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What's Your Preferred Overdrive Pedal?


topekatj

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These kind of threads usually end up people just suggesting their favourite pedals. I had an OCD v1.4 and I was not mad keen on it and sold it on. The pedal I personally like the most for the application asked about is Wampler Euphoria. I also have a Tumnus Deluxe which is good but the Euphoria is great for adding sparkle, responds well to the volume of the guitar being adjusted or adding more gain if needed. But that’s just my experience. 

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13 minutes ago, Jimbilly said:

I have a modded TS-9 I really like (Vaughn's mods 808), the stock ones still hold up fine imo.   The Boss Power Stack St-2 is a lot of fun for home use. 

 

Loading up the front end of an amp with the output level on those cranked is lots of fun!

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Other than pulling it to try out something else, I’ve had the same Marshall Blues Breaker pedal on my board, and now in Loop1 of my G-System, since the mid-nineties. The original foot switch is dead, so it’s nice to have the GS to switch it in and out.  

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On 10/6/2020 at 6:33 PM, topekatj said:

Thanks for the replies. Wow. Many options to consider, including boxes i wasn’t aware of. Surprised no one has stood up for the ol’ Tube Screamer. Maybe the sun has set on that pedal?

@benjammin308: The Fulldrive looks appealing, with more tonal flexibility than OCD. Seems like a pair of drives stacked in a single pedal (And the used price looks good also).

@bubs_42: RE OD11, I recall reading that Lovepedal is now out of business? Does the inherent character of a given guitar shine through when in use?

 Thanks again 

That is what the OD11 does best. Start with the the Drive and Volume at 9o'clock, tone just about 11 and the bass off. Then start adjusting for taste, if you want a stacked or dual pedal get an Amp11. I loved my but went back to the OD11, because its just a tad bit more open and I can run it at 18v for more headroom. 

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11 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

THREAD TITLE:

What's Your Preferred Overdrive Pedal?

I do apologize.  I had forgotten the title and since not a single Wampler pedal had been suggested I thought they might be really unpopular and not worth a mention and I did think about not adding anything to the discussion hence my reason for putting that first sentence in there.

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On 10/6/2020 at 7:49 PM, mudshark said:

image.jpeg

I really liked the Soul Food when it came out. But mine kept dying. I sent it to E-H, they fixed it ($25) and blamed me for not using a proper power supply. Did that twice but threw it in the box of no return after the 3rd time. 

Now I don't buy E-H effects unless they come with a power supply.

I have never had any trouble with any other pedals that didn't like my power. 

 

 

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I don't prefer any OD pedals, but if I did, I'd probably spring for something relatively cheap and available used, like a RAT, Toob Skreemur, or something from Boss.  I was gonna say the EH Soul Food since I'd heard of decent reviews and they're relatively inexpensive, but the power supply issue mentioned by Hbom turned me off of it, even though I usually use batteries.  If I want distortion, I'll grab my old DOD Classic Fuzz and twist the knobs to taste.  Or crank it, depending on my mood.  Why be subtle, I ain't Eric Johnson!  ;)

P.S.  I'm surprised nobody's done the "Dos Equis" Most Interesting Man meme yet.  I'd do it, but I'm lousy at imbedding stuff.  :rolleyes:

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6 minutes ago, crunchee said:

I don't prefer any OD pedals, but if I did, I'd probably spring for something relatively cheap and available used, like a RAT, Toob Skreemur, or something from Boss.  I was gonna say the EH Soul Food since I'd heard of decent reviews and they're relatively inexpensive, but the power supply issue mentioned by Hbom turned me off of it, even though I usually use batteries.  If I want distortion, I'll grab my old DOD Classic Fuzz and twist the knobs to taste.  Or crank it, depending on my mood.  Why be subtle, I ain't Eric Johnson!  ;)

P.S.  I'm surprised nobody's done the "Dos Equis" Most Interesting Man meme yet.  I'd do it, but I'm lousy at imbedding stuff.  :rolleyes:

I'm not sure that's fair to E-H. I've heard lot's of happy campers using the SF but I think there was a problem with mine. I read that there may have been a bad batch or op amps that caused the issue but EH never mentioned that and chose to blame my power. So being the ornery sob I am. I chose to buy other peoples pedals. 

 

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For the last couple of years, before the pandemic shutdown, for my stage rig I was getting the clean and crunchy settings from the two channels on my Mesa MK III and then have an OCD on my pedalboard that I step on for the solo boost.

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Everyone has a different reason for using an OD pedal. Most of the time I just plug straight in but on those occasions where I need to get an overdriven sound in a quiet setting, this Cusack Screamer is the most natural sounding OD pedal to me. I spent an afternoon in our local high end shop, playing thru every OD pedal they had, looking for the one that compressed the signal the least. The Screamer was the hands down winner for me. Obviously by the name, it is based on the Tube Screamer. 

Cusack Screamer.JPG

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9 minutes ago, shankyboy said:

Everyone has a different reason for using an OD pedal.

Truth. 

For me, my reason (prolly like most) is purely for variations of sound and amp response.

YOU HAVE TO LOVE YOUR AMP FIRST. That should be a law. If you don’t just absolutely love your amp first, everything else is just pissing in the wind.

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6 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

Truth. 

For me, my reason (prolly like most) is purely for variations of sound and amp response.

YOU HAVE TO LOVE YOUR AMP FIRST. That should be a law. If you don’t just absolutely love your amp first, everything else is just pissing in the wind.

^^^^  The old saying goes "You can't polish a turd!"

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22 minutes ago, shankyboy said:

Everyone has a different reason for using an OD pedal. Most of the time I just plug straight in but on those occasions where I need to get an overdriven sound in a quiet setting, this Cusack Screamer is the most natural sounding OD pedal to me. I spent an afternoon in our local high end shop, playing thru every OD pedal they had, looking for the one that compressed the signal the least. The Screamer was the hands down winner for me. Obviously by the name, it is based on the Tube Screamer. 

Cusack Screamer.JPG

Interesting. Why does the pedal read "1934" beside the footswitch?

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19 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

Truth. 

For me, my reason (prolly like most) is purely for variations of sound and amp response.

YOU HAVE TO LOVE YOUR AMP FIRST. That should be a law. If you don’t just absolutely love your amp first, everything else is just pissing in the wind.

I luve my amp...it's a bit of a mongrel.

myamp.jpg

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These days, I’m really liking my boring ol ‘88 Rat pedal with the volume cranked and the distortion knob set very low.
It gooses my old brownface Deluxe and 71 Superlead the right kinda ways.

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I used to use the Fulldrive 2, but when I tried the Foxrox ZIM, it knocked the Fulltone off the board right away.  I sold the FD2, and never looked back.

The Foxrox ZIM is extremely versatile.  It has two independent channels, in which you can put whatever OD or distortion flavour you like.

https://www.foxroxelectronics.com/ZIM.html

I keep a light overdrive on all the time (I never realize that I needed this, but it improves your tone so much!, and then I use a RAT boost. 

On my other board, I have a light OD on all the time, and I use a TS for boost.

So far, they offer the following flavours:  Vintage Tube light OD, Clean Smile light OD, Tube Screamer, boutique TS, hard TS, RAT, Big Muff, boost.

They also have octave and fuzz, and for those with crowded pedalboards, there is a single slot version called the mini-ZIM.

Although my favourite OD pedal is the ZIM I also love the Tanabe Dumkudo, and I use it in conjunction with my ZIM as a pure OD boost for solos if I am not going with the RAT.  The Dumkudo has three flavours via a sidewitch:  Marshall, Dumble, and the mystery blue mode (my favourite).  The Dumkudo is geared more for single coil guitars, while the companion Zenkudo is geared more for humbuckers, apparently, but they are VERY similar, just the range for the Dumkudo goes a little bit further.

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Toshihiko_Tanabe_Dumkudo_Overdrive_Pedal_Review

By the way, my Dumkudo knocked my original Hermida Zendrive off the board, which was performing a similar function. 

If the Dumkudo is good enough for Larry Carlton, it is probably good enough for you!  I saw it on his pedalboard at a gig in Toronto, and I am so glad that I tried it!

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