a huge amount. There is no breakup or distortion like that of a tube amp, and the drive channel is not terribly useful. The clean sound is perfectly acceptable, but it's not fair to ask the amp to do much more than that, the little dude just can't swing to many grooves. Strictly 4/4 for this guy.

The overdrive is very tame. Basically useless.

The main reason I bought this critter was for the reverb. It's doesn't seem to be very good, but I'm not very experienced with reverb, so I can't comment too much. One thing about the reverb, is that it is VERY sensitive to outside vibrations in the room. I enjoy the reverb, and have got a lot of use out of it, Rock Lobster-ing and Peter Gunn-ing my little heart out.

All in all, the amp is good on clean. With much experimenting, I can get the drive channel to give me what I want, and the reverb is a whole lot of fun. I really have no complaints about the sound quality.

The amp has been alive since 1996. I have owned it for 6 months or so and have had not reliability isses AT ALL.

Using it at a gig without a backup is a moot question, because I don't imagine I would ever gig with this amp. But I'm sure it would physically survive the ordeal.

I don't think Drive even have a website.

I have been playing for about 10 years now, but only seriously in the past year.

I mentioned my guitars earlier, and I am also in the process of renovating a Squier strat. I also have a cheap Livingstone 'Heavy Metal' (overdrive) pedal that is cheap and tons of fun.

If this amp was lost or stolen, I wouldn't even try to replace it as they are hard to find, but I would waste no time in buying Vox Pathfinder 15r. I don't need an amp any larger or louder than that.

Loves and hates? Love the cleans, and reasonable tone at low volumes, and I hate the shrill trebles when the volume is upped a bit. And the overdrive channel is not much good.

I didn't compare much, but I wanted to replace my Marshall with something more versatile, and in that regard, the choice was spot-on. I chose this amp because it had a good tone, reverb, and was only AUD$45 (about USD$50).

I wish it had a bit more versatility, and I wish I had the footswitch for it. I also wish it had tubes, but there is not point griping about that.

It's just a great little amp for what I paid for it. The day it dies will be a sad day, and I will try to have it repaired. The negative reviewers were just unlucky, I think.

great amp for what they cost good for all styles i play mainly blues and jazz .some rock this amp sound good with any style no noise clean channel is bright and clear

never let me down in 10 years

never broke down

never needed them

ive been playing 35 years if it got stolen i'd get another one again for sure ive 4 amps including marshall but i only ever use this drive amp in studio it sounds great and loud enough for studio use.ive to much gear to list on here but have 45 electric guitar 7 acoustic 2 12 strings.15 differant multi effects units old copycat echo .4 amps i'm just greedy i believe in owning everything you like and why not because you cant take it with you when you go so enjoy the short life you have thats my moto even if you live to 100 its still to short..i give the drive cd200r amp at 10 out of 10 all round a great amp for little money but i was given it

SORRY TO HEAR THIS DRIVE CD-200R HAS HAD BAD REVIEWS AND LOW SCORES BUT I GUESS YOU GUYS HAVE HAD BAD LUCK WITH YOURS.I BOUGHT MINE IN 1998 AND STILL GOING STRONG,I FIND IT VERY VERSATILE FOR ALL TYPES OF MUSIC .THE ONLY DOWN FALL IS ITS ONLY ONE INPUT 2 WOULD OF BEEN BETTER.ITS A GREAT AMP WITH ENOUGH POWER AND LOD ENOUGH FOR MY STUDIO .INFACT IVE 2 MORE AMP A WATSON AND A MARSHALL VALVESTATE BUT I USE THE DRIVE ALL THE TIME BECAUSE I JUST LOVE ITS WARM SOUND

NOT A NOISY AMP AT ALL .I CAN GET SOME GREAT SOUNDS FROM THIS AMP WITH DISTORTION I EVEN CAN PRODUCE HENDRIX SOUND TO A ..T..THE CLEAN CHANNEL I USE FOR JAZZ AND ITS VERY WARM SOUNDING

IVE OWNED THIS AMP SINCE 1998 AND USE NEALY EVERY DAY AND IT HAS NEVER BROKE DOWN ON ME .I CAN DEPENED ON THIS AMP.WOULD BE GREAT FOR SMALL VENUES

NEVER NEEDED THEM

IVE BEEN PLAYING SINCE 1972 ..38 YEARS IVE TO MUCH GEAR TO LIST ON HERE BUT THIS IS SOME OF MY GEAR I HAVE 47 ELECTRIC GUITARS MAINLY 60'S VINTAGE SUCH AS BURNS SPLITSONIC ...OLD FENTON ..WEILL.WATKINS ..FRAMUS .FENDER STRAT ...TELELCASER.. MARSHALL AMP WATSON AMP ...DRIVE CDR200R AMO..DRIVE EA30 ACOUSTIC AMP..ZOOM EFFECTS ....LINE 6 EFFECTS ...BOSS EFFECTS... YAMAHA EFFECTS... .WATKINS COPYCAT..DIGITCH...2 ACOUSTIC 12 STRINGS GUITARS 2 ELECTRO ACOUSTIC SPANISH GUITARS MY LIST GOES ON..IF THE AMP WAS STOLEN I'D BE GUTTED AND WOULD LOOK FOR ANOTHER STRIGHT AWAY.I JUST LOVE THE WARM SOUND IT PRODUCES.THIS AMP IS NOT CRAP AT ALL LIKE THE OTHERS HAVE RATED ON THIS SITE THEY JUST HAVE HAD BAD LUCK WITH IT OR USED THE AMP IN UNPROPER MANNER HAMMERING THE *** OFF IT ..DONT BE PUT OFF BUYING ONE THESE ARE GREAT AMPS I'M AN EXPIRENCED GUITARIST WITH TONS OS GEAR AND I KNOW WHAT I'M ON ABOUT ,BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE LUCKY TO FINE ONE OF THESE AMPS THERSE HARD TO COME BY,,

Not too many features at all. 2 channels: clean and distortion, only one EQ for both channels. Not versatile at all. Reverb which I guess is good, I don't know, I never use it. The only good thing about this amp is that if you plug headphones into it, it gets EXTREMELY loud. Most amps are very quiet through headphones, even when the volume is turned all the way up.

Clean channel isn't too bad. Distortion is not good at all. The only person I recommend this amp to is someone who is just learning to play guitar.

Don't ever use this amp for a gig... ever.

dont know

Overall this amp is terrible. I've never played any other drive amps, but I never will because of this amp. If it were stolen or lost, I would actually be happy. Don't buy this amp unless you know absolutely nothing about guitars. Actually, since you are reading this review, you know something about guitars, so basically just don't buy this amp.

BOUGHT THIS BRAND NEW FROM MUSICIANS FRIEND.
IT DIED WITH A LOUD HUM AFTER 6 HOURS OF PLAY.
I WAS SHOCKED BECAUSE THAT NEVER HAPPENED TO ME
IN ALL MY 35 YEARS OF PLAYING AND TEACHING GUITAR.

IT DIED WITH A LOUD HUM AFTER 6 HOURS OF PLAY.

IT DIED WITH A LOUD HUM AFTER 6 HOURS OF PLAY.

I E-MAILED THEM AND THEY RESPONDED QUICKLY.
THEY SAID THEY'RE OVERALL FAILURE RATE WAS SMALL.
MAYBE I GOT A LEMON.
I STILL TOLD MUSICIANS FRIEND, NO REPLACEMENT WANTED.

IT DIED WITH A LOUD HUM AFTER 6 HOURS OF PLAY.
I WOULD NEVER BUY ANOTHER PRODUCT MADE BY DRIVE AMPS.
I'VE WASTED ENOUGH TIME MENTALLY STRESSED ABOUT THIS AMP.
BUT I WANTED TO WARN THE WORLD ABOUT THEIR PRODUCTS.
I FINALLY PURCHASED A FENDER FRONTMAN 25R FOR MORE MONEY.
BUT IT SOUNDS GREAT WITH THAT NOTORIOUS FENDER TONE.
DRIVE AMPS BASICALLY SUCK, DON'T BE FOOLED BY THEIR ADS.

MF just got them in stock when I ordered, so this was fresh off the boat. It has two channels, one clean and one distortion. A three band eq, separate volume knob for the distortion channel, a headphone jack and a footswitch jack. 20 watts solid state, loud enough for my bedroom. And reverb. I give it a 7 for the footswitch jack, which most small practice amps do not have. They should make more 30 watt and under practice amps footswitchable.

I played through the amp with a EMG equipped ESP, a Fender Strat copy, and a Ibanez 7 string. The clean sounds ok, comparable to other amps in this class and sounds real nice when you add some chorus. I remember the distortion being better on my Fender Frontman 15. The distortion on this is far from brutal. It could use more chug.

But here's the main problem with it. Again, the sounds are decent compared to other amps of its class. But, it makes this really annoying hum. I've canceled out everything to make sure it was the amp. Once you get playing you cant really hear it, but it still sucks.

It already has a hum. Other than that it seems built ok. I haven't had it long enough to really say. Only time will tell.

I wouldn't gig with it, its a practice amp.

Haven't dealt with the amps company yet. I'm in the process of getting the company I ordered from to exchange it. Hopefully there will be no problems with the next one. If the next turns out to be good, I'll be back to correct this review. If not I'll let this review stand.

I was looking for a footswitchable practice amp. It was down to the Fender Frontman 25r and this. I took a chance on this, despite knowing my previous Frontman (15) gave me no problems. And this was half the cost, a plus or so I thought. It's pretty much the same thing as the Fender, except the distortion seems to lack more and this amp makes an annoying hum! This is unacceptable. Nice features but really poor quality so far. Well you know the saying, you get what you pay for I guess.

I've been playing for about 14 years. If it were stolen I would probably have a good laugh at the poor bastard desperate enough to steal this and know he probably wont get crap for this, maybe he'd be able to buy 2 $5 rocks or something though.

There's definitely quality control issues here.

Two channels; Clean and OverDrive with a standard three band EQ common for both channels... Headphone output and an OverDrive foot-switch. Not too many features, but for a practice amp it is more than enough.

Now, clan sound is clean up to about 7, then it starts to clip just a little. On top of that, I use a Blues Driver BD-2 (BOSS) to boost the volume coming from the guitar and then you get some nice crunchy, fat and very compressed sounds. This channel works well with FX pedals run before the amp.
Overdrive channel can be crunchy when gain is set to just below 2. It doeasn't seem to work in conjuction with FX pedals runing before the amp. As you increase the gain you start getting fuzzy distortion which doesn't sound too bad but it is just a bit thin and bright... good for lead cut though.
For the price I paid, I thing it sounds very good, very versatile even with the limited features that it has. It was definitely worth the $145(Australian).

I've been using and abusing it for three years now and it never gave up on me. I usedin conjuction with various FX pedals, other amps in series and other weird combinations and it keeps going and going. I think a more powerful version (eg. 50W) would be a dream come true for low budget buyers.

Never had to call them... I hope I haven't jinxed myself now.

Awesome value for money. Enough volume, enough versatility for $145.