Pettydrive 3

[László]

I had a Pettydrive 2 that's on my son's board and he tours with it. I have the Pettyjohn Chime, Lift, EQ and Edge (separate pedals) on my board. I use them often, and they're the only pedals I've ever really liked with my Mesa amps as well as my PRS amps. I find the PJ pedals to be the most transparent and amp-like that I've ever used.

The Pettydrive 3 is different from the earlier model, has extra stuff, and is more interesting. As with the other Pettyjohn pedals, the internal components are studio grade stuff, and unbelievable quality if you look inside one (Steven Pettyjohn is also a pro mastering engineer).

What separates it from the PD2 is that it now includes the Lift (a superb always-on buffer with a switchable and adjustable boost preamp and EQ); the Iron, now with an inductor mid EQ; and the Gold (a Marshall sound or switchable to a Klon sound). The overdrives can run in parallel instead of stacked, and the clean signal from the lift can be blended in.

It still has a send and return for inserting an external pedal into the chain, or for bypassing the Lift if for some reason you don't want the buffer, although I use my Lift pedal's buffer daily and it's the most beautiful sounding buffered preamp I've ever owned, so I don't know why someone wouldn't keep it in the chain!

The price is not for the faint of heart, but the new functions are pretty unusual.

As usual with Pettyjohn's stuff, there are parts upgrades available - I have the upgrades in two of my PJ pedals and they are worth it; one of the new upgrades for this pedal is a Cinemag transformer. The PD3 also has a direct out for use as a DI. It's available with black knobs if you don't like the white ones.

I don't know whether I'm tempted or not, since I have all the separate pedals except the Gold, and could easily add that to my board, but the new functions are intriguing. Nonetheless it's worth checking out the video.

 

[Simon Says]

Darn, did you type it all from the hospital bed?

 

[László]

Darn, did you type it all from the hospital bed?

Nope. I got back home this afternoon! I feel great, too (a bit tired, of course).

 

[Simon Says]

Nope. I got back home this afternoon! I feel great, too (a bit tired, of course).

Well, we love you. And we love Pretty John pedals

 

[dmatthews]

Nope. I got back home this afternoon! I feel great, too (a bit tired, of course).

F the pedal, just glad you're safe home.
Well... maybe not F the pedal, it sounds pretty fine...

 

[László]

F the pedal, just glad you're safe home.
Well... maybe not F the pedal, it sounds pretty fine...

It's sure great to be home!

Regardless, only Pindick The Bug F#cker could F a pedal.

Does sound good, right?

 

[Alnus Rubra]

It's sure great to be home!

Regardless, only Pindick The Bug F#cker could F a pedal.

Does sound good, right?

Or Jack Plug.

 

[Bogner]

Nice Pedal, I Say Get It. You Only Live Once And A Backup Or Addition To What You Have May Come In Handy For Quick Switching Of Sounds Since A Lot Of What You Have In Other Pedals Is All In This One. Just A Thought...

 

[gush]

First.....I didn't know you were in the hospital???? Hope you're ok?

I have a petty John pedal. V2 i think? Heck I can't remember???

I didn't care for it but then I typically do not care for OD pedals. I should dig it out and try it on my hdrx20.

Might be a hit?? Who knows?

 

[László]

First.....I didn't know you were in the hospital???? Hope you're ok?

I have a petty John pedal. V2 i think? Heck I can't remember???

I didn't care for it but then I typically do not care for OD pedals. I should dig it out and try it on my hdrx20.

Might be a hit?? Who knows?

Yup, the procedure went well, and I'm fine. A little tired.

With the pedal, give it a shot. You never know til you try.

I should mention, I don't use OD pedals the way most folks do, and it works the same for me with the Pettyjohn pedals.

I set them up for very low gain, and use them as tone colors, with a very slight output boost, as opposed to getting my distortion from them.

I guess you could say I use them the way lots of players use a Klon - as a colored boost. They add a tiny amount of grit, and a tiny boost the way I dial them in, but add a lot of color. Heck, all of my amps have plenty of gain so I don't need pedals for that.

I like the PJ pedals a lot. They're real deal studio tools. I just use 'em to make the audio a little bit more interesting.

Nice Pedal, I Say Get It. You Only Live Once And A Backup Or Addition To What You Have May Come In Handy For Quick Switching Of Sounds Since A Lot Of What You Have In Other Pedals Is All In This One. Just A Thought...

I plan on contacting Pettyjohn when things settle down from my recent hospital round-trip. I want to talk about the various optional extras and see what Steven recommends.

You're right, it'd be nice to have one of these -- one pedal would take the place of three, plus the added features are pretty freaking cool, especially the parallel processing.

I'm sure I'd also want to order a few options, because I bought the op-amp and diode upgrades for my Chime, Lift and Edge pedals, and like what those upgrades do a lot. I'd want the PD3s to be every bit as sweet sounding.

It's a very expensive pedal, and more so with the upgrades I have in mind, but great tone is often expensive, and a player's gotta do what a player's gotta do.

I realize I'm preaching to the choir here!

 

[WingerRules]

First.....I didn't know you were in the hospital???? Hope you're ok?

What the heck???

 

[aamefford]

Regarding Pindick, I'd always heard the same thing but as Needledick. Pins and needles I guess. Regarding the pedal - looks awesome, if that's it in the video, it sounds great, but F'n-A that's an F-load of knobs. A veritable cornucopia of confoundment. $66.47 per knob if you do the Mojo upgrades. I'm with the rest of the enablers, you should get one.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Regarding Pindick, I'd always heard the same thing but as Needledick. Pins and needles I guess. Regarding the pedal - looks awesome, if that's it in the video, it sounds great, but F'n-A that's an F-load of knobs. A veritable cornucopia of confoundment. $66.47 per knob if you do the Mojo upgrades. I'm with the rest of the enablers, you should get one.

What about Little Richard?

 

[László]

What the heck???

I know, right?

My ridiculous excuse for a cardiovascular system likes to have stuff break down over holiday weekends!

But don't think for one moment that I haven't registered a complaint with The Powers That Be!

"What was the result?"

"They said it's this, or being handed an accordion in hell."

"What was your reply?"

"I said if it was a piano I'd be a lot more tempted."

"It's always a good idea to negotiate."

 

[László]

Regarding the pedal - looks awesome, if that's it in the video, it sounds great, but F'n-A that's an F-load of knobs. A veritable cornucopia of confoundment.

It's really not much different than having a few pedals lined up on a board next to each other; this one's just got the pedals in one box. I'm used to the way Pettyjohn does things, so it's second nature.

$66.47 per knob if you do the Mojo upgrades.

One wonders if all the knobs are the same price, though. The top row knobs are bigger...

"Nothing like bigger knobs, eh, Laz?"

"Beats me. I'm a leg man.'

I'm with the rest of the enablers, you should get one.

I probably will. The timing depends on a few things relative to other projects.

 

[WingerRules]

My ridiculous excuse for a cardiovascular system likes to have stuff break down over holiday weekends!

Wow, sorry to hear this! Hope you're OK.

 

[Bogner]

I plan on contacting Pettyjohn when things settle down from my recent hospital round-trip. I want to talk about the various optional extras and see what Steven recommends.

You're right, it'd be nice to have one of these -- one pedal would take the place of three, plus the added features are pretty freaking cool, especially the parallel processing.

I'm sure I'd also want to order a few options, because I bought the op-amp and diode upgrades for my Chime, Lift and Edge pedals, and like what those upgrades do a lot. I'd want the PD3s to be every bit as sweet sounding.

It's a very expensive pedal, and more so with the upgrades I have in mind, but great tone is often expensive, and a player's gotta do what a player's gotta do.

I realize I'm preaching to the choir here!

The Other Thing I Was Initially Thinking In My Comment Was You Could Set The New Pedal Up Differently From The Existing Pedals, Or Vice Versa And Have Other Core Tones You Could Bounce Back And Forth With So You Hav More Overall Sonic Options At The Ready For Your Work Flow. Something Like That Could Come In Real Handy And Save Time As Well. I Could See Many Benefits In A Few Different Directions...All Good Ones Too, Aside From The Initial Cash Outlay. Just A Thought.

 

[László]

Wow, sorry to hear this! Hope you're OK.

Thanks! I feel really good! The only hard thing was waiting from Thursday night until Monday for the docs to get back from their thanksgiving breaks to the cath lab so they could pull out the ol' Roto-Rooter. They clean ya out, and, boom! You're good to go!

The only drawback is I can't indulge my usual "Hey I've got an idea, let's move all the amps and cabinets around!" thing, because I'm not allowed to lift anything over ten pounds for a while.

 

[László]

The Other Thing I Was Initially Thinking In My Comment Was You Could Set The New Pedal Up Differently From The Existing Pedals, Or Vice Versa And Have Other Core Tones You Could Bounce Back And Forth With So You Hav More Overall Sonice Options At The Ready For Your Work Flow. Something Like That Could Come In Real Handy And Save Time As Well. I Could See Many Benefits In A Few Different Directions...All Good Ones Too, Aside From The Initial Cash Outlay. Just A Thought.

You are right, sir!

I've been thinking it'd be nice to set up a second, smaller board as well. I was thinking I could run them side by side, in series.

 

[Prina]

"Nothing like bigger knobs, eh, Laz?"

"Beats me. I'm a leg man.'

"More than a mouthful is wasted" - Frank Zappa