Electro Harmonix East River Drive Overdrive

Electro Harmonix East River Drive Overdrive

All overdrives are not created equal

Sometimes the “hype” or just the brand name is enough to generate interest in a new product especially in the world of guitar effects. Such is the case with the Electro-Harmonix East River Drive Overdrive (advertised as a Tube Screamer clone more or less). The description sounded good, and the reviews, while limited, were pretty good, so I pulled the trigger on one ($58.99). Bad decision. I have never been so disappointed in a new stomp box and especially one from E-H. To be fair there was only one aspect of the thing that turned me off. Unfortunately it’s the first thing you notice when you kick it in gear even before the tonal characteristics. The volume drop. It’s pretty severe. I tried cranking it up and barely got past unity even at full volume. I’ve never had an overdrive that didn’t boost the volume with headroom to spare, although some had MORE on tap than others. The point is a drive with no volume boost is of no use to me. E-H has always put out a good product at an affordable price so maybe it was bound to happen that one would fall short of expectations, I don’t know (NOTE*: FWIW it’s also entirely possible that I got a defective unit). But don’t think that I’m writing E-H off. In fact they have another new release that I am going to take a run at later this week, it’s the new “Soul Food” overdrive. Early reviews compare it to a Klon. Stay tuned for a review on that one.