Need recommendations for a "Crunch" pedal

cyber104 · Jan 16, 2015

Hi All:

I have a Series 2 Rectoverb and I am currently using a Bad Monkey pedal on the Clean Channel when I want some distortion - but not the fluid distortion of Channel 2. The Bad Monkey is OK - but just OK - I'm hoping for something a bit more open sounding.

I'm trying to get a tone similar to Foo Fighters "Everlong" (obviously the distorted part) or STP "Interstate Love Song".

I realize that I could probably get close by using "Pushed" on Channel 1 or by dialing back the gain on Channel 2 - but I don't want to do that because I use a Loop Master/Channel Switcher so that I basically have 3 channels. I have a great clean, a great modern hi-gain - now I just need a better pedal to get somewhere in between.

Your thoughts are most welcome.

Thanks

2 Boogie · Jan 16, 2015

Hello Cyber104!

I think the most dirt pedal will do the trick, what kind of crunch sound are you looking for?
If you only want to push the channel of the amp, then a good transparent Booster is the way to go.

Some good pedals I have is:

Mesa Boogie Grid Slammer
Mesa Boogie Flux Drive
Wampler Pinnacle II Deluxe
Wampler Plexi Drive
Wampler Paisley Drive
Fulltone OCD v3
Rockbox Boiling Point
MXR ZW-44 Overdrive
Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive
Lovepedal Superlead
Xotic RC Booster
Hermida Zendrive
BJF Honey Bee OD
BJF Dyna Red Distortion
Mad Professor Sweet Honey OD

This is only some I have, but they sound all good with different flavour and amount of gain.
I like them all, it depends on what kind of sound I like.

Hope that this will guide you a little bit.

Dreamtheaterrules · Jan 17, 2015

KiwiJoe · Feb 22, 2015

Blaklynx · Mar 5, 2015

Since you're on Clean mode, I'd suggest a two pedal cascade setup. You want a tubey sound. I had a Rectoverb Series II and I can say that the Clean-Pushed sounded killer when pushed with good pedals.

In Clean mode, it required a bit more effort. The clean just sounded a bit thin and dry when driven with a pedal. To me it didn't sound full / huge. It sounded one-dimensional. I'm assuming you're hearing the same thing.

Apart from the pedals mentioned earlier by 2 Boogie (I have about half from that list) plus about another 20 others I own, I can say that MI Audio's Crunch Box and Tube Zone go very well together. They need to be adjusted accordingly and they provide different tones depending on the set up order.

The Tube Zone is a bit bass-heavy on it's own and has a great deal of drive when turned up. I found that a good EQ pedal after it can tame that side when used on it's own. The Crunch Box is a ripper pedal. JCM all the way and more. Since the Tube Zone is more an overdrive pedal and the Crunch Box is more a distortion pedal, together, if set up properly, can sound unbelievably good.

All I can say is try them out if you can. Search youtube to get an idea.

Also consider an EQ pedal after a drive pedal. A single tone knob does not have the adjustment required to make quality EQ changes. Even a good drive pedal can sound much better with an EQ after it. EQ pedals are gold as far as I'm concerned. The MXR 10 band is a good pedal.

Wampler's range is also excellent. Some of my favourite pedals I own.

Good luck.