Donner
Blues Drive
Another tiny, inexpensive overdriver
with
unintentionally
hilarious
marketing copy is the Donner Blue
Drive. Donner describes this pedal
as “small and exquisite,” with a
“plump, warm and sweet” sound. I
cannot disagree with any of those
statements. The Blues Drive is a very
well made Tube Screamer variant
that handily bests a stock, offthe-shelf Screamer, and will easily
compete head-to-head with most
boutique clones of this classic OD
circuit. With knobs for tone, level,
and gain, it does the usual TS stuff
in a very satisfying fashion. Where
things get interesting, though, is the
Mode toggle, which has settings for
“Warm” and “Hot.” The Warm mode
is standard, but Hot transforms the
pedal, bringing back the bottom
end and kicking up the gain for a
fatter, ballsier tone that is all rock.
At around 30 bucks, the Blues Drive
is perfect for blues lawyers that do a
lot of pro bono work.
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