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Behold, The Empress Multidrive OD/Distortion/Fuzz

#81
scotch said:
Well, my bass-specific review of the Multidrive is done. With clips. Let me know what you think!

justinoscarcary.com - Gear Reviews - -Empress*Multidrive
Click to expand...

Thanks for that review Scotch! The clips are great for a taste of what the Multidrive can do and really sound great. As an overdrive afficionado myself, it seems like a Swiss Army overdrive that could do almost any type of crunch you could want.

However, I'm a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, usually sticking to one sound once I find something I like. In your opinion, would this pedal be something that would be good for someone like me, or is it more for someone who likes to constantly tweak knobs? I've been on the search for the perfect overdrive for a while now (currently on #12) and this one is definitely on my list to check out. Maybe being able to blend the channels will get me the sound I want that I CAN set & forget.

Can you compare it to any other dirt pedals you may have tried?

Thanks again for the great info!

5sg.
 
#82
fivestringgecko said:
Thanks for that review Scotch! The clips are great for a taste of what the Multidrive can do and really sound great. As an overdrive afficionado myself, it seems like a Swiss Army overdrive that could do almost any type of crunch you could want.

However, I'm a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, usually sticking to one sound once I find something I like. In your opinion, would this pedal be something that would be good for someone like me, or is it more for someone who likes to constantly tweak knobs? I've been on the search for the perfect overdrive for a while now (currently on #12) and this one is definitely on my list to check out. Maybe being able to blend the channels will get me the sound I want that I CAN set & forget.

Can you compare it to any other dirt pedals you may have tried?

Thanks again for the great info!

5sg.
Click to expand...

Thanks, 'gecko!

First off, I'm a "set & forget'" guy as well! I have no time at shows to mess with sounds & most of my clients don't want me spending that much time on my knees ala' Radiohead. In the studio, however, I need flexibility & the ability to tweak sounds easily on the fly - so the Empress is perfect for that!

The thing to keep in mind is this: you have a two-channel machine. You need to decide up-front (before the gig) what two set-ups you want (because setting up a switching strategy involves taking off the back cover). Od + Distortion and Fuzz alone? Clean Od + Dirty Fuzz and Od + Mild Distortion? Etc... (the possibilities are endless...) Once you decide on a strategy, it's easy to dial-in set & forget tones!

Right now, my Multidrive is on my guitar board (see below). I have it set up with 2 sounds that I haven't had to tweak all week (and are still knocking me out!). Setting one is the 'Crunch' distortion alone for hard-rock riffage/ saturated rhythm tones. Setting two is the OD set to low pass with a moderate amount of grit + the Fuzz set to aggressive gain full-range. It's very much akin to a Smashing Pumpkins-type lead sound.

guitar board:
gtrboard2011.jpg



To be honest, I might have to buy a second Multidrive. It just works so well on bass & would give me even more flexibility than my current Fulltone Bass-Drive through X-Blender setup. (I probably wouldn't need the X-Blender then either!)


As far as what pedals would I compare the Multidrive with? That s a tough one! I've been through a LOT of dirt pedals (and still regularly use 5 or 6). I honestly think I could dial in almost any straight-up (non-filtered or overtly compressed) dirt tone with the Empress. It's that flexible. Of course, you cant expect it to do 'specialty' sounds like a Fuzz Factory or BassBalls. It does, however, cover all of the bases form light, vintage break up - all the way to glitchy fuzz mayhem. I tried to show the broad range on my website's clips instead of focusing in on the myriad of subtleties within a given gain-range/style. (Does that make sense?) All settings have no low-end loss & the eq is always there to fine tune the final sound.

Don't let the # of knobs scare off the set & forget crowd! Thats the whole idea- set & forget!!! ;)
 
#83
scotch said:
Don't let the # of knobs scare off the set & forget crowd! Thats the whole idea- set & forget!!! ;)
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm not scared of all the controls at all! On the contrary, the Empress appeals to me for exactly that reason... all the control. My search for "The Perfect Overdrive" has been ongoing for a while and this would seem like an ideal pedal for dialing in just the right sound. I figured it would be good for a set & forget mentality, just wanted to hear it confirmed. ;)

I've been thinking about putting some pedals up for sale, maybe this is the kick in the pants I needed. :p

Thanks for more great information!

5sg.
 
#85
DonKartofflo said:
from the soundclips i must say its not my type of distortion, im more into hyperion fuzz or synth mangler... but what you guys tell me about it's flexibility it may be possible that 3 sound examples just do not do it justice?
Click to expand...

I don't think Empress' websites clips do it justice at all!

I have a review with more clips demoing some of the Multidrive's other flavors here:

justinoscarcary.com - Gear Reviews - -Empress Multidrive

Let us know what you think!
 
#87
M Sterling said:
Sounds great!!! I really like fuzz 2 and the od/fuzz mix. Thanks for putting that review together!
Click to expand...

Awww, shucks - thanks!

It really is a super-versatile pedal. It seems Empress didn't give bass a fair shake when they put together their own bass clips, didn't hire a bass player to do clips or their bass player only listens to hard-core! :D
 
#88
scotch said:
Awww, shucks - thanks!

It really is a super-versatile pedal. It seems Empress didn't give bass a fair shake when they put together their own bass clips, didn't hire a bass player to do clips or their bass player only listens to hard-core! :D
Click to expand...

I've enjoyed your comments in this thread, along with your blog post and recordings. Thanks for putting in so much effort!

Now that you have more experience using this pedal with bass, have your impressions changed any, and if so, what are they now? I'm particularly interested given Empress is now offering three separate pedals with distinct functionalities.

Invalid Link Removed

As a side note, I. Just ordered a ParaEQ from Empress and am looking forward to using it with my gear.
 
#89
Ukiah Bass said:
I've enjoyed your comments in this thread, along with your blog post and recordings. Thanks for putting in so much effort!

Now that you have more experience using this pedal with bass, have your impressions changed any, and if so, what are they now? I'm particularly interested given Empress is now offering three separate pedals with distinct functionalities.

Invalid Link Removed

As a side note, I. Just ordered a ParaEQ from Empress and am looking forward to using it with my gear.
Click to expand...

I use my ParaEq all the time! It's great!

Honestly, I use the Multidrive more often with guitar. I've used it on a few recordings where I wanted a really specific tone on bass, but I usually use a different set of pedals on my bass board.

The Multidrive excels more as a "I need two sounds that I can adapt on the fly". It's more valuable to me in the studio than live, although it is suited to either just fine. If you like tweaking & don't mind spending the time to dial in sounds, it's a great 3-in-1 tool! If you want a pedal that's easy to just pull out of the box, set everything to 12 o'clock & go - it's not an ideal choice.

Hope that helps?
 
#90
scotch said:
I use my ParaEq all the time! It's great!

Honestly, I use the Multidrive more often with guitar. I've used it on a few recordings where I wanted a really specific tone on bass, but I usually use a different set of pedals on my bass board.

The Multidrive excels more as a "I need two sounds that I can adapt on the fly". It's more valuable to me in the studio than live, although it is suited to either just fine. If you like tweaking & don't mind spending the time to dial in sounds, it's a great 3-in-1 tool! If you want a pedal that's easy to just pull out of the box, set everything to 12 o'clock & go - it's not an ideal choice.

Hope that helps?
Click to expand...


Thanks! My interest in Multidrive is for a Swiss Army knife that is relatively easy to use (and sounds great!). I don't need these effects very often, so I don't want to buy a bunch of pedals that mostly sit in the closet. Electronic multi effect pedals seem too hard to use. The Empress seems like a good compromise.
 
#92
Zombie thread!

I just ordered one of these as a dual guitar/bass solution, and I want to get opinions on two very different questions:

(1) What are your favorite settings*? Specifically how do you set the DIP switches, what two combos do you always want to have?

(2) What do you use to power it? I have a 9V Boss PSA that I've been told will work. I know it may also be run at higher voltages up to 18V. Has anyone tried this? What do you use? How does it change the characteristics?



*For bass specifically, though if you have guitar input, I'll take that too.
 
#93
Just got this pedal today. May I say wow ? It's quite amazing in terms of possibilities ! I've got basic settings for now, but thanks to Scotch's (?) extensive review (linked), I've got plenty of experimenting to do and I'm guessing that for this pedal, the real shine's gonna come from the blending.

My current settings (o'clock) (EDITED):

Selection 1
OD: gain 2, volume 1:30, no filter, flat EQ

Selection 2
distortion: gain 3, volume 1, low pass, mild distortion, flat EQ
Fuzz: gain 2:30, volume 1h30, high pass, flat EQ


More settings in Scotch's review.
http://www.justinoscarcary.com/gear-reviews/2011/7/8/-empress-multidrive.html
 
#94
Adamixoye said:
Zombie thread!

I just ordered one of these as a dual guitar/bass solution, and I want to get opinions on two very different questions:

(1) What are your favorite settings*? Specifically how do you set the DIP switches, what two combos do you always want to have?

(2) What do you use to power it? I have a 9V Boss PSA that I've been told will work. I know it may also be run at higher voltages up to 18V. Has anyone tried this? What do you use? How does it change the characteristics?



*For bass specifically, though if you have guitar input, I'll take that too.
Click to expand...

I've had the MultiDrive for a while now and it's permanently bolted to my bass pedalboard.
I've never tried it on my guitar rig because it's the perfect bass overdrive for me, along with
the DarkGlass Vintage Microtubes my bass overdrive needs are totally satisfied.

(1) Lately I use the Overdrive and Distortion together for one preset
and the Fuzz alone for the second preset.

(2) I have always used my Pedal Power 2 @ 9 volts to power mine, so no idea on anything else power wise.

A cool thing about the MultiDrive is you can use (or sacrifice depending on how you look at it) one of the
channels (fuzz, od or distortion) for a clean blend by turning the drive down and the volume up on that
channel, although it inherently doesn't loose any low end (in fact it can add lows if you want) clean blending
is something I like to experiment with.:)

With that in mind I just got one of those little One Control Mosquite Blenders to pair with my MultiDrive
so I can experiment with clean blending any or all of the drive channels.:bassist:
 
#95
I've now had mine for a little while. I use it a lot more for guitar than bass---but that was always the plan. My B7K is my main bass dirt. There are decent overdrive settings that I like, but my favorite thing to do is the fuzz. I use fairly high gain and a steep mid cut (8:00 or 9:00) and bass/treble boost (1:00-2:00) with the mid frequency at 250 Hz, no filters. I play around with mixing in something clean (or clean-ish) on the OD or distortion channels, but I don't find it makes too much difference. The fuzz does seem to retain the low end, especially if you use the EQ.

My only serious complaint about this unit is that I wish the dip switches were external. A distant second complaint is the lack of a clean blend without using one of the other channels, but given that it's more of a guitar pedal that works well on bass, this is understandable.

ccouch7 said:
I've had the MultiDrive for a while now and it's permanently bolted to my bass pedalboard.
I've never tried it on my guitar rig because it's the perfect bass overdrive for me, along with
the DarkGlass Vintage Microtubes my bass overdrive needs are totally satisfied.

(1) Lately I use the Overdrive and Distortion together for one preset
and the Fuzz alone for the second preset.

(2) I have always used my Pedal Power 2 @ 9 volts to power mine, so no idea on anything else power wise.

A cool thing about the MultiDrive is you can use (or sacrifice depending on how you look at it) one of the
channels (fuzz, od or distortion) for a clean blend by turning the drive down and the volume up on that
channel, although it inherently doesn't loose any low end (in fact it can add lows if you want) clean blending
is something I like to experiment with.:)

With that in mind I just got one of those little One Control Mosquite Blenders to pair with my MultiDrive
so I can experiment with clean blending any or all of the drive channels.:bassist:
Click to expand...
 

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