DHA VTI Standard versus EBS ValveDrive?

Ryan Mohr · #1 10-26-2008, 05:04 PM

As far as tube preamp/overdrive pedals, these two are some of the best. For anyone who has played both, can you compare and contrast the tone?

Mark Olson · #2 10-26-2008, 06:00 PM

Well I have a VT2 Standard Dual Bass, the first channel of which is basically a VT1 I think. Between that and the Multi Drive, those are two completely different sounds, albeit both of them good. If you're looking to "tubify" or "fatten" your sound, and maybe add a little hair (which from the VT2 I would describe as "girth") the VT1 would be my first choice. It really excels at that. Although the DHA can get more gain than that, if you're going for a moderate gain overdrive sound, between those two pedals, personally I would prefer the Multi-Drive.

But to be perfectly honest with you, the sound I got from the Multi Drive was almost exactly the same as the sound I get from the Box of Rock, except the Box of Rock is just slightly "better" in every way. They're both great pedals but for about the same price you can get the same sound, just slightly "better" and to my ears "more musical", and with a handy boost function. The tone control also makes the Box of Rock more versatile. If you're looking specifically for "preamp coloration", rest assured that the Box of Rock does pretty exactly what the Multi Drive does for your sound, but slightly better.

Ryan Mohr · #3 10-26-2008, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Well I have a VT2 Standard Dual Bass, the first channel of which is basically a VT1 I think. Between that and the Multi Drive, those are two completely different sounds, albeit both of them good. If you're looking to "tubify" or "fatten" your sound, and maybe add a little hair (which from the VT2 I would describe as "girth") the VT1 would be my first choice. It really excels at that. Although the DHA can get more gain than that, if you're going for a moderate gain overdrive sound, between those two pedals, personally I would prefer the Multi-Drive.

But to be perfectly honest with you, the sound I got from the Multi Drive was almost exactly the same as the sound I get from the Box of Rock, except the Box of Rock is just slightly "better" in every way. They're both great pedals but for about the same price you can get the same sound, just slightly "better" and to my ears "more musical", and with a handy boost function. The tone control also makes the Box of Rock more versatile. If you're looking specifically for "preamp coloration", rest assured that the Box of Rock does pretty exactly what the Multi Drive does for your sound, but slightly better.

Thanks Mark, I am leaning towards the VT1 when christmas/birthday time comes around. My plan is to have one dirt pedal to tubify my sound (VT1, BOR, VT Bass or Flipster), and have one transparent dirt pedal (Barber LTD SR or Dano COT-1).

Mark Olson · #4 10-26-2008, 07:25 PM

Well then I definitely recommend the VT1. It's a really great tubifier/fattener. If you're planning on using other overdrive pedals in conjunction with your tubificationizer, I recommend the DHA even more as it will interact in a more natural sounding way with other overdrive pedals in front of it, just like putting an overdrive pedal in front of a tube amplifier's preamp like I do all the time in my soundclips.

bongomania · #5 10-26-2008, 07:25 PM

Side note: MultiDrive =/= ValveDrive.

Mark Olson · #6 10-26-2008, 07:30 PM

I see. For some reason I thought he said Multi Drive, hahaha! Oh well.

Ryan Mohr · #7 10-26-2008, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

I see. For some reason I thought he said Multi Drive, hahaha! Oh well.

Oh haha, I was wondering why you brought it up, I thought you were just using it for comparison to the BOR.

Ryan Mohr · #8 10-26-2008, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Well then I definitely recommend the VT1. It's a really great tubifier/fattener. If you're planning on using other overdrive pedals in conjunction with your tubificationizer, I recommend the DHA even more as it will interact in a more natural sounding way with other overdrive pedals in front of it, just like putting an overdrive pedal in front of a tube amplifier's preamp like I do all the time in my soundclips.

Do you think the VT1 (actually has tubes in it) is better than than a pedal like the Flipster (simulates tubes very well) for using in conjuction with other dirt pedals and as a basis tone?

Mark Olson · #9 10-26-2008, 07:59 PM

Yeah, oh well. I like to ramble about pedals, that's what I do. As far as I know the Valve Drive is an excellent pedal, and one I'd like to try out in the future. One thing I'll say but absolutely do not quote me on this because this is probably wrong, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that the "vintage" mode on the Valve Drive engaged a solid state clipping section? I can't find where I read that so it's probably not true though.

Mark Olson · #10 10-26-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AqueousView11

Do you think the VT1 (actually has tubes in it) is better than than a pedal like the Flipster (simulates tubes very well) for using in conjuction with other dirt pedals and as a basis tone?

Well, I do think something like the VT1 would be better in conjunction with other pedals, but it's not simply because it has a tube. The VT1 is simply a tube preamp, it doesn't provide all of the coloration that something like a Flipster or a Tech21 VT Bass, both of which as I understand it are designed to give you not the sound of a preamp alone, but the sound of a whole amp. Less coloration is ideal for using with other overdrive pedals in my experience, because the way I hear it, the more coloration you get from a pedal after your overdrive, the less natural the overdrive sounds. In some cases, it sounds like utter garbage, like running an overdrive into a BDDI sounds like utter garbage to me. That's an extreme case, I mean I've got an RBI, which sounds way better after an overdrive because the mids knob allows you to remove some of the coloration of the mids, but to put it simply overdrives sound best on their own, but in some cases having a tube preamp there to interact with the overdrive can sound even better (that's part of my soundclips, I use amps with tube preamps), which is why I think the VT1 would be preferable.

basslyon · #11 10-26-2008, 08:15 PM

I haven't tried the DHA so i have no opinion of it although i read good things.

I have the valvedrive with an EHX Tube in it. I generally leave it on vintage mode with the gain about half way up. It fattens your sound immensely. without going any lounder the bottom end expands like crazy and the top end has a little grit on it. It is more of a preamp than an overdrive. i also run my marshall guvnor before it and with the two on, vintage goes off as it gets more crispness that way. If you crank the gain you can get some nice distortion but it's not as good as a Budda Phat bass for that. I generally use it to take up more space when the guitarist solos (3 piece band) although it does work well as a gainy tube sound just don't expect some mad overdriven tone.