Driftwood Purple/Mini Nightmare Opinions

[moondread]

What are the current opinions on the Driftwood Purple and Mini Nightmare amps here at RT? I know they were lukewarm at best but I’m wondering if anything has changed. I’m considering a Mini for a metal I strumentsl project for both recording and live.

 

[dead-pan]

Very aggressive but dry and a bit stiff. With the right guitar it's pretty good. It's not going to do the Marshall sag though. Both gain channels are really only good for high gain. I think k there is a newer version that can sag more?

 

[braintheory]

I found the one I had to be a bit bland/generic sounding. Definitely not a bad amp, but imho there are so many other amps you could get for that price or less that are so much better and more inspiring to play through

 

[Bram576]

I found the one I had to be a bit bland/generic sounding. Definitely not a bad amp, but imho there are so many other amps you could get for that price or less that are so much better and more inspiring to play through

Agreed, way better out there for the price IMO.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I recently got the preamp pedal. By itself, I was not impressed.
Heard good tones out of it if hit with a deadweld duality dx instead of the built in tubescreamer.
Also note that the built in gate is situated before the preamp, so it only gates the guitar signal. And it's a hissy bitch.
Would love to try the head, but I'm not popping for an amp that has too many "meh" comments from people I trust who have had one.

 

[Apex1Rg7X]

I had the Mini Nightmare for about 3 minutes, haha. It was slightly longer than that but it was very boring and uninspiring. I would take any EVH head 10x over that Driftwood.

 

[Geisterfaust]

I'll be an outlier here. I like mine and it holds its own in what I think is a decent stable. It's not a unique sound but it scratches my 5150 itch. The feature set is great, it's solid, it's pretty well rounded. I'm always a little surprised by opinions of others on this head, but different horses for different courses.

 

[Knot_Ur_Mom]

I'll chime in and say that the Purple Nightmare is a fantastic amp. You can't compare it to a Marshall or the like because that's apples to oranges. But if you're a fan of Rectifiers the Purple Nightmare is right up your alley. It can do full beautiful cleans, great crunch and it's high gain game is on point. My only critique of the amp is that it can feel a bit tubby and so I run a 8 band eq in the loop to cut some of the low end. All that being said Driftwood is getting ready to launch a Purple Nightmare Signature and it's voiced to be more "british" sounding. That should be REALLY cool!