OD/Distortion recommendations please

Maccattack

At the moment I'm using 2 Overdrives in conjunction.

First off I have a Tube screamer (wot I bort off boards) which sounds great. I pretty much leave it on all the time for most songs. I have it set so that the sound is only SLIGHTLY overdriven. Just adding a little bit of dirt.

I also have a Boss Super Overdrive that Ive had for years and years but never really used til recently.


I use that one to add the real dirt in Choruses and breaks etc. But I dont really like its sound. So im trying to find a better sounding over drive or distortion pedal.

I dot think Id go for a Big Muff some how. A bit to grunge sounding I figure.

I dont want a Metal sound either. Something smooth and not too cliched if thats possible.

Any recommendations or links to samples?

Savman

have you tried some compression?

Maccattack

Well I was using a compression pedal for a while. I had it first in the chain just to even out the notes.

What are you suggesting? Use it like a boost?

bombidol

Big muff or RAT

Savman

Maccattack wrote:

Well I was using a compression pedal for a while. I had it first in the chain just to even out the notes.

What are you suggesting? Use it like a boost?

that's an option but a compression pedal with a Tube Screamer should be plenty, and you've also got a Boss Overdrive so you should be sorted

The Big Muff is probably too much for using chords but it's player's preference I guess.

I s'pose you could try a good old fashioned Boss DS1

Voodu Child

Theres a big difference between distortion, fuzz, or overdrive. (there are some pedals that lie in between of course). For the most part, the 'popular' ones, like DS-1, bug muff, fuzz face, tubescreamer etc, are popular for a good reason - ie theyre good. So, it depends on what sound youre looking for, but once youve decided, you cant go far wrong with any of the ones mentioned above. Just bear in mind that an overdrive is at its best driving a valve amp - even a vintage or reissue tubescreamer will sound pretty unfantastic through a not-so-good solid state amp. A ds-1 on the other hand, will give a great distortion tone no matter what you plug it into.

jcoote

have a look at the line6 tonecore range..bit dearer but worth the extra imho

Maccattack

Savman wrote:

that's an option but a compression pedal with a Tube Screamer should be plenty, and you've also got a Boss Overdrive so you should be sorted

youd think so wouldnt you.

theres two issues here.

1. the od2 sounds like a cat being beaten to death.
2. i use the ts most of the time for mild coloring. i cant really stop mid song to bend down and twiddle the knobs if ya know what i mean.

jcoote

flog the od-1 iin my experience of it its only really good as a booster pedal for the od channel of your amp... check out the tonecore or a ds-1 as already mentioned is your answer...check out bossus.com for samples

It wasn't me!

The DS-1 is a classic and excellent pedal. If you know what you're looking for it can probably deliver, so perhaps fiddle with one for a bit and find out?

Quattroste

Macattack. Go to the Vox website and check out the samples of the Big Ben overdrive pedal. If you live near Blessington you could drop up to me and sample it yourself if you want.

Ancient1

Fulltone make excellent OD pedals, especially the aptly named OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Drive. There are some samples on the Fulltone site, check them out.

Check out these babies too. So many nice boutique pedals out there....and no cash to blow.

I just got a Marshall Blues Breaker II and I really have to recommend it, I didn't expect it to be this damn good. It has two modes, one that acts strictly as a booster, the other as the overdrive.

Edit: And I was drooling over that SD Pickup Booster that Chris got in yesterday, but some bastard already snapped it up.

Ravelleman

I recommend you check out some boutique pedals before you make a choice. You can get a nice boutique OD pedal like an MI Audio Blues Pro for under $100. Check out www.tonefactor.com. They have great service.

Maccattack

you guys rock.


I really like how the OCD sounds. thats pretty cool.

Neo#

You could try a ds2. I have one and it gives you a bit more variety of sounds than a ds1.

Johnny Storm

Maccattack wrote:

you guys rock.


I really like how the OCD sounds. thats pretty cool.

The clips on their site sound amazing.(Putting my cynical hat on for a minute I wonder is this because of the cool vintage axes and amps they use.) Great name too.

It wasn't me!

Quattroste wrote:

Macattack. Go to the Vox website and check out the samples of the Big Ben overdrive pedal. If you live near Blessington you could drop up to me and sample it yourself if you want.

You live in Blessington? Really? Werd bruvva. Must swipe your guitars sometime.

HusseinSarhan

Use the 'Screamer for breaks and get aFulltone OCD for your only slightly gritty tones. Flog the SD-1 if it's not doing it for you. A Fulltone OCD would cost you about €120 or less I think. I have not used one myself but it sounds perfect for what you want. If you want to keep the Ibanez then maybe look for a Barber Direct Drive for the more driven sound. Nice sounding pedal. Around €90. Both pedals are hand made and true bypass. Miles ahead of the Boss of EH pedals mentioned (which are still v.good, especially EH whic are ture bypass). Still you get what you pay for. It depends how much it really matters. Buying expensive stuff, but only a little of it, really pays off in the long run.

EDIT - I see someone has mentioned the OCD already!

HusseinSarhan

voodoo_child wrote:

A vintage or reissue tubescreamer will sound pretty unfantastic through a not-so-good solid state amp. A ds-1 on the other hand, will give a great distortion tone no matter what you plug it into.

I am completely the opposite opinion. A 'Screamer will sound a lot nicer through an SS amp than DS-1 will. That's the great thing about them, they are not necessarily boosters. A DS-1 will just sound terrible and more importantly, unusable at anything but bedroom levels if just ran through an SS (or clean valve) amp will all the dirt coming from the pedal. A DS-1 is really only for giving a "lead channel" to an amp that doesn't have one. See Steve Vai for details. I know Tube Screamers ARE mainly used as boosters but they are a lot better stand-alone than a DS-1 I'd dsay. The only reason so many people use DS-1's standalone is because that's what you are sold when you go into a shop looking for "my first pedal". Everyone pretty much buys a Boss and the DS-1 is what's always flogged. It's pretty mad actually, there must be hundreds of thousands of these mediocre pedals flying around.

Voodu Child

Well, whatever, i disagree, different opinions and all that. i use an overdrive to push my (valve) amp from clean to crunch, or from crunch to overdrive, while more or less keeping the character of the amp the same, just adding a little of its own distinctiveness. Id use a ds-1 or similar to generate a distinct distortion sound of its own.

Putting a (real - ie reissue or vintage) tubescreamer through a solid state amp seems like a waste of money. I cant imagine too many guys running vintage or reissue (or modified) tubescreamers through their crappy marshall MGs...the pedal would be worth as much as the amp... but, whatever youre into.

HusseinSarhan

The prices on old Tube Screamers are totally ridiculous anyway. Not worth it in any way, tone-wise.

Voodu Child

HusseinSarhan wrote:

The prices on old Tube Screamers are totally reidiculous anyway. Not worth it in any way, tone-wise.

Thats true that they were too expensive, thats why the reissues were made. In any case, the 'bog standard' tubescreamer is nothing special, although its possible to modify one to bring it close to original spec, circuitry wise. On that same vein, the bog standard DS-1 doesnt sound as good as the Japanese spec one, and guys like Vai and satch tend to use keely modded ones. However, i wouldnt agree that the basic DS-1 is 'mediocre'.

HusseinSarhan

Pretty much any Boss pedal that's used by a big name star is modded. Zakk Wylde is another example. I think the DS-1 is mediocre, especially when standalone. It's not terrible or anything, just nothing special at all. It's pretty fizzy, lots of top and not a whole lot of detail in the mids. Reaction to playing dynamics are pretty much non-existent. Again, you have to spend a bit moe to get somethign that breaks away from this. I think, for the money it's ok, but when you listen to it it's just bland. Meat and potatoes. One thing that is amazing about boss pedals is their reliability though.

Quattroste

It wasn't me! wrote:

You live in Blessington? Really? Werd bruvva. Must swipe your guitars sometime.

You want to know where I live then send me a PM with a picture so that I can find you if any of my babies go missing

I'm in Deerpark! Where are you? There's a mod from Blessington aswell, the name escapes me now though.

feylya

Giblet is I think...

It wasn't me!

Kilbride, but Blessington is easier to say for convenience's sake, and yeah, Giblet is. I'm teh geeky looking guy who's never in Blessington anyway.

Quattroste

It wasn't me! wrote:

Kilbride, but Blessington is easier to say for convenience's sake, and yeah, Giblet is. I'm teh geeky looking guy who's never in Blessington anyway.

Ah yeah! I've heard about you

It wasn't me!

Yes, for I am legendary in these parts. *shifty eyes*