and insist on gain, but I
won’t hold it against this
pedal. You don’t go to
Friedman for subtlety. beat out the riff to “Angry
Chair,” I got the familiar
chunk and sustain from
early AIC records. dropped things there lest
my speakers crack under
the pressure.
Pointing all the knobs to
12:00, even the default
distortion was throaty and
full, perfectly emulating
the hot-rodded Marshalls
that made Friedman’s
name. Playing just with
the gain and volume, I
was delighted see the
diversity in distortion the
Motor City Drive offered,
going from a low-gain
grind to a high-gain wall
of harmonics. Mastodon would be a
bit trickier because of its
ever-evolving distortion
sound, so I decided to
go simple and try to
replicate its early sound
from Leviathan. I dropped
my Strat down a full step,
rolled back on the bass,
and boosted the highs
and mids. I actually rolled
back the gain a bit but
increased the volume,
Mastodon’s sound at this
stage being known more
for rasp than saturation.
I finally belted out the
riff to “I Am Ahab” and
was rewarded with
perfection. With high quality parts
and a roaring sound, the
Motor City Drive would
be a worthy addition to
any guitarist’s backline.
At this juncture, I
decided to experiment
by specific criteria; two
of Friedman’s most
prominent endorsees are
Jerry Cantrell of Alice in
Chains and Bill Kelliher
of Mastodon, with both
possessing their own
signature amps from the
company. I wanted to
see if this humble little
pedal could emulate their
sounds, even just a little. I
tuned the Strat to drop-D,
rolling back on the
midrange, and boosted
the highs and lows. As I
WHAT WE LIKE
CONCERNS
Like all Friedman
products, the Motor City
Drive is expensive. So
if you decide you like
the sound of the pedal,
you have to decide if it’s
worth $300 for it.
A quick run
in my trusty
Jazz Bass
was also very
satisfying.
I decided to
start small with the
farting punk thump of
“Walk Idiot Walk”, before
rolling back the midrange
and trying the biting
sound of “Substitute.” I
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