Donner: Blues Drive - Demo

If the current price that's being asked for this pedal prevails, then there are likely to be a lot happy guitarists about the place. The Blues Drive is a small, user-friendly and well built pedal from China, with no compromises in the sound department. 2 modes - Warm and Hot - give you a choice of tone foundations and there is enough Gain, Tone and Volume on tap to make the Blues Drive a viable choice for most low to medium gain overdrive needs. And it's a bargain!

Guitars: Fender/Roland GC-1 Strat and Gibson SG Std. CS '61 Reissue. Both guitars are stock.
Amp: Fender Super-Sonic 22 Ltd (V30)
Cables : Providence
Mic : Shure SM57 (amp) Rode NT2000 (us)
Camera : Canon 60D (us) and Sony HDR CX150 (handheld)
Soundcard : AVID Mbox Pro 3
Computer : Apple iMac 27" i7 3.4 GHz 16 GB RAM
Software : Pro Tools 10 LE, Waves CLA Guitars (slight comp over input track), Waves L3-16 Limiter (to keep levels in check at output), Apple Final Cut Pro X (video editing and Youtube compression).

[TheKINGisComing]

Excellent demo. I'm so tired of videos where guys are talking about the gear endlessly without really letting me hear it, or playing it without giving any explanation as to what they're doing to the controls as they play. This is the perfect balance. Thanks.

[patricksclarke]

Watching this in 2019 and they are still selling for a great price. Testament to their sound. Nice job! You sold me on it.

[golfhound]

Brett Kingman, VERY GOOD DEMO! Finally, someone who also mentions the amp he uses for the demo. You did such a fine job using both a single coil and humbucker. I am truly impressed ! I am going to check out more of your videos. BIG THUMBS UP!

[markleyva]

I have this pedal and it works great. The way to use it is not to punch it on over a clean tone like a distortion pedal.
I run it always on, with the gain cranked, level at 9 o’clock, tone at 4 o’clock, hot setting.
That into a cleanish amp is a great tone. A Tele into that is clean and glassy at low guitar volume, and absolutely blazing at higher volume.

[DavidShepard-kesu]

Great review. Thank you! I just bought one based on this and added it to the smallest pedal board I've ever built. My regular board is suitcase sized, this new alternative - for smaller gigging spaces - is the size of a shoebox. This is a sweet pedal, and allows me to stack drives even on a tiny form factor board.

[RobCmusic]

I have one of these. It's a killer pedal. It's a tubescreamer clone (actually the same as the Mooer Green Mile), not a Blues Driver clone as many believe.
Just like a Tubescreamer, this pedal works best in front of an amp that's already crunchy, gain turned down and level turned right up.
Put it in front of a cranked EP booster set as above with the switch set to "Hot" and you've got a great, fat tone that's like a vintage amp pushed to it's limit and into the realms of fuzz.

[jimharley]

Best review on YouTube for this pedal!!!
I bought it After watched this video.
Thanks

[larryrogalski]

Just got mine last night! Sounds amazing!! I can’t wait to explore it!!

[nicholasberndt]

Just a quick FYI: Bought one, and opened it up, took a look inside. I uses small signal diodes for the clipping, not LEDs. It's mostly a Tube Screamer clone.

[jimmyst-jean]

Professional review and great playing mate! Probably the best review I've seen for this pedal! Love the fact that you are trying 2 types of guitars thru it!

[BruceLyeg]

Love all these people criticizing the sound of the pedal while listening to it on their computer lol

[twzstudio]

The "Donner" line of pedals are very inexpensive, you can get four of them for the price of the average modestly priced pedal.  Sound great considering the price, and maybe not considering it.  Nice Demo!

[FL-BEACH-MAN]

Nice demo vid - the pedal likes the SG it compliments buckers

[schmeltzys]

Having tried the gamut of pedals over the years, I'm quite happy to find a company that's doing it right. Okay, you're not toting the Nike sneakers here, with the brand image and elite players and magazine reviews singing their praises. But, they don't care. I use this pedal in my chain and it's a permanent addition. Is it an OCD, Boss bd-2 or Ibanez tube screamer...? NO! In my opinion, it doesn't seem to try to be. It has a distinct voicing of it's own and it has its own appeal. Different, not flashy, but with plenty of juice and tonal flexibility. Bias aside. With a good guitar, good pickups and a decent amp (not to mention a good player). This pedal is a great bang for your buck and less than a quarter of the price of many boutique pedals out there.

[kantordb]

This tone reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Nice going there!

[greatvanzini]

I would give it a higher thumbs up than my old Blues Drivers. Love the price.

[andyjordanmusic]

Great demo as always... thank you...! I'm going to have to get one...! 👍

[mattgilbert]

Wow. That's no joke. Great 'screamer style pedal. Nice one, Burgs!

[nathanadnitt]

Just a pre warning this is more of a tube screamer and wont be the same through a solid state amp I know as I own one it is very good for going into a solo though on the overdrive channel gives alot of sustain and feedback sometimes to much tho lol I like the pedal

[KozmykJ]

I have this and the Boss BD-2. I prefer the Donner, especially with the Keeley Mod type Hot Mode.
I may move the Boss on or maybe mod it myself with one of the different mod options out there these days.
Oh and for those who don't like buffers the Donner isn't buffered. The BD-2 is.