overdrive pedals

[tom]

any input on a dynamic feeling overdrive pedal? i'm looking for mid gain, not way over the top. i'm playing at a low enough level where i can't get the psyco acoustic speaker making the guitar move thing going. i've got a red llama coming form jeorge from way huge. any experience?

[Casper]

Hey Tom,
I have heard wonderful things about Tonebone stuff. I have also tried the Fulltone stuff, wasn't for me, but that sound you describe sounds like a Fulltone Fulldrive or 70's pedal.
I just sold a VINTAGE MXR Distortion +. That might have done it too except it was a little too glassy for me. I have no doubt with your connections, you will find your tone..
Shaun

PS. I got to play that hollow bora bora burst namm piece at Richmond Music Center yesterday. We were commenting that the color is soo close to my Bora HDTP that my wife wouldn't know the difference....;)

[mbrown3]

I'll give a HUGE shout out for the Xotic booster pedals, AC Booster and RC Booster. VERY transparent, natural sounding drives.

[SteveK]

Tom,
Big fan of Fulltone pedals here! I think you should give the Fulldrive 2 a spin, great for the mid-overdrive stuff!
:D





Any possibility of getting jeorge to make me an Aqua Puss delay?
:rolleyes: :eek:

[tom]

i've been wanting to try the fulldrive, lots of guys i know use it. steve, i will ask jeorge about the aqua p.

[SteveK]

Tom,
I've got three Fulldrive 2's. I keep one on my practice/jam night pedal board, another on my gig board, and the third just because they are so great. If you want to test drive one, let me know and I'd be glad to send one of them out to you for a demo.

[tom]

steve, thanks for the offer. i've got a call in to one of my locals that may have one, if not i'll take you up on it. jeorge got back to me and said he had no more boards for the aqua p, so that's a no go.

[pluto]

There are so many great od pedals out there. For low to mid gain, the Fulldrive is pretty good-it has a somewhat gritty od sound with comp cut off. Comp cut on, it has a pretty nice clean boost. There is some low suckage (or at least the appearance of) but nowhere as much as the tubescreamer and most of the tubescreamer clones. I think the Maxon OD-820 which is a tubescreamer clone (well, not really since Maxon made the original tubescreamer for Ibanez) is one of the best natural ods that I've heard in a long time. It's like the modern update of the tubescreamer and very little mid hump. Great pedal. As far as the tonebone-the classic is nice, but it's more of a distortion pedal and it takes a wallwart.

[rfmason]

Another vote for the Fulltones. In addition to the Fulldrive 2, I also like the Distortion Pro which sounds great with single coils (if you like that Cream/Eric Johnson type of tone). The Soulbender is also very cool.

Rob M.

[pluto]

Originally posted by rfmason
Another vote for the Fulltones. In addition to the Fulldrive 2, I also like the Distortion Pro which sounds great with single coils (if you like that Cream/Eric Johnson type of tone). The Soulbender is also very cool.

Rob M.

I definitely agree about your assesment of the Soulbender. It's one of my favorite fuzzes of all time-Truth era Jeff Beck and early Zep tones with ease!! Killer pedal, definitely my favorite of all the Fulltone fuzz boxes.

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by tom
any input on a dynamic feeling overdrive pedal? i'm looking for mid gain, not way over the top. i'm playing at a low enough level where i can't get the psyco acoustic speaker making the guitar move thing going. i've got a red llama coming form jeorge from way huge. any experience?

tom check this out keeley BD mod (http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=14)

FULL sounding, yet transparent enough to allow the wood tones to shine through!

[Stan Malinowski]

Tom,

I have both a Fulltone FD2 and a Tonebone Classic. The FD2 was my favorite OD pedal until I got the Classic. Now that I have a couple of Carr amps I find I like the FD2 better again! More of an overdrive push as oppossed to a distortion with the TB Classic - as I believe someone else pointed out earlier in this thread.

[pluto]

Originally posted by michaelomiya
tom check this out keeley BD mod (http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=14)

FULL sounding, yet transparent enough to allow the wood tones to shine through!

AHHH, I forgot about that Keeley guy!! I agree-he does great work and is one of the nicest guys around also. I can't forget about Mike Piero's (analogman) work too. Some others to consider: Paul Cochrane's TIM pedal (for low drive, clean boost but not medium drive), a SIB Varidrive (with 12AU7 tube it sounds like a sweet overdrive with a very useable eq; the stock 12AX7 pedal is bees in a can city-yech!), and the Barber Tone Pump (TS type, but more body). Sooooo many choices these days! Those musictoyz forumites are always talking about the newest pedals-I lost track (and money!) a long time ago.

[Rick]

I'm about to order a pedal built by Keeley (not a mod), though I haven't heard it. Will report back on it if you're still In Search Of..., Tom, by the time I receive it & plug it in.

[pluto]

Originally posted by Rick
I'm about to order a pedal built by Keeley (not a mod), though I haven't heard it. Will report back on it if you're still In Search Of..., Tom, by the time I receive it & plug it in.

Which pedal did you get from Keeley?

[Rick]

Didn't get it yet, but it's his new "Fuzz Head" -- supposed to be useful for overdrive or distortion (like most of them say they are anyway). I may order it today, but only if I think it'll safely arrive here before I go away (to Hawaii, of all places) -- otherwise, I'll wait till I return.

[pluto]

Originally posted by Rick
Didn't get it yet, but it's his new "Fuzz Head" -- supposed to be useful for overdrive or distortion (like most of them say they are anyway). I may order it today, but only if I think it'll safely arrive here before I go away (to Hawaii, of all places) -- otherwise, I'll wait till I return.

Fuzz head? I haven't heard about that one yet. I'm still waiting for Keeley to remake the Yellow Yeehaw pedal! Have fun in Hawaii-the weather has been kind of strange lately-hopefully it'll be nice and sunny when you get here. What island will you be staying at?

[Rick]

Just going to Kauai & Hawaii this time -- otherwise I'd love to go check out the famous Dan's Guitars. The Fuzz Head is apparently a brand new item, & the first OD pedal totally designed by Keeley.

[pluto]

Originally posted by Rick
Just going to Kauai & Hawaii this time -- otherwise I'd love to go check out the famous Dan's Guitars. The Fuzz Head is apparently a brand new item, & the first OD pedal totally designed by Keeley.

Thanks for the info. and have fun on Kauai and the Big Island! And if you ever visit Honolulu, you gotta make sure and visit Dan's-it's a small store, but the people are nice and they've got some nice Andys, Suhrs, and PRSs there.

[tom]

anybody played the analog man king of tone?

[MDWood]

Hello Tom

I am not familiar with the analog pedal you mentioned. Nonetheless, I did get an eduation a couple of weeks ago when I visited a music shop in Chicago, IL called, "Make'n Music" (http://www.makenmusic.com). Apparently, they stock only analog effects and tube amps--no digital or solid state stuff. I was amazed to see two large display cases stuffed full of analog pedals I had never seen or heard of before. It was obvious that many of them were made by lesser known specialty shops--I wish I could have tried them all.

Aside from the other pedals mentioned above, I have also enjoyed the sounds of the Jekyll & Hyde Overdrive pedal (Visual Sound) which claims to have the TS-808 electronics.

Do you have any experience with Pete Cornish effects? Besides the high price tag and nice reviews in various publications, I have not had the opportunity to talk with anyone who has had first-hand experience with them.

Mark

[heyrey]

I think this pedal is very underrated.
The Carl Martin Hot Drive/Boost
It isn't super gain city but what i love about it is that the
chime and spank of my HDT comes through loud and clear!
I have been running it into a Blues Jr. and it sounds like an extension of the amp not just pasted on. I can't wait to see how
it sounds into my Emerald Pro!

Another pedal I was very impressed with and would buy if I had the money is the T-Rex Alberta. Not very high gain at all but it gave you that nuanced overdrive that I really like! Beautiful blue color too!

Adam

[mbrown3]

Originally posted by MDWood
Do you have any experience with Pete Cornish effects? Besides the high price tag and nice reviews in various publications, I have not had the opportunity to talk with anyone who has had first-hand experience with them.

Mark


Hey Mark, I had a G2 for about 3 days. Put it through every kind of setting I could think of, and was real disappointed. It just didn't "do it" for me. I'd love to try the SS2, as that may be more up my alley, but I just wasn't real impressed with the G2. All I kept thinking was, "yeah, I can get the Gilmour tone from "Coming Back to Life," but that's about it. Sounded very single-minded to me. I guess if that's what folks are looking for, that's the sound they get from it. Not for me. Hope this helps...

[MDWood]

Hey Mark, I had a G2 for about 3 days. Put it through every kind of setting I could think of, and was real disappointed. It just didn't "do it" for me. I'd love to try the SS2, as that may be more up my alley, but I just wasn't real impressed with the G2.

Thanks MBrown. I appreciate your helpful reviews regarding the G2. It is really nice to hear from someone who has actually played one. I too have been intrigued with the SS2 writeups. Based on your experience with the G2, I think I might hold off for now. Thanks again for your help. (2 Chron 5:13)

[Mastervolume]

Gee fella's I have owned more than a few.

I find that the pedals really behave differently with different amps and guitars.

I think that for medium gain stuff (tubescreamerisk) I would recommend

Analogman silver mod - Less compressed bigger and fatter sounding than a non-modded TS.

Maxon OD-820 - for a tubescreamer type sound only bigger and fatter and creamier. It is a little more compressed than the Silver Mod but still retains clarity on fast runs. I liked the 820 WAY more than the alberta for what it's worth.


Currently on my board I am using a silver mod ts-9 and a barber Direct Drive SS. I run all of my stuff into a Germino Low Voltage Lead 55 that has a bunch of circuit changes that Greg talked me through. My amp is really wired up like a JTM 50. It is my favorite tone of all time.


There are so many great pedals available now it is just insane!

Here are some of my favorites

Menatone Blue collar - Killer plexi tones from anything even a twin

Barber Burn Unit - Higher gain rock tones

Barber direct drive - best pedal to $ ratio killer ts and hotter tones

AC Boost - Unique as it just makes your amp sound like it has an extra gain stage. I miss the mid hump though



:D

[andersonguy]

Hi Guys, just thought I would chime in here. This is a huge field with new pedals getting added every day. I have had fantastic luck with Analogman's pedals and feel he is to pedals what Anderson is to guitars. Great guy BTW. I love his silver mod TS but for what Tom is asking I think the Xotic AC boost is great and very versital. I have both the AC and the RC and they really add a lot especially with single coil.
Here is another newcomer who has peeked my interest:

http://www.takkydrive.com/e/

Perhaps every pedal in one?

SO many pedals, so little time:D

AG