PRODUCT REVIEW
Moving over to my Marshall half stack, I
grabbed my Les Paul to test out the TightDrive
with a heavier rock tone. I was able to get
everything from grungy overdrive to aggressive,
high-gain metal tones. My Marshall amp sounds
pretty darn good on its own and I’m happy with
its overdrive sounds, so in this configuration, I
used the TightDrive more as a boost for playing leads. For this application, I turned up the
pedal’s Volume knob instead of Gain.
As I explored different combinations of guitars
and amps, I found I needed to adjust the amp
settings, as well as the pedal’s parameters
to really dial in the tone to my liking. The
TightDrive is not a one-size-fits-all effect where
a single setting works with different amps.
Turning the Tight knob to its lowest setting
creates a thicker tone that, in some instances,
can get a little muddy. Cranking the Tight knob
all the way up delivers a sharper attack, but the
tone thins out too much for my taste. It’s just a
matter of finding that sweet spot somewhere
in between the two extremes. I rarely turned
the Tone knob past the halfway mark, because
the TightDrive adds quite a bit of brightness
and high-end boost. In fact, I often turned
Tone down all the way for a smoother sound.
The Final Mojo
You can get quite a variety of distortion sounds
with the Amptweaker TightDrive, whether
you use it for a slight boost or a heavier, more
aggressive distortion. It also has useful design
features that enhance your playing experience.
For example, if you’re adding the TightDrive’s
distortion on top of an amp’s overdrive, you can
take advantage of the pedal’s effects loop to
add a noise gate to your signal path and control
both pedals with the TightDrive’s footswitch.
Considering these unique, customer-requested
features and the TightDrive’s versatility, it’s definitely a pedal worth checking out.
Rating:
Amptweaker
Street $180
amptweaker.com
you dig the unique, player-friendly features and the ability
to tighten up your distortion’s
attack.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you prefer that your distortion has
warmer overtones.
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PREMIER GUITAR AUGUST 2010 189
