EMPRESS MULTIDRIVE

Overview

The idea of blending amps together has been a studio trick used on countless recordings over the years. Being able to blend the strengths of certain amplifiers and have other amps fill in the weaknesses produces a richer, better balanced sound. Up until now, the only way to repoduce this live was to haul a few amps around with you on the road. After a few gigs of doing that, a lot of players end up compromising tone for the ease of carrying 1 amp around with them. This is where the multidrive shines.

The multidrive allows you to blend Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz together, creating a full and rich array of tones that would not be available otherwise. Let the sustain of fuzz, the bite of distortion and the clarity and note definition of overdrive all work together! It’s like having an overdrive pedal, a fuzz pedal, and a distortion pedal, all in one box.

Video

Features

• All Analog Signal Path – innovative analog signal path which harnesses the best characteristics of germanium diodes, class-a BJT amplifiers, FET distortion and soft led clipping curves to deliver amp-like tones.
• Ultimate Control – independent control over the amount of fuzz, distortion and overdrive that gets added in parallel to create the final sound. Each can have a high pass or low pass filter engaged.
• Incredible Value – The Empress Multidrive is three pedals in one!
• Classic Fuzz – great fuzz sound which allows for smooth, rich sustain and great note definition.
• Vintage Overdrive – Unique overdrive circuit which has athe smooth germanium break-up and the compressed characteristics of a tube amp.
• Versatile Distortion Pedal– With three modes, the distortion will go from controlled to sizzling, all while retaining a super tight low end. It naturally compresses at high gains like a hi-gain amp.
• Bass – Works great on bass! It’s easy to blend a distorted top end with a crystal clean low end to get an aggressive vibe with punchy and dynamic lows.
• Comprehensive EQ – Smooth sounding high and low shelving EQ combined with a powerful frequency selectable mid band bell.
• True Bypass – The Empress Mmultidrive employs true bypass, so you can be sure that it’s not affecting the signal when disengaged.
• Presets – Use the select switch to toggle between 2 preset combinations
• Small Size – The enclosure measures approximately 4.5″ by 3.5″ by 1.5″, which is delightfully small when considering all the features packed into this unit.
• True Display LEDs – Bright multi-color LEDs always let you know what the Multidrive is doing.
• Beautiful Case – It has a sparkle you can’t deny!

Soundclips

We took the multidrive into the studio and put it head to head with some of our favorite amps. Here’s the A/B results. (Multidrive samples played through the clean channel of a JCM900)

JCM 900
JCM900 (00:24 sec | 378 KB)
Multidrive (00:13 sec | 213 KB)

AC30
AC30 (00:21 sec | 332 KB)
Multidrive (00:19 sec | 307 KB)

1968 JTM45
JTM 45 (00:14 sec | 230 KB)
Multidrive (00:16 sec | 256 KB)

JCM800
JCM800 (00:19 sec | 298 KB)
Multidrive (00:19 sec | 300 KB)

Specifications