Harley Benton Ultimate Drive 5-stars Reviews

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9 years ago

Best budget OCD going

This is an inexpensive 'interpretation' of an OCD pedal, a rather popular overdrive/distortion pedal which is about 4 times the price of this.

Firstly why are OCD pedals so popular?

Well because it's a very versatile pedal that can do a (fairly) clean boost or can reach a great Hard Rock/Metal drive.

In front of a good tube amp you can use it like a souped up tubescreamer (which is a good analogy for the pedal as a whole) to push the tubes into overdrive.

It's fairly transparent (in that no matter how much it's distorting you can still her the notes and chords without it turning to mush).

Also when set right it can be very touch sensitive (especially for bass) in that when you play gently it'll stay clean but hit harder and it'll overdrive.

Another added bonus it that it doesn't really lose any bass frequencies when you use it on bass.

Secondly how does it directly compare to an OCD?

The short answer is very well indeed. It managed to capture all the essential OCD characteristics mentioned above.

No, you are not going to get the same sound from an OCD and the Ultimate Drive with all controls set to 12 o'clock, you will need to tweak the Ultimate Drive's knob a little to get the same tone and on the whole I'd say the Ultimate Drive is a little darker sounding (on both low and high settings).

The artwork on the Ultimate Drive will also divide people, I don't mind it but I can see why many wouldn't be able to get past that. It does feel like a colossal misstep putting such dividing graphics on this pedal.

In summary

It's a great OCD clone for a fraction of the price, providing that you can live with the artwork.

10 years ago

Harley Benton Ultimate Drive

Since this is my first trip to electric guitar/effect world, take my comments as from a newbie, therefore simple but without any past preferences and comparisons.

This effect is very clear and sharp. I could not find any setting in which it would not perform well. It offers variety of possibilities and with right pickup and tone settings on guitar, playing makes me happy. I also need to mention that I'm progressively switching from playing acoustic guitar to electric so sometimes (with this effect) I amaze myself... true rock star for a moment or two!

It is a lovely product. I somehow didn't trust entirely Harley Benton, but now this is changed completely. HB presents to me great price/quality ratio. Going to more esteemed brands would probably mean x2 the money for the same performance or put it otherwise, for the same money you cannot find this much sound and joy.

I'm already looking into other HB effects. It just a question of when and which one.

10 years ago

A cheap yet very good overdrive pedal

I use this unit mainly with a Telecaster replica (Harley Benton) and sometimes with a Les Paul copy and it has a very pleasing sound with the tele. The most important characteristis feature of this pedal for me is that it is very sensitive to the dynamics of my playing, which means that I can achieve quite a soft sound if I play lightly, even if the gain knob is turned up fairly high. This gives me a very flexible sound. On the other hand, when I plug my LP in, and turn up the gain, I can produce a surprisingly heavy sound.

The pedal seems as a very well built unit which will last for a long time.

The gain and the tone knobs give plenty of varieties, the high/low switch has a very subtle effect, thou.

I am very happy that I chose this overdrive pedal, as it perfectly suits my needs. I play various styles from country and rockabilly to stoner rock and even metal, and I can use this pedal in every genre. Great value!

10 years ago

Fantastic

Such a good overdrive sound, for this price. It is amazing, i think. I like it better than the overdrive on my amp (Vox 15 watt nighttrain) sometimes, so i use this as my main overdrive 'channel' now. The sound is ver smooth and bassy, maybe too bass heavy for some, but using the (sensitive!) treble control knob on the pedal you can still cut through the band mix. It does add compression and becomes more compressed with more drive dialed in.

I use this pedal with a Telecaster and single coils, and put a fuzz after it for solos. The only thing i do not like about it is the artwork, but that's subjective.

Have a nice day

10 years ago

Waaah!! won't get rid of this so quickly!!

This is by far the best overdrive pedal i've got for this price range! It'll give your guitar or bass that demon sound you're looking for! get it!

10 years ago

Harley Benton Ultimate Pedal

Great pedal, unbeatable value for money.

10 years ago

Great for the price, does exactly what it says on the box!

I've been using this to put a little oomph into my bass sound! So, I was pleasantly surprised that the pedal has such great drive and tone for the price! If you're looking for a great distortion pedal for guitar or bass then grab this bargain!

I've been using this pedal at gigs as well and been getting great compliments of the bass sound! This is my secret weapon! It's great for people wanting that drive for heavier music or make their sound that little bit more fierce.

It's a sturdy make, although the 9v battery fits a bit too snug for my liking but I power it through a 9v plug so it doesn't affect me!

Great pedal that doesn't break the bank! Definitely worth checking out!

11 years ago

Excellent pedal easily comparable to its much more expensive peers

The Ultimate Drive can very much be thought of in the same league as the Fulltone OCD rather than a 'mid heavy' drive such as a Tubescreamer. It's certainly much more transparent than a TS type pedal allowing more low end through compared to the rather narrowly filtered mid freq response of a TS.

Where this pedal really excels is, possibly surprisingly, low gain sounds - another feature shared with the Fulltone OCD - and this is what I primarily use this for. My Fender Thinline into a vintage Fender amp via this pedal yields a wonderful break up which is easily controllable with the guitars controls.

The build quality of the unit is incredibly high on the whole and the switch feels like it will take many years of hard gigging! A pleasant surprise, especially if you are keen on pedal mods, is the use of through board components (i.e. not surface mount) which is very unusual for pedals in this price bracket. Reassuringly this also makes any potential repairs much easier although I can't really see much that can go wrong.

The only real negative to this pedal, in my eyes at least, is the artwork but this is entirely subjective!

If you're in the market for a reasonably transparent, non-TS style, drive then I would strongly suggest you try one of these out before dropping more money on a more expensive option.

12 years ago

I absolutely love it. Out of all the Harley Benton pedals I have (vintage OD, American Sound, Digital Delay), this one crazy monster would be my favorite. It is very versatile. I can get a really thick distortion sound out of this. I also tried stacking it up with Vintage Overdrive pedal to boost its tone and it worked nicely. Definitely recommending it.

12 years ago

Beats many more expensive pedals for tone and durability

Sounds - There are two different ways of using this pedal - as a stand-alone dirt pedal or into an already driven valve amp to push it over the edge. It works really well for both applications. I prefer it pushing a valve amp and it sounds great into the top boost channel of my AC30. The tone control occupies a sensible range. The high/low toggle switch doesn't have a huge effect when practicing, but it is helpful when playing with a full band to help you ping out or sit back in the mix. The drive sound is generally a smooth classic rock OD, but can sound more modern at higher settings, especially with the EQ tweaked.

Looks - I'm not really sure about the tribal devil type character on the lid! He suggests that the pedal is intended for Metal, but this isn't really a high-gain, scooped type distortion at all - more of a classic rock overdrive. I'd prefer the pedal left plain. However, the white knobs are really clear against the black, so you can see where you are on stage.

Durability - I've not had the pedal long, but I can't see it coming to any harm - it seems incredibly sturdy!

12 years ago

Rock, .... Hard !

The Harley Benton UD is IMHO a mixture between Overdrive and Distortion.

Sizewise quite similar to the Boss pedals, it has lots of gain on tap for you to rock out. But it is also very good with the "just on the edge of breakup" thing.

Where the UD truly shines, is in it's dynamics. Just like the Fulltone OCD pedal, with which it can't deny a certain genetic heritage soundwise as well.

And finally a little switch (High/Low) gives you additional tonal choices.

For me this pedal works best like this:

- look for the sweet spot with the Gain (in my case around 10:30 o clock)

- and do the rest with your guitars Volume pot

If you get it just right, you can switch between clean and distorted with just the guitar's Volume pot. Which is an incredible thing in it's own, and even more expensive pedals don't always fulfill this promise.

What I should mention on the con side is the fact that the range of the Gain Pot isn't that great. Which means that the usable range is from 7-12 o clock. Higher than 12 changes the tone not that much more.

But given the pricetag of this pedal, I can gladly overlook so small a fault.

12 years ago

Versatile pedal for mid gain and more

While I was searching for a more aggressive, modern distortion pedal to accompany my Digitech Bad Monkey, I ordered the Harley Benton Ultimate Drive and the Crunch Distortion. After a couple days of comparing the two Harley Benton pedals to each other, I decided to go with the Ultimate Drive, as it seemed to offer a wider variety of tones, due to the high/low switch. Furthermore, the tone knob of the Ultimate Drive covers a pretty wide range from darker, more vintage-y sounds to bright, aggressive sounds that have a british bite to it. With a humbucker equipped guitar, I usually don't set the gain higher than 12 o'clock, as the pedal is quite overgained in my opinion.

12 years ago

Awesome drive!

Buy buy buy! :)

This pedal is just way to cheap! Kind of a mix between overdrive and distortion ala jtm-45! Not as good as a boutique drive but definitely worth checking it out!

13 years ago