D&M Drive

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Hello Everyone. 

So like many people here, I love 'That Pedal Show' and when I heard that they had teamed up with Keeley to make a pedal combining both their sig sounds (especially as I have a red Tele and a strat) I couldn't have signed up quicker. I thought at the time that the pedal sounded amazing. Especially on their show with the King of Tone and the other 2 sided pedals. 

Even though I had a Klon type pedal, and a couple of drives, I thought it would be great to have this two in one. 

So having a play around I could get decent sounds out of both sides. I found that when Dans side had the gain dialled really back and when micks had the gain dialled further up both sides sounded nice, and could work stacked quite well. Neither sides really outplayed other ones I had but they were good sounds. 

But that's where the 'buts' began to come into play. 

Micks Side
Here's the thing. The klon side sounds good. But it's definitely a light boost, not as Tubescreamery as I thought. I play through a hot rod deluxe so with tonnes of headroom and I really had to crank the gain knob on the D&M to get any sort of break up. When I used a passive master volume (JHS Little Black Amp Box) and pushed the amp a bit more, I could get some more overdrive but this really did feel like a light clean boost. That said, I think if it was an individual pedal, I would have considered it alongside JRAD Archers, Frederick Zombie Klone (which I have) and a RYRA when I looked into a Klon type pedal. 

Dans Side
This side was my main disappointment. Dan always gets these killer tones so I was really excited to have a heavy drive that I liked. But anything above 9 o clock on the knob was more than the 'raunch' he described and felt mega fizzy and just too much gain. The notes didn't feel tight. It felt a bit wasp in a jar, even with my Les Paul. Bearing in mind I'm usually using a clean amp and weakish pickups it was so saturated. Stacking in Micks side did tighten the bottom end a bit but it sent it into full wailing feedback mode. 

Both sides
I think a really odd manufacturing point on this is the volume pots. They are so sensitive and (weirdly passed over in Pete and The Captains vid) you essentially have them nearly off to get unity. I often think unity should be around 10-12 o clock. I can't imagine a scenario where you'd need that much volume from a pedal. Similarly, the stacking side switch was clever but I found the tones when you had the light boost as a volume boost after the drive channel (Dan into Mick) the tone seemed weedy and a bit off. 

Verdict. 
I absolutely love Mick and Dan, and there playing. I love the sounds they get and they inspire me to be a better player and as a pedal collector. However I'm sending my D&M Drive back as for me it just didn't cut it. I'm sure it will for others, but not for me. 

Caveat.
I do think that after waiting for a few months and really Gassing for this pedal, I may have held it aloft amongst pedal greats, so it would never have been quite as good as I wanted it to be. 
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Comments

  • Ro_SRo_S Frets: 929
    A pedal born of a silly concept owing to commercial opportunism hardly makes for the best grounds of an epic pedal.

    "weirdly passed over in Pete and The Captains vid"

    weird?  you expected a retailer to be critical of a pedal they're pimping?    seriously?



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  • thomholmesthomholmes Frets: 13
    Ro_S said:
    A pedal born of a silly concept owing to commercial opportunism hardly makes for the best grounds of an epic pedal.

    "weirdly passed over in Pete and The Captains vid"

    weird?  you expected a retailer to be critical of a pedal they're pimping?    seriously?



    No I'm saying if you watch that video he mentions it, at first sounds negative and then passes over to saying "it gives you more volume" - weirdly passed over.

    also, yes commercial opportunitism. But Keeley doesn't want to make a bad pedal does he? 
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  • Ro_SRo_S Frets: 929

    also, yes commercial opportunitism. But Keeley doesn't want to make a bad pedal does he? 
    How hard is it to make decent overdrive and drive pedals?

    What are the two sides of the D&M based on, circuit typology wise? 
    over 20 effects pedals FOR SALE, click here to see my classifieds thread.   My trading feedback

    Effects for Me & my Monkey    
    YouTube channel     Facebook         Fretboard's "resident pedal supremo" - mgaw

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  • peteripeteri Frets: 1283

    Honestly - I'm not sure Keeley as a brand is quite the same as it was.

    I would always but them and Analogman in the same breadth, all I know is I bought a Keeley SuperMod Station and Monterey new - Modstation had a fairly annoying bug in the chorus which they corrected under warranty, but still had ongoing 'foibles' so I sold it. Monterey sounded good, but was noisy as heck and needed a completely isolated power supply (and highlighted even the merest sniff of shared earth with digital clock noise).

    Conversely, the two Analogman pedals I've had are amazing - ARDX delay and the KoT

    Strikes me Keeley is moving more to the volume business now

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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    I can't remember which YouTube clip it was but I noticed there was a tendency to max some of the knobs on this. Obviously it's not a bad thing to use the full range of what a pedal can do but if full up is normal use it suggests they might have the voicing a bit wrong. 

    I think for a £230 overdrive pedal it's probably right to have fairly high expectations, perhaps they've even set themselves up for a bit of a fall on this by over selling it. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • Musicman20Musicman20 Frets: 2296

    I'm at least glad you were able to return it and didn't discover any issues later down the line.

    I almost pre-ordered from the TPS store, but I decided against it and I'm glad.

    Whilst this could have been a winner, I would have preferred something a little more interesting and different, whereas this seems like two common types of pedals put together but with potentially less control. Surely you could just use an EHX Soul Food and Fulltone OCD and get the same thing, with more control, for cheaper?

    I got into TPS about 9 months ago, and I've always watched Andertons videos. However, I am starting to become more and more cynical of the whole thing, which is part of my nature, but it almost feels like we are paying these guys to enjoy themselves.

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  • thomholmesthomholmes Frets: 13
    Ro_S said:

    also, yes commercial opportunitism. But Keeley doesn't want to make a bad pedal does he? 
    How hard is it to make decent overdrive and drive pedals?

    What are the two sides of the D&M based on, circuit typology wise? 
    I think it's and OCD and a Klon
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  • thomholmesthomholmes Frets: 13
    peteri said:

    Honestly - I'm not sure Keeley as a brand is quite the same as it was.

    I would always but them and Analogman in the same breadth, all I know is I bought a Keeley SuperMod Station and Monterey new - Modstation had a fairly annoying bug in the chorus which they corrected under warranty, but still had ongoing 'foibles' so I sold it. Monterey sounded good, but was noisy as heck and needed a completely isolated power supply (and highlighted even the merest sniff of shared earth with digital clock noise).

    Conversely, the two Analogman pedals I've had are amazing - ARDX delay and the KoT

    Strikes me Keeley is moving more to the volume business now

    I do wish I could have the KoT. Feel it would be my thing but obviously that's a long way to go!
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  • thomholmesthomholmes Frets: 13

    I'm at least glad you were able to return it and didn't discover any issues later down the line.

    I almost pre-ordered from the TPS store, but I decided against it and I'm glad.

    Whilst this could have been a winner, I would have preferred something a little more interesting and different, whereas this seems like two common types of pedals put together but with potentially less control. Surely you could just use an EHX Soul Food and Fulltone OCD and get the same thing, with more control, for cheaper?

    I got into TPS about 9 months ago, and I've always watched Andertons videos. However, I am starting to become more and more cynical of the whole thing, which is part of my nature, but it almost feels like we are paying these guys to enjoy themselves.

    I wouldn't get too cynical. I guess when it's their gear you have to watch for their bias on it. (like chapman guitars and tps pedals) but usually it's just fun to watch and be inspired too. 

    The hard thing for us in UK is that not everyone can just go to andwrtons and try their stuff. It'd be a ten hour round trip for me...
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  • TelejesterTelejester Frets: 743
    I saw the tps video and thought seems interesting. I then played through my bd2 blues driver, saw the price of the d&m and havent thought about it since, £230 is ripping the arse out of it if im honest.
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    https://imgur.com/a/4x0pu

    Shane Theriot (Hall and Oates band) is using one but obviously couldn't cope with Mick and Dan staring at him. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • Ro_SRo_S Frets: 929
    £230 is ripping the arse out of it if im honest.
    yup
    over 20 effects pedals FOR SALE, click here to see my classifieds thread.   My trading feedback

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  • sgosdensgosden Frets: 1993

    I got into TPS about 9 months ago, and I've always watched Andertons videos. However, I am starting to become more and more cynical of the whole thing, which is part of my nature, but it almost feels like we are paying these guys to enjoy themselves.

    The Andertons channel is some very good advertising for the company.

    I can't imagine Dan and Mick are hording piles of gold because of TPS, but if they've got enough to sustain and improve a room full of nice amps and pedals, which they can just piss around with? good luck to them. I now I wouldn't say no to it :)

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  • sgosdensgosden Frets: 1993
    also welldone @thomholmes for a non fanboy review
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  • From what I heard on the video I'll stick to my Carl Martin DC Drive. I think I bought it new for less than £100 five or six years ago and although it can be tricky at first to get it set up to suit yourself and your rig it offers a wider range of sounds with fewer controls to worry about I'm my opinion (YMMV).

    Of course, it may be that they hadn't found the sweet spots when the video was made but even so you could buy something like a TC Spark Boost and a TS808 for the same price and probably get better mileage.

    As always, my opinions are just that, my opinions. Take them, leave them or dispute them. I mean no disrespect to Dan  or Mick and I'm subscribed to TPS which I enjoy immensely.




    "When the train, it left the station, there was two lights on behind,
    Well, the blue light was my baby, and the red light was my mind.”
    Robert Johnson
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  • @thomholmes,
    I'm also returning mine. Unfortunately, it sounds harsh and dry with my configuration (an EL34 Bogner Shiva) - nothing musical at all. The TPS guys immediately accepted my refund request - great service BTW. 
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