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Sound:
This pedal can produce such a variety of sounds that I will be playing with the combinations for many months to come. TC Electronics married overdrive with distortion into a pedal that allows you to choose which portion of the pedal drives into the other *and* the ability to drive both sides in parallel and mix it on the way to the amp. The parallel gain stacking provides a tone I have not heard before.
I have been playing with it a couple hours now and it allows me to play distortion and overdrive from mild to heavy, smooth to grate your ears and everything in-between!
Feature:
Unit comes with a 12V adapter. Unfortunately, that complicates my wiring for my pedal board, but I understand why and am glad they included it with the unit. There is a richer sound to this pedal for overdrive and distortion that still allows individual notes and each note in a power chord to be heard. This appears to be due to the higher voltage the pedal is using
Ease of Use:
Switching through the presets, setting my own and just all around playing with the options is drop dead simple: Turn some knobs, press some buttons and play. The presets and user modes allow me to find those settings lightening fast when switching between songs. Took me all of 30 seconds to dial in a Judas Priest sound and another 15 seconds to save it to a preset. I then spent another 30-45 seconds dialing in a Lynyrd Skynyrd setting and saved it to a preset in a few seconds. Discovered that some of the default presets already have a close approximation for AC/DC, Aerosmith and other 80's band sounds. That said, it was nothing for me to switch to the correct preset when I changed the song I was playing.
Quality:
Upon opening the box, I noticed the unit is well packed and was not just loosely sitting in the box. The pedal was covered by a sealed plastic bag that had to be cut open. The pedal is unmarred and assembled well, with no loose parts. Construction appears to be fairly durable, like it was meant to hold up to a lunatic guitarist. The foot switches do not require much pressure and can be operated by finger press or foot. Pressing at an angle works, unlike some other foot switches that require a direct up and down movement.
Value:
I believe this pedal is worth much more than what I purchased it for. It is hard to compare this to other pedals as there do not appear to be other pedals that can do the same things this pedal can. Prior to purchasing the Nova Drive, I was using a Lovepedal Distortion and a Hardwire Overdrive (both excellent pedals on their own). I am now planning and budgeting for my next Nova pedal purchase.
Manufacturer Support:
I have not had to deal with TC Electronics for support on this pedal. I will say that their support is fairly helpful, as experienced with some of their other products and they were able to pinpoint the issue and help me find a resolution over the phone.
The Wow Factor:
The Nova Drive is aesthetically pleasing to me. The layout of the buttons and knobs make it easy to use. The only downside would be the remaining pedals on my pedal board - they just don't match! Based on what I experienced with this pedal, I may just replace all of the other pedals with comparable ones from the Nova line.
Overall:
Until it or I die (whichever comes first).
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