Overdrive Pedals - Need Your Honest Opinion Please

[Dusty Rhodes]

xscottx9's quick and dirty reviews are also fairly accurate IMO, with maybe one alteration. The OCD overdrive, while nice enough on a clean channel, is after all an overdrive, and sounds much better in front of an amp's dirty channel. To add even a bit more clarity, I will mention that IME, it depends quite a bit on what kind of amp you are putting it in front of. That's true with any overdrive.

For instance, the OCD, on pretty much everybody's short list as one of the best overdrives ever made by anybody, is very Marshall-y sounding and provides a somewhat full-range tone. Playing it in front of a Marshall or a Stilletto will do different things to those amps' sound than playing it in front of a Recto. An OCD in front of a Recto tames and tightens the muddy bass, puts back the sweet mids, and rounds off the harsher, fizzier highs of the Recto. IOW, it sounds fantastic....better than either the OCD or the Recto sound alone. In front of a JCM-800 or a Stilletto Ace combo, it will give more girth to the bass frequencies and fatten up the mids and highs, compensating for the sometimes thinner sound those EL-34-based amps provide naturally. The same could be said for other full-range boutique overdrives like Fulltone's Fulldrive 2 or GT-500, or the Barber Direct Drive, or the Xotic BB Preamp.

Taking a look at an overdrive like the Tube Screamer or its variants (808, TS-9, Maxon, SD-1, Zakk Wylde OD) that cut more bass and tend to emphasize the upper mids, these overdrives tend to sound better in front of an amp like the Recto, which naturally tends to have a little mid-scoop and a little mud in the bass. They can, of course (and were for years) be used in front of Marshalls or Marshall-sounding amps like the Stilletto, but for today's guitar sounds, there may be too little bass and/or the upper mids can get out of hand.

Now, the modified versions of some of those Tube Screamer-based overdrives tend to give a more full-range response than the stock pedals. They can still produce the sounds of the unmodified pedal, but they can also provide a surprising amount of bass, and can be adjusted to leave out the mid-range bump they usually provide. As such, they can be used quite well with either a Recto or a Marshall-sounding amp.

Clean boosts are a different animal. They give you essentially more of the same sound you're already getting. In front of a Stilletto Ace combo, your mids will fatten up, but you still may not be getting all the low-bass you're wanting, and you may need to dial back on the treble to avoid that amp sounding strident. On a Recto, a clean boost won't give you the mids you need for soloing, and it will only make a muddy bass sound get muddier. Fizzy highs will get even fizzier. The point is, with a clean boost you need to make your tone sound as good as possible to start with, then the clean boost will just give you more of that good tone.

stompboxfreak72 brought up a good point about the Digitech Bad Monkey being a good pedal for the money and often overlooked. Unmodified, it's a more versatile pedal than the unmodified SD-1 since it gives you more control over the bass response especially. However, where that particular pedal is an especially great value is if you modify it a bit to give even better bass response, wider dynamic range on the gain control, and more singing mids. With just a few very cheap DIY mods, that pedal can get you some tones rivalling boutique pedals that cost $100 more.

Great review Chris. One question: When you say "if front of the amp" do you mean NOT running through the FX loop?

 

[Geiri]

I've tried a few overdrives over the years and I found the mxr/custom audio Boost/linedrive to suit me best. It has next to no tonal color it brightens up the guitar signal a tiny bit but other than that it just gives you more of what you already got.

A simple little ******* that gets the job done and soon to be mine again

 

[nathan28]

I have used a rocktron nitro, which is a simple clean boost pedal with my RKII for about a year, i also own a digitech bad monkey and a mxr wylde overdrive.

Rocktron nitro - it gives me more gain, tightens the amp up without changing the tone. The bad thing is that it adds the more fizzy high, and it muddy's up the bass if you dont eq correctly. Does not enhance harmonics. Overall a pretty good option for more oomph.

Bad monkey - Tightens the amp up, it didnt enhance harmonics, it is extremely transparent. But their was just something about it i didnt like.

Mxr Zakk Wylde overdrive - This pedal just currently replaced my rocktron nitro on my pedal board for a boost. I like this pedal alot. Tightens up the bass, adds some upper mid, smooth sounding highs. It adds definition and harmonics. Absolute great pedal. I went to the store to get a ts808 and they didnt have one, im a gear whore and wanted something new to play with so i bought the wylde instead, and im happy as hell. Whats crazy is that i own two artist endorsed products now the dunlop wylde wah and the wylde overdrive. I like zakk wylde and all, but im not a huge fan. It was a accident how i tried the wah and almost the same thing with the overdrive. But he endorses some great stuff. I love the wylde wah and the overdrive is great too.

 

[danvortex]

same with me with the wyld OD, i tried many ODs and this is just the best and it is only 90 $ !!!!!!

 

[Geiri]

Hey danvortex

I tried the wylde overdrive with my express 5:50 and liked it. Haven't tried it with the DR so would you post settings for rythm and lead with the wylde overdrive.

Thanx

 

[danvortex]

what guitar and DR do you have ? Cause it will affect the setings on the OD

 

[danvortex]

if you have a rev G, a bright and high output guitar i suggest you start with theses settings

OD
gain = 0 (very important)
tone= 66%
level = 80%
this doesn't had distortion but kicks the front of the amp very hard and changes the way the preamp sounds. It will had tightness, attack, compression and the distortion will be much more brutal without loosing any definition

DR
red channel, modern, diode, bold, effect loop active with "send" at about 75% and return at 100%
master = 12 o'clock (don't use this one lower than that))
presence = 11 o'clock
bass = 12 o'clock
mids = 1 o'clock
highs = 1 o'clock
gain = 2 o'clock (don't go higher than that or the amp will become muddy)

control the overall volume with the black knob (effect loop active) at the front of the amp

 

[Chris McKinley]

Billq,

Sorry to be so late in responding...I've been away on work for a while. As to the Bad Monkey, try increasing capacitor C5 from the stock 0.047uF to 0.07uF, 0.1uF, or even 0.15uF. The higher the value, the more of the mid boost this will take out, giving a more transparent and full-range boost. Combine that with the fact that the Bad Monkey already gives you the ability to boost the bass significantly, and you can get fairly close to a Fulldrive2 or OCD kind of sound, at least in terms of the tone curve. It still won't have exactly the same sound as those pedals, but then it costs like $1.95 comparitively.

If you've got a good amp to run into, a modded Bad Monkey is good enough to make it sound really nice for not too much money. Very good value for the guitarist on a budget.

SteveP,

If you're running an EL-84 amp, you really don't need to tighten the bass. The EL-84's are very similar to the EL-34's in the Marshall or Stilletto, only a bit brighter and tighter if anything. If you want an overdrive without a mid hump, then I've already gone over a few. The OCD, the Fulldrive2, the Xotic BB Preamp, and the modified Bad Monkey would all fill that bill. However, a fuller range tone response means more bass, and that means a looser bass, not tighter, so you may just have to experiment a bit to find the balance that works for your ears.

Dusty Rhodes,

RE: "When you say "if front of the amp" do you mean NOT running through the FX loop?". Yes, that's exactly what I mean. You will never, ever, ever run any overdrive AFTER the amp's preamp....that is, in the effects loop. That completely defeats the purpose of what all overdrives are designed to do, which is to take your guitar's signal and crank it before it gets to your amp's preamp section.

 

[danvortex]

I forgot to mention 2 important things
1. i found out that my 2 DRs sound better for metal when running EL34s
2. With the settings i gave you you absolutely need a Boss Noïse Gate NS2 or otherwise you'll have too much feedback. Put it just before the amp and not in the effect loop cause it will suck some of your tone out

 

[Steve P]

Thanks Chris!

 

[dodger916]

Now, the modified versions of some of those Tube Screamer-based overdrives tend to give a more full-range response than the stock pedals. They can still produce the sounds of the unmodified pedal, but they can also provide a surprising amount of bass, and can be adjusted to leave out the mid-range bump they usually provide. As such, they can be used quite well with either a Recto or a Marshall-sounding amp.

I bought a TS-9 modded to TS-808 specs from a small, high quality, one-man builder ( http://www.garmopatmods.com/pedalmods.html ). He includes two toggle switches that alter clip and bass - very useful. He also builds in a socket and supplies two chips to go from the 808 sound to a more modern TS-9. I'm still finding new tones after almost a year and I haven't even tried the extra chip yet. Very musical device. Highly recommended. And no...I have no affiliation with him.

 

[Chris McKinley]

I've also heard good things about Garmopat's stuff. I also do the one-man custom shop thing, and generally speaking, it's possible to maintain much higher quality standards as a result compared to either mass producing ala Boss, DOD, etc. or modifying mass-produced units. I've also done mods, and will still do them occasionally, but eventually you just get to a point where you say to yourself, heck, I know what I want and I can do a better job of it than the mass producers anyway, so why not just build it the way I want myself?

It also allows me to make custom one-of-a-kind pedals tailored to exactly what the customer wants rather than making him pick from one or two current production models.

 

[pjrake]

i'm currently using a stock TS9 as a clean boost in front of my DR and it's awesome.

however, i'm considering getting the analogman man TS9 silver mod. has anyone have any experience with this pedal. i'm basically looking for the same thing i have now except more transparent and with higher quality sockets (and a brighter LED! sometimes i can't tell if my pedal is on or not!)

 

[Geiri]

what guitar and DR do you have ? Cause it will affect the setings on the OD

Hey danvortex and thanks for the reply. I' using a new triple channel DR and an ESP Horizon NTII with seymour duncan blackouts active pups. I also have a hush noise gate and tc electronics G sharp.

 

[danvortex]

i don't know if these settings will work with the triple channels, my 2 DRs are 2 channels rev D and G and the settings are not exactly the same for them

 

[Geiri]

Danvortex.

These settings worked just fine. I think I like the vintage mode rather than modern though.

 

[danvortex]

i'm not surprised, the 3 channels have more high fizz than the 2 channels and the vintage mode sounds smoother.

 

[Silverwulf]

I'm a little late to the party, but I use a Rev G for metal with a Maxon OD808 in front. It's been my pedal of choice, although the OCD is excellent as well. Keep in mind that the settings aren't 100% pinpoint accurate, and they'll change from venue to venue slightly. I use EMG equipped guitars and a Mesa 4X12 Traditional with V30's. I also have a high gain JJ front end with JJ 6L6GC's running in EL34 mode. With that said, I use pretty close to the following settings these days:

2 Channel Dual Recto - Bold, Silicon Diodes, Modern, FX Loop Bypassed
Treble - 10:30 to 11:00
Mids - 12 Noon
Bass - 10:30 to 11:00
Presence - 10:30 to 11:00
Gain - 12 Noon
Volume - Varies, but I like to get it up around 10 o'clock when possible.

Maxon OD808
Volume/Output - 12 Noon
Tone - 9:00 to 10:00
Gain - "Off"

I've tried other OD's and liked the OD808 in front the best. If you're looking for a metal tone and have similar gear, that should get you a good start. For 3 channels, you'd have to adjust accordingly.

 

[danvortex]

i agree with most of what silver woolf says, the only thing i would suggest is to try put the effect loop active, run the channel master at 12 (noon) and control the volume with the black pot wich becomes the master for the all amp when effect loop is on. Doing so gives will give you a little something special, try it you'll see

 

[Silverwulf]

i agree with most of what silver woolf says, the only thing i would suggest is to try put the effect loop active, run the channel master at 12 (noon) and control the volume with the black pot wich becomes the master for the all amp when effect loop is on. Doing so gives will give you a little something special, try it you'll see

I haven't used the Recto FX Loop in a long time. I do have a G-Major in the rack I'm going to patch in as soon as I get off my lazy rear and program, so I'll probably start adjusting settings a little at that point.

I also wanted to mention a little bit about the OD pedal I forgot to address earlier. A good majority of guys I see run the pedal output/volume maxed out in front when boosting, but I only run mine at 12 Noon. I do thisd for a few reasons. First is that I feel like it colors the tone less. The OD808 does a wonderful job of maintaining your amps true character to begin with, but setting it around 12 Noon makes it virtually "color-less" in my opinion but still serves it's purpose of tightening up the amp. Second is that around 12 Noon sets it right around that unity gain level where it doesn't change your output levels when it's on. I like that because it's easy to keep volumes under control, and I like to sometimes use the OD on my clean channel just to give it a little grit at certain times when I don't want pristine clean, and it's easy to control the grit with your pick attack. With the volume maxed on the OD, you get an overpowering boost on the clean channel with it active versus when it's off. With the output at 12 Noon, you don't have that problem.

So, that's why I use the OD's output around 12 Noon instead of maxed out like most people.