EBS pedals have long been regarded among bassists for their top-notch components, wide frequency ranges and road worthy enclosures. This Swedish company is one of the few effects manufacturers that actually caters to the unique needs of bass players. Most commercial guitar pedals manage to cut off considerable amounts of precious low-end when used by bassists. This loss of low frequencies and overall tone have led many bassists to construct elaborate crossover schemes to avoid these losses at considerable expense and customization. Well, EBS have certainly solved these issues by building their bass-centric pedals from the ground up. This is all fine and good but why are 6-stringers at Guitargeek.Com mucking around with bass pedals? In the case of EBS we actually read a random blurb on the web mentioning their Multidrive Universal Overdrive pedal. The claim sounded all-inclusive, if not a little cocky, so we made some calls!

Less than a week later we had a big box of all the EBS pedals at our doorstep, including the Universal Overdrive. Upon first glance they looked liked just another pedal stuck in a standard MXR-style BUD box, but upon closer examination we noticed that the custom EBS Box is wider and angled ever so slightly to allow for easier stomping. The active/passive push button on the side of the unit have obvious uses for bassists. Another thoughtful touch is the option of using phantom power via a stereo cord if you are lucky enough to have an EBS amplifier. Of course you'll only be able to power the last EBS pedal in your chain. This will be of little value to most guitarists, but I can see the logic since most bassists keep their signal path simple. Along with the vivid white silkscreened control functions, the two recessed control knobs round out the affair with a nice aesthetic touch that give the pedal a sleek and sexy look.

These two controls take care of the standard drive and volume duties while a mini-toggle switches between TubeSim, Standard, and Flat functions. After plugging in a few cords to the side-mounted jacks we gave the Standard mode a whirl first. By the second or third power chord, all any of us could say was "WOW!" With a moderate amount of gain dialed in, the Multidrive sounded like the full-bodied crunch of a real Class A tube amp. It's open, clear and responsive while still delivering a real wallop of rock n' roll. Higher settings retained the same believable tube qualities but with just more sustain for more aggressive leads and chord work. EBS claims to have emulated the circuit of a Class A circuit for the MultiDrive and, based on the sound we achieved, we believe them. We're not even going to ask how because it delivers the goods and that's all that matters. The absence of a dedicated tone knob never became an issue of concern because we never had to make adjustments. If your guitar and amp combination sound great already then the EBS Standard mode will simply add its overdriven magic.

The other two modes provided subtle differences in tone shaping that, although not as immediately stunning as the Standard Mode, came alive when played through the right guitars. The TubeSim mode definitely has its sights set on mimicking the infamous Tube Screamer sound with all its compression and high end cut. It has a wonderful, valvey bite but failed to rival the Standard mode, at least with the Jazzmaster and ES-335 we were playing through it. The TubeSim did, however, strike our interest when one of our reviewers brought over a Stratocaster and Telecaster. Here is where this mode really shined. By shaving off the inherent brightness in both these guitars while adding an overall tightness, the TubeSim felt more relaxed and ready to do its own special thing.

The Flat mode was a little lackluster for our general overdrive duties, but finally found its own voice at higher gain settings. With the dials pegged, we were able to find a fuzz-like tone that broke up nicely without completely breaking down. Chords and leads all remained defined and tangible even at the edge of meltdown. At lower settings, the Flat Mode provides uncolored clean boost duties and sounded great with other overdrive and fuzz pedals inline. One more tonal option was the Active/Passive switch. While originally designed for active or passive basses, we found a lot of wonderful sounds when engaging the active switch. While not as robust as the passive mode, it still proved very useful in helping recorded guitars sit perfectly within a recorded mix. If you think of it as another eq or filter you'll be able to tap this feature for all it's worth.

Although mainly marketed towards bassists, the EBS MultiDrive is a true sonic gem just waiting to be discovered by guitarists. The quality of components, the tonal variations and its striking tube-like characteristics make it a welcome choice in the crowded world of overdrives. Our wonderful experience with this pedal has definitely encouraged us to give some of the other EBS bass pedals a try in our guitar rigs.