Carl Martin DC drive - opinion

blacknblack

hi
has anyone got one of these?  Any good?  Will I get decent AC/DC, zep tones out of it with my tube amp?
thanks

Sassafras

I think the reason you've had no response is because no-one on here knows what a 'tube amp' is.
  

blacknblack

Ah ok.  Apols for my ignorance. I've got an Orange Rocker 15. Did I mean valve?

Moe_Zambeek

Or no one has a Carl Martin DC drive. Which might be a sort-of answer to the second part of the question.

blacknblack

Moe_Zambeek said:

Or no one has a Carl Martin DC drive. Which might be a sort-of answer to the second part of the question.

Well in that case I'm glad I don't make pedals.  

mellowsun

Sorry no, never used this drive pedal.

Not all drive pedals sound good with all valve amps. Worth checking out the That Pedal Show YouTube video where they match drive pedals with the right amp.

blacknblack

mellowsun said:

Sorry no, never used this drive pedal.

Not all drive pedals sound good with all valve amps. Worth checking out the That Pedal Show YouTube video where they match drive pedals with the right amp.

Very interesting.  I now have no clue what drive pedal would suit my amp.  Expensive trial and error !

monquixote

Take your amp to a shop and try loads of stuff through it.

failed_astronaut

I have one and asked Burgs to do a demo, which he kindly obliged

Bucket

I don't know how loud you're playing through the amp, but a 15-watt valve amp won't be overflowing with headroom so if you are able to crank it a little, it should start to break up into overdrive on its own - that sound of a pushed amp is really what the classic rock tone is.

If you're playing at lower volume, then something like a Plexi in a box is a good option - but I have no personal experience of the Carl Martin. The best such pedal I have ever played is the JHS Andy Timmons overdrive, which is a little more modern rock-orientated, but it can do a good classic rock tone. Also has a "headroom" switch, which has three settings from quieter and more saturated, to louder and less saturated. The latter is the best sound, IME. I don't own one but I would like to.

My favourite overdrive out of my own ones is the Nobels ODR-1, which several others on here will recommend too. Not your usual mid-boost Tube Screamer-voiced overdrive, far more of a ballsy rock sound on its own. Would probably sound great for classic rock - dirt cheap too. Can't fault mine, other than that with the drive turned up you sometimes have to do some dialling in or it can get too bassy. But I tend to set mine for lower gain, so it's not such an issue.

Bucket

double post

Grunfeld

Bucket said:

I don't know how loud you're playing through the amp, but a 15-watt valve amp won't be overflowing with headroom so if you are able to crank it a little, it should start to break up into overdrive on its own - that sound of a pushed amp is really what the classic rock tone is.

That's kind of the core of it.
To distil it down:  you set your amp just where it's at break up, maybe even a little shy of that, and your OD kicks it over. 
And set the OD pedal's output basically at the same level as your guitar's input or just a smidgeon more.  But not a ton more.

The rest is down to what you like.
Like @Bucket I love the Nobels OD-1 but it doesn't have the sound I identify with Jimmy Page (which I always think of as thin and scratchy) AND the combination of OD pedal and amp is weirdly idiosyncratic too.  (When I changed from Marshall valve to Orange SS I had to change OD from Ibanez TS to Nobels OD-1). 

Inevitably:  buy pedals; flog 'em.

BoopDeWoop

My mate has a dc drive. It sounds good 

timmysoft

there also the Budda Version which can be had much cheaper. 

 Solid drive pedal, more gain than i was expecting but very usable.