ZOOM PD-01 POWER DRIVE
IBANEZ PD7 PHAT-HED BASS
OVERDRIVE
The “7 Series” in the Ibanez line is one of
the biggest pawn shop stalwarts of all time,
and hunters are likely tired of seeing them
there. At the risk of straying too far from the
focus of this piece, almost all of the 7 Series
pedals are great (the DE7 Delay and PM7
Pulse Modulator are real treats), and the
PD7 Phat-Hed is incredible as well. Billed
as a bass overdrive, the PD7 has a lot more
going for it. For starters, there’s a juicy active
EQ section that doesn’t suck all the tone
out at extreme ends like some equalizers,
but the boosting and cutting is very musical.
There are three modes to select: Clean,
where the Drive control is disabled and
players can use the PD7 as a super-clean
boost and equalizer, OD, where the sound
is rich and full, and Dist, where the sound is
a little thinner but much crunchier. All three
of these settings work just as well with six
strings as they do with four. There’s also an
Attack switch, with options for Off, 1 and 2.
These settings add a little boost to the
highs which emphasizes note attack.
Personally, I like the OD setting with the
attack set to Off with bass and 1 with a
guitar. I couldn’t find a whole lot of use for
setting 2, but I digress. The entire 7 Series
is universally undervalued and a PD7 should
set shoppers back $50 or so.
What’s this, a super transparent overdrive
released right around 1995-ish from the Far
East? Yes, it’s true. The rumors surrounding
the Zoom Power Drive are far different
from those associated with the Rocktron
Austin Gold. For starters, the Gain knob is
actually a dual-ganged potentiometer, just
like in the Klon Centaur. For that matter,
the Volume knob is also dual-ganged; the
Klon’s Volume knob is not. In my research
of the Power Drive, I was led to the original
manual, which has no date but features a
microscopic printing of Zoom’s website. This
suggests that the pedal came out after the
Klon, but is it an actual clone? Clearly, the
controls are different, as the Power Drive
has two frequency bands, compared to the
Klon’s Treble control. Comparisons aside,
the Zoom Power Drive sounds awesome, will
kick the front end of your amp in its teeth,
and has a wonderful clean boost with the
Gain rolled down. Much like the Klon, if you
run your amp on the verge of breakup, the
Power Drive is a great low-cost alternative.
Because most old Zoom gear is viewed
with the same disdainful eye as its multieffects units, pawn shops will price these
units at $40–50. On a side note: If you ever
see the brown Zoom Ultra Fuzz in this same
enclosure type, buy it. That is all.
ToneReport.com
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