help me find a good od pedal

[oneamongthefence]

So i've been interested in getting an od pedal. I am very satisfied with both my clean and modern channels, but there are times when i would like to add a bit of warm crunch to my clean channel. I have been looking around alot on the internet and from what i can tell, the xotic bb preamp, the maxon 808 and the boss sd-1 seems to fit that to some degree. Does anyone else have any recommendations for a different pedal, or has anyone had experience with these pedals and can tell me how they are? What i'm looking for is a warm blues crunch to add to my clean channel, kinda like a david gilmour blues crunch on some of his more modern tours (granted i couldnt come anywhere near that sound...but just an example of the type of sound). Anyways, i'd appreciate all the help i can get. thanks

 

[Chris McKinley]

Those are good choices, but I would never use an unmodified SD-1, for my personal tastes. It's one of the easiest and most versatile pedals to modify out there, so there's no excuse for leaving it stock IMO. You might also check out the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 or GT-500. In fact, for exactly the tone you're describing, I haven't heard a better OD than the one in the GT-500. To be fair, I'm completely disappointed in the distortion tone of that pedal, but the OD is fantastic for warmer tones.

The OCD can also be a very good choice if you dial back on the gain and make sure you're not running through an amp with weak mids and too much woofy blanketed bass.

 

[Steve@Russo]

have you looked at the nick greer batch o *** ?

 

[Chris McKinley]

Wow. Somebody needs some marketing help.

 

[iFreedom]

I have the Tim and think it's fantastic but it wont give you a mid bump if that's what you're interested in. I also think the kalamazoo, amp11 and kanji sound great by lovepedal.

Also, the Tim can simply do a clean boost as it's very transparent.

 

[Steve@Russo]

haha yeah, I always just hand it to the customers never say the name out loud!

 

[droptrd]

The only advice I can give you is buy used. So you can flip ODs around til you find "The One". Too many different flavors out there.

 

[oneamongthefence]

The only advice I can give you is buy used. So you can flip ODs around til you find "The One". Too many different flavors out there.

That is sound advice. and when i find the right pedal...i may even put a label on it saying "The One"

Thanks for the replies everyone...looks like i got some testing to do.

 

[94Tremoverb]

Those are good choices, but I would never use an unmodified SD-1, for my personal tastes. It's one of the easiest and most versatile pedals to modify out there, so there's no excuse for leaving it stock IMO.

My excuse was that I was going to mod it, but when I tried it stock for reference before I started, it was so amazing that I decided not to mess up a good thing. If it sounds *that* great stock (better than any other pedal I've ever tried with this amp, which admittedly is not all of them ), why mod it?

I've modded a lot of pedals over the years and I would nearly go so far as to say that very few of them ever really sounded *better* - different yes, but not better (discounting things like lower noise). And most of the expensive ones were no better and in most cases not as good as the cheap ones...

 

[gonzo]

my favorite, and what i use:

a couple of other killer pedals, of varying degrees of gain or drive:

i can't tell you how after many years of using and demo'ing most everything on the market, how impressed i am with the barber stuff.

i also have the barber tone press, did an extensive review of it in this forum.....

no, i aint no schill for barber, just a fan of the product.

i have tons of clips if anyone's interested, of the DDSS in action.

 

[gonzo]

something else to consider.....


a clean boost.


this is what i use, to juice my MKIIb:

perfect for doing exactly this:

....times when i would like to add a bit of warm crunch to my clean channel.

 

[oneamongthefence]

wow you guys really gave me a lot to check out. pedals i've never heard of. That's why i love this forum board... it's the best kept secret offering advice on the best kept secrets out there in tone. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Laskyman]

I love the Maxon OD808, but recently turned it for a VS2 Route 66...it is a great pedal- decent comp on one side, and a great TS type circuit on the other..(the cool thing about it is the Bass Boost which really opens it up, as well as having much more headroom than the Maxon). Truly an incredible value and a great build quality...check it out.

 

[boogietone]

I just ordered a Barber Half Gainer. Should be here tomorrow.
Here's a clip off youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b10xtifeyTc
Looking for the same thing as the OP. This to me looks promising and verstaile with it's channel 2.

 

[Vogelsong]

I love the Maxon OD808, but recently turned it for a VS2 Route 66...it is a great pedal- decent comp on one side, and a great TS type circuit on the other..(the cool thing about it is the Bass Boost which really opens it up, as well as having much more headroom than the Maxon). Truly an incredible value and a great build quality...check it out.

Im thinking about buying the comp66 which is the compressor side of that pedal.

Sounds like you like overall. Do you have any clips of the compressor?

 

[FXR]

something else to consider.....


a clean boost.

perfect for doing exactly this:

....times when i would like to add a bit of warm crunch to my clean channel.

This.

I got scolded by a more experienced Mesa user for pumping gain from a Bad Monkey into my amp. He reduced the pedal to a volume and tone control and it works great for volume bump and some tone shaping.

 

[oneamongthefence]

I just ordered a Barber Half Gainer. Should be here tomorrow.
Here's a clip off youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b10xtifeyTc
Looking for the same thing as the OP. This to me looks promising and verstaile with it's channel 2.

yeah that does sound good. I may have to check that out.

 

[Chris McKinley]

More important than finding just the exact brand of OD that's absolutely perfect is to educate yourself in detail first on exactly what it is an OD does and what precisely you are wanting it to do for your tone. Most folks don't have much of an idea of either one before they go and start plunking down cash, trying this and that. That is definitely the most expensive possible way to learn, and even after you've tried everything on the market, there's still no guarantee you will have learned what's even going on anyway.

Trust me, the more precisely you can define what exact kind of tone you're looking to achieve and the more you know what OD's, boosts, EQ's, compressors, etc. even do, the more likely you are to find what you really like, and to do it without spending a veritable fortune over the years.

 

[boogietone]

Got the Barber Half Gainer. Looks like it will work out perfectly. Sounds great. I like this way better
than the Xotic AC+ I had. Not bashing Xotic at all, I like their pedals. The Barber has two channels.
I have one set up for a little dirt and channel two for a bit more dirt. There is also two internal trim
pots inside to adjust presence and bass. Pedal sounds very organic. I think I read somewhere it is
basically two LTD's. Just my two cents. Good luck!

 

[oneamongthefence]

Just got the bb preamp. I must say i am very impressed with it. It's exactly what i was looking for. Very warm. Sounds great on my clean channel. Although i plan on trying others out, i must say this one set the bar very high and just may end up on my board.