Zendrive vs. Zvex Box of Rock

I have a friend that has been talking about the Zvex Box of Rock for a bit. I definitely like the Zvex stuff (I have posts on the Fuzz Factory and the Mastotron Fuzz). I’ve also seen the Zendrive listed on a few gear pages. So this was a good opportunity to kill a couple of birds with one stone. Again, I have to thank Gearmandude for putting together a great comparison video on the two pedals and running them through their paces.

I thought these two pedals sounded great, but both shined in some cases, and both fell short in other areas, but it comes down to the application of the pedal. He mentions that he probably won’t be able to use these, since he plays through a gained up amp. This is really important to understand when buying distortion / overdrive pedals. If you’re using the gain stage, you’re already dirtying the signal and saturating the headroom (of tube amps). If you’re playing a clean amp, then this is completely different, you get the distortion voicing and boost. Overall, I like the Zendrive’s tone for rhthym work, but the Box of Rock sounded better for leads in my opinion (I also liked the boost of the Box of Rock).

You can pickup the Zvex Box of Rock at Musician’s Friend for $199.00. You can also find the Zendrive on eBay (courtesy of Pedal Nerd) in the $200 range.