XAct Tone Solutions Precision Multi-Drive

The XAct Tone Solutions Precision Multi-Drive is an overdrive pedal, a variant of the company's Precision Overdrive that adds switches for more flexibility and control. XAct Tone Solutions describes it as taking "classic overdrive tones to the next level," giving players the means to dial in an exact sound with added controls to vary the tonal response and gain structure of the overdrive¹. It belongs to the wider family of overdrive pedals, and players comparing it with the classic mid-humped designs can see how those differ in the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison.

What it does

The pedal is designed to respond like a tube amplifier, with a wider gain range that runs from a nice clean boost to higher gain². XAct Tone Solutions' own primer says it is "Designed to react and feel like a real tube amp," reacting to your guitar's volume knob by going from clean to driven as you roll it down⁴. That volume-knob response is the classic overdrive behavior players look for when a pedal sits at the front of an amp set just on the edge of breakup.

The three main knobs are Volume, Gain and Color². Around them, the two toggle switches are what set this pedal apart from the standard Precision Overdrive. The maker describes them as controlling whether the pedal has a traditional mid-range emphasis, is softer with a bit more top end, or is bold and fat, producing tones more like the west coast overdrive style¹³.

The switches

The two toggles work in three positions each, and the maker and the Pedal of the Day review name the settings in slightly different terms²³¹:

The review describes the same toggles as one for "bite/edge/punch" and one for "slim/fat/fatter"². On the bite side, the reviewer notes that "The 'Bite' setting is similar to the familiar Screamer sounds," which places one end of the switch range in territory familiar to anyone who has played a Tube Screamer-style pedal².

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day reviewed the pedal in February 2015. The reviewer's verdict on the overall sound: "I tend to use this as a bit higher gain and it stacks really well with other pedals. The overdrive is smooth and rich."²

That stacking comment matters in practice: an overdrive that behaves well when chained into another gain stage, or into a boost pedal, gives a player more options on a board than one that only works alone. The reviewer's own use, running it as a higher-gain stage and stacking it, suggests the wider gain range is usable across the span rather than only at one end².

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