ZIMcard (this is the general name given to all cards that will ever get plugged into ZIM)

DRIVEcard (this is the overdrive card that's currently installed in ZIM)

Here's some technical information and illustrations all about about the ZIMcard. ZIM is sold as a fully assembled, tested product. So don't misunderstand this section and think that you have to install or change anything to get the best results. Please take the time to read through this - the more you know about ZIM, the more you can get out of it and appreciate what it is and does.

The ZIMcard exists for two reasons -

1) There wasn't enough room to mount all of the circuitry required for ZIM without multiple boards, and,

2) It provides the flexibility for custom configurations. If you dig the ZIM concept, with the dual channels and the voicing, but have requirements other than two channels of OD you'll love ZIMcards. Asymmetrical OD, Clean boost, Distortion, Fuzz, whatever - it's all possible with the ZIMcard. More details coming.

Each ZIM ships with a pair of DriveCards installed.

Channel A is relatively tame - on it's own, it's a nice up-front sounding light overdrive. Perfect for driving Ch B for a lead boost. Compared to other overdrives, it has a slightly extended low end and high end, and the clipping characteristic is slightly uneven, but not fully asymmetrical.

Channel B is a more crisp and transparent overdrive with full low end and lots of available gain. Compared to other overdrives, it has a more extended high end and low end, and the clipping is perfectly symmetrical. Channel B also passes through the voicing circuit, so any blanket description of it's tone is really invalid once you start turning the voicing knobs.

The idea of Channel A is to give a light overdrive sound on it's own, and to cascade into B for added gain. The idea of Channel B is to act as a more aggressive and cleaner sounding overdrive, providing the voicing circuit with the best frequency range to work with. Once you cascade the channels and the voicing circuit gets a hold of it... forget about it - you're in the ZIM ZONE.

When you look at ZIM, what you're really looking at is a modular, dual channel true-bypass mainframe with a voicing circuit on Channel B. Since all of the overdrive circuitry is located on the ZIMcards, the operation and entire sound of ZIM can be changed by swapping out the cards. For example, the existing "Drive Card" can be built up to function as a clean boost, heavy distortion, fuzz, you name it..

Here's ZIM with the bottom removed.

Both ZIMcards are removed.

Here are the cards outside of ZIM. The 8 pin male connector on the bottom plugs into the female connector on the motherboard. And the threaded standoff holds it in place nice and snug. You see two cards here - they're the default cards ship with ZIM.

This is the ZIMcard for Channel A being installed (don't worry, when you buy a ZIM pedal the cards are already installed unless otherwise specified).