Pettyjohn Lift MKII vs Lehle Sunday Driver II

[Lupus87]

Hi everyone! Has anyone tried/compared them?

Thanks in advance!

 

[moehuh]

I have no experience with the Pettyjohn, but the tone shaping options look interesting.
I'm a big fan of the Sunday Driver II. It's the best buffer I've ever tried. Lehle has a discontinued pedal called Julian with some tone shaping. You can still get at some stores. But it's based on the old V1 Sunday Driver, which is still good in direct comparsion, but the V2 has more dynamic range IME.

 

[Lupus87]

I have no experience with the Pettyjohn, but the tone shaping options look interesting.
I'm a big fan of the Sunday Driver II. It's the best buffer I've ever tried. Lehle has a discontinued pedal called Julian with some tone shaping. You can still get at some stores. But it's based on the old V1 Sunday Driver, which is still good in direct comparsion, but the V2 has more dynamic range IME.

I just saw your answer. Thanks!

 

[moehuh]

I just saw your answer. Thanks!

Still deciding or already got something?

 

[Lupus87]

Still deciding or already got something?

Still deciding, but I'm bit closer to the PJ Lift:

Pros

• More headroom (36v vs 30v)
• More clean boost (30 dB vs 18 dB)
• EQ section (Hi and Lo cut)

Cons

• Price ($300 PJ vs $200 SD)

Anyway, I'm still thinking, I never played either of them.
Thanks! Anyone else?

 

[moehuh]

Still deciding, but I'm bit closer to the PJ Lift:

Pros

• More headroom (36v vs 30v)
• More clean boost (30 dB vs 18 dB)
• EQ section (Hi and Lo cut)

Cons

• Price ($300 PJ vs $200 SD)

Anyway, I'm still thinking, I never played either of them.
Thanks! Anyone else?

I'd focus on whether you need the EQ or not.
Headroom depends on other factors too and 18db of boost is probably way too much already ;-)

Either way, you'll get one of the best buffers available. Good luck

 

[Lupus87]

I like the ability to cut frequencies at high volume in boost mode when the bass becomes too flubby and the treble gets shrill.
I agree that 18dB is enough

Thanks!

 

[sanfi4u]

Still deciding, but I'm bit closer to the PJ Lift:

Pros

• More headroom (36v vs 30v)
• More clean boost (30 dB vs 18 dB)
• EQ section (Hi and Lo cut)

Cons

• Price ($300 PJ vs $200 SD)

Anyway, I'm still thinking, I never played either of them.
Thanks! Anyone else?

I'm a happy owner of Pettyjohn Lift boost/buffer/EQ. It has a huge headroom, flexible tone stack, soundwise it's one of the best boost pedals I've ever tried.
On the other hand I'm also very positive about Lehle pedals and their quality. I don't have Sunday Driver II. But I have Lehle Volume pedal which is a quality product.
So, you are choosing between good and good. Really a win-win situation.

 

[MHG]

I Love the Lift MKll. Gorgeous pedal!!!!!! I highly recommend getting the Soviet Mod, as it sounds really nice. The stock setting sounds amazing as well, so it's great to have the choice. I really love both settings for different reasons, and currently don't have a preference between the two. I also have the Chime MKll which is equally amazing. I'm super impressed by these pedals!

 

[Lupus87]

I'm a happy owner of Pettyjohn Lift boost/buffer/EQ. It has a huge headroom, flexible tone stack, soundwise it's one of the best boost pedals I've ever tried.
On the other hand I'm also very positive about Lehle pedals and their quality. I don't have Sunday Driver II. But I have Lehle Volume pedal which is a quality product.
So, you are choosing between good and good. Really a win-win situation.

I Love the Lift MKll. Gorgeous pedal!!!!!! I highly recommend getting the Soviet Mod, as it sounds really nice. The stock setting sounds amazing as well, so it's great to have the choice. I really love both settings for different reasons, and currently don't have a preference between the two. I also have the Chime MKll which is equally amazing. I'm super impressed by these pedals!

Thank you!

Let me ask you a question. What is the purpose of the volume control compared to the boost control on the Lift MKII?

I remember that in the MKI there was the input knob for the buffer and another one for the boost amount, but in the MKII I don't quite understand.

On the other hand, how far can the harmonic drive go and can it be used as a light OD? I would like to combine it with a Kingsley Page v2. This way I would have the compression of the tubes with the Page and a clean boost with some saturation and an open character with the Lift. (I also had in mind the Spaceman Saturn VI and Fairfield Barbershop for this). But the Lift allows me to have Buffer/Preamp/Boost (ond probably some OD) all in one.

Thanks again!

 

[MHG]

Thank you!

Let me ask you a question. What is the purpose of the volume control compared to the boost control on the Lift MKII?

I remember that in the MKI there was the input knob for the buffer and another one for the boost amount, but in the MKII I don't quite understand.

On the other hand, how far can the harmonic drive go and can it be used as a light OD? I would like to combine it with a Kingsley Page v2. This way I would have the compression of the tubes with the Page and a clean boost with some saturation and an open character with the Lift. (I also had in mind the Spaceman Saturn VI and Fairfield Barbershop for this). But the Lift allows me to have Buffer/Preamp/Boost (ond probably some OD) all in one.

Thanks again!

I unfortunately don't have the answers to your specific questions, but what I can say is that it's a very subtle pedal. It's really for the players that live in the slight breakup zone, and want more variety via more control within that very specific range. When you move the knobs, the affect is subtle, yet very impactful and useful. It's a pedal that contradicts itself in that sense. It's kind of like you don't know how much of an impact the pedal is having until you turn it off. It just sounds really natural, and doesn't change your amp's tone and feel like say the more mid oriented Chime.

The Lift is kind of like hearing a "Mastered" version of your amp. It cleans up the low end, and adds a more balanced feel. And it does this without adding any sterility to your tone and feel. It still sounds and feels like your amp, but in a cleaner, more complex, and balanced way.

These demos pretty much sum it up.



Their reaction to the first pedal in this Andertons demo very much applies to the Lift as well.

 

[Lupus87]

I unfortunately don't have the answers to your specific questions, but what I can say is that it's a very subtle pedal. It's really for the players that live in the slight breakup zone, and want more variety via more control within that very specific range. When you move the knobs, the affect is subtle, yet very impactful and useful. It's a pedal that contradicts itself in that sense. It's kind of like you don't know how much of an impact the pedal is having until you turn it off. It just sounds really natural, and doesn't change your amp's tone and feel like say the more mid oriented Chime.

The Lift is kind of like hearing a "Mastered" version of your amp. It cleans up the low end, and adds a more balanced feel. And it does this without adding any sterility to your tone and feel. It still sounds and feels like your amp, but in a cleaner, more complex, and balanced way.

These demos pretty much sum it up.



Their reaction to the first pedal in this Andertons demo very much applies to the Lift as well.

Thanks a lot! Very useful description! It's exactly what I'm looking for.
PreDrive sounds awesome on the second demo. If the Lift sounds like that I'm sold.

 

[Troglite]

Big +1 for the Pettyjohn. I own a Predrive. I have not tried the Lehle.. but I like their stuff in general.

Shop around for the PJ Lift. I've been able to negotiate a discount when buying new by calling the retailer. I've also had very good luck finding open boxes or used pedals in good condition. Keep on eye on the TPG Gear Emporium (the Pettyjohns tend to sell fairly quickly).

A couple of months ago, PJ was offering a discount on their own web site. So, might be worth asking about a discount if you order direct, too,

 

[sanfi4u]

Let me ask you a question. What is the purpose of the volume control compared to the boost control on the Lift MKII?

I remember that in the MKI there was the input knob for the buffer and another one for the boost amount, but in the MKII I don't quite understand.

Pettyjohn has changed Lift MKII quite noticeably. They've added the Harmonic Drive circuit. It is engaged with the On/Off switch. The amount of dirt channel signal blended in is controlled by the Drive mini pot. Boost knob controls the clean gain as in MKI. Dialing both knobs changes the output level. The new Level knob helps to set up the output level regardless of the Boost and Drive knobs settings. Makes sense?

 

[Lupus87]

Pettyjohn has changed Lift MKII quite noticeably. They've added the Harmonic Drive circuit. It is engaged with the On/Off switch. The amount of dirt channel signal blended in is controlled by the Drive mini pot. Boost knob controls the clean gain as in MKI. Dialing both knobs changes the output level. The new Level knob helps to set up the output level regardless of the Boost and Drive knobs settings. Makes sense?

Yeah!

Thanks!

 

[Troglite]

I had never seen the Anderson demo. Just for anyone who might read this thread... they demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Predrive Studio functions. These were the most important errors in their demo:
* there is no “off”. The predrive is always on. The left foot switch controls the boost
* the middle dial is a buffer. A really good one... nearly the same circuit as the Lift pedal.
* the dual inputs are intended for re-amping. Take a balanced out from a daw can go into the balanced input and that will be converted to an unbalanced signal so you can route through your pedalboard back into your DAW without degrading the signal quality.

I unfortunately don't have the answers to your specific questions, but what I can say is that it's a very subtle pedal. It's really for the players that live in the slight breakup zone, and want more variety via more control within that very specific range. When you move the knobs, the affect is subtle, yet very impactful and useful. It's a pedal that contradicts itself in that sense. It's kind of like you don't know how much of an impact the pedal is having until you turn it off. It just sounds really natural, and doesn't change your amp's tone and feel like say the more mid oriented Chime.

The Lift is kind of like hearing a "Mastered" version of your amp. It cleans up the low end, and adds a more balanced feel. And it does this without adding any sterility to your tone and feel. It still sounds and feels like your amp, but in a cleaner, more complex, and balanced way.

These demos pretty much sum it up.



Their reaction to the first pedal in this Andertons demo very much applies to the Lift as well.

 

[RockAltVintBluesSoul]

Can anyone please talk about the difference(s) between the Pettyjohn Lift II pedal and the PreDrive Studio and PreDrive Handwired pedals? Thanks so much!