Help me choose the correct OD pedal

[kissing]

Hi Guys,

I have recently ordered a new RKII. Many of you guys here has reccommeded an EQ and OD to go with it. I have figured out the EQ and will probably get an MXR Kerry King EQ.

However, i am really torned in the OD pedal. I have seen wonderful reviews of all the famous pedals, OD808, MXR Zakk Wayld OD, the Fulltone OCD, BB preamp, TS808 and not to mentioned the Keeley modded pedals.

So now, i need your expertise in helping me choose one.

I am a metal or numetal player. also into some hard rocking. likes stone temple pilots, sound garden, metallica, ratm, and my favourite Dream theater.

I have narrowed down to actually the Maxon OD808, the MXR Zakk Wylde, and Fulltone OCD.

I have went to youtube and saw some of the demos for the OCD recently and was pretty amazed by the tone it had, but the MXR has the dark metal tone that i liked pretty much

Feel free to reccmmend me any other good OD that i might have over looked and thanks in advice for your advice :lol:

 

[Zoomzilla]

The 808 would be good for your rig. The Zakk Wylde is very thin and the OCD works GREAT as a clean boost, but I have not heard great things about it using distortion with it. Others with the pedal may chime in. I would go with the 808 or maybe even check out a BBE Green Screamer.

 

[punkrocker]

I went with the Maxon od808 after testing that, a bbe sonic maximizer, and a ts9. It is good for me in tighting up my dual recto's bottom end.

 

[wildrat666]

I love my maxon od808. tightens things up and give some extra flavour in the saturation. I mainly play death metal stuff so....
oh I play it in front of my Roadster or rectoverb

 

[jdurso]

The 808 would be good for your rig. The Zakk Wylde is very thin and the OCD works GREAT as a clean boost, but I have not heard great things about it using distortion with it. Others with the pedal may chime in. I would go with the 808 or maybe even check out a BBE Green Screamer.

I don't know about that. I just got my OCD yesterday and have it setup in front of my roadster (very similar to RK) and it sounds amazing on all the channels. If any one is into the low end chugging I think the OCD assists with making things a little tighter and at the same time gets you the right chunk for that type of riffing. I have the OCD setup with the volume around 3 oclock, gain around 9 oclock, and the tone around 11 oclock. Those settings give me some nice breakup on channel 1 and 2, an awesome rhtyhm chunk on channel 3 and a nice lead sound on channel 4. The Maxon OD808 is also fantastic i just liked the OCD a little more, especially on the clean settings.

The green screamer was also good infront of the roadster. Not nearly as harmonically rich as the OCD but still tightened everything up and added some nice chunk to my sound.

 

[jdurso]

Hi Guys,

I have recently ordered a new RKII. Many of you guys here has reccommeded an EQ and OD to go with it. I have figured out the EQ and will probably get an MXR Kerry King EQ.

However, i am really torned in the OD pedal. I have seen wonderful reviews of all the famous pedals, OD808, MXR Zakk Wayld OD, the Fulltone OCD, BB preamp, TS808 and not to mentioned the Keeley modded pedals.

So now, i need your expertise in helping me choose one.

I am a metal or numetal player. also into some hard rocking. likes stone temple pilots, sound garden, metallica, ratm, and my favourite Dream theater.

I have narrowed down to actually the Maxon OD808, the MXR Zakk Wylde, and Fulltone OCD.

I have went to youtube and saw some of the demos for the OCD recently and was pretty amazed by the tone it had, but the MXR has the dark metal tone that i liked pretty much

Feel free to reccmmend me any other good OD that i might have over looked and thanks in advice for your advice :lol:

I would reconsider the kerry king eq because it does have some gain to it. If your putting an eq in your loop your going to want ti to be as transparent as possible. I would look at the maxon ge601 or the mxr 10 band (which is basically the kerry king without the added gain). I believe KK uses the eq in front as a solo boost which is why they have a gain setting on that pedal (not positive though). i went for the Maxon GE601 because of its transparency but a lot of other have had great success with the MXR 10 band.

 

[plan-x]

Metal and numetal with an OCD? How about the MI Audio Tube Zone. That pedal can do numetal, as well as classic tones. The Keeley Metal Zone has some mojo in the metal camp also.

 

[jdurso]

Metal and numetal with an OCD? How about the MI Audio Tube Zone. That pedal can do numetal, as well as classic tones. The Keeley Metal Zone has some mojo in the metal camp also.

yeah when you use it front of your high gain channels on your amp. There is a very slight yet powerful change. You start to get more harmonics on single notes leads and full chords. I also like the pick response you get. Everything is very tight yet very full. The OCD infront of a clean channel will get you no where near metal and if thats the intention of the OD pedal than look towards the Tube Zone. but if the intention is infront of an already high gain type tone i like what the OCD adds. I dont think of an OD as a distortion pedal because its more of a tool to bump certain frequencies and add richer harmonics to you tone not to get you a balls to the wall metal tone when its infront of a clean channel.

 

[rvschulz]

i guess i'm confused ... perhaps it is because i have a slightly different outlook on selection of amps. you say your style is primarily metal and nu-metal ... i assume those sound somewhat the same within reason - not like your genres are country twang and van halen brown sound which are different ends of the spectrum.

i would have thought the Stiletto/Road King/Recto would be there without any pedals.

i play a keeley sd-1 in front of my LSC to get some really raw sounds - but i am mostly clean to bluesy and can get that with no pedals easily.

did this amp not come into your realm perfectly without the pedals > like do you see using this 10% of the time or 100% or what ... inquiring minds want to know - nothing personal mind you. if this was your closet fit in Mesa ... or another reason ?

 

[jdurso]

i guess i'm confused ... perhaps it is because i have a slightly different outlook on selection of amps. you say your style is primarily metal and nu-metal ... i assume those sound somewhat the same within reason - not like your genres are country twang and van halen brown sound which are different ends of the spectrum.

i would have thought the Stiletto/Road King/Recto would be there without any pedals.

i play a keeley sd-1 in front of my LSC to get some really raw sounds - but i am mostly clean to bluesy and can get that with no pedals easily.

did this amp not come into your realm perfectly without the pedals > like do you see using this 10% of the time or 100% or what ... inquiring minds want to know - nothing personal mind you. if this was your closet fit in Mesa ... or another reason ?

i'd check out the other OD thread going on right now because there was a lot of good discussions about that very question. Even with high gain amps an OD can work wonders as far as enhancing the harmonics of a lead tone, tighten up the bottom end, and add a more chunky feel. Plus it can turn a 2 channel amp into a 4 channel amp, or a 4 channel amp into an 8 channel amp with the right OD. Hands down the recto, stiletto and mark iv can do the metal/nu-metal think no problem but adding an OD can add some characteristics to your tone that amp may not be able to do (or any amp for that matter).

 

[stompboxfreak72]

The MXR Zakk Wylde is a pretty weak pedal. The gain control is not very sensitive so the pedal makes noise at low settings and does not sound much different at higher settings.

I like the OCD pedal but I have not used it much despite having it a few months. The Maxon pedal is nice because it can be dialed for minimal gain and then crank the volume on the pedal and it really tightens things up. Tubescreamer circuits will push the mids.... I like the effect most times but some do not care for it.

I would say opinions will vary and no one is right. I like the Maxon or the OCD depending on taste but I do not like the MXR at all. I use mine as a paperweight.

 

[stompboxfreak72]

oops...I more thing.....

The Kerry King EQ gives you the option of running in stereo to multiple amps. Other than that it is the same as the the 10band EQ. Both have gain and volume settings to my knowledge.

 

[Zoomzilla]

oops...I more thing.....

The Kerry King EQ gives you the option of running in stereo to multiple amps. Other than that it is the same as the the 10band EQ. Both have gain and volume settings to my knowledge.

You are correct. Other than the stereo to multiple amps, the KK is no different than the M108. I tried a tube screamer with my DR, I hated it.

 

[fishyfishfish]

Check out Xotics AC Booster.

 

[kissing]

Hey guys thanks for all you help!

Hi rvschulz,
you are right about the RKII. I am also having questions if i really need a OD in the rig. but i have heard how loose the tone of the dual rec can be and its better to have an eq and od to tighten things up. therefore, its kind of an experiment of tones for me.

I have went to the OD post and saw many people are able to add more dimensions into their tone despite some really good amps. i am not looking at a really harsh tone, just wanted something to open up the options. i believe the RKII is already a beast :twisted:

Hey Jdurso,
you having fun with the OCD? i am now in between the Maxon and Fulltone. :?

 

[sbalderrama]

Xotic AC Booster or Seymour Duncan "pickup booster" work well as clean/nearly clean boosts. The BB Preamp is my favorite for lead stuff, as it adds a bit more compression to get that really singing tone.

 

[jdurso]

Hey guys thanks for all you help!

Hi rvschulz,
you are right about the RKII. I am also having questions if i really need a OD in the rig. but i have heard how loose the tone of the dual rec can be and its better to have an eq and od to tighten things up. therefore, its kind of an experiment of tones for me.

I have went to the OD post and saw many people are able to add more dimensions into their tone despite some really good amps. i am not looking at a really harsh tone, just wanted something to open up the options. i believe the RKII is already a beast :twisted:

Hey Jdurso,
you having fun with the OCD? i am now in between the Maxon and Fulltone. :?

dude i was in your state for about the last 5 weeks or so deciding between the two. the OCD was really hard for me to find and i liked the ocd a little better than the maxon with the clean stuff. i am very happy now after getting to bring the pedal home and play it with my own rig. i definitely recommend it but the maxon is killer too.

 

[Kaz]

Hey guys thanks for all you help!

Hi rvschulz,
you are right about the RKII. I am also having questions if i really need a OD in the rig. but i have heard how loose the tone of the dual rec can be and its better to have an eq and od to tighten things up. therefore, its kind of an experiment of tones for me.

I have went to the OD post and saw many people are able to add more dimensions into their tone despite some really good amps. i am not looking at a really harsh tone, just wanted something to open up the options. i believe the RKII is already a beast :twisted:

Hey Jdurso,
you having fun with the OCD? i am now in between the Maxon and Fulltone. :?

dude i was in your state for about the last 5 weeks or so deciding between the two. the OCD was really hard for me to find and i liked the ocd a little better than the maxon with the clean stuff. i am very happy now after getting to bring the pedal home and play it with my own rig. i definitely recommend it but the maxon is killer too.

+1,000,000!!

I finally spent some quality time with my OCD that arrived yesterday and that little brick is a MONSTER! With the RK/Roadster it is an absolutely wonderful match, since you can go from just a pushed clean to AC/DC crunch on 1 & 2 to using it for a ridiculous solo boost and chug machine on 3&4. It made me realize just how truly awesome a great tone can be! And it's still a MESA sound, not 'a different' colorated sound.

 

[jdurso]

Hey guys thanks for all you help!

Hi rvschulz,
you are right about the RKII. I am also having questions if i really need a OD in the rig. but i have heard how loose the tone of the dual rec can be and its better to have an eq and od to tighten things up. therefore, its kind of an experiment of tones for me.

I have went to the OD post and saw many people are able to add more dimensions into their tone despite some really good amps. i am not looking at a really harsh tone, just wanted something to open up the options. i believe the RKII is already a beast :twisted:

Hey Jdurso,
you having fun with the OCD? i am now in between the Maxon and Fulltone. :?

dude i was in your state for about the last 5 weeks or so deciding between the two. the OCD was really hard for me to find and i liked the ocd a little better than the maxon with the clean stuff. i am very happy now after getting to bring the pedal home and play it with my own rig. i definitely recommend it but the maxon is killer too.

+1,000,000!!

I finally spent some quality time with my OCD that arrived yesterday and that little brick is a MONSTER! With the RK/Roadster it is an absolutely wonderful match, since you can go from just a pushed clean to AC/DC crunch on 1 & 2 to using it for a ridiculous solo boost and chug machine on 3&4. It made me realize just how truly awesome a great tone can be! And it's still a MESA sound, not 'a different' colorated sound.

yup... thats basically the way im using it too. I think it's important to note that i have my amp setup the wya i wnat it to sound w/o the OD. Then I adjust the OD so it compliments the amp, not the other way around. I say this because i'm not relying on the OD to be on all the time but to basically (along with the rg-16) give me an 8 channel amp or 8 different tones to work with instead of just 4.

 

[Kaz]

One thing that sometimes you may have to work around though, I find, with an OD is for that insane crunch rhythm it's usually wise to back the gain down a little bit on the amp (like for me it's channel 4) so that things stay under control when I kick in the boost.

But the OCD totally added a new dimension to my amp cause like you said, in addition to the 4 sounds I already like, I have 4 more I can use at will with a single stomp.