DigiTech Tone Driver

Walks Backward

Walks Backward

Well-Known Member
Now here's one of those X Series pedals from DigiTech with that "Morph" control on it. A few years ago I bought a very cheap, used, and horribly abused Tone Driver. Rebuilt what I could and it lasted about a year and then everything started to fry. Not from design flaw but it succumbed to unspeakable damage by the idiot that owned it before. He trashed it. But before it died that one O.D. pedal really had wonderful sound and versatile (is that spelled right? ) range and depth. From a TS9'ish thru a DoD 250-like grind into a smooth or gritty lower end RAT-like growl. Though not a full out distortion pedal (and it's labled as an O.D. anyway) it could get some decent dirt. But what I enjoyed the most was the "in between" drive from the 2nd and 3rd morphed pedal simulation with the tone cut a bit and a good drive dialed in. A most divine singing violin tone that went on for days it seamed. With the amp simulator output for direct recording it was remarkably good right into tape. Yes, I said tape. But as I said the badly scarred and damaged Tone Driver bled to death and was beyond repair. Besides, others were being sold new and I'd buy one someday.

A couple years passed and I'm told DigiTech discontinued the Tone Driver. Crap.... But NOS exists yes? And I'm patient really. And as I'm returning to playing after better than a year's layoff I deserve some treats. Asimilations really. A new amp. Done. A Strat (Starcaster bought cheap). Done. A new OD pedal. Done. Yeah, bid on a NIB Tone Driver and got it for an embarrassing low bid. But it's gonna be here soon. Then I'll have a real pedal on the floor again. (I have about a dozen but they're boxed up and I cannot find em! Stupid huh?) So I'm patient. I can wait for the "T.D." And soon I'll have that smooth singing OD again to soothe my wounded ears. :)

And who knows? Maybe I'll find that box of pedals if I ever decide to get up off my butt and clean house!;)
 
Taking over a year off from all things guitar one misses much. I just found out that not just the ToneDriver was discontinued but the Bad Monkey and dozens of other pedals!:eek:
DigiTech, what did you do?!!!:confused2: You're killing me here. Half my pedals are DigiTech and not one is of current mfg...
Yup. Take a year off and the world ain't the same anymore. I'm too old for this poop.:coffee:
 
my favorite dirt pedal is a Digitech Bad Monkey i got used for 18$ at Guitar Center.i got spendier ones to.i looked up your Digitech Tone Driver there Wade and looks like a nice pedal.theres still NIB ones can be had for 69$ to 79$
 
Johnny, the one I got on the way was $36 NIB. :celebrate2:

And if I ever find that box of pedals, there's a Bad Monkey, DF-7 Distortion Factory, CH-7 Chorus Factory, and a bunch more that I can't even remember. Guess my memory's slipping. But again there's a bunch of pedals in there too. I do remember having a Carbon Copy analog delay in there too! Man, I gotta find that box! Gonna be raining like crazy tomorrow. I'll tear into that little room with boxes in it. Bet its there somewhere. :unsure:
 
thats a good price,i just looked on ebay and the first few mainly to see what they looked like.
 
Hokey Smoke Bullwinkle! I found the box full of pedals, cables, AC adapter with daisy chain connections! This is like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one. :D
I found pedals I didn't know I had. And I have to confess, the last little stroke that clobbered my right side also short circuited some memory. :(There was a note attached to the RAT telling me to get Sérgio's correct mailing address. That jogged a piece loose in my noggin as I remember now that I was going to send him the RAT! Crap!:mad: Sorry Serg, PM on the way for address info...;)

And I now gotta go play with my newly discovered toys I forgot I had. .... Oh my.:dance:
 
Johnny, I'm embarased to say that I was going to send him the RAT well over a year ago. Had it boxed up and all. I was unsure of the address I had and was going to get confirmation I think. Memory's a little fuzzy. Then I had that stroke and besides clobbering my right side for a long time, I believe it fried some memory in my old mellon! When I saw the box with the note on it, it all came back to me. Old age, strokes, bum ticker, diabetes, and other stupid ailments.... Whoever said "70 is the new 50" needs his ass kicked! And I'll kick it if you can point the right guy out and have an O2 bottle ready for me afterwards. I get winded easily these days! HA!:coffee:
 
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Strokes and the likes are no laughin matter so good ya pulled through.im sure Sergio understands :)
 
Well the brand new Tone Driver is an abort. Damn thing's defective. Switch is crap. Just my luck....:mad:
Waiting for a reply by the seller. They do have a money back return policy, but I gotta eat the return cost. Oh well. Guess I was never meant to have this pedal.

Just got a return msg from the seller. They'll refund no issues.

At least I got my other pedals located and the Bad Monkey and the DF-7 Distortion Factory are good to go!
 
That sucks Wade.you gonna try to get another one ? i got a few spendy dirt pedals but this one is in the line up 90% of the time.20$ used at Guitar Center.best thing i ever bought there lol.20170217_062146.jpg
 
I hear ya guys. The Bad Monkey is superb! My neighbor once borrowed mine for what was to be a few days to "evaluate" it and 6 months later I was forced to say "Either buy me another one or give mine back. I got a hole in my sound." Good pedal.

In retrospect, though the tones are remarkable I've lost all faith in the model. The failure must be in a design flaw or components failure. The exact issue that crippled the old battered model is the very same issue with the new one. I no longer trust this unit and I see no need for another now at this point as "I've lived without one this long". I've got my DF-7 and Bad Monkey, and of course two nice amps with good OD channels too. It's ok.

Sometimes you eat the bear. And sometimes the bear eats you.
 
Spank those Bad Monkeys!!
Err, glad you like your overdrive pedals, fellas.

@walksbackwards - hope your health issues stay stable, enjoy your new old new toys.
 
Well I'm nearly embarrassed to say, but I neglected to test this new unit out with external power from a 1Spot. Relying upon pure DC battery alone wasn't providing enough voltage to successfully operate the unit. Testing my 9VDC batteries I found the two I had (older) produced 8.2vDC and failed to give enough voltage. The 1Spot instantly had it going as it should. So it's staying. ...

Combined with the fabled Bad Monkey, the Tone Driver covered a multitude of OD stuff. Combine those two with the amp's OD channel and it crunch-o-matic!

But I'll tell ya, I should've caught that voltage drop/function issue on the spot. I do believe I'm slipping. :coffee:
But I'm glad the TD is up and smokin!:celebrate2:
 
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