J. Everman Ultra-Drive

This is a high-end distortion pedal, made by the small company J. Everman. It is surprisingly versatile in its application. It has a 1/4" input and output, and can run on an adapter. The pedal uses analog technology and therefore is not MIDI-capable, or capable of being edited with a computer. The pedal is also not rackable.

UTILIZATION

Using this pedal is overall, pretty easy. I find that the only difficulty in using this pedal is generally related to how much time I want to spend finding a sound. Given the multitude of options, this is a timely process. However, the actual design of the pedal is quite easy. There are simply four knobs: Sustain, Filter, Tone, and Volume. The sustain works on the compression/distortion end of things (this is different than most distortion pedals), the filter helps cut unwanted frequencies (for noise, bad tone, etc.) the tone will emphasize a certain frequency range, and the volume is pretty self-explanatory.

SOUND QUALITY

I think that this is a pretty cool pedal to use with Les Pauls or SGs. In fact, it will almost always sound better with humbuckers, as it has a saturation and a thick tone that will be extremely noisy with single coiled guitars like Strats and Teles. While I like the pedal when used lightly (almost as more of an overdrive) I find that it's too thick and meaty for my taste when it is really cranked. The sustain is killer, so it could be said that it's really good for leads, but I don't know if that is necessarily the case with everybody. For me personally, it isn't bright enough and doesn't have quite enough character for lead playing. It's a good sound for hair metal, or 70s arena rock type stuff, but those sounds tend to bore me. I really must say that for 230 dollars this is a serious let down.

OVERALL OPINION

I think that this pedal is really cool, and has a variety of uses, but I think that overall it's not my favorite pedal, really. This mostly has to do with the oversaturation. While it can be good for leads, it just doesn't color the tone in the way that I like. I guess overall, this was just a little too much of a disappointment, especially considering the price. Go for a different pedal.

The J. Everman Ultra-Drive is a boutiquey overdrive/distortion pedal that is designed for use with electric guitar. You can definitely use it for bass guitar, keyboards, or another electronic instrument, but my experience with the Ultra-Drive is with electric guitar, so this review will be based on this application of the pedal. I'd imagine that most users will be using it for electric guitar anyway, as this is what it is really designed for. The pedal has is pretty standard for a pedal in terms of general characteristics, as it consists of 1/4" connections for input and output and require power via either a nine volt power supply or battery. It isn't a rack mountable piece of gear in any way.

UTILIZATION

Using the J. Everman Ultra-Drive isn't very difficult, especially for those with previous experience using overdrive pedals. It's pretty much got the standard configuration in terms of parameters for the most part, containing parameters for sustain, filter, tone, and volume. Nothing about the J. Everman Ultra-Drive makes it complicated, so a manual isn't needed here.

SOUND QUALITY

The tone quality of J. Everman Ultra-Drive is very very impressive. It is definitely one of the consistently clean sounding overdrive/distortion pedals I've used out there. I don't mean to use the word clean when it comes to a distortion pedal, but what I mean by this is that it is a very transparent sounding distortion pedal. This is the kind of clarity and fullness that I look for in a distortion pedal, as it never gets muddy and always cuts through. The sustain is also incredible on the Ultra-Drive, as when it is turned up all the way it is really never ending. There is a lot of flexibility in the sound as well, as it is capable of getting some very heavy fuzz like sounds as well as more subtle overdrive tones.

OVERALL OPINION

Although the price of the J. Everman Ultra-Drive might stray some away, it's really designed for those looking for top notch tone who don't mind spending a few extra bucks if it will make the difference. For those who in this boat, the J. Everman Ultra-Drive is an absolute must try. However, I don't believe that you'll find too many of these in stores, so trying one out might be harder than most pedals. If you can give one a try, I'd definitely recommend doing so as I know that before long you'll be swayed into adding one to your rig!

Huge fuzz with a lot of settings
any analog
transistors germaniums
scheme modeled on the big muff but pushed further

UTILIZATION

4 pots and 2 internal settings, not so simple but it's OK

SOUND QUALITY

ultra distortion, as if we had two muffs one behind the other with just 11 or 12
with a strat on very quickly the sound of Siamese dreams of smashing pumpkins to give an idea
there is really no progression because no "small" fuzz, the only really usable is donf, must love
big flaw but I think it is the same for all the fuzz, it does not come out at all in the mix, forget to slam a solo

OVERALL OPINION

excellent build quality
original purpose, just not for me