Why an OD Pedal??

[Core9]

I think the correct statement should be,
"The Stilleto doesn't sound like a Marshall." Which is a good thing, especially the way the newer Marshall designs sound. The British flavor comes from the power section and pre-amp tweaks. I think Mesa was trying to put into a Mesa amp something Marshall couldn't.

 

[scruffydoo]

Don't take it personal. But when you say Mesa's don't do the British sound you're way off base.

I didn't say that either, I just said the brit setting on the roadster isn't my cup 'o' tea (although I've put no time into tweaking it or exploring it at all), I haven't tried many other mesa's so I haven't a clue how they sound.

It made my ch2 slightly redundant which is my reason for using an OD pedal which was your original query. Whatever gets you the sound you want is all fine with me mate

 

[srf399]

It's all personal preference. If we were standing and talking amps, effects, etc... We'd agree that it's all subjective. And truth be told if you heard my guitar and effects through a stiletto or I heard your gear with the Marshall we might both go... **** that sounds fantastic. Every amp sounds a little different with different guitars, players touch, effects, cables, tubes, speakers, style of music... well you get my point. I sounded over the top biased... sorry about that My point is my setup with the Stiletto nails any Marshall sound I've ever been after. I've owned and played Marshall and never been as satisfied with the EL34 tone like I currently am.

 

[jdurso]

It's all personal preference. If we were standing and talking amps, effects, etc... We'd agree that it's all subjective. And truth be told if you heard my guitar and effects through a stiletto or I heard your gear with the Marshall we might both go... sh!t that sounds fantastic. Every amp sounds a little different with different guitars, players touch, effects, cables, tubes, speakers, style of music... well you get my point. I sounded over the top biased... sorry about that My point is my setup with the Stiletto nails any Marshall sound I've ever been after. I've owned and played Marshall and never been as satisfied with the EL34 tone like I currently am.

so true... a book that dives into the science of this that i highly recommend is "This is your brain on music". I think every musician should read it.

 

[twostring]

The only thing I've been able to use "brit" mode for is SRV/Hendrix clean/mild grit tones. It makes the amp much brighter and it seems easier to cop that tone in brit mode than anything else.

 

[boogiemonster]

There's nothing wrong with being tone promiscuous! I like trying different pedals to get different sounds. The only problem with putting a pedal in front of a good amp is when it is a cheaper mass produced pedal that adds a lot of undesirable noise into your high-end amp's quiet signal.

The last two pedals I bought were the Radial Tonebone Hot British Plexitube and a Diamond Fireburst. Demos below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go-ilMukOT4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kqR0rr6STY

 

[scruffydoo]

My point is my setup with the Stiletto nails any Marshall sound I've ever been after. I've owned and played Marshall and never been as satisfied with the EL34 tone like I currently am.

Actually Im thinking of bailing out on the marshall and switching to the stiletto, Ive heard some great tones from them lately, makes the marshall sound a bit thin. more GAS :roll:

 

[NDRU]

I was thinking of this topic las night as I played on my F-30. I switched between the amp's drive and my OCD.

The amp's drive definitely sounded more natural, and I was feeling that for a while. But after dialing in the OCD, it sounded cooler, if slightly more processed.

So each had it's merit, but by the end of the night I was sticking with the OCD. I'm sure tomorrow will be a different story.

 

[Core9]

Not to highjack a thread, but since everybody keeps talking about the OCD as the best option for those who want to boost, which version is the best and why?. My understanding is that there are 4 different versions of it.

 

[jdurso]

Not to highjack a thread, but since everybody keeps talking about the OCD as the best option for those who want to boost, which version is the best and why?. My understanding is that there are 4 different versions of it.

this explains the versions: http://www.pedalarea.com/ocd.htm

but i havent tried any other except the v4

 

[MusicManJP6]

I agree with all of the above. I keep channel 1 on fat clean but sparkling clean. Sound 2 is that with TS-9 which is a nice creamy sound. Sound 3 is fat clean with BD-2 full drive which is a nice crunch sound for rhythm and cleans up with volume knob. Sound 4 is fat clean with TS-9 and BD-2 together - this is a great driven blues tone for Hendrix type tone. Sound 5 is fluid drive alone which is a great high gain tone for classic rock tones. Sound 6 is fluid drive with TS-9 which just pushes the drive channel into a sweet smooth sustain. By adding 2 pedals, I have 6 tone options out of a 2 channel amp with fairly minimal tap dancing. If I'm ever rich enough I'll get a G System so I can put the stomps in the loops and assign them and amp channel to patches = 1 touch will give me any of the 6 tones plus fx. I do a little tap dancing now with the midi mate and G Major, but it's workable 8)

Wow, love it! I'm heading in that direction as well. I've got a Keeley SD-1 already, and a BD-2 on the way this week just for the combinations you pointed out (or similar). I love the combination of pedals and amp gain for varying levels of gain. Are you running the BD-2 with gain maxed?

 

[Core9]

Not to highjack a thread, but since everybody keeps talking about the OCD as the best option for those who want to boost, which version is the best and why?. My understanding is that there are 4 different versions of it.

this explains the versions: http://www.pedalarea.com/ocd.htm

but i havent tried any other except the v4

Thanks

 

[Kaz]

This thread is win, folks. Pure win. It also demands a Fulltone OCD fanclub.

I'm ever rich enough I'll get a G System so I can put the stomps in the loops and assign them and amp channel to patches = 1 touch will give me any of the 6 tones plus fx. I do a little tap dancing now with the midi mate and G Major, but it's workable

I'm headed in that exact direction. Hopefully I'll have the setup together by the end of the year.

 

[MusicManJP6]

The OD makes the amp go to 11...

That about sums it all up! Thread closed! :lol:

 

[twostring]

Wow, love it! I'm heading in that direction as well. I've got a Keeley SD-1 already, and a BD-2 on the way this week just for the combinations you pointed out (or similar). I love the combination of pedals and amp gain for varying levels of gain. Are you running the BD-2 with gain maxed?

Seems there are several with this magical combination. The SD-1 and TS-9 are very similar. What is it about this combination that is so great for you guys? For me, the BD-2 is my clean boost with a little grit. The TS-9 is the fatter-maker for everything (usually used for leads because the BD-2 is used just for rhythm, although it's usually on when I kick in the TS-9).

I feel the TS-9 will always have a place, but I feel that I'm about to build another overdrive like the one below.

I just finished this custom build for a customer, and I ran into a few mods than really made a huge difference in the pedal (clipping arrangement and the all important FAT knob...really, I can't imagine a tube screamer without it now). This build seemed to clean up a lot better with volume as well...more like my BD-2, but it can still get fat like my TS-9. It's a nice in-between.

Anyone ever try an Analog Man King of Tone? I've heard nothing but good about those and am interested in hearing what the tone hounds here think of it.

 

[Newysurfer]

I have the Maxon TS-9 mod'ed by Analogman to a TS-808. Bought it pre-mod'ed only a few months ago. It's true bypass, has better tones, is smoother & has more gain than the standard pedal.

All up the Analogman one and the Keeley mod'ed pedals are THE best tubescreamers money can buy IMHO. They're great running into your clean channel and they send your dirt channel into outer space as a booster. I don't rate any of the Boss OD or distortion pedals.

The OCD is an excellent pedal too but I prefer the mod'ed Maxon TS-808 both as an OD and a booster. The OCD is primarily a distortion pedal with an American flavour. For distortion I use my amp and an MI Audio Crunchbox with is my fav for cranked Marshall in a box dist tones. It also has significantly more gain than an OCD and is a great metal pedal too if you mid scoop it with a good EQ pedal.

 

[Rocky]

The OCD is voiced to have a british flavor.

I used to use an analogman Maxon OD-9 modded to 808 spec....then I tried a Homebrew Powerscreamer and the Maxon was sold almost straight away. Amazing Tubescreamer clone...very versatile and very good sounding. The boost feature actually sounds good too.

 

[insideout]

I'm headed in that exact direction. Hopefully I'll have the setup together by the end of the year.

Gratz Kaz!! I'd love to be able to do that. It offers all the ease and configurability of a modeler (patches) with the yumminess of analog gear/tone. Best of both worlds 8)

Wow, love it! I'm heading in that direction as well. I've got a Keeley SD-1 already, and a BD-2 on the way this week just for the combinations you pointed out (or similar). I love the combination of pedals and amp gain for varying levels of gain. Are you running the BD-2 with gain maxed?

The answer is yes, my BD-2 is maxed gain. However, I never use it on the gain channel of the amp, because the BD-2 just sounds clunky. I use it and the TS-9 (together or seperately depending on desired tone) on the clean. For my gain channel I only put the TS-9 in front when I want to kick it to 11 :lol: .

I certainly will never claim to have tone anyhwere near Eric Johnson, but I've read several times that he achieves his tones by stacking OD pedals in front of a slightly overdriven amp channel. I can't explain the technical reasons, but adding gain in stages like that seems to provide a beautiful singing quality to the tone. I also love the balls to the wall high gain of my amp which is why I do it both ways. 8) . Gratz on your new pedals - this is fun stuff aint it

 

[Core9]

I certainly will never claim to have tone anyhwere near Eric Johnson, but I've read several times that he achieves his tones by stacking OD pedals in front of a slightly overdriven amp channel. I can't explain the technical reasons, but adding gain in stages like that seems to provide a beautiful singing quality to the tone.

Eric Johnson runs Blues Driver pedals and or rack units. I don't think the rack units are made anymore. The basis of his tone and gain stages is that he runs each to the point of natural compression (but not into buzzy distortion), which then feeds into the next gain stage which is driven to the point of natural compression, so on and so on. This set up acts somewhat like a good compressor and promotes long sustain. It also keeps a smooth tone, ala the Eric Johnson tone.

 

[MusicManJP6]

The answer is yes, my BD-2 is maxed gain. However, I never use it on the gain channel of the amp, because the BD-2 just sounds clunky. I use it and the TS-9 (together or seperately depending on desired tone) on the clean. For my gain channel I only put the TS-9 in front when I want to kick it to 11 :lol: .

I certainly will never claim to have tone anyhwere near Eric Johnson, but I've read several times that he achieves his tones by stacking OD pedals in front of a slightly overdriven amp channel. I can't explain the technical reasons, but adding gain in stages like that seems to provide a beautiful singing quality to the tone. I also love the balls to the wall high gain of my amp which is why I do it both ways. 8) . Gratz on your new pedals - this is fun stuff aint it

Yeah, it's all about having fun for sure! I started with your setup then messed with it a bit ago and ended up putting the BD first then the SD in front and setting them both for unity volume in the clean channel with the BD gain at 10:00 and the SD gain at noon. The more I play with the SD the more I think I may be happier with something else. It has a nice overdrive but it is kind of EL84 sounding. Kind of mushy I guess would be the word. I guess it works best as a boost rather than for crunch...