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The Oxford Drive replicates a certain shred-tastic high-gain distortion pedal from the 1990s, but with more gain, more volume, bonus clipping options, an extra voicing, flexible soft-touch true bypass, and top-mount jacks in a small 1590B enclosure. The current pedal version also has the exact same “soft touch” knobs as can be found on a variety of vintage gear from the UK.
The Oxford Drive was first released in late-2019, but an updated “V2” was released in October 2021. The new version added flexible soft-touch bypass and a new voice switch. We also totally redesigned the circuit board for lower noise, and we upgraded to high quality C0G capacitors, which will prevent the occasional microphonic issues that some Oxford Drive V1 pedals experienced. While all of those improvements have increased the price of the pedal a bit, we think they’re well worth it to create what we consider the perfect version of this pedal
There are three clipping modes: silicone, LED, and asymmetrical. The silicone mode is the “stock” setting. The LED mode is inspired by the LED-clipping found on Guv'nor and Drivemaster pedals, both of which have circuitry related to the Shredmaster. LED clipping has a more “open” sound due to a higher clipping threshold, and it’s well-suited to rhythm playing. The asymmetrical mode is an unusual silicone/LED hybrid, which has plenty of dynamic range while still providing the warm, fat sound associated with asymmetrical clipping.
The voice switch lets you choose between two EQ responses for the pedal, adding a new palette of tones when combined with the powerful EQ. The ‘91 voicing is identical to past versions of the Oxford Drive, emulating the Shred-tastic distortion from 1991. The ’88 is a brighter voicing, based on a Gubernatorial distortion from 1988. The ’88 voicing adjusts the input filter in addition to the output filter, mitigating the harsh upper-mids found on pedals with a simple bright-switch mod. The result is a crisp tone, perfect for rhythm playing.
