The E Drive is a preamp and drive pedal from AMT Electronics, part of the maker's Drive series. It is built around an analog preamp with three gain modes (Clean, Low gain and High gain), and adds a power amp section with nine types, an IR-based cab sim, a compressor and a noise gate that works as a global setting across the unit1. For a player, that makes it a compact front end that can carry a whole rig into a PA, a power amp or a flat-response amp's return.
What it does
The signal path runs through an analog preamp first, with the three gain modes covering clean, lightly pushed and high gain sounds1. AMT's product page lists a power amp block with nine types, so the preamp can be paired with different power amp characters rather than a single fixed voicing1.
Cab simulation is handled by an IR (impulse response), with one IR shared by both the left and right channels of each preset1. That means a preset carries one speaker character across its stereo output, rather than separate IRs per channel.
Two supporting blocks round out the feature set:
- Compressor, listed on the maker's product page as part of the unit1
- Noise Gate, which AMT describes as a global setting, so it applies across the unit rather than being set per preset1
A no-talking sound demo published on AMT's media center also lists a parametric Pre/Post EQ among the unit's features2, giving tone shaping both before and after the drive stages.
Where it sits in AMT's range
The E Drive is one of a family of AMT drive and preamp pedals. Others in the wider range covered on this site include the P Drive, the S2, D2, R2, P2, B1 and the bass-oriented BC-1 Bass Crunch. If you are comparing preamp pedals as a category, see the Preamp Pedals page.
Videos
Fredguitarist
Ola Englund
KOKO DC music and toys
Sources (2)
- AMT Electronics Drive series, Media center of AMT Electronics
- AMT E Drive Mini, Media center of AMT Electronics
