Problem with Overdrive Pedals

[whiskey02]

The problem (my problem) with OD pedals is that all that I've tried have either removed bass, boosted mids or boosted treble BEFORE they did what they were SUPPOSED to do. Obviously a lot of players use pedals, and I like the sounds that a lot of players get, so I don't dislike the sounds you can get with pedals, but whenever I play around with one, I end up playing with the pedal rather than playing music. Is there such a thing as a subtle, low gain OD that won't make my amp sound like a different amp?

[neatomic]

get in touch with tavo @

Nocturne

he'll work with you to get you where you want...top guy

cheers

[xuoham]

Joyo Sweet Baby Overdrive leaves the low end almost intact and can be very subtle.

One knob is for the response to dynamics.

30 bucks, all ethic and environmental questions, MIC, etc ... aside.

[John A.]

The problem (my problem) with OD pedals is that all that I've tried have either removed bass, boosted mids or boosted treble BEFORE they did what they were SUPPOSED to do. Obviously a lot of players use pedals, and I like the sounds that a lot of players get, so I don't dislike the sounds you can get with pedals, but whenever I play around with one, I end up playing with the pedal rather than playing music. Is there such a thing as a subtle, low gain OD that won't make my amp sound like a different amp?

I recently picked up T-Rex Crunchy Frog that is fairly low gain (in the tube screamer family) and which I find not to be terribly colored (less so than a TS, at least in my set-up). It's got a knob for blending the clean and overdriven signal, a second clean (adjustable) boost, and a tone knob so you can dial it in pretty precisely. So far, I'm liking it, though still hanging onto my Full tone OCD, which is some more colored and high gain.

John

[Herbie]

This is the problem I have struggled with too.

I have three gadgets to solve Your problem. The final solution depends on Your rig and Your ears.

Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor. Warm, tube like, low od. One of a kind. Never used the hot channel though.

Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive. At first I wondered why my friend/tech suggested the pedal for me but when I put it on in the gig I understood it totally! It made my cleanish Vox sound like it was on fire! And all the time in a very dynamic and touch sensitive way, it never compress my sound too much.

That Joyo is a clone of SHOD. Many like the price, some claim they go pieces soon. Some say that the chip of Joyo makes it more tubescreamerish, which is about clipping bass and boosting mids. And I wonder why would anyone choose a clone.

Blacktone Appliances Mosfet overdrive. Touch sensitive, very tweakable, very amp like. And most beautiful pedal I've seen!

http://blackstoneappliances.com

[Frank67]

I believe that the gain offered by the TC spark booster is very transparent and also does not add comprssion. Whether you like the resulting gritty sound is a different question of course :-)

The mad professor sweet honey overdrive is a nice overdrive that is warm and transparent and pleasant sounding. I do believe that it will change the frequency response somewhat.

[Drifter]

I know that problem. Every Overdrive pedal I try really takes away the natural tone of my guitar (and amp) and makes it sound artificial. The last one I've tried was the Keeley Oxblood. Pretty good as a clean boost but as soon as drive kicks in, the tone gets nasal and way too compressed for my taste.

Currently I have a Soundwork Real Drive Deluxe I somtimes use, it is a low gain tube overdrive that doesn't change the tone but takes away some bass (and adds tube feel if you use it with a solid state amp), so with a Graphic EQ in front of it, I can compensate. This is pretty good already but the journey never ends. Right now I have a Greer Amps Lightspeed on order, maybe that will be the one.

One thing I have learned so far - those youtube demo videos mean nothing. There is only one way to form a view on a pedal, you have to test it yourself in your own rig.

Good luck on your hunt!

[cosmic gumbo]

Overdrive pedals are engineered for driving and exploiting the inherent properties of tube amps, they mostly sound like crap on SS amps.

[nickyboy]

Just get a 5e3 and enjoy natural sounds:-)

[jorgemg1984]

It's very easy to mod a Tube Screamer to do that, check the BYOC version.

[marcwhy]

Right now I have a Greer Amps Lightspeed on order, maybe that will be the one.

One thing I have learned so far - those youtube demo videos mean nothing. There is only one way to form a view on a pedal, you have to test it yourself in your own rig.

Good luck on your hunt!

I've been interested in the Lightspeed, too -- please let us know when you've played it a bit! And yes, videos are (mostly) worthless.

[SamBooka]

You are looking for what a lot of people call a "transparent" overdrive. You want the tone of your guitar to come through, just dirtier. I would have to suggest a Soul Food although there are plenty of others. Klons are known for that so get one of the more afforable clones (the latest is the Wampler timmus? tummies? .. I dunno)

I dont agree that youtube vids are useless. 99% of them are. The remaining 1% are usually enough to decide if it is roughly in the ballpark you are looking for. I dont think I have ever bought anything on the strenght of a youtube vid alone.

[paulkogut]

It sounds like you're after a Sarno Earth Drive. Fair warning, I'm an artist/endorser, but the pedal really does everything you describe, and it's hand-built in St. Louis at a reasonable price. I use mine with the output cranked and a slight overdrive, to make amps-du-jour sound more organic and interactive.

Earth Drive Overdrive, Ultimate Boost/Overdrive pedal l Sarno Music Solutions

The Klon Centaur was also designed to meet your goals, but the prices have gone crazy in recent years. Best of luck with your search.



PK

[aleksandar]

This is the problem I have struggled with too.


That Joyo is a clone of SHOD. Many like the price, some claim they go pieces soon. Some say that the chip of Joyo makes it more tubescreamerish, which is about clipping bass and boosting mids. And I wonder why would anyone choose a clone.

I don't think that a chip by itself can clip bass and boost the mids. The chip is a semiconductor (actually set of semiconductors and passive elements) packed into a package designed to just amplify the signal. The bass clipping and mid boosting is done by the surrounding elements, the caps and resistors.

So, point being, any overdrive pedal can be modded to add or take away bass or boost mids. There's no magic in there, just replacing few parts around the chip or the transistors, depending on the design of the pedal.

[kenhan]

This may be relevant.

[55bar]

The problem (my problem) with OD pedals is that all that I've tried have either removed bass, boosted mids or boosted treble BEFORE they did what they were SUPPOSED to do. Obviously a lot of players use pedals, and I like the sounds that a lot of players get, so I don't dislike the sounds you can get with pedals, but whenever I play around with one, I end up playing with the pedal rather than playing music. Is there such a thing as a subtle, low gain OD that won't make my amp sound like a different amp?

Aren't most overdrive pedals supposed to remove bass and boost mids?

The first thing I do when using overdrive in a live situation is make sure I take down the bass and boost the mids, it takes you out of the range of the bass player and kick drum.

Home levels I.e lower levels are fine for a lovely warm slightly scooped mid sound but as soon as you crank up the volume to gig levels it's totally lost in the mix.

My general rule of thumb.

Check out the fletcher/Munson curve too for interesting reading

[Little Jay]

The first trick with any OD-pedal is to keep the gain LOW. The first mistake many guitarists (myself included) make is to use too much gain. That removes transparency even on transparent ODs.

[Woody Sound]

Perhaps get one of the OD pedals that use an actual tube? Not sure if that would make a diff or not.

[55bar]

I've tried LOADS from the klon, landgraff, zen, all the exotic, the ethos, keeley modded tube screamer, mxr, and the only one I kept was the BB pre amp.

Although I do still use the Landgraff

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I believe that the gain offered by the TC spark booster is very transparent and also does not add comprssion. Whether you like the resulting gritty sound is a different question of course :-)

I haven't tried tons of OD pedals, but I have the TC Spark and I like what it does -- I like flipping between the mids and fat switch. I also don't push the gain too far into gritty territory.

[339 in june]

And what about an amp with two channels ?
Set the clean to a clean clean and the drive with just a touch of gain, like that both sounds like your amp, and if you need more grit, take a pedal
I do like that with my Fryette Memphis and my Mesa Boogie TA15 too

[mad dog]

I have tried so many overdrive pedals. Only a very few sounded anywhere near good to me. The Bigtone Music Brewery Mosfet is one. Actually, a clean boost and overdrive in one pedal, blendable. The Wampler Euphoria is another. As is the Menatone Blue Collar. Those I could live with.

Problem is, even those don't stick with me. Whereas one clean boost on all the time does. Paul Cochrane's TIM. Such a fine pedal. Leave the gain low. Very effective tone controls. And a second level boost if you want one. The TIM is so good, it seems to repel OD pedals, even the really good ones.

Maybe I just don't care for OD in my own sound. That's a possibility too. Brian Wampler renamed the Euphoria. Don't know what he calls it now, but that might be the best of all the ODs I've tried.
MD

[D.G.]

All OD pedals tend to sound like crap at low volumes. You gotta get the amp/speaker workin' before they sound any good, which tends to be way louder than bedroom volume levels. On my PRRI, I need to turn the volume up to 3 1/2 before the fizz comes off most of my drive pedals. This doesn't mean the amp has to be distorting, or that the pedal is causing the amp to distort, only that the speaker is working hard enough to smooth off the fizz. And as has been stated above, keep the distortion fairly low on the pedal.

As the the mid hump, pretty much ALL OD pedals do this to some extent. If you really want a "transparent" drive tone, the only way I know to get that is to crank the amp and let it do it's thing -- which you may or may not like the sound of. I'm not fond of the overdrive on my PRRI, but a well tuned Pro Junior turned up loud is a glorious thing.

One of the most "transparent" OD pedals I know of -- and I've tried pretty much all of 'em -- is the Mad Professor Royal Blue. It has bass and treble controls which helps to dial it in for the amp/guitar you're using. Another good one, also with bass/treble controls, is the Xotic BB preamp. Not as touch sensitive as the Royal Blue, but that can be a good thing at times. And as mentioned above, the MF SHOD is a fantastic pedal, but definitely colors the sound -- in a good way IMO.

[DRS]

Try a Tim

[woland]

Depends what you mean low-gain. Himmelstrutz Fitzo is a nice low gain OD with decent EQ.
I recently picked dual gain RC Booster (Scott Henderson model) - that has great EQ and switchable second gain stage.