Robben Ford Discussion

[Millibobs]

Hey guys, after a year and a bit, the Zendrive is finally sat on my board. For now, it sits next to a Fulltone OCD for comparison and for 'stacking' purposes (the two combined is a most amazing combination). I can make the Zendrive sound worse than the OCD, I can make it sound the same as the OCD, but have yet to get it out in front in the tone stakes. Can anyone recommend settings for single coils, P90's and humbuckers going into a Fender Bassman Ltd reissue with stock tubes?

The voice control seems to be the key to it all but I am struggling to balance this control with the tone. There is a sweet spot I know, but I haven't found it yet. I can't run the Bassman too loud in the house so the pedal is going into very much a clean sounding amp. I suspect that if I was driving a gain channel or a clipping valve amp, I'd already have this sorted out. Any suggestions appreciated.

It's Fathers Day here, so I intend to have a long hot soak in the bath, read Guitar Buyer (best mag on the planet), read all the replies to this post later on and then blow out the study windows with some Zen-riffery. Oh, and there might be a glass or three of Jack Daniels - the annual treat just got delivered by the Whiskey fairy.........

Greetings and best wishes to Robben fans and the great man himself from a humble and ham-fisted blues picker. I just opened up my MySpace account at www.myspace.com/davidmillionband - all visitors and hecklers are welcome!

[Vinni Smith]

Personally, I think the Zendrive sounds better with humbuckers than single coils. I have a Burns BHM Model and it is just not a good combo at all, yet I also have a '63 Fender MusicMaster that is sounds pretty darn good with. Here are my settings for single coil -approx

Volume @ 2:00
Gain all the way open
Voice at 10:00
Tone at 10:00

These setting to great with my Fulltone FatBoost right after the Zendrive. I have found no one that does not like this sound.

Now for the Humbucker guitars, I find the Zendrive is the stuff. Just can't be beat. I think it sounds better thru a Roland amp in the clean chanel. I have tied it thru many, many amps and this is my favorite for sure.

I have a buddy that just got a Zendrive II that I may be able to talk him out of. We shall see indeed.

vinni
_________________
Does this guitar make me look fat?

www.v-picks.com

[Ian Hurtt]

I agree with Vinni (great player, btw, check out his stuff) that the ZD sounds best with 'buckers. I checked one out for a short time and felt that the amp needed to be a bit overdriven already for the pedal to really be at it's best. I think that there are much better pedals for running into a clean amp at low volumes, such as your OCD. I'm a huge Nick Greer fan and his Relic Drive is an excellent choice for a low volume OD.

[Millibobs]

Thanks for those replies. They both bear out certain things I've been discovering - one is that the Zendrive prefers 'buckers which I think is true and secondly that it suits an amp that is already clipping. I discovered the latter by accident; I placed the Zendrive in front of my OCD which was set up for a fairly low level of drive, but enough to warm up the sound of my Bassman running at around 4. I inadvertently booted up the Zendrive with the OCD already in the path and wham! there was the sound I always dreamed about - it brought a big smile to my face and the rest of the band picked up on that - the boost from the Zendrive made such a difference to an already great sound. Even better, at even low volumes you can get the most lovely harmonic distortion using the Zendrive and it sustains for ever.....incredible sound...

I felt obliged to ask the original question because let's face it, the OCD and Zendrive is quite an expensive combination and I was wondering if I could get everything I need from the Zendrive - stand on it's own 2 feet so to speak. I think when I get the chance, I'll try the Zendrive through my Blues Deluxe re-issue which clips pretty nicely albeit, it's loud as hell when you get is past 3! Of course, this 'problem' is quite a nice one.....er, shall I use the OCD or the Zendrive, or both? I have yet to try direct recording through my Boogie V twin pre-amp, but the OCD sounds great so I daresay so will the Zendrive. In effect I have a low and a higher gain stage with the OCD and Zendrive, plus a useful volume boost for leads.

Conclusion? With your kind assistance, I have answered my own question!!!!

[JohnnyZ]

Millibobs, I wanna party with you!

[Millibobs]

You'd better hop on a plane then. The kettle is always on chez Million. make sure to bring Robben with you..........

[Millibobs]

Every day, a new facet of the pedal emerges. Been using my Blues Deluxe today and running into first the Zendrive and then my OCD. If I set the OCD to give a gentle, driven sound (I always run into a clean amp), the Zendrive then adds all the extra horsepower. Tried my US tele, the PRS SE Soapbars and a Les Paul Studio with Burstbucker pros.

Lordy, what a time I had and with the Zendrive, the 'buckers' grabbed the glory - they really fire the pedal up and I get twice the distortion of the tele or PRS. Cranking back the drive a little I can get a very decent tone that would make Billy Gibbon's beard twitch in appreciation. What is becoming apparent is the extent to which the tone can be affected by the picking hand and the fingers - I'm starting to see how Robben get's that 'quacking' noise that some people have mistaken for a wah. It's taking some time, but it's worth the effort. Dropping the pick and using my fingers only really kicked off because someone here mentioned it. I never realised how much more fluid and fast my playing could be and to what extent I could control my sound - it only took 35 years to find out!!

Seen some interesting posts regarding Zendrive settings and appreciate the recent advice from members - will be trying these at tonight's rehearsal.

All these recent adventures have one way or another, been inspired by Mr Ford and the discussion that takes place on the Forum, so I have much to be grateful for. I'm still waiting for the man to unexpectedly turn up for dinner or telephone me for some advice on chord progressions but as yet, to no avail. Meanwhile, I am writing some new material that will boogie along and allow me to try out all my new techniques. And to date, I haven't acquired a single Robben DVD/Book, so I'm hoping that when I do, things will go up yet another gear.

No wonder my kids are keeping a close eye on me - a 47 year old big kid must be quite an alarming sight!

[kurt1981]

Hey, I was wondering where you found these settings, I have a ZD on the way, and am hoping to find a starting point for the pedal.
Any help would be fantastic, thanks in advance,
Kurt

[Millibobs]

You need to do a search using 'zendrive, settings' and you'll find some old stuff floating around. It was trial and error with me but there are some good postings to be found - keep hunting!

[PierreL]

With the Zendrive, the best is to make your own trials as it's also dependant on the amp and guitars used.
Everything at noon (except maybe the volume , around 10 or 11) should be a good starting point. I have noticed that between noon and full , the gain amount does not change a lot, so the two main variables will be the tone and the voice knobs.

[Millibobs]

Good point Pierre - you're right about the gain control although the other thing I've found is that the volume and gain, just like the tone and voice, are highly interactive with one another. For example you cut the gain and you lose a lot of volume, so you can take the gain right down and the volume way up. I'm finding that I like the gain around 10/11 o'clock and the volume to suit the room but probably around 10 o'clock.

The tone and voicing are far more complex than they first appear; they interact and the amp type is a major factor. Last night I used my Blues Deluxe reissue and set it for a quite warm sound - used the quieter input set to 'bright' bass at around 5, treble at 3, presence at 5, middle at 2. Once the valves were cooking, this setting produced a lovely, warm sound and then I injected a small amount of OCD overdrive for my general rhythm to replicate, if you will, an overdriven valve amp. Then I kicked in the Zendrive for the hot stuff and it was fantastic - Tone at 1 o'clock and voice at 2 o'clock. It was all a bit hit and miss up to that point, but when I got the sweet spot - crikey, it was blistering.

One thing I did find myself doing with the two pairs of controls (ie. top/bottom pair) was to start with the left hand cntrol fullt left and the right hand control fully right. I then gradually turned them inwards towards each other at around the same rate until I had roughly the right tone - then I tweaked the individual pot. This is quite nifty because you are simultaneously adjusting two interactive pots, almost as if you had a 'blend' pot (there's a hint for Alfonso......). This takes you from 4 variable down to 2 and you dial in a good sound far quicker that way.

Maybe this is just boring old horse**** but it worked for me!

[kurt1981]

Cool, anxiously awaiting mine, hopefully it'll be here tomorrow. I'm using a boogie lonestar, or a rivera fandango, with either an anderson strat SSS, or an anderson tele with humbuckers. I run the xotic pedals, an analogman compressor, budda wah, ernie ball volume boss DD-20 and the line6 MM4.
Please hurryy usps!!!
Kurt

[billt]

Got my ZD a coule of days ago. I've been using an Xotic BB preamp with my Dr Z for almost a year now and I love it. The Zendrive is a nice pedal and I'm enjoying it. It IS VERY SMOOTH. Worth a 13 month wait?..........I'm not going to start a fight, I'll just say that I really like it. I'm still in the very early stages with this thing though. It's going to take something pretty darn special to replace my BB.
Bill

[Strongpersuader]

Hi folks!

It is really nice to join this place with you, where we can talk and discuss about so many issues regarding tone, technique and specially Robben's talent.

I am also into this anxiety feeling of waiting for my Zendrive order to be completed. It's been one year, but I feel that I can be patient waiting for it

kurt1981, would you mind answering one question? I do also have a BB Preamp and I really like it a lot. It is one of the best overdrive pedals I have tried. How do you compare the BB Preamp to the Zendrive in terms of overdrive, sustain, clarity and dynamics? I am really curious about it....

Thanks in advance!

[Millibobs]

billt - I think I'm in the same situation you describe. After the long wait for the Zendrive during which time I mythologised it into to something approaching Biblical status, imaging the sort of flat feeling I got when I plugged it in and there was no celestial ray of light bursting forth from the yin/yang icon. In fact, it sounded lousy compared to some other stuff I have, but read on........

Instead, I found myself trying to make it sound sexier than my Fulltone OCD and failing by a mile. But then, my neurons started firing in a slightly more organised fashion and switching off the OCD, I gave the Zendrive a real good hiding. It is slower to give up its treasures and a might more fiddly than the OCD but a heck of a lot less complex than a Mesa Boogie EQ panel. I mentioned in a post elsewhere that I find it easier to adjust the top and bottom air of controls simultaneously - kind starting at the far left and right track of the respective pots and then turning them inwards towards each other. I make that sound way more complicated than it is in practice! This way, I am in effect working with 2 'blend' pots instead of 4 individual pots. I managed to get some very cool sounds this way and once I was in the ball park, I used the individual controls to tweak things.

Amazingly, throughout this entire process, I never once thought of Robben - I was so focused on getting MY sound right. Mind you, once I'd got it something like I wanted, I did pull off a few Robben style licks to see what happened. Again, no celestial laser show or a booming voice from above saying, 'holy cow, that boy can play...'. One thing for sure - if you run an OCD at low drive levels as a rhythm box and then kick in the Zendrive for the lead stuff - my oh my, that is one of the best sounds I ever got out of anything. My Tele and PRS SE Soapbar guitars love this arrangements a lot....the Les Paul has expressed a clear preference for the Zendrive and for any 70's/80's rock I know I am truly 'in the zone'.

Anyway, that's enough cliches for tonight - just letting my cup of enthusiasm brimmeth over a bit.........regards to all here present and of course the man himself