In the weird world of overdrive pedals, the terms “classic” and “vintage” are used pretty loosely. What is classic overdrive, anyway—the sound of an ’80s Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer?
In the weird world of overdrive pedals, the terms “classic” and “vintage” are used pretty loosely. What is classic overdrive, anyway—the sound of an ’80s Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer? A ’50s amp whose power tubes are clipping? Opinions no doubt vary quite widely. But the beauty of the Providence Silky Drive is not which classic overdrive flavor it nails, but that it sounds good enough to make the argument irrelevant.
No Need to Think
The Silky Drive’s design is ideal
for guitarists who would rather
play than twiddle knobs. It
won’t take up much space on
your pedalboard, and it’s easy to
use. The volume, drive, and tone
knobs are familiar to anyone
who’s used, say, a Tube Screamer,
but there’s also a gain boost button
for piling on some dirt.
The Silky Drive features what Providence calls a Vitalized Noiseless Switching Circuit designed to minimize noise when switching the effect on or off. Further, a doublecontact grounding circuit aims to improve sound quality and tone integrity.
Brighter Days
A relatively quiet pedal when
engaged, the Silky Drive has
a tonal range that is nothing
short of astounding. Overdrive
pedals come in multitudinous
shades of light, dark, warm,
and nasty, and I couldn’t have
gotten a starker reminder of
this fact than when I switched
out a trusted and familiar modded
Tube Screamer to make
room for the Silky Drive on my
pedalboard. I had been keen to
explore brighter lead tones with
an assortment of vintage Fender
blackface combos, and the Silky
Drive really let the sunshine
in. This pedal is very much at
home on the brighter side of
the tone spectrum.
It doesn’t take much tweaking to hear how the Silky Drive can lend airiness and a nice, controlled high end that you can dial to various shades. With the tone knob at 12 o’clock and drive at 1 o’clock, you get a very smooth, harmonic overdrive with superb articulation and high-end warmth. A “super strat” with a humbucker and single-coil generated glowing, organic crunch regardless of pickup type. Engaging the boost yielded a tad more oomph and ample sustain, though a little extra boost would be nice for heavier settings and really slicing through a dense mix. The tone knob’s sweep is both even and expansive, offering lots of usable variations—from deep, “woman” tone to icy trebles.
Ratings
Pros:
Easy to dial in tones. Low noise. Quality
craftsmanship. Sounds awesome.
Cons:
Gain boost could offer a little more push.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build:
Value:
Street:
$394
Providence Effects
providence-ltd.com
Cranking the drive knob enables avails tones ranging from early Van Halen to SRV, depending on pickup selection. Turn it fully counterclockwise, and you can dial in a clean boost that, while not transparent, still offers a throaty clarity. With your guitar volume set the way you like it, you can slowly add in smatterings of grit while still maintaining the personality of your amp. And it really shines in a blues-rock context where clearer, more organic tones are critical. In a rock context, it sounds furious without getting buzzy. And even with drive cranked, this pedal is very responsive to guitar volume levels and picking dynamics. If you’re fairly adept at those techniques, the Silky Drive will deliver a range of tones that you just won’t find in many overdrives pedals.
The Verdict
While the word
“silky” doesn’t
always come to
mind when using
this pedal, it
can be exceedingly
smooth and
rich—but it also
offers a wide assortment of
dirty colors to play with when
smooth is the last thing you
need. The Silky Drive makes
humbuckers sing with a richer
warmth and clarity, and it gives
traditional single-coils a lushbut-
rugged muscularity. The
pedal also almost never gets
dark or muddy—even through
a bass-heavy Fender amp. A
bit more gain from the boost
circuit would be nice for getting
the sweetest tones further
out front, but the Silky Drive is
still a beautifully voiced pedal
that will be at home with roots
and blues rockers, and others
who need overdrive that can
range from super subtle to a
little bit nasty.