The SIB Varidrive is an overdrive pedal from SIB, designed by Rick Hamel as one of a trio of overdrive pedals that also included the SIB Fatdrive and the Echodrive. Vintage Guitar magazine, reviewing the line in August 2003, classified the Varidrive as an overdrive/multi-function pedal, and noted that inside each unit is a 12AX7 tube, a cleanly wired PC board, and a power transformer1.
What it does
The Varidrive is a tube-driven overdrive intended to push an amp into saturation. Vintage Guitar's reviewer found it had "an ample amount of available gain with all three guitars, especially with the gain switch on," adding that it could be used as a stand-alone distortion pedal1. That puts it at the hotter end of the drive range, closer in character to pedals covered under Distortion Pedals than to a clean boost, though the reviewer's verdict on the top of its range was mixed: "it did get a little buzzy when we cranked the gain knob"1.
The same review covered the whole three-pedal line, and the reviewer noted that using the Echodrive and Fatdrive together "pumped noticeable life into both amps," a picture of how SIB intended the pedals to work alongside each other1.
Build and power
The three pedals share a heavy-duty 7" x 4.5" x 2.5" steel chassis, which the reviewer described with the observation that the operative word was heavy1. Power comes from detachable IBM-style power cords running on AC, with no batteries or wall wart adapters; the reviewer put it as "Just good ol' AC"1. That is worth knowing before adding one to a board: unlike most compact overdrives, the Varidrive does not run from a battery or a standard pedalboard power supply.
The Varidrive runs on AC through its own detachable power cord rather than a battery or a standard pedalboard supply, so plan its place on a board accordingly1.
Videos
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MrRec65
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Sources (1)
- SIB Echodrive, Varidrive, Fatdrive, Vintage Guitar magazine, 2005-04-27
