The ‘Soft Drive’ overdrive effects pedal is inspired by the Pete Cornish SS-3, using the same circuit and component values. Like the Cornish original, the ‘Soft Drive’ is great for crunchy rhythm and a nice thick bluesy lead. The sound is very much like an overdriven vintage valve amp. The pedal retains all the tone of your guitar and will make it come alive, even at maximum gain. Starting with a subtle overdriven amp sound, through to a rhythmic crunch, and up to a blues lead. Inside are germanium NOS diodes.
The ‘Soft Drive’ also features the same Cornish Buffer Preamp with it's superior RFI rejecting capability and Low Impedance output, allowing the use of extended cable runs in bypass mode. The Unity Gain Buffer also prevents "Ghost noise" being audible in Bypass Mode. Unlike the Cornish pedals however, the ‘Soft Drive’ features a switch inside the unit to turn this bypass buffer off and engage True Bypass mode. It also features a LED footswitch with internal brightness trim, and Volume/Bass/Treble/Sustain controls.
Please note that there is no battery clip in this pedal. A standard pedal power supply (9v centre negative) is recommended, such as offered by Strymon and Voodoo Labs.
This pedal is now being used by Chris Isaak's long time guitarist Hershel Yatovitz.