Looking for a boost pedal....down to two choices

[kirkster57]

Go with the OCD. I just got mine today and it is awesome! Best OD pedal ever. It breathes life inot the amp. Finally..the tone I have been searching for.

Kirkster

I've been looking something to boost the front end of my 2 channel Dual Rectifier for solos and stuff, and I've come down to 2 choices. Unfortunately, I can't try out either of these locally.

First is the Maxon OD808.

Second is the Fulltone OCD.

I've heard good things about both of these, but there's nowhere local that sells either one of them.

Right now, I'm using a stock Boss DS-1 that I had lying around, and it just sounds ok for boosting leads and such. It makes the amp sound muddy, but it does get a nice midrange. Even with the gain turned all the way down, I can use it on the clean channel and get a very, very dirty sound. But, it doesn't get a very good tone, and like I said, it's just too muddy for me.

I'd like to have something that I could set up for a volume boost, but will get a nice smooth tone also.
Any input on these two pedals would be greatly appriciated.

 

[nitrous2400]

+1 OCD I've been lookin to snag an OCD or a Klon Centaur Pedal for the longest time

 

[mikey383]

You might also take a look at the Xiotic effects line. The AC, DC and BB Preamp. Great sounds all the way around.

I looked at the BB preamp, and I was intrigued by that pedal.

But, there have been numerous suggestions for the OCD.

So, once again, I'm back at square one, but with two different choices now

I wish there was a place locally that I could try each one out. Since there's not, I'm taking a shot in the dark, and just hoping that I'm going to like what I get.

 

[djw]

Mikey, this kind of thing is always going to boil down to personal taste. Your attack, how you set it and use it, all of that is going to influence what works best.

There was a great comment in a good thread about this very thing: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19413#142402

The Barber LTD was intriguing to me as a boost w/gain for a little while... but in the end, I went for the OCD, not because it was perfect but because it was really fun to play with AND is probably now my favorite OD pedal period. It seems to work both as a boost and as juice by itself. I highly recommend it just purely on its own merit. Fulltone has some good samples on their site you can check out.

I've never been able to figure out what the deal is with tube screamers and their derivatives. Too midrangey for my taste, I guess. But someone commented above that this might be more appropriate in your case.

 

[Daxman73]

There seems to be many great ideas here and most of them I've heard...They all sound real good, depending on how you use them...Has anybody tried the Bradshaw boost yet from Dunlop?

 

[stompboxfreak72]

I have the OCD, the Xotic BB preamp and the Xotic AC Booster.

( I also have the Analogman Modded SD-1, Analogman Modded YJM250, Analogman modded Maxon Tubescreamer, Keeley modded DS-1, Zakk Wylde overdrive and a Digitech Bad Monkey).

I know how hard it is to find the tone in my head.

I have used the Maxon Tubescreamer longer than any other pedal. It does not quite give my the shred type liquidy feel that I crave but it sounds so good that I stick it on the pedalboard often.

The Xotic BB has more gain and no midrange hump. It is my favorite at the moment. I turn the gain down on my DR when using this pedal so I can push it a little more. I do not like the BB on clean sounds since I tend to run it a bit hot.

This is why I bought the AC Booster. Great pedal but I have only used it at one gig so the honeymoon is still on.

and the OCD pedal......just bought it yesterday and have not tried it on my DR yet. Sounds killer on my practice rig but that doesn't mean much.

My best advice.......buy em all and strap all 10 of them on a pedalboard since they all do something well.

 

[MasterTrax]

Overdrives: I can tell you the difference between the 808 and OD9. I have had both (and uncounted numbers of others) right here in the studio and A/Bed them endlessly through the same amps.

They sound a bit similar in that they both produce the trademark tubescreamer "velvetness." The OD9's tone is more robust with a tiny bit more gain and a lot more bottom end. By comparison the 808 sounds a little bit thinner and just a tad nasal. This is neither good or bad ...it depends entirely on the amp it's in front of. An 808 might be a better choice for taming the huge bottom end of a recto rig for soloing, for example. Both models can sound very smooth. I slightly prefer the OD9 for my amps.

Comparing the screamer-type ODs to the OCD: The OCD is more scooped in the mids, has a less smooth voice and is capable of more gain than the screamer type ODs. The OCD also will steal less of the low end frequencies from your signal. Nice into a clean Fender amp, but not my cup of tea for a solo boost into a high gain amp.

Clean Boosts: I've owned and auditioned dozens. My two favorites have been the Xotic RC Booster and the boost I consider to be one of the greatest pedals ever built - Catalinbread's Super Chile Picoso. Of the two the SCP is the most transparent and musical, but there is something evilly mischievous that the RC does which makes me keep one here at the studio.

Bottom line, for a recto amp (which I have owned and recorded with) I think I would probably end up with an 808 in front for solos and an SCP booster in the loop to clear the congestion and tighten things up.

Remember, my suggestions might sound like poop to your ears...only you will know what sounds best in your rig. These are simply my experiences.

 

[MasterTrax]

oops, double post, sorry.

 

[nathan28]

Kirkster so you love the ocd?? I told you man, incredible od.

 

[Finnster]

Check out the new BB Plus +

It is two pedals in one, I just received mine yesterday...still foolin with it....it has many options.

 

[kirkster57]

Yep..best OD pedal I have owned. And I own/have owned a bunch. It pretty much deos it all. I like how it makes my recto sound better which not messing with it's overall tonality/feel.

kirkster

Kirkster so you love the ocd?? I told you man, incredible od.

 

[stompboxfreak72]

I got a chance to hook up my OCD this weekend and it is a good distortion pedal but I am not blown away by it. Keep in mind I used it for about an hour and that may well explain my opinion.

What I do like about the OCD is that is does not compress your tone like the BB does. I did not realize how much the BB does this until I A/B'd the OCD with the BB. I also experimented with putting the AC Booster before and after the BB and OCD. I really liked some of the tones I generated by placing the AC after the other pedals. I am not convinced on how well this would work live but I will try it this weekend at my next gig.

 

[mikey383]

Well, I went with the OCD. It should be here sometime this week. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I'll like it.

 

[djw]

Well, I went with the OCD. It should be here sometime this week. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I'll like it.

Excellent. I really like my OCD. So far it has given me the best balance between crisp transparency and ballsy OD that I've heard, for the money at least. I basically have not been really happy with a stomp box until I got ahold of this. Even if I weed it out of my pedalboard someday, it'll come in handy for scaled-down setups when I'm not taking my whole rig along. By itself it's pretty sweet.

 

[decosteonline]

have you guys tried out the keeley mods for the boss OD pedals? i use his ds-1 & bd-1 pedals. they're amazingly clean.

 

[mechanic]

FYI, I picked up a new Maxon OD-808 a few days ago. I bought it based on reviews/opinions of Boogie Board members... WOW! I love it. I play metal, and have always found my DR to be very boomy/muddy/loose with the gain up (7-8 range). A direct comparison of no 808 and gain on 7.5 vs. 808 with the gain on 5-6 blew my mind. Very tight (relatively speaking) and just plain better IMHO. I even prefer using a slight amount of overdrive from the pedal (anywhere between 1-3) over pushing the DR gain above 6. I would highly recommend the OD-808 to any DR owner experiencing this problem.

\m/ \m/

 

[MiSeRY]

FYI, I picked up a new Maxon OD-808 a few days ago. I bought it based on reviews/opinions of Boogie Board members... WOW! I love it. I play metal, and have always found my DR to be very boomy/muddy/loose with the gain up (7-8 range). A direct comparison of no 808 and gain on 7.5 vs. 808 with the gain on 5-6 blew my mind. Very tight (relatively speaking) and just plain better IMHO. I even prefer using a slight amount of overdrive from the pedal (anywhere between 1-3) over pushing the DR gain above 6. I would highly recommend the OD-808 to any DR owner experiencing this problem.

\m/ \m/

thanks for this info. i have been having this problem with my dual rec for ages. i'll give it a shot.

 

[mikey383]

I got the OCD yesterday. I'm anxious to try it out, but all my gear is in my studio - half an hour away - but I'll be there later this week to give it a shot. I just don't know if I'll be able to wait that long...the anticipation is killing me

BTW, I stuck a cable in the input just to see how bright the LED is, and that sucker is mega-bright! It kinda blinded me for a minute.

 

[stompboxfreak72]

I got a chance to hook up my OCD this weekend and it is a good distortion pedal but I am not blown away by it. Keep in mind I used it for about an hour and that may well explain my opinion.

What I do like about the OCD is that is does not compress your tone like the BB does. I did not realize how much the BB does this until I A/B'd the OCD with the BB. I also experimented with putting the AC Booster before and after the BB and OCD. I really liked some of the tones I generated by placing the AC after the other pedals. I am not convinced on how well this would work live but I will try it this weekend at my next gig.

Revision : the OCD rocks ! I have to run it in LP with most of my guitars but it really is a tone meister ! Sounds better with some guitars than others. Im going to try it tonight with my SR that is loaded with El34's and see how that works out.

 

[Chris McKinley]

stompboxfreak72,

RE: "I got a chance to hook up my OCD this weekend and it is a good distortion pedal but I am not blown away by it. Keep in mind I used it for about an hour and that may well explain my opinion.". I noticed in your revision that you like the OCD now. I'm also wondering, from your above statement that I quoted, if you realized that the OCD isn't a distortion pedal, but an overdrive, and if that had anything to do with why you changed your mind about it?