by Cobra » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:26 pm
I had the chance recently to try out a model R borrowed from a friend. I found the R to be a close relative of the DRD, so comparisons are inevitable.
After having my DRD for many years, I really know and understand what it does, & how it sounds and responds. The DRD can be bright, but has enough range on the treble control to find the sweet spot at around 9:00-10:00. With all the pedal testing I've been doing in the last few weeks, I've realized again that the DRD has some small bass loss when engaged, which I had kinda forgotten, and that I compensate for that by using the SBEQ, or MDEQ set up for a small boost in the bass, no change on the treble, and just a smidge over unity gain on the volume for a slight overall boost. I think the model R sounds similar to a DRD, but it has quite a bit more mids, & low mids, and less range on the gain & volume controls. While I like the model R, I still prefer my DRD with it's more direct, in your face, presence and clarity. The R sounds a little congested and indistinct in comparison. I've read that the R is kinda specialized, very rig and speaker sensitive, and my testing bears this out. I use a a Z-28 with Scumback speakers, which is a rather unique combination of an american voiced amp, with pre-rola voiced speakers, a hybrid of a Brown Deluxe and Celestion. I figured the Scumback speakers would be a good candidate for the R's sonic specialty, & I was only halfway right. The overall Brown Deluxe voicing of the Z-28 is still enough to make the midrange character of the R over the top, even with the Scumbacks british flavor.
If I had to choose between the DRD and model R, I would choose the DRD everytime, because it just sounds better with my rig. If I only could have a model R, I could get by using my MDEQ to suck out some mids, and get really close to the DRD sound I'm so used to.