Overdrive

[MTM105]

I am experimenting with my chain.

My Tube Works Real Tube sounds really different after distortion and it sounds like more like a pre-amp rather than an overdrive. I also have a Screaming Blues in front of distortion.

I forgot to include in the poll:

1) Just use overdrive

2) Who cares? This poll sucks.

[SirDouglas]

i use the amps(Marshall mg100hdfx) overdrive and 3 distortion pedals on my board...

Randy

[pesocaster]

never used 2 dirt boxes at once...... although I would run the hotter box into the cleaner box for a bump......

BUT if you are using a tube amp with just a bit of drive.... I would only use a mild drive (overdrive) to push the front end of the amp.... Not sure if that helps or not....

[Mr Fuzzy]

I like the overdrive before distortion.

This way I can kick the distortion up a notch if needed.

That said it is very rarely needed.

[Nuclear Wessel]

I never use both either. It's either my amp's overdrive, which has a more Marshall-esque crunch, or an overdrive pedal going to my clean channel, to get a blues overdrive sound - a little breakup and grit without the heavy crunch.

[custom53]

Oh, I thought this was a fanmail post about Craig and Carys band in Columbus...

Har, Har...

I'm in a strange mood tonight...

[MTM105]

I never use both either. It's either my amp's overdrive, which has a more Marshall-esque crunch, or an overdrive pedal going to my clean channel, to get a blues overdrive sound - a little breakup and grit without the heavy crunch.

I tend to side with Mr Fuzzy. For years I pushed an SD-2 through an Ibanez Fat Cat.

I don't know how to play any differently???

After 20 + years, maybe I am still clueless?

I play guitar like a girlie man, at rather low volumes hen pecked by the spouse to turn it down.

Just recently I switched my chain around and after 20 years of playing always with an overdrive punch on top of distortion, my multi-effects seems to be very qualified to play, minus additional overdrive pedal. Who knows????

[wyldbil]

My 5150 head gets me exactly where I want to be, no outboard needed...

[straightblues]

In my younger days I ran guitar into tube screamer, into a Blues Driver, into a DS-1. I would leave the Tube Screamer on all the time. I would then add the other two. I would frrequently use all three at once. If you put mild overdrive distortion on each of them this produces a really nice sound.

[riffpowers]

I use my Matamp's gain for my main overdrive, but I use a maxon od820 set at a slightly dirty boost for solos.

I read an interesting article by Pete Cornish about this.He said if you use a od or fuzz pedal for your main sound and another pedal for a volume boost, put that pedal at the end of the chain otherwise all you do is add noise rather than volume.

[MTM105]

In my younger days I ran guitar into tube screamer, into a Blues Driver, into a DS-1. I would leave the Tube Screamer on all the time. I would then add the other two. I would frrequently use all three at once. If you put mild overdrive distortion on each of them this produces a really nice sound.

THat was my operendus modus for years. I was using 3 (Real Tube, SD-1 and either Rat or Govner on multi effects). I read about guitarists using one or none and didn't know why I was using three all of the time?

Until recently, I swich some effects around on the chain. I got rid of my chain 2 years back from this kind of frustration, the I bought Boss ME 50 multi thinking it was the alpha and omega, then found I was missing "my sound" and went back to installing pedals on top of it and now I have several more than I had originally.

Now I find the original ME 50 tones and it has plenty with spades; and occasionally use the OD option and add OD boost(s).

Rocktron Nitro is essential for subtle compressed tonal enhancement.

[JohnnyThunders]

I'm amazed by people with the pedal boards from hell, like Boris guitar player Wata who has 12 pedals all chained togheter, sounded awesome through or are own Mike Lee who jhad some really nice tone at the HFC with 2 or 3 pedals. For me it's all too complex for my 3 chord barrages anyways. Amp, cord and guitar it's all I need, its all I want and its all I can handle anyways.

[straightblues]

I would say use whatever works for you. I go from lots of effects, to no effects and then back again. I am in the no effects stage right now. But I always have one OD box with me in case I can't crank my amp up enough to make it overdrive on its own. The one good thing about using a clean amp and multiple overdrives is that you don't ever have to worry about being able to crank your amp up enough. Something that takes a lot of energy when using an amp only.

[Guest Mike Lee]

After lots of experimenting I found something that really works. At MJW I used a Fulltone OCD set to max gain (think JCM 800 Marshall) and used the guitar volume knob to clean it up. Then came a Fulldrive II on the comp-cut setting for lead boost. More volume and extra thickness but not much more distortion. For super feedback I kicked in the FDII boost. For Blues, just kick off the OCD.

This worked a lot better than feeding an overdrive into a distortion, which does nothing for volume when you kick in the OD. If you're in a one guitar band, that would be OK, but not with 3 others!

[hardheartedbill]

I run tuner-wah-OD-distortion-delay-amp. I used to run my amp dirty and boost it w/ an OD, in this setup my amp is cleanish so the distortion ( a Barber Direct Drive ) is acting as the amp in my old rig. I have found the perfect balance bewteeen the Barber and Maxon 808, I can use either or both at once for 4 flavors of dirt, I'm very happy w/ this setup. I find that the right amount of gain is the crucial step in coping cover tones, the phase and all that is way secondary to the right amount of gain. I wish I had been using this setup on the BBD CD, it's just a little tighter sounding