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NPD DSM Noisemaker Drive Maker

#3
Hey!! yeah!!
i've been working for more than a year with this project..i wanted to make the most versatile drive available, but also capable of making its own unique tones to stand apart from digital modelers..

The story began when Kirk Hammet released the "Ghoul Screamer", and praised it as super original and amazing..Well..it turned out to be just another modded Tube screamer with switches for every mod you can find on a simple google search..

i was fed up with that..we are totally flooded with tube screamers variations..not to mention RATs, Big muffs, and modelers that do the same thing.. soon or later we are all going to sound the same!!!! eeeveryone uses the same stuff..

so i started to design a drive that allowed the user to build their own drive. As with the Omnicab, i focused on key parameters that make every pedal its characteristic tone (clipping, pre-eq, post-eq, symmetry, compression.. etc) and ended up with the NAFTA drive (NAFTA stands for "Not Another Friggin Tubescreamer Again!!") ..It´s an hybrid design that uses CMOS stages for smooth clipping and compression, Opamp stages for pre-clipping and voicing, and transistors for boosting..)

Here´s a video of the NAFTA:



The Nafta drive proved to be sooooo flexible, that i decided not to release it as a pedal, but instead make it an "engine"..

With the Nafta Engine ready.. it took 6 months more to develop the "Drive Maker"..It´s a Nafta on its core, but i wanted to add as much value as possible to it..So i added an octave up switch, 3 mid response settings, a boost function, an internal assignable FX loop (On boost/Always on), and an internal switch for guitar or bass use (different output EQ settings)..
And managed to fit a battery inside the enclosure :cool:

Getting more into the details of the Drive Maker..

it has these controls:

- Voice: Clockwise is a treble boost, CCW is a bass boost, flat at the middle.. It´s amazing how things change by tweaking the voice knob...want it fuzzy? or sparkly? or twangy?
- Gain: Goes from clean (yes, "clean" clean) to overdrive, to full out too much gain to control..
- Gate: For high gain stuff, some gating is a very good thing..it is not a decimator, but it helps a lot...
- Treble: well..treble..Boost/cut +-12dB
- Bass: same, but with bass..
- Level: Output volume.. This thing is LOUD..over noon it will overdrive your amp´s input..WHY? because you can use it as a clean/mid/bass/treble/TS style boost!
- Boost: huge boost available..maybe too much so use sparingly...
-----------------------------------
Switches:
  • Mode:
    • OD: Soft clipping, very articulated and transparent..Over noon, it will start behaving as an overdrive into a tube amp (CMOS clipping kicks in)
    • Dist: More Gain and harder clipping, fatter, thicker tones..
    • Broken: Very asymmetric, weird drive..at mid gain it is very bluesy and full of harmonics.. at high gain, with powerful pickups, it "chokes" and sounds fuzzy and weird..very unique, i left it like that because it made the pedal one of a kind...

  • Octave:
    • Low: No..it is not a sub-octave.. It is an octave up effect, but mildly mixed with the signal..this adds Crossover distortion, extra harmonics and a crispy texture that i liked a lot..
    • Normal: Octave up off..
    • High: Octave Up fully mixed.. It is very sensitive to voicing and mode settings, so there´s a whole world.. even sitar tones..

  • MIDS:
    • Scoop: for metal tones..Scoops -12dB around 700Hz
    • Boost: Boosts the mids around 600-1k Hz.. very good for live use!!
    • Flat: regular mid response
Internal switches
Loop Assign : assigns the FX loop to be activated all the time (while the pedal is engaged), or only when the Boost is engaged (Eg: add some delay to that solo without stepping on 2 pedals)

Guitar/Bass: Changes the output EQ..Bass mode cuts some mids and adds bottom end. You can use either mode really. whatever sounds best for you..
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Connections:

Input: Yes..input jack
FX send: Send jack for the internal fx loop
FX Return: Yes, exactly..you can leave the Send empty and use the return as an insert (Eg: a parallel compressed clean signal?)
Output: Of course..
DC Jack: Center Negative, 50mA ..you can power it up from 9V to 18V for more headroom, and different dynamics..


nafta_proto3.png

some vids:






The enclosures are ready to ship, but the PCB´s are still being fabricated.. so i expect them to be ready around DEC 20TH
The price will be similar, if not the same, as the OCSD.. i will be setting up a pre order phase ASAP, once i finish shipping the OCSD´s orders..

What do you think? :bassist:
 
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#7
I'd rather the internal bass/guitar switch to be external. For people who play nearly 50/50 per cent guitar and bass it would come very handy.

I understand, tough, if someone's main instrument is bass for example, to be preferable for him an internal switch for setting and forget. It will liberate space in the enclosure, too.
 
#8
Fuzzbass said:
:roflmao:

NAFTA has another (controversial) meaning well north of you... but the official name is Drive Maker so never mind.

More importantly: looks like an amazing device, I'm sure it'll sound killer with bass! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
LOL, yes, in fact that's one of the reasons i decided to change its name.. OmniDrive was already taken, so Drive Maker seemed to be a good descriptive name about what it does..
 
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#9
Berme said:
I'd rather the internal bass/guitar switch to be external. For people who play nearly 50/50 per cent guitar and bass it would come very handy.

I understand, tough, if someone's main instrument is bass for example, to be preferable for him an internal switch for setting and forget. It will liberate space in the enclosure, too.
Click to expand...

I agree..but the panel space is already too crowded..i swear i can´t fit anything else, the layout is as neat and tight as it can be..
nevertheless, i´m considering making 2 small holes on the back of the unit for easy access to the internal switches with a small screwdriver or allen key.. i also found annoying to have to unscrew the bottom lid to change those settings..luckily they are not switches that you have to change so often..
 
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#11
Dsmnoisemaker said:
Hey!! yeah!!
i've been working for more than a year with this project..i wanted to make the most versatile drive available, but also capable of making its own unique tones to stand apart from digital modelers..

The story began when Kirk Hammet released the "Ghoul Screamer", and praised it as super original and amazing..Well..it turned out to be just another modded Tube screamer with switches for every mod you can find on a simple google search..

i was fed up with that..we are totally flooded with tube screamers variations..not to mention RATs, Big muffs, and modelers that do the same thing.. soon or later we are all going to sound the same!!!! eeeveryone uses the same stuff..

so i started to design a drive that allowed the user to build their own drive. As with the Omnicab, i focused on key parameters that make every pedal its characteristic tone (clipping, pre-eq, post-eq, symmetry, compression.. etc) and ended up with the NAFTA drive (NAFTA stands for "Not Another Friggin Tubescreamer Again!!") ..It´s an hybrid design that uses CMOS stages for smooth clipping and compression, Opamp stages for pre-clipping and voicing, and transistors for boosting..)

Here´s a video of the NAFTA:



The Nafta drive proved to be sooooo flexible, that i decided not to release it as a pedal, but instead make it an "engine"..

With the Nafta Engine ready.. it took 6 months more to develop the "Drive Maker"..It´s a Nafta on its core, but i wanted to add as much value as possible to it..So i added an octave up switch, 3 mid response settings, a boost function, an internal assignable FX loop (On boost/Always on), and an internal switch for guitar or bass use (different output EQ settings)..
And managed to fit a battery inside the enclosure :cool:

Getting more into the details of the Drive Maker..

it has these controls:

- Voice: Clockwise is a treble boost, CCW is a bass boost, flat at the middle.. It´s amazing how things change by tweaking the voice knob...want it fuzzy? or sparkly? or twangy?
- Gain: Goes from clean (yes, "clean" clean) to overdrive, to full out too much gain to control..
- Gate: For high gain stuff, some gating is a very good thing..it is not a decimator, but it helps a lot...
- Treble: well..treble..Boost/cut +-12dB
- Bass: same, but with bass..
- Level: Output volume.. This thing is LOUD..over noon it will overdrive your amp´s input..WHY? because you can use it as a clean/mid/bass/treble/TS style boost!
- Boost: huge boost available..maybe too much so use sparingly...
-----------------------------------
Switches:
  • Mode:
    • OD: Soft clipping, very articulated and transparent..Over noon, it will start behaving as an overdrive into a tube amp (CMOS clipping kicks in)
    • Dist: More Gain and harder clipping, fatter, thicker tones..
    • Broken: Very asymmetric, weird drive..at mid gain it is very bluesy and full of harmonics.. at high gain, with powerful pickups, it "chokes" and sounds fuzzy and weird..very unique, i left it like that because it made the pedal one of a kind...

  • Octave:
    • Low: No..it is not a sub-octave.. It is an octave up effect, but mildly mixed with the signal..this adds Crossover distortion, extra harmonics and a crispy texture that i liked a lot..
    • Normal: Octave up off..
    • High: Octave Up fully mixed.. It is very sensitive to voicing and mode settings, so there´s a whole world.. even sitar tones..

  • MIDS:
    • Scoop: for metal tones..Scoops -12dB around 700Hz
    • Boost: Boosts the mids around 600-1k Hz.. very good for live use!!
    • Flat: regular mid response
Internal switches
Loop Assign : assigns the FX loop to be activated all the time (while the pedal is engaged), or only when the Boost is engaged (Eg: add some delay to that solo without stepping on 2 pedals)

Guitar/Bass: Changes the output EQ..Bass mode cuts some mids and adds bottom end. You can use either mode really. whatever sounds best for you..
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Connections:

Input: Yes..input jack
FX send: Send jack for the internal fx loop
FX Return: Yes, exactly..you can leave the Send empty and use the return as an insert (Eg: a parallel compressed clean signal?)
Output: Of course..
DC Jack: Center Negative, 50mA ..you can power it up from 9V to 18V for more headroom, and different dynamics..


View attachment 999088

some vids:






The enclosures are ready to ship, but the PCB´s are still being fabricated.. so i expect them to be ready around DEC 20TH
The price will be similar, if not the same, as the OCSD.. i will be setting up a pre order phase ASAP, once i finish shipping the OCSD´s orders..

What do you think? :bassist:
Click to expand...


This sounds really well thought out. I'm looking forward to hearing more.
 
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Reactions: Dsmnoisemaker

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