Hermida Zendrive: Who Has One? Opinions?

Had one of these bad boys offered up to me as part of a trade yesterday. Never used one or heard one. Anyone out there have any input? All opinions are welcome.

Great pedal.

Warm,creamy OD/Boost which really, really loves a Tele, turn that voice pot up and listen to your front pup cry out in lead breaks. For me its not so much for chording.
IMHO, it doesn't love Strats quite so much, though recently I have spent some time to get some really nice boosted tones.

This week I stacked it with Keith's Colorsound Overdriver clone....the ZD driving the OD....wow....really, wow!

In summary, it has replaced - BD2, TS9, Fuzzhead, Sparkle and Javaboost as my goto lead OD boost. I have happily gigged Tele > ZD > Lightning (voxish amp) as my most sparse rig.

I've had mine on the board for well over a year now, and it's done somewhere around a hundred gigs. It is great with a tele, for exactly the reason stated above, and with a 335, it's just one of my favorite tones ever-I've literally watched people's heads snap around when I first fire up that rig. I use it with a strat all the time now and am getting good tones, but I have had to change the nature of how I use it:
At first, I used it after my Fulldrive2, and it was my lead boost pedal. I mostly left the FD2 on all the time at a low gain setting, worked the volume/gain with my guitar, and used the Zendrive for bigger/gainy-er/over the top tones. After a bit, things have changed. Now, I use it the way I used to use the FD2-set 'Paisley-style'-gain at 8:30, vol at 9 or 10, tones around 12-2. It's just great at this-reall adds a subtle punch and thickness and takes away that clean strat shimmer. I set the pedal at just about unity gain, so I can go from shimmer to thick without jumping out of the mix. I use a Keeley modded Sparkle Drive as my lead boost now, and have it before the ZD-works/sounds fantastic to my ears. It took me a long time to get here, but I am very happy with my tone from this setup these (well, ok, most) days.

Great pedal-reasonable price=jump on it. You can always sell it if it's not right for you. They are still in high demand.

Good luck in your search...

Cuz

I love my Zen. Great unit.

The thing I like most is that it remains tight in the low end while yielding a beefy thick tone in the mid and upper register. I love the voice knob as well - you can tweak this pedal with the right amount of bass and as much "teeth" as I want in the upper register, and it still "feels" warm. YMMV =)

+1 with teles it sound superb.
i like that clean sparkle shining through in that overdrive

Great pedal.

Zen with a tele and blackface amp sounds a lot like Robben Ford. RF uses this on fly gigs with Twins or Supers and just his telecaster. You may want to search youtube for a demo. They're in the ballpark of the actual sound.

I have a Zendrive Clone and love it with humbuckers....

I think they are cool overdrive pedals. They are big hit with the Dumble/Robben Ford Fans. They are like a greasy sounding tubescreamer.

Go for it Cast, its a great pedal. Mine replaced my LTD, though I'm not sure its a "better" pedal it is very unique. One thing you may or may not like about the pedal is its lack of compression. That was the biggest thing for me to get over. Compared to a Tubescreamer its a much more open sounding OD. It is very different than most ODs, so chances are you don't have anything like it in your pedal collection. I say go for it!!!

This week I stacked it with Keith's Colorsound Overdriver clone....the ZD driving the OD....wow....really, wow!

That's almost eerie. I just built up another Colorsound OD clone (with stuff that was left or shelved after building yours), and accidentally pushed it with an OD as well, and now the two are simply a tag team affair.

It's got me to thinking of putting everything under the hood of one box, but I think I prefer the flexibility of the mix n match thing.

Regarding the ZD - neat pedal. I even converted an SD-1 into something similar a while back, and save it as a sort of standby. My only gripe is the fourth control - the voice control. I end up doinking around with it a bit too much when I switch guitars. But I go through the same thing with the Timmy - constantly fiddling with the EQ controls probably more than using the pedal.

Other than the rare occasion with something like the Colorsound OD, I guess I'm not much of a "four knob guy." :lol:

+1 on all the great reviews on the Zendrive. It's a great pedal that is small and well made, and it is very tweakable. All the sounds on it are really good, especially with a Tele or 335.

I built a clone...but honestly, I have no idea if the schematic I used is close to being accurate. Sounds very close to clips I've heard, though. So my take may differ from the real deal. That being said. I like it very much. I have found the voice and tone control to be pretty effective for getting a couple of different textures out to the pedal. Overall, it is very smooth.

I have had the fortune of trying out a bunch of different OD circuits and this one is one of 2 on my board if that helps.

I know if I had a chance to trade for a Zendrive I would do it. I have a buddy who owns one and every time he uses it, I just melt. Great, great, great tone. I want one!


Did I mention great tone??

I play strats primarily and it didn't do anything good for my sound. For leads, it was pretty good, but for rhythm, it was mushy and not very articulate. It also didn't have enough gain for me....I know it's not supposed to be a high gain pedal, but to me, it didn't even sound medium gain on my rig......sounds good in Brad Paisley's chain, but not mine.....

Just got a timmy, and the zen is the last on my quest, but I like not so gainy pedals myself. I grab a different amp when I want gainy. I sure would grab it, you will have no problem selling it if it does not work for you... Hell I would trade for it. ;)

I play strats primarily and it didn't do anything good for my sound. For leads, it was pretty good, but for rhythm, it was mushy and not very articulate. It also didn't have enough gain for me....I know it's not supposed to be a high gain pedal, but to me, it didn't even sound medium gain on my rig......sounds good in Brad Paisley's chain, but not mine.....

As discussed, its definitely Tele friendly - what amp are you running it into?

I've had one since they first came out and it is great with humbuckers and Teles. Unlike any other OD pedal I've owned. I agree its best for solos rather than rhythm. I use a Timmy for mildly crunchy chords and either kick in the Zendrive with the Timmy or by itself for solos. The Zendrive loves Fender amps, but sounds good with Marshall and Vox as well.

I'll be the contrary voice here.

I had one, & used it with my strats & Dr. Z Maz Jr.

Meh.

Nice pedal, & does what it says it does, but I never really bonded with it.

Bonus points though: I unloaded it for what I paid for it. Yay.

Not contrary, mate - seems the consensus is its not that Strat friendly - but loves Teles.

I have one and like it as a solo boost and for slide. My main Strat is a mohagany one W/ P90s

No question, the Zendrive nails that Dumble ODS sound. I love my Zendrive with 'buckers. It absolutely kills with my ES-339! :mrgreen:

OTOH, with my Strats I actually prefer the FET dream (cepedals.com) because IMO it seems to mate up better with the sound of singlecoils and it's more versatile than just the Dumble tones (due to the "girth" knob). YMMV.

I'm slowly developing separate signal chains for the Strats and Gibsons, but if I could only have one Dumble-type pedal on the pedalboard, the Zendrive would be it.

Zendrive has stayed on my board and will never leave. It sounds so different from tonnes of ODs.

I'm convinced that the zen drive was made to go between the telecaster and a clean 6l6 type amp. If that was an accident then it really is the zen drive.

So if you have a telecaster and a clean 6l6 type amp, then get it. You'll love it.

For anything else, not so much. I'm not sure how it sounds on the od channels. Still really good with a tele, just not quite as good (to me) as on the clean channel, but really anyother guitar would sound not so great. But if you have a tele, then you pretty much owe it to yourself to at least check it out.

I played my Tele into a Marshall JCM900 today, just like I do every week.

Stomped on the Zen.

It still made me exclaim to anyone who bothered to hear, Man, this pedal is lovely.

I use the Zendrive when I'm looking for a thicker OD sound. It's great for "singing" leads.

I'm convinced that the zen drive was made to go between the telecaster and a clean 6l6 type amp. If that was an accident then it really is the zen drive.
Alf Hermida made the Zendrive specifically for Robben Ford and his Les Paul into backline 6L6 amps (Super Reverbs) for shows when Robben doesn't (can't? won't?) tour with his Dumble amps.

Since Robben also plays a (pretty damn sweet) '60 blonde Telecaster on a bunch of bluesier numbers, I'm not surprised that the Zendrive sounds great with that as well. :mrgreen:

Alf Hermida made the Zendrive specifically for Robben Ford and his Les Paul into backline 6L6 amps (Super Reverbs) for shows when Robben doesn't (can't? won't?) tour with his Dumble amps.

Since Robben also plays a (pretty damn sweet) '60 blonde Telecaster on a bunch of bluesier numbers, I'm not surprised that the Zendrive sounds great with that as well. :mrgreen:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f399/Csapo/Forum%20Pics/RobbenFordwithZendrive.jpg

Oh and I love mine...

Don't get hung up on the 6L6 thing, it sounds great pushing a Tele through 84's aswell.

Who is Robben Ford?

No Google in South London?

Haha, I'm kidding of course. But we all know he only exists on guitar forums and it's funny that he is always brought up as an indicator of the zendrive's validity/quality, yet who actually listens to him and is his tone so amazing that it makes a zendrive essential? I would say no IMO, especially as more players possibly know about the zendrive than Ford himself.

Haha, I'm kidding of course. But we all know he only exists on guitar forums and it's funny that he is always brought up as an indicator of the zendrive's validity/quality, yet who actually listens to him and is his tone so amazing that it makes a zendrive essential? I would say no IMO, especially as more players possibly know about the zendrive than Ford himself.

Ahh right. I don't hate his music, but I don't find his tone all that unique either. Same goes about most of the famous Dumble users too.

Don't get hung up on the 6L6 thing, it sounds great pushing a Tele through 84's aswell.

I agree. I just pulled out my SD-1 that I modded into what is more or less a ZD, and it sounds really nice thru my Blackheart Little Giant.

I agree. I just pulled out my SD-1 that I modded into what is more or less a ZD, and it sounds really nice thru my Blackheart Little Giant.
Really? I have both pedals and I would've said that two pedals couldn't sound more different than the SD-1 and the Zendrive.

No ZD coming my way. The gentleman decided to keep the pedal. Too bad, I was getting psyched to own one.

I have a ZenDrive and a few good amps. My Dumble clone has such a good OD sound, that I don't really have to work on getting a good sound. I can easily get a lot of sustain, which is something I like. But I also like a cleaner sound just by backing off with the pick. That kind of effect I get better with a ZenDrive into my other amps: Victoria 35310, DRRI, and Trainwreck clone. The Trainwreck will not give me any OD at all at bedroom levels. But with a ZenDrive, I can get a very wide range of sounds just with my picking hand. It takes me a few days, no kidding, to zero in on a good sound out of that, but then, boy. Such detail.

I use the DRRI and ZenDrive for gigs. But I am moving into an amp head switching scenario with the DRRI and Dumble clone and a 12" Tone Tubby.

The Hermida reverb pedal kicks butts.

I have a ZenDrive and a few good amps. My Dumble clone has such a good OD sound, that I don't really have to work on getting a good sound. I can easily get a lot of sustain, which is something I like. But I also like a cleaner sound just by backing off with the pick. That kind of effect I get better with a ZenDrive into my other amps: Victoria 35310, DRRI, and Trainwreck clone. The Trainwreck will not give me any OD at all at bedroom levels. But with a ZenDrive, I can get a very wide range of sounds just with my picking hand. It takes me a few days, no kidding, to zero in on a good sound out of that, but then, boy. Such detail.

I use the DRRI and ZenDrive for gigs. But I am moving into an amp head switching scenario with the DRRI and Dumble clone and a 12" Tone Tubby.

The Hermida reverb pedal kicks butts.

Two heads and a cab? That sounds like something that would work for me-please post an update when you get it sorted out. Which Dumble Clone do you have? Is it a Ceriatone?

Really? I have both pedals and I would've said that two pedals couldn't sound more different than the SD-1 and the Zendrive.

That's because I modded the SD-1 to basically match the Zendrive. I added the Voice control, changed the tone control to match, changed the second op amp (chip) stage to just a unity gain buffer, and swapped out the SD-1 diodes for the mosFET/BAT41 array in the ZD.

...To finish it off, I changed the input and output caps to .47uF, just like the ZD. Since the SD-1 runs buffers, I switched the output caps after them to .47uF as well.

It sounds like a lot of changes, but it saves a big pile of skins to spend on something else. And no one will snag my SD-1 off my board. Even if they do, I can make another one for about $60.

I know that Hermida sanded the markings off the op amp chip, but that was actually fun - I just socketed the chip and started experimenting. I ended up with a NE5532 as sounding closest to the real deal. Whether or not it is just comes down to personal judgment.

As far as Son of Screamer variations go, the ZD is a pretty basic one, so it's easy to mold the SD-1 around it.

My Rivera M-60 loves my Tele & Zendrive!

That's because I modded the SD-1 to basically match the Zendrive. I added the Voice control, changed the tone control to match, changed the second op amp (chip) stage to just a unity gain buffer, and swapped out the SD-1 diodes for the mosFET/BAT41 array in the ZD.

...To finish it off, I changed the input and output caps to .47uF, just like the ZD. Since the SD-1 runs buffers, I switched the output caps after them to .47uF as well.

It sounds like a lot of changes, but it saves a big pile of skins to spend on something else. And no one will snag my SD-1 off my board. Even if they do, I can make another one for about $60.

I know that Hermida sanded the markings off the op amp chip, but that was actually fun - I just socketed the chip and started experimenting. I ended up with a NE5532 as sounding closest to the real deal. Whether or not it is just comes down to personal judgment.

As far as Son of Screamer variations go, the ZD is a pretty basic one, so it's easy to mold the SD-1 around it.
Go figure. I had no idea the circuits were even vaguely similar, because they really sound so different -- at least unmodded... :shrug:

they really sound so different

Very true. The tone circuit differences between the two are perhaps the biggest reason. The Zen uses a passive setup, while the SD/TS/etc. family of drives basically boost or cut mids and treble.

...The Voice control in the Zen allows for a lot of fine tuning, but that mainly entails just replacing a fixed resistor in the SD-1 with a way (a pot) to adjust it. I actually just mount a trimpot in the battery hatch and sneak the pair of wires up through there, so that I don't have to drill any holes.

I like how the second op amp stage is just a unity gain buffer. It isolates all of the clipping chores to the first gain stage, and acts as a "firewall" after the tone control. It makes the ZD behave a little better when pushing another pedal in the chain.

The clipping diodes that Hermida chose are pretty neat. I like how the man himself said that they should be considered a work in progress, and that folks should continue to experiment with the combinations. I'd have to agree!