Costalab Natural Drive

Description

COSTALAB NATURAL DRIVE

Overdrive/Distortion

The Costalab Natural Drive is a pedal built on two fundamental cornerstones: dynamics and expressiveness. Its circuit is based on the most classic distortion network with symmetrical clipping. The presence of germanium diodes gives it a very round, vintage-flavored tone full of harmonics.

The guitar's tone is not modified in any way, even with the sustain set to maximum. By using the instrument's volume control or simply playing with very light dynamics, it is possible to return to the non-distorted sound. Conversely, when used with energetic playing, the Natural Drive responds by producing a rich and incisive distorted sound.

The resulting sensation is the same as playing with old single-channel tube amplifiers pushed to maximum volume. Once the right dynamic feel is achieved, the guitarist's expressiveness is absolutely highlighted.

Despite the high level of distortion achievable, the pedal maintains excellent quietness thanks to the circuit improvements and careful component selection.

The tone control is a DTC type, meaning Dynamic Tone Control. In practice, it interacts with the gain control: when high levels of distortion are used, the sound becomes rich and open, so the tone must be adjusted accordingly; conversely, with low gain, the sound is more closed and less harmonic, and opening the tone compensates for this entirely natural characteristic.

The CostaLab Natural Drive is equipped with a "true bypass" mechanical switch system and features an anti-pop system.

It is powered by 9-volt DC and connects via the classic 2.1 mm DC connector with center negative. Current consumption is less than 20 mA. The unit can also operate with a 9-volt battery. In this case, the circuit is activated by inserting the input jack.

To prolong battery life, it is advisable to remove the input jack from the socket when not in use. It is still possible to keep the battery inside the pedal even when it is powered via the DC socket, because the external power system is capable of automatically excluding it.

The pedal measures 118x93.4x34mm excluding knobs and jacks.