Empress Effects Drive Pedal Offers Deep Overdrive Control
Empress Effects has expanded its pedal lineup with a unit simply called Drive. As the name implies, it’s an overdrive pedal, but Empress explains that it is designed for flexibility.
“Most overdrives are built around one particular character. The Empress Drive gives you the tools to shape your own,” they write. “Instead of locking you into a single flavour of overdrive, it lets you shape the harmonic structure that determines how a drive sounds and responds.”
The Drive does this with pre-overdrive mid shaping, flexible boost routing, a clean blend, and a post-mix EQ. It also has an adaptive noise gate for cleaning up your quiet signal. A built-in analog clipping meter with selectable LED colors lets you quickly monitor the amount of overdrive you’re getting.
Hear how it sounds on bass in this review from BassTheWorld’s Gregor Fris and René Flächsenhaar.
The Empress Drive Pedal is available now for $299.
Empress Effects Drive Pedal Features:
| Tube-like overdrive with advanced tone control |
| Sweepable Midrange for precise harmonic shaping |
| Mix control to preserve your amp’s natural breakup |
| Active Bass and Treble shelving filters |
| Up to 30 dB of pre- or post-clipping, footswitchable boost |
| Built-in analog clipping meter with selectable LED colour |
| Adaptive noise gate |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
