Amp simulators, modellers, “amp in a box” pedals and “amp-like” overdrives – the line between them is very blurred these days. More and more players are ditching amps altogether, running direct for gigs and recording, or needing to take a mixture of these approaches on different occasions. Not long ago, your options were simple: either you had a real valve amp and some basic pedals making a lot of noise on stage or you bought yourself a digital modeller to run direct.
Of course, we still have loud amps and we have some excellent modellers. But we also have “amp in a box” pedals and “pedal platform” amps, IR cabinet simulators and all sorts of standalone amp simulators and preamps, both analogue and digital. Our Amp Recreation pedals fall somewhere in the middle of this big Venn diagram, but their real identity is as analogue amp modellers. But what do we mean by that? Let’s use the RevivalDRIVE Compact as an example:
Like all our amp recreation pedals, the RevivalDRIVE Compact contains an entire valve amp-style signal path recreated in miniature using carefully designed solid-state circuitry. This includes a preamp stage, phase inverter, push-pull output stage and even a simulated reactive load that recreates that all important interaction between amp and speaker – the thing that gives valve amps the playing feel that we love. All this adds up to a pedal that sounds, feels and reacts just like a real vintage valve amp, spanning the full range of clean to overdriven tones. This also means it takes other pedals just like a real amp too.
The RevivalDRIVE Compact’s main focus is on the sounds of high-powered vintage amps like the Marshall Plexi and Fender Twin Reverb. Thanks to some clever manipulation of that recreated amp circuit, it can deliver some pretty convincing Vox and Tweed Bassman-style tones too. The MORE PRES control is at the heart of this circuit-level tweaking, and the HIGHS and LOWS controls also have more going on behind the scenes than your average tone knobs, but that’s more than we’ve got time for here (check out the online manual to learn about all the internal trickery).
The RevivalDRIVE Compact also features the Post-Drive EQ circuit that you’ll find on all our Amp Recreation pedals. We’ll start with this in P/AMP mode, which disables any post-drive filtering, giving you the unadulterated tone of that miniaturised amp circuit. Ever used a real valve amp with an attenuator and taken a line out? That’s the same as what’s going on here, except it’s all contained inside a single pedal. This is the setting you need when using the pedal with a cab sim or power amp.
In this first clip, we’re connecting the RevivalDRIVE Compact to a Two Notes C.A.B M, loaded with IRs from the Origin Effects IR Cab Library. You’ll hear a couple of classic tones supplemented with some other pedals. The C.A.B M is just providing cabinet simulation and reverb – the power amp simulation and EQ are turned off.
- Fender-style clean tone with American Twin 2x12 IR
- Marshall-style crunch tone with British Straight 4x12 IR
- Fender-style tone with Cali76 FET Compressor and Halcyon Blue Overdrive
- Marshall-style tone with Halcyon Gold Overdrive and Fuzz Face
The next clip shows us adding a separate reverb pedal in the form of the excellent Strymon Flint, placed between the RevivalDRIVE Compact and C.A.B M. When running in mono, this signal chain works just fine, as the C.A.B M is a mono pedal, and makes sense to a lot of players as it replicated the signal chain order they are used to from running a reverb in an amp’s FX loop.
Players looking to run stereo reverb in this direct rig might think they need a second cab sim, but this is not the case. With the exception of effects that add harmonics – such as pitch-shifting delays and shimmer reverbs – it doesn’t actually matter if you place the reverb before or after the cab sim. This means we can simply swap the order of the reverb and cab sim, and enjoy our reverb sounds in stereo.
- Mono reverb with the Flint before the C.A.B M
- Stereo Reverb with the Flint after the C.A.B M
If you don’t want to run a direct rig, but you still like the idea of the RevivalDRIVE Compact as your core “amp tone”, then you can hook it up to one of the many compact power amps out there today. This lets you access all the authentic amp tones that an Amp Recreation can provide, at any volume. This can be a great option for fly gigs with backline cabs, rehearsal rooms, and travelling light in general. Keeping the Post-Drive EQ in P/AMP mode, this next clip shows the higher-gain RD Compact Hot Rod in conjunction with a Seymour Duncan Power Stage 170 power amp and a Marshall 4x12 mic’d up with a Sennheiser MD412 and a Beyerdynamic M160.
RD Compact Hot Rod into a power amp and mic’d cab (M-EQ Driver adding extra gain)
Unlike most other preamps and modellers, the Origin Effects Amp Recreations are also designed to work into the front end of a traditional guitar amp, offering a more realistic alternative to an “amp in a box” pedal or “amp-like” overdrive. When paired with a clean amp, an Amp Recreation like the RevivalDRIVE Compact can feel like you’ve added another channel to your regular amp. This is where the Post-Drive EQ comes in.
This adjustable filter takes the signal from the recreated amp circuit and shapes it dramatically, allowing you to interface the pedal with traditional amps. Unlike flat power amps, normal guitar amps tend to have some in-built tone shaping. For example, a black or silver panel Fender adds lots of treble and scoops mids, which flatters the sound of the guitar. To balance this, the RevivalDRIVE adds mids and cuts treble, letting the RevivalDRIVE’s tone come through as nature intended, without having to sacrifice your favourite amp settings to get the best from your pedal. EQ1 mode caters to Fender-style amps, and EQ2 is for darker, warmer tones stacks like those in Marshall-style amps. This next clip uses EQ1 mode to compensate for the voicing of a Fender Princeton Reverb amp.
The Post-Drive EQ’s EQ1 mode compensates for the voicing of a Fender Princeton Reverb
- Les Paul
- Telecaster
We had a lot of fun putting this article together and playing the RevivalDRIVE Compact in all its possible uses. So, just for fun, here are some more sounds that we recorded using the different rigs we set up. As usual, you can find all the details of our Amp Recreation range and other pedals at origineffects.com.