OD question

[ibegyourpardon]

I think I am going to set an OD pedal for a clean boost for my recto to smooth out the gain. How much would the tone differ for a distortion pedal set at a clean boost? I took my old DS-1 and set it for 0 gain and I cranked the "level" knob and it sounded like poop. Would a real OD pedal sound better than a distortion pedal when set for a clean boost?

 

[screamingdaisy]

I don't find it really smooths out the gain when used that way, but it does add punch and tightens things up quite a bit.

If you want to smooth things out, get something like a Tubescreamer, set it to gain 7, level 4 (or so), and drop your amp gain down a touch. The TS has it's own compression built into it which'll give you a much smoother gain tone.

 

[cvansickle]

A compressor would be my choice to "smooth out the gain."

 

[Boogiebabies]

Rolling the volume knob down on the guitar is my way. No tap dancing or funk in my signal path. A purists view.


Whats up screamingdaisy!!! I caught your malaise.

 

[tele_jas]

Theres those Seymour Duncan pickup boosters.. They are supposed to be a clean boost and the Marshall Bluesbreaker II pedal has a clean boost option and a overdrive setting.

The Tubescreamer is another option, but it does add a few more mids to your tone, an EQ pedal or compression pedal would work too.

 

[Kung-Fool]

I've noticed my SD-1 tightens the sound but doesn't smooth out the sound but my MXR ZW44 OD does both. I set it like this Output-2:30/Tone-11:00/Gain-0. You could also use an eq or compression pedal as mentioned above. A regular distortion pedal isn't going to do what you're looking for.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Whats up screamingdaisy!!! I caught your malaise.

Feeling good.....picked up another head the other day and I've been rocking out ever since.

 

[TheRazMeister]

Kung....I''ve been a fan of the ZW-44 for awhile since my buddy at GC who owns a Maverick turned me on to it...I honestly don't understand this love affair everyone has with the tubescreamers....they make MUCH more noise than the ZW if boost is all you're looking for. The ZW is colorless to my ears whereas the TS changes your tone.

I've noticed my SD-1 tightens the sound but doesn't smooth out the sound but my MXR ZW44 OD does both. I set it like this Output-2:30/Tone-11:00/Gain-0. You could also use an eq or compression pedal as mentioned above. A regular distortion pedal isn't going to do what you're looking for.

 

[Kung-Fool]

I've found the same thing.