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Sweet mother mary... EBS Valvedrive is phenomenal!!!

stflbn

stflbn

May 10, 2007
9,273
72
Nashville
artdroid.com
#1
Received a EBS Valvedrive yesterday and I cannot say enough great things about it.

It can do mellow or aggressive, vintage or modern, but every single tone I dialed in was smooth and mellow. You'd have to work hard to get a harsh and annoying tone out of this PreAmp.

Exactly what I've been searching for in an always on PreAmp.

I have an MXR M-80 on the way to me that I'd traded for to use for the always on duty, but after hearing the Valvedrive I think it's locked up that spot. I believe the M80 will be finding a new home once it finds its way to me.

The Valvedrive is definitely worth the investment as far as I'm concerned.


Updating threads with a 3 minute set of sound clips of the Valvedrive:
Recorded direct into a Presonus Firebox. Played on a Schecter Studio5 with custom Kent Armstrong Humbuckers in Series mode both full volume. Aguilar OBP-3 PreAmp set Flat. Sunbeam strings that are broken in but not dead.

Clips within the mp3 is as follows:
Reference tone of bass only
Valvedrive - T/M/B and Gain all Noon - Modern, then Vintage
Valvedrive - T/M/B Noon, Gain Max - Modern, then Vintage
Valvedrive - T Max/Mid Noon/Bass Min, Gain Max - Modern, then Vintage
Valvedrive - my current preferred settings, then adding in VT-bass pedal for more of an SVT vibe
Reference tone of bass only


http://artdroid.com/uploads/ValveDrive_DemoClip.mp3

Hopefully this gives some people a better idea what the ValveDrive sounds like, it's character and the variety of tones it can get.


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#4
jetofuj said:
I'm glad you like it, but I don't like ValveDrive myself. It sounds muddy and lifeless to me.
Click to expand...

Well, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone looking to play punk or slap style as I don't feel it excels at crispness or sharp cutting tones without rolling completely off the bass knob on the pedal, but that's not really what the Valvedrive is advertised as.

I prefer LowMid punchy bass sounds with nice clarity and crispness to them. I have broken in Sunbeams on my two current basses (Schecter Studio5 with dual Humbucker custom Kent Armstrong pickups and Aggy OBP-3 preamp, and heavily modded SX P/J bass with Sadowsky nickle strings, Nordstrand NP4/NJ4SE pickups & hipshot vintage bent bridge) Either of these basses are far from muddy or lifeless through the valvedrive.

The OBP-3 bass is used with the EQ flat most times. The P-bass has the tone knob almost wide open. The Valvedrive was set with Treble on about 2-3:00, Mid noon, Bass noon. Gain at about 10:00, or Noon.

Sorry for your dislike, but it's definitely floating my boat for a meaty, punchy yet clear fingerstyle tone.


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#10
I was looking into one of these. I'm still debating on overdrives, and which one I want to try first. This and the EBS MultiDrive are at the top of my list. Does anyone have any experience with both? I know they are quite different, but does the valvedrive justify the extra size, weight, and price? Plus I'm not a huge overdrive user, I just want it for that extra bit of crunch. I already have a synth like fuzz, and I'm planning on getting some sort of muff soon. So I just need a bit of grit here and there.
 
#12
Awesome pedal!I was totally in love with my VT pedal till i was introduced to the EBS VD.I got rid of the VT on ebay and ended up making a profit on it.The VD is expensive but well worth it.Can't wait to here your sound clips,i use mine with a Markbass LMII set flat with VLE at 10,Fender Jazz with Sunbeams and VD setting of Bass 7.45,Mid 2,Treble 9.I never hear it as muddy on the Modern channel but if you use the vintage channel it rolls off the highs and upper mids and is a bit to fuzzy for me,thats when it can seem a bit muddy to me.Look forward to your clips.
 
#16
I'm sure I would like it. EBS makes nice stuff, and I even like the drive in the Microbass II (sounds like a Rat with low end to me). But replace a VT??? A. Clayton notwithstanding, I just don't see that happening. I could definitely see adding a Valvedrive, but not replacing the VT with it. Of course, for the money they want for it, I'll never know ;)
 
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#17
JimmyM said:
I'm sure I would like it. EBS makes nice stuff, and I even like the drive in the Microbass II (sounds like a Rat with low end to me). But replace a VT??? A. Clayton notwithstanding, I just don't see that happening. I could definitely see adding a Valvedrive, but not replacing the VT with it. Of course, for the money they want for it, I'll never know ;)
Click to expand...

You never know till you try it.Iv'e A B'd both and think the EBS gives a much better tone for what i want.The VT is good,it's just that the EBS VD is better.We'll convert you one day JimmyM.The VT is the pedal of the future but the VD is pedal of today.:hiding:
 
#18
Jimmy,

I really like my VT. I had two on my board at one point, then sold both, and now have had one back for several months.

Honestly, if I had to choose between the Valvedrive and the VT, the VT would go. But... I don't feel like I'm hammering away through a SVT when playing the Valvedrive, it's much more of a warm wooly lowmid beast with a very different character than the VT-bass. At least to me. That's definitely why I plan to keep both of them side by side.

And I agree with A.Clayton, the Vintage channel is much fuzzier or hairier than the Modern channel, which surprised me. I expected it to be the other way around.

My experience with the EBS Multidrive is that it's much more of a one-character pedal than the VT-bass or even the Multidrive. "To me" it reminds me more of a Tubescreamer clone than either of these do. But... I've not spent a great deal of time with one.

My current plan for my pedaltrain mini is:
VT-bass, Valvedrive, MXR M-288 Octave, EBS UniChorus, Tuner and with that my pedaltrain mini will be slammed jam packed full of goodness.


I'm still planning on doing the Clips. I would have preferred to use my SX P-bass for them, but it's gutted and decapitated right now with no finish on the neck... so I'll use my dual HH Schecter Studio5 with custom Kent Armstrong pickups and Aggy OBP-3. Won't be a 'vintage' character bass, so it will be a good example of what the Valvedrive can do. I'll also try to do something with the VT-bass feeding some different sounds into the Valvedrive just for the Halibut.

NOTE: The focus of these clips will be subtle to mid-level grit/hair/wool/overdrive. I'll touch on the max settings, but those are not my interest so most of the content of the clips will be what I consider 'real world usable tones'. So suffer...

:-)


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