The EBS ValveDrive is an overdrive and preamp pedal for bass, released in 2006 by the Swedish company EBS. It is built around a real tube: the pedal takes a 12V AC power supply and converts it to high voltage inside, giving the tube the push it needs to deliver real tube distortion rather than a solid-state imitation1. Guitar Interactive Magazine described the original as award-winning1.
What it does
As a combined overdrive and preamp, the ValveDrive sits in the same family as EBS's other bass drive pedals, such as the EBS Billy Sheehan Signature Drive and EBS The Drive. In a 2022 feature on EBS preamps, the company counted the ValveDrive among its "popular tools for bass"2.
The ValveDrive DI version
The ValveDrive line later grew to include the EBS ValveDrive DI, announced by Guitar Interactive Magazine in 2014 as a variant of the original1. EBS describes it as offering a "vintage or modern tube sound", with an "all musical high-grade tube design, designed for best bass response"3.
One tube-swap option sets the DI apart for players who want a cleaner sound. EBS notes: "An ECC81/12AT7 can be used when you want lower gain and a little more clean range."3
MusicRadar's review of the ValveDrive DI was positive on both sound and practicality4:
"Background noise-free and with true bypass, this is quite simply a great performance-enhancing tool"
Videos
Gilles Tantot
Bass Stuff
PilsnerBass
Sources (4)
- EBS Announces the EBS ValveDrive DI, Guitar Interactive Magazine, 2014-01-30
- Dive into two EBS preamps with Andertons, EBS Professional Bass Equipment, 2022-05-10
- Valve Drive, EBS Professional Bass Equipment (ebssweden.com)
- EBS Valve Drive DI review, MusicRadar, 2015-01-04
