Donner Extreme Driver Pedal Review

I recently purchased a Donner Extreme Driver. I'm a big fan of overdrive pedals compared to distortion because of the note clarity. Often times I find that distortion pedals muddy the sound to much for my taste. I found this on Amazon for the low price of $30. At that price why not give it a try.

Not being a brand that is a go to when it comes to guitars and gear, I was a little skeptical as to how the Extreme would perform. I have to say that this is by far the smallest foot pedal I have ever used. There is quite a bit going on with the Extreme, you have a level adjustment, tone adjustment, and drive adjustment. Pretty standard for an overdrive pedal, then you also have a little switch with 3 settings on it. Tube, ultra, and normal. This switches between tones for classic overdrive, some 80's glam, and just pushing the limits. I did not get to face melting sound with this pedal, so I wouldn't recommend this for someone looking for a heavier tone.

The build of the Donner Extreme seems to be of good quality, at a price of under $100 and to be found for as low as $30. It is actually not a bad deal. The only thing that may keep someone from purchasing, is that there needs to be external power. It operates with a 9v power source, so, keep this in mind if you are looking to purchase one of these.

The amp used for the sound clips was the Peavey VIP3 modeling amp, the amp model was the CL50 clean channel. All tone and gain knobs set to the 6 o'clock position no reverb was added. For each clip I went from the lowest point of drive to the highest, then I went from the lowest point of the tone adjustment to the highest while at full drive. For all the sound clips I left the level adjustment on the pedal at the 6 o'clock position.

This final clip, I go from normal, to ultra, and finally tube, with the tone set to the lowest point.

If you are looking for a pedal that can get you to some heavier tones I would recommend the Gamma Hades, but for some rock and hard rock the Donner Extreme does what it needs to do. I wouldn't hesitate on making this purchase again.

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