Reproducing the true Legacy sound could only come from real 12AX7 tubes, utilizing the full Legacy preamp circuit. The four gain stages and tone stacks are faithfully incorporated into the Legacy Drive and are running at the same operating conditions as they do in the 100W Legacy Amps.
The passive BASS, MID, TREBLE, and PRESENCE tone controls are the same tube-driven tone circuits used in our iconic, well-loved Legacy amplifiers. The incredible range comes from high impedance potentiometers. We designed the DRIVE channel's PRESENCE control so you can adjust the "edge" on your sound. The CLEAN channel features a PRESENCE switch that adds sparkling clear highs to your clean tone.
Steve Vai’s trademark “VAI” hieroglyph symbol will glow different colors to indicate which channel the Legacy drive is in. Green is for the classic Legacy clean channel, red is for the sweet harmonic rich Vai drive channel, and amber-yellow is when the drive channel is in GAIN mode. Steve liked the extra GAIN switch from the Legacy 3 so much, we included it in the Legacy DRIVE. Why add another pedal for over-the-top solos when you can footswitch in more gain from the tube circuits?
The Legacy DRIVE is designed to feed any power amp to drive guitar speaker cabinets with the Legacy sound. If you already have a favorite guitar amp and want to add a new sound, the Legacy DRIVE also works as a pedal into the front of your amp with a true hard wire bypass. Even if you are playing without an amp, Carvin Audio’s third generation Cabinet Voicing circuit emulates the frequency response of a guitar speaker cabinet, so you can send Legacy tones direct to headphones, effects, recording inputs or live PA without having to mic a speaker.