MusicRadar Verdict
A pricey but worthwhile overdrive that suits both clean and dirty amps, especially for bluesy leads.
Pros
- +
Smooth, singing sustain. Blends brilliantly with amp overdrive. Good build.
Cons
- -
There are better value drive pedals out there.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
Following in the footsteps of the Dunlop JB95 Cry Baby and JBF3 Fuzz Face is the MXR FET Driver, which is based on Joe Bonamassa's favourite Chandler Tube Driver, as made famous by David Gilmour and Eric Johnson.
"The FET Driver pedal is designed to thicken up lead playing, and its tones range from soft clipping to light distortion"
The FET Driver pedal is designed to thicken up lead playing, and its tones range from soft clipping to light distortion. Control-wise, the level and drive knobs act as you'd expect, while the hi and low knobs cut or boost treble and bass frequencies, and the hi cut switch rounds off high frequencies. Elsewhere, the pedal is true bypass and runs from a nine-volt battery or power supply.
Sounds
With a smooth, singing, Gilmour-esque sustain, the FET Driver certainly sounds the part. In fact, crank up the gain and it's so smooth that it begins to verge on fuzz territory, in contrast to the crunchy low-gain sounds.
The pedal's natural-sounding dirt also blends beautifully with amp overdrive for meaty lead tones - just the way Bonamassa likes it. And if your living room drive doesn't quite translate to the stage, press the handy hi cut switch and you'll tone down the top end to prevent shrill treble at gig volumes.
It's not the cheapest overdrive on the shelf, but Bonamassa and MXR got this one right, with a great range of sounds and a natural-sounding overdrive that suits both clean and dirty amps. If the usual drives aren't doing it for you, a visit to the FET might well be in order.
“It's transparent when not in operation, crisp when looping, and handles high-gain and complex audio sources with ease”: TC Electronic Ditto 2 Looper review
“Instead of pairing a new booster inside this new pedal, think of it as changing lanes inside the pedal”: Mythos and That Pedal Show team up for the Argo Boost Deluxe – an octave fuzz with a switchable boost
“I didn’t even realise it had synthesizer on it for decades”: This deep dive into The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun reveals 4 Moog Modular parts that we’d never even noticed before
