EBS Metaldrive is all about full tilt, insane distortion. If you want huge amounts of mean grind, this is the pedal for you.
It is possible to lower the gain to achieve just a little distortion. The sound character is pretty brutal even when almost clean, very edgy and coarse indeed. Compared to many other distortion pedals with "metal" in their names, this one is darker and coarser. With some eq you can have a lot of fun even with small amounts of distortion. I decreased the treble and got a dark edgy tractor-like tone that can make any Jack Bruce wannabee pay attention. Combine it with one or two equaliser pedals to be really flexible. Using equalisers before or after the pedal can really change the way this pedal distorts.
If you want lots and lots of grind there is plenty of it in this little box. Pushing it to the highest settings is entertaining, with an enormous amount of buzzing. This can become a little muddy and unclear, but that comes with the package and is really part of the sound using the most brutal distortion settings.
The controls are very simple. Dist controls the amount of distortion and Output adjusts the volume, no manual needed so far. The switch between the knobs takes some explanation though. Three positions for three different types of sounds. There is not much of a difference between the Std and Tube Sim positions. Sure, it gets a bit softer in the Tube Sim position but sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference, especially at lower sound levels. The Flat position means
equal gain at all frequencies. This position is a little hard to use since it tends to sound a little thin compared to bypassed sound. It can be nice in the studio for example where you have the time and possiblity to get new sounds that can be combined with a good equaliser.
Metaldrive can use trhee different types of power supply: A nine volt battery, a nine volt adaptor or EBS own phantom power from one of the
EBS amps through a stereo cable. The newer EBS pedals have true bypass footswitches, so the whole pedal is disconnected from the signal chain in bypass mode.
Verdict
Metaldrive is a fun pedal that is surprisingly versatile. Brutal distortion sounds come naturally, but coarse and edgy tones with just
a little distortion are also possible. There are huge amounts of gain so your distortion adventures can go anywhere.
Facts
EBS Metaldrive
• Distortion pedal
• True bypass
• Three selectable modes
• Battery, AC adaptor or EBS phantom power
• 70 x 35 x 115 mm
