Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This is the NUX Drive Core Deluxe MKII (Wasabi Drive): an affordable analogue overdrive pedal featuring eight Tube Screamer-based circuits and more!
NUX at Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/PORZ7z
Check out the Drive Core Deluxe MKII here: nuxaudio.com/drivecoredeluxemkii.html
We’ve all heard of the Tube Screamer. In fact, most of you probably own at least one Screamer-style pedal already. But there’s always room for more! JHS Pedals proved it with the success of their 9-circuit Bonsai, and now NUX are here to stake their own budget claim on the multi-Tube Screamer circuit pedal.
The Drive Core Deluxe MKII comes in at under $99/€89 (prices are still TBC at time of this video going live in February 2025, but a NUX rep at the 2025 winter NAMM Show told me it’d be around $89), which would be reasonable for a single decent Screamer pedal, let alone eight.
The eight circuits on offer are as follows as you move your way round the 8-way rotary switch that selects them (and which is actually the only digital part of the pedal): you first get an emulation of the Ibanez TS808 and TS9 Tube Screamers. Next up is the SSD mode, which emulates NUX’s own Steel Singer Drive. After that come R. Dirt – a take on the Keeley Red Dirt, itself a boutique modded Screamer – and OD1, which is based on the Boss OD-1, the predecessor to the Tube Screamer.
After that, things change up a little with Dist+, a take on the iconic MXR Distortion Plus. This is a hard clipping overdrive, whereas a Tube Screamer is soft clipping, but other circuit similarities remain. Finally, we have two takes on the Nobels ODR1, which itself is kind of half way between a Tube Screamer and a Bluesbreaker. The ODR mode is the full bass ODR-1 sound, while the NUX MOD is the ODR-1 with a bass cut, as found in the recent ODR-1X and ODR-mini 2 pedals.
You get a Level, Tone and Drive control for tweaking your tones, and there’s also a Post Boost knob. This activates when you hold down the pedal’s on/off footswitch, and it gives you up to 7dB of extra boost – perfect for solos or just when you need a little extra grit in your guitar tone.
That’s a lot of Tube Screamers, then, but how good does the Drive Core Deluxe MKII really sound? And is it worth it over the endless Tube Screamer competition that’s out there? We’re going to answer these questions and more in the video. First, I run the Drive Core Deluxe MKII through a loop with my Fender Telecaster where we move between all eight circuits, tweak the knobs, and really hear how versatile the pedal is. After all, the Tube Screamer is one of the most versatile overdrive pedals around, being ideal for anything from a clean boost to low gain drives, thick rock crunches, and even heavy metal tones.
And, after that, I get out four of my other pedals that the Drive Core Deluxe MKII emulates – namely my Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini, my Nobels ODR-1X, my JHS Overdrive Preamp and my NUX Steel Singer Drive – and we shoot them out together to hear how close the NUX gets to being the best Tube Screamer money can buy!
Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:
00:00 Introduction to the Drive Core Deluxe MKII
00:58 Pedal controls and features
02:05 The eight different overdrive circuits
03:47 Today’s rig and plan
05:18 Indie rock loop with all 8 circuits (played on a Fender Telecaster and the amp’s Clean Channel)
18:57 Shootout with Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini (Epiphone Les Paul, amp’s Crunch Channel)
21:56 Shootout with Nobels ODR-1X (Fender Telecaster, amp’s Clean Channel)
26:29 Shootout with JHS Overdrive Preamp (Epiphone Les Paul, amp’s Crunch Channel)
29:24 Shootout with NUX Steel Singer Drive (Fender Telecaster, amp’s Clean Channel)
31:45 My thoughts
32:37 Things I like: sounds and versatility
34:28 Price, build quality
34:46 What don’t I like?
35:09 What other similar pedals are out there?
36:00 My conclusions on the Drive Core Deluxe MKII and why you should buy it
My setup was as follows: I ran the pedals into the front end of my Hughes & Kettner AmpMan Classic pedal amp, then went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That’s it. No post-processing on the sounds was done. Oh, and I used my Boss RC-10R to record and play the loops. Here’s some links to those bits of gear:
---
At Thomann: thmn.to/thocf/jkhog8l06m
At Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/LXqdE0
---
Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.
#NUX #NUXPedals #OverdrivePedal #TubeScreamer #GuitarPedals #GuitarGear
*Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much!*
@nuxaudio
This is the NUX Drive Core Deluxe MKII (Wasabi Drive): an affordable analogue overdrive pedal featuring eight Tube Screamer-based circuits and more!
NUX at Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/PORZ7z
Check out the Drive Core Deluxe MKII here: nuxaudio.com/drivecoredeluxemkii.html
We’ve all heard of the Tube Screamer. In fact, most of you probably own at least one Screamer-style pedal already. But there’s always room for more! JHS Pedals proved it with the success of their 9-circuit Bonsai, and now NUX are here to stake their own budget claim on the multi-Tube Screamer circuit pedal.
The Drive Core Deluxe MKII comes in at under $99/€89 (prices are still TBC at time of this video going live in February 2025, but a NUX rep at the 2025 winter NAMM Show told me it’d be around $89), which would be reasonable for a single decent Screamer pedal, let alone eight.
The eight circuits on offer are as follows as you move your way round the 8-way rotary switch that selects them (and which is actually the only digital part of the pedal): you first get an emulation of the Ibanez TS808 and TS9 Tube Screamers. Next up is the SSD mode, which emulates NUX’s own Steel Singer Drive. After that come R. Dirt – a take on the Keeley Red Dirt, itself a boutique modded Screamer – and OD1, which is based on the Boss OD-1, the predecessor to the Tube Screamer.
After that, things change up a little with Dist+, a take on the iconic MXR Distortion Plus. This is a hard clipping overdrive, whereas a Tube Screamer is soft clipping, but other circuit similarities remain. Finally, we have two takes on the Nobels ODR1, which itself is kind of half way between a Tube Screamer and a Bluesbreaker. The ODR mode is the full bass ODR-1 sound, while the NUX MOD is the ODR-1 with a bass cut, as found in the recent ODR-1X and ODR-mini 2 pedals.
You get a Level, Tone and Drive control for tweaking your tones, and there’s also a Post Boost knob. This activates when you hold down the pedal’s on/off footswitch, and it gives you up to 7dB of extra boost – perfect for solos or just when you need a little extra grit in your guitar tone.
That’s a lot of Tube Screamers, then, but how good does the Drive Core Deluxe MKII really sound? And is it worth it over the endless Tube Screamer competition that’s out there? We’re going to answer these questions and more in the video. First, I run the Drive Core Deluxe MKII through a loop with my Fender Telecaster where we move between all eight circuits, tweak the knobs, and really hear how versatile the pedal is. After all, the Tube Screamer is one of the most versatile overdrive pedals around, being ideal for anything from a clean boost to low gain drives, thick rock crunches, and even heavy metal tones.
And, after that, I get out four of my other pedals that the Drive Core Deluxe MKII emulates – namely my Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini, my Nobels ODR-1X, my JHS Overdrive Preamp and my NUX Steel Singer Drive – and we shoot them out together to hear how close the NUX gets to being the best Tube Screamer money can buy!
Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:
00:00 Introduction to the Drive Core Deluxe MKII
00:58 Pedal controls and features
02:05 The eight different overdrive circuits
03:47 Today’s rig and plan
05:18 Indie rock loop with all 8 circuits (played on a Fender Telecaster and the amp’s Clean Channel)
18:57 Shootout with Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini (Epiphone Les Paul, amp’s Crunch Channel)
21:56 Shootout with Nobels ODR-1X (Fender Telecaster, amp’s Clean Channel)
26:29 Shootout with JHS Overdrive Preamp (Epiphone Les Paul, amp’s Crunch Channel)
29:24 Shootout with NUX Steel Singer Drive (Fender Telecaster, amp’s Clean Channel)
31:45 My thoughts
32:37 Things I like: sounds and versatility
34:28 Price, build quality
34:46 What don’t I like?
35:09 What other similar pedals are out there?
36:00 My conclusions on the Drive Core Deluxe MKII and why you should buy it
My setup was as follows: I ran the pedals into the front end of my Hughes & Kettner AmpMan Classic pedal amp, then went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That’s it. No post-processing on the sounds was done. Oh, and I used my Boss RC-10R to record and play the loops. Here’s some links to those bits of gear:
---
At Thomann: thmn.to/thocf/jkhog8l06m
At Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/LXqdE0
---
Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.
#NUX #NUXPedals #OverdrivePedal #TubeScreamer #GuitarPedals #GuitarGear
*Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much!*
@nuxaudio
