Suhr Shiba Drive

The Suhr Shiba Drive is a smooth sounding overdrive pedal that, in Suhr's words, "provides players with a wide variety of fat rhythm and warm lead tones"¹. It is built by Suhr, the California company whose electronics arm is JS Technologies, Inc.². Suhr describes it as working well with a clean amp for warm bluesy rhythm tones, and as a boost that can push an already overdriven amp into creamy, violin-like sustain for solos².

One thing to know up front: the pedal sold today as the Shiba Drive carries the identical circuit and tone of the Shiba Reloaded circuit, and Suhr states the original Shiba circuit is discontinued¹. So a current Shiba Drive and a Shiba Drive Reloaded share the same sound.

What it does: a warm, amp-like overdrive

The Shiba Drive sits in the warm, amp-like corner of overdrive rather than the transparent-boost or heavy-distortion end. Suhr's own description of the Reloaded circuit it now carries says the goal was "a pedal that is more amp-like, has a tighter low-end, focused mids, and features more gain (50% more than our original Shiba)"⁵⁶. The manual positions it as ideal for classic Blues, Jazz, and Rock style tones⁵.

In practice the Drive knob takes you from a bluesy crunch to a smooth, sustaining overdrive², while the Level knob provides enough output to push the front end of a tube amp into natural clipping, or to add sustain to an amp that is already overdriven². Reviewing the Reloaded for MusicRadar, Trevor Curwen found that "the range runs from a clean boost to raunchy driven amp sounds, taking in shades of light crunch along the way"⁷.

Controls

The manual includes sample settings, including a "Bold and Punchy Overdrive" patch of Drive 7, Smooth left, Level 7 and Tone 6².

The Smooth switch

The three-position Smooth switch is the Shiba's main voicing control:

Suhr notes the modes have less effect at lower gain and tone settings². On the Reloaded version the switch was redesigned to be more apparent, giving more flexibility for fine tuning⁵.

Power and connections

The Shiba Drive runs on a 9V battery or a 9Vdc center negative supply with a 2.1mm x 5.5mm barrel connector¹². The operating voltage range is wide, 4V to 18V nominal 9V, with a maximum of 20Vdc, and the pedal draws only 8mA⁴¹. It includes reverse battery protection and over voltage protection⁴. Estimated battery life is 75 to 100 hours of continuous use¹.

The pedal is true bypass via a relay². Suhr says the relay allows the remote switching and battery monitor features, and produces less popping when switching the pedal on and off²⁸. The battery monitor automatically switches the pedal to true bypass if the battery voltage drops too low for the circuitry to operate correctly⁸.

FX Link remote switching

The rear-panel FX Link jack is a 1/8" mono connector with a maximum voltage of 3.3Vdc¹. Shorting the shield to the tip activates the pedal; opening the connection turns it off, and the shield to ring connection senses an external tap switch². An internal three-position switch sets how the pedal behaves at power-up:

History and versions

Suhr shipped its very first Shiba Drive pedal in July 2009⁹. In August 2013 the company announced Reloaded editions of its Riot distortion and Shiba Drive overdrive, modified circuits with more gain, voice switches and new spiral-faced enclosures, the Shiba Reloaded anodized in a deep saturated blue with translucent control knobs⁹. The Reloaded circuit offered 50% more gain than the original Shiba⁶.

Since then the family has branched in several directions:

• Shiba Drive (current): carries the identical circuit and tone of the Shiba Reloaded circuit; the original Shiba circuit is discontinued¹. List price $249.00 as of October 2026¹³.
• Shiba Drive Legacy Edition: the earlier full-size version, listed at $199.00⁸.
• Shiba Drive Reloaded: the 2013 revision, same 2.5" x 4.5" x 1.25" enclosure and 0.75 lb weight, same 4V to 18V operating range and 8mA draw⁵.
• Shiba Drive Reloaded Mini: announced in July 2018 at $165, a downsized version that drops the FX Link connector and battery compartment¹⁰¹¹. Gearnews' reviewer noted "this thing is pretty compact," meaning more pedals fit on a medium-sized board¹¹.
• Shiba Mini: the current compact version, carrying the identical circuit and tone of the Shiba Reloaded Mini circuit, listed at $169.00¹².
• Kiko Loureiro Signature Shiba Drive ReLoaded: a 2016 signature model for the Megadeth guitarist, based on the Shiba Drive with a modified circuit, laser-etched graphics and a $219 price¹³¹⁴.

Kiko Loureiro himself has been a Shiba user: according to Gearnews, he used the original Shiba Drive to boost his amp and to optimize harmonics¹³. MusicRadar reported that his signature version "offers greater clarity and low-end response but retains the amp-like feel of the original, as well as its three-position smooth/high-cut switch"¹⁴.

How the Mini versions differ

The compact versions trim the control set. The Shiba Mini keeps Drive, Level and Tone but reduces the Smooth switch to two positions: left for a pronounced high-end roll off, right to retain all the presence without any roll off¹⁵¹⁶. It runs on 9Vdc center negative power, draws 8mA, and measures 1.82"(W) x 3.85"(D) x 1.89"(H) at 0.365 lb¹²¹⁶. Guitar.com described the downsizing as keeping "the dynamic, tube amp-like overdrive of its bigger sibling"¹⁰, and noted that "the 'Smooth' mini toggle gives you the option to cut your highs either subtly or dramatically"¹⁰.

Warranty

For US customers, JS Technologies warrants the pedal for life from date of purchase against defects in workmanship for the original retail purchaser, with electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, filters, transformers, jacks and pots covered for 5 years¹⁶. The warranty policy applies only to customers in the USA¹⁶.

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