Empress Effects Drive Pedal
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Description
Tube-Like Overdrive with Advanced Tone Control
Most overdrives are built around one particular character. The Empress Drive gives you the tools to shape your own. Instead of locking you into a single flavour of overdrive, it lets you shape the harmonic structure that determines how a drive sounds and responds.With pre-overdrive mid shaping, flexible boost routing, clean blend, and post-mix EQ, the Empress Drive can move from subtle edge-of-breakup push to saturated, harmonically rich drive, either enhancing the character of your guitar and amp or taking your sound somewhere entirely new.
Features
• Tube-like overdrive with advanced tone control• Sweepable Midrange for precise harmonic shaping
• Mix control to preserve your amp's natural breakup
• Active Bass and Treble shelving filters
• Up to 30 dB of pre- or post-clipping, footswitchable boost
• Built-in analog clipping meter with selectable LED colour
• Adaptive noise gate
Breakup Control
Most overdrives shape tone after distortion. The Empress Drive shapes it before. With the Midrange control placed ahead of the overdrive stage, adjusting it changes which frequencies push the circuit into saturation. Boost lower mids for thicker breakup, emphasize upper mids for bite and articulation, or pull them back to tighten the response and reduce harmonic density.
Instead of accepting a fixed voicing, you decide how the circuit reacts to your playing dynamics and guitar volume. The result is overdrive that responds with intention rather than imposing a single character.
A Range of Voices
The Empress Drive isn't modeled after one specific amplifier. It's built to move between styles. Dial in mid-forward tweed-style warmth, tighter British crunch, or cleaner, punchier breakup without swapping pedals.
Assignable pre- or post-overdrive boost lets you reshape saturation or simply raise output level. The mix control preserves your core tone while adding drive, and post-mix shelving EQ keeps everything balanced. It can act as a second gain channel or live on your board as a foundation tone that enhances what your amp already does well.
Built-In Gain Staging
Stacking boosts and overdrives works, but it adds noise, cost, and board space. The Empress Drive integrates up to 30dB of assignable pre- or post-overdrive boost directly into the circuit. Push the overdrive stage harder for more saturation and compression, or engage post-overdrive boost to lift your level without changing gain character.
Combined with the mix control and post-mix EQ, you get clarity, punch, and balance without having to rely on multiple pedals.
Analog Control
The Empress Drive runs on a fully analog signal path designed for organic breakup and natural compression. An adaptive noise gate listens to your input and responds to how you play, reducing unwanted hum at higher gain settings without cutting off sustain. It stays out of the way until you need it.
And there's a VU meter. It shows how hard you're driving the overdrive stage in real time. It's not there to be clinical, it's there because watching the needle move while you play is surprisingly revealing... and sometimes just plain satisfying.
Specifications
Input Impedance: 1MΩOutput Impedance: 100Ω
Frequency Response (-3dB): 20Hz - 22kHz
THD+N (buffer bypassed)(20Hz - 20kHz, 1Vrms): < 0.1%
Input Voltage: 9V DC (Centre-Negative)
Required Current: 250mA
Power Input Connector: 2.1mm Barrel Connector
Height: 6.35 cm / 2.5"
Length: 12.2 cm / 4.8"
Width: 6.6 cm / 2.6"
Weight: .454 kg / 1 lb
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Protect your investment with the Long & McQuade Performance Warranty
A warranty can be a very important factor when making a buying decision. Because repairs can be very expensive in terms of parts and labour costs, manufacturers usually only provide one year limited warranties that generally only cover items that malfunction due to a manufacturer’s defect. With an important purchase such as a musical
instrument or piece of studio gear, however, many people want to have the peace of mind in knowing that their investment will be protected should the product no longer be performing at 100%.
Because of this, Long & McQuade provides our customers with a FREE one-year Performance Warranty on most of our products. The Long & McQuade Performance Warranty supplements the manufacturer’s warranty to ensure that our customers receive complete “no hassle” warranty coverage within their first year.
How does the Long & McQuade Performance Warranty differ from most manufacturers' warranties?
- Performance Guarantee: Normal wear and tear is covered, so your product will be performing as well as the day you purchased it for the entire duration of the coverage. Band and Orchestral Performance Warranty does not include replacing pads or cleaning for woodwind instruments, unless deemed necessary by our repair staff. Ultrasonic cleaning for brass instruments will be provided if deemed necessary by our repair staff, but is not routinely offered under the Performance Warranty.
- Product Replacement: If your product cannot be fixed or costs too much to fix, we will replace it with the equivalent model for no additional charge. If this is not possible, a full refund will be provided.
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Long & McQuade reserves the right to restrict the purchase of additional years of Performance Warranty. Used products come with a 3-month Long & McQuade Performance Warranty. Some products (i.e. computers, software, cymbals and other items) are covered only by the manufacturer‘s warranty. Consumables (i.e. strings, reeds, drum sticks, batteries, tubes, cross faders) are excluded as they are designed to be replaced. Cosmetic Damage, Accidental Damage, or problems caused by Humidity or Temperature Issues are not covered. Speakers damaged by overpowering are generally not covered. Our coverage does not provide compensation for loss of use. As of June 2018 the Performance Warranty is no longer transferable. The warranty is only valid in Canada.
Purchasing additional years of coverage
Some manufacturers provide warranties for longer than 1 year; however, these are usually limited warranties that do not provide the same coverage as the Long & McQuade Performance Warranty. Customers interested in more complete and convenient (but not necessarily longer) coverage are still able to purchase additional years of the Performance Warranty.
If you are interested in receiving this coverage for longer than one year, you have the option of purchasing additional years of the Performance Warranty. The pricing is as follows:
- NEW products: Starting at 4% of the current new selling price to double the warranty from 1 year to 2 years. Starting at 4% for each additional year.
- USED products: Starting at 4% of the current new selling price to increase the warranty from 3 months to 1 year. Starting at 4% for each additional year.
- GUITARS: 4% of the current new selling price to double the warranty from 1 year to 2 years. 4% for each additional year. $45 maximum. An additional free setup is not included with additional purchased years of Performance Warranty.
- BAND and ORCHESTRAL instruments: 4% of the current new selling price to double the warranty from 1 year to 2 years. 4% for each additional year.
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| Product | SKU | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Drive Pedal | 842818 |
