Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact - Review & Initial Thoughts...

lukedlb

How'd it sound live?

Wazmeister

lukedlb said:

How'd it sound live?

Hi Luke,

Had a rehearsal last night, and the RD Compact proved to be very good.

However, the strength of the RD its ability to change the sound of your amp. You can adjust the pedal infinitely, and get your amp to sound Marshall, Fender, Vox-ish etc.

And here is something Ive realised... I don't need/want to change the core sound of the Carr ! My Mercury V is perfect as it is, and I only need a boost/ solo enhancer.

As such, It is a tough one; it sounds amazing through the SD170 and 1x12, but probably not what I need live. It is, in all honesty, overkill when your amp is as good as the Carr is...

So, if you want a brilliant shaper, to add variety to your core amp sound, I can only heartily recommend the RD.

hotpickups

Whooops mines just arrived 

skay

I hope this is ok to jump in here (and I'll start a new thread if I'm hijacking this one), but I'm reading this thread with much interest, as I'm potentially very close to being at the top of the KOT list, and now this pedal has come along and thrown everything up in the air!

I guess @Wazmeister would be the ideal person to answer this, but in general would you say a RD Compact is a more suitable purchase compared to a KOT if I was going to be using a Rambler set clean at home volume levels? They are somewhat comparable, both being Marshall-esq in their character, but I'm unable to try them out side by side myself. 

I keep reading that the KOT shines at live volumes, but as that's not where I am going to predominantly use it (always hopeful though....), would the RD Compact be a better choice to get those slight breakup to medium drive tones at home volumes, or is it also a pedal that works best in a live environment?

soma1975

Wazmeister said:

lukedlb said:

How'd it sound live?

Hi Luke,

Had a rehearsal last night, and the RD Compact proved to be very good.

However, the strength of the RD its ability to change the sound of your amp. You can adjust the pedal infinitely, and get your amp to sound Marshall, Fender, Vox-ish etc.

And here is something Ive realised... I don't need/want to change the core sound of the Carr ! My Mercury V is perfect as it is, and I only need a boost/ solo enhancer.

As such, It is a tough one; it sounds amazing through the SD170 and 1x12, but probably not what I need live. It is, in all honesty, overkill when your amp is as good as the Carr is...

So, if you want a brilliant shaper, to add variety to your core amp sound, I can only heartily recommend the RD.

I fully expect this to be cut and pasted into your classifieds ad

hotpickups

skay said:

I hope this is ok to jump in here (and I'll start a new thread if I'm hijacking this one), but I'm reading this thread with much interest, as I'm potentially very close to being at the top of the KOT list, and now this pedal has come along and thrown everything up in the air!

I guess @Wazmeister would be the ideal person to answer this, but in general would you say a RD Compact is a more suitable purchase compared to a KOT if I was going to be using a Rambler set clean at home volume levels? They are somewhat comparable, both being Marshall-esq in their character, but I'm unable to try them out side by side myself. 

I keep reading that the KOT shines at live volumes, but as that's not where I am going to predominantly use it (always hopeful though....), would the RD Compact be a better choice to get those slight breakup to medium drive tones at home volumes, or is it also a pedal that works best in a live environment?

I’m at the top of the KOT too but have decided not to proceed. I think it’s an expensive pedal that has its followers but now I feel there are nearer to home similar pedals that do an equally good if not better job aka ThorpeFX.  However I have chosen the revival instead of the KOT as it’s a different thing altogether and I want to be able to change my amps characteristics for some occasions. The revival is I feel could be the best amp in a box there is but I’ll have to get it home first and fire it up first to be certain. It may knock my Warthog off my board as there’s only space for one but one things for sure is my peacekeeper is staying

skay

Thanks @hotpickups I agree with your sentiments, as I'll be primarily using the pedal into a clean amp, and the RD's ability to change the sound is what I'm after I guess, as opposed to the 'your amp but more' which the KOT apparently excels at.

I'm interested how the RD compares to your peacekeeper for those just-breaking-up sounds, as the clean blend on the RD may give it an advantage, and possibly improve with the clarity at higher gain levels too.

I'll be reading your comments with great interest...

mark_jwedge

I’m am seriously impressed with the RD compact. I haven’t fully explored the blend control yet but have used the EQ1 and EQ2 settings to match it to different amps and the P/AMP setting going into a solid state powerAmp and it sounds superb.

I have dialed it in for the sound and response I want from my amps but what I am really enjoying is when using unfamiliar amps e.g. jam nights, shared backline or rehearsal room amps, all I have needed to do is set the amp to a generic clean tone and then set the RD with the max gain I need, leave it on all the time and use the guitar volume/pick attack to get all the clean to full on drive sounds I need, even with humbuckers and the sound is great! Just use a boost after it for solos.

smudge_lad

This thread is sorely tempting me to pull the trigger...

@Wazmeister - how do the RD drives compare with the amp’s available on the Kemper Stage???

hotpickups

smudge_lad said:

This thread is sorely tempting me to pull the trigger...

@Wazmeister - how do the RD drives compare with the amp’s available on the Kemper Stage???

Just to make it worse. This pedal feels so well made and very comfortable turning the knobs. A quality piece. Well one would expect that for its price I guess 

markj

skay said:

I hope this is ok to jump in here (and I'll start a new thread if I'm hijacking this one), but I'm reading this thread with much interest, as I'm potentially very close to being at the top of the KOT list, and now this pedal has come along and thrown everything up in the air!

I guess @Wazmeister would be the ideal person to answer this, but in general would you say a RD Compact is a more suitable purchase compared to a KOT if I was going to be using a Rambler set clean at home volume levels? They are somewhat comparable, both being Marshall-esq in their character, but I'm unable to try them out side by side myself. 

I keep reading that the KOT shines at live volumes, but as that's not where I am going to predominantly use it (always hopeful though....), would the RD Compact be a better choice to get those slight breakup to medium drive tones at home volumes, or is it also a pedal that works best in a live environment?

I'm using my RD compact through a Gartone  Bluesman mainly at home volumes. I think the RD drive would suit you perfectly, you have endless tones at your fingertips. I'm getting a super thick lead tone at low gain, that's very smooth. 

Keefy

Mine arrives tomorrow - woot, and indeed, woot!

Wazmeister

smudge_lad said:

This thread is sorely tempting me to pull the trigger...

@Wazmeister - how do the RD drives compare with the amp’s available on the Kemper Stage???

Man, that's a good question !

I guess for me, I realised that my own choice has come down to RD vs Kemper... and the Kemper has won because of its more varied approach, more effects and best back up in the event of a real valve failure.

Essentially, my rig is shown below.

The RD into the SD170 -> Zilla 1x12 was awesome; but the Kemper is better for my purposes.

I cannot recommend the RD highly enough if you want a powerful, flexible OD pedal - that can double up as an amp/pre-amp.

skay

I'm using my RD compact through a Gartone Bluesman mainly at home volumes. I think the RD drive would suit you perfectly, you have endless tones at your fingertips. I'm getting a super thick lead tone at low gain, that's very smooth. 

Aaaarrrggghh, you guys are killing me!

Guess I just have to wait until I see the @wazmeister 'FX for sale' post now...

Wazmeister

skay said:

I'm using my RD compact through a Gartone Bluesman mainly at home volumes. I think the RD drive would suit you perfectly, you have endless tones at your fingertips. I'm getting a super thick lead tone at low gain, that's very smooth. 

Aaaarrrggghh, you guys are killing me!

Guess I just have to wait until I see the @wazmeister 'FX for sale' post now...

Ha ! Gone back to Andertons

skay

hotpickups

OMG I love it! Sorry, that ain't gonna help the GAS of some of you but be reassured that I am no tone aficionado but I can really see this having gone down well in many of my past cover bands and others I'll no doubt be in. Very versatile but as mentioned above it will change the character of your amp but that is the point of this pedal i.e. to have one rig but being able to coax those classic sounds out of it. I can imagine I'd be using me Peacekeeper most of the time but the revival will come into it's own for 'THAT' sound But the way the peacekeeper when placed after the revival acts as a great further boost making it louder I found. Only used at neighbour friendly volumes though it has to be said but I can imagine eit will sound massive at gig levels. 

PS I do feel a bit guilty purchasing it though, but hopefully that will pass if I finally decide to keep it

markj

hotpickups said:

OMG I love it! Sorry, that ain't gonna help the GAS of some of you but be reassured that I am no tone aficionado but I can really see this having gone down well in many of my past cover bands and others I'll no doubt be in. Very versatile but as mentioned above it will change the character of your amp but that is the point of this pedal i.e. to have one rig but being able to coax those classic sounds out of it. I can imagine I'd be using me Peacekeeper most of the time but the revival will come into it's own for 'THAT' sound But the way the peacekeeper when placed after the revival acts as a great further boost making it louder I found. Only used at neighbour friendly volumes though it has to be said but I can imagine eit will sound massive at gig levels. 

PS I do feel a bit guilty purchasing it though, but hopefully that will pass if I finally decide to keep it

It’s expensive but enjoy it like I do mine. I’ve been through a lot of expensive pedals, some not much cheaper than the RD. 

skay

Still cheaper than buying Marshall, Vox,  Tweed and blackface Fender though...

(The sound of me desperately trying to justify purchasing a pedal in this price bracket!)

hotpickups

skay said:

Still cheaper than buying Marshall, Vox,  Tweed and blackface Fender though...

(The sound of me desperately trying to justify purchasing a pedal in this price bracket!)

I felt the same way @skay I’m certainly not loaded and will have to sell bits off and my spare amp I have in the classifieds to help to recoup this but so far I do feel it’s worth it as you say getting those amps in one box. I would’nt use it on its own though personally, but with another OD which in my case is the peacekeeper 

Order one one from Andertons and if you don’t like it send it back