Overdrive & Distortion Pedals - Is Four On the Board too Many?

I am so close to finding my exact tone.....

Currently I have on my board....

Guitar -MXR M77 Overdrive - Fulltone OCD - MXR M78 Distortion - Fender Pro Jr.

Tomorrow my Ibanez TS808 is coming and it will be...

Guitar - Ibanez TS808 - MXR M77 - OCD - MXR M78 -Fender Pro Jr. or Marshall Class 5

I love stacking the M77 with the OCD and the M77 with the M78 for solos.

The Ibanez TS808 I am hoping provides a different, maybe better sound when used to stack the OCD or M78.

I also bought the TS808 so that if I buy another amp that has its own Gain, then I could boost it with the TS808.
I have been gassing for the Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 for some reason, but I would like to try it first.

I actually have a Boss SD1 and Boss DS1, but the MXRs replaced them on my board.
I also have a Cry Baby Wah that I don't use, but I keep it around just in case.

Lastly, the last pedal in my chain is a Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master Reverb/Delay, it really adds ambience when engaged.

After the TS808 arrives and I get some time with it, something else might come off the board.
Currently the MXR m78 is my favorite pedal and the M77 is necessary as a boost at the moment, I don't use it much on its own so the TS808 might replace it.
The OCD I use in Low Power mode as a Low-Mid Gain overdrive/distortion and often it gets boosted by the M77.

I never need to stack more than 2 pedals to get the gain I need.

Do any of you guys/gals out there run 4 overdrive and distortion pedals and if so, what are they and how do you stack them.

I remember it being so easy when I just had a fairly high gain 2 channel amp that needed no pedals and just a dealy in the loop.

Now all I have is single channel non-master volume amps.

That 2 channel TubeMeister 18 is really tempting me.
I could see that amp with just the TS808 and Delay getting the job done.

Nope. i've got 1 OD (CTO-1), 2 distorion (First Act and SD PowerGrid) and one fuzz (SD Tweak Fuzz). May add an OCD to the mix just for fun. If there's room on the board (and on mine there's not currently) go ahead - rock as many as you want!

Honestly it depends on what kind of music your playing.If your soloing every song and rocking out alot than I could see using at least 4 [or more] dirt pedals. Me, I'm mostly a rythem player so I could get by with a DS-1 or RAT, but choose to add a compressor and low gain overdrive as well.Also, I need a couple delays,a reverb,a phaser and a wah so that takes up alot of real estate on my 8 pedal 'gorm'. If your not using all that than 4 dirt pedals would'nt be overkill at all.

Nope. i've got 1 OD (CTO-1), 2 distorion (First Act and SD PowerGrid) and one fuzz (SD Tweak Fuzz). May add an OCD to the mix just for fun. If there's room on the board (and on mine there's not currently) go ahead - rock as many as you want!

The OCD on Low Peak with a Boost is great.

Honestly it depends on what kind of music your playing.If your soloing every song and rocking out alot than I could see using at least 4 [or more] dirt pedals. Me, I'm mostly a rythem player so I could get by with a DS-1 or RAT, but choose to add a compressor and low gain overdrive as well.Also, I need a couple delays,a reverb,a phaser and a wah so that takes up alot of real estate on my 8 pedal 'gorm'. If your not using all that than 4 dirt pedals would'nt be overkill at all.

I am mostly a Lead Player.
With 4 dirt pedals on the board on top of a clean amp I can go from Jazz, to Country, to Blues, to Rock, to Metal by using 0 pedals or any combination of two.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Rojelio/KBFixed.jpg
I almost wired this thing up, decided later that it was just tooo much dirt:mrgreen::mrgreen: All Keeley

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Rojelio/KBFixed.jpg
I almost wired this thing up, decided later that it was just tooo much dirt:mrgreen::mrgreen: All Keeley

I feel better now:mrgreen:

I've just 3 pedals, an overdrive, 2 fuzzes and a modulation do-it-all.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/539/medium/Marshall_Valvestate_VS30R_MB30_2.jpg

I don't think I've many dirt pedals or that I'm mainly focused on that, I have what I use more, and that's dirt.

I have TS9, OCD, Proco Rat and Swollen Pickle on my board. I basically keep TS9 on the whole time.

I've just 3 pedals, an overdrive, 2 fuzzes and a modulation do-it-all.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/539/medium/Marshall_Valvestate_VS30R_MB30_2.jpg

I don't think I've many dirt pedals or that I'm mainly focused on that, I have what I use more, and that's dirt.

I could get away with 3 pedals if I had to, M77, OCD, and my Reverb/Delay.

I have TS9, OCD, Proco Rat and Swollen Pickle on my board. I basically keep TS9 on the whole time.

That is a nice group of 4

I have 5, none have the same purpose... it really depends on your needs. I like to have my 5 levels of gain; I felt they each responded very well and had a sweet spot at the level of gain I was going to use them at.

T-Rex Alberta - very low gain
Maxon OD 9 - medium gain
Wampler Ecstacy - medium high gain
MXR distortion III - high gain
Diamond Fireburst - lotsa gain

I have three:
Boss SD1
Lovepedal Superlead
Zvex Fuzz Factory

I have 5, none have the same purpose... it really depends on your needs. I like to have my 5 levels of gain; I felt they each responded very well and had a sweet spot at the level of gain I was going to use them at.

T-Rex Alberta - very low gain
Maxon OD 9 - medium gain
Wampler Ecstacy - medium high gain
MXR distortion III - high gain
Diamond Fireburst - lotsa gain

I don't have any super high gain pedals, but that is where stacking them comes in.

I have three:
Boss SD1
Lovepedal Superlead
Zvex Fuzz Factory

I still have a Boss SD1 and Boss DS1 I use for travel & backups, great pedals for little $$$.

I just go with 2 contrasting OD/distortion pedals (tonally and Gain range) to use individually or stacked; I pair mine up according to which amp I am using/type of music I'm playing. This works for me as I don't ever need too much gain, and don't care to have a big pedalboard. With 2 good pedals you get 3 great options. Lately it's a GFS Brownie Classic and a Dano TOD or Blues Driver.

You can never have too many, and no one can tell you that you do. It's your choice and you'll know how many is too many if you have too many, same if you have not enough. If it works for you, then rock it and don't worry about what others think.

Me personally, I'm in a cover band situation and I have to nail the tones from the original recordings along with playing the material note for note, so I have lots of drive flavors on my board to go from Beatles to Aerosmith to Motley Crue with a few clicks. It's either that or hauling 10 amps around, and I ain't doing that. I need to be able to get generic drive tones (Tubescreamer, etc) along with nailing Plexi, JCM800, Tweed, Vox, etc amp tones. I find dirt pedals to sound every bit as good as amp dirt and the amp in a box pedals nail those amp tones. It sure beats hauling 10 amp heads! :D

This is my board.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k590/gibsonguitar1988/Gear/board.jpg

Again, you can never have too many IMO, but if you do - you'll be the one to know. Rock on!

I just go with 2 contrasting OD/distortion pedals (tonally and Gain range) to use individually or stacked; I pair mine up according to which amp I am using/type of music I'm playing. This works for me as I don't ever need too much gain, and don't care to have a big pedalboard. With 2 good pedals you get 3 great options. Lately it's a GFS Brownie Classic and a Dano TOD or Blues Driver.

That is how I was doing it.
Just my SD1 and OCD.


You can never have too many, and no one can tell you that you do. It's your choice and you'll know how many is too many if you have too many, same if you have not enough. If it works for you, then rock it and don't worry about what others think.

Me personally, I'm in a cover band situation and I have to nail the tones from the original recordings along with playing the material note for note, so I have lots of drive flavors on my board to go from Beatles to Aerosmith to Motley Crue with a few clicks. It's either that or hauling 10 amps around, and I ain't doing that. I need to be able to get generic drive tones (Tubescreamer, etc) along with nailing Plexi, JCM800, Tweed, Vox, etc amp tones. I find dirt pedals to sound every bit as good as amp dirt and the amp in a box pedals nail those amp tones. It sure beats hauling 10 amp heads! :D

This is my board.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k590/gibsonguitar1988/Gear/board.jpg

Again, you can never have too many IMO, but if you do - you'll be the one to know. Rock on!

I know for a fact I will go with 3, maybe 4.
Depends if the M77 and TS808 are very close to each other.

I am planning on making a back-up board consisting of my SD1 and DS1 for taking to my vacation spot so i don't have to take my board apart.

Fuzz Head - Sweet Baby - Ultimate Drive - Dirty Little Secret

Hello my name is Eddie Knuckles, and I am a pedal-holic....

It all started a long, long time ago.......

I've had more than 4, but at the moment I have 3. I'm a bit of a dirt box whore, and could develop a serious problem if I lacked self control.

I recently went from three to two. It has been very painful....

Actually it has forced me to just use the knobs on the pedals more. I have the Suhr Shiba Drive and Hermida Zendrive on right now. I move the knobs around on the Zendrive to get my light and medium OD.

But--I keep my Nobels ODR-1 in the case.....just in case.

Dirt whore.....I like that.

We should start a pedalboard's anonymous.......

I don't think there's anything wrong with four. My set-up is a Sparkle Drive > Pork Loin > Tone Pump, which is kind of like having four. Gives me a full range of tones from clean with a little hair, to Vox-y to almost Marshall. Great for a cover band, and I stack for solos to change things up. I had a DS-1 on there for a while, but don't really need it with my new band, as we don't get that heavy.

Fuzz Head - Sweet Baby - Ultimate Drive - Dirty Little Secret

Hello my name is Eddie Knuckles, and I am a pedal-holic....

It all started a long, long time ago.......

:grin:

I've had more than 4, but at the moment I have 3. I'm a bit of a dirt box whore, and could develop a serious problem if I lacked self control.

I use 3-4, but I have 2 waiting as back-ups

I recently went from three to two. It has been very painful....

Actually it has forced me to just use the knobs on the pedals more. I have the Suhr Shiba Drive and Hermida Zendrive on right now. I move the knobs around on the Zendrive to get my light and medium OD.

But--I keep my Nobels ODR-1 in the case.....just in case.

I hate tweaking knobs on my pedals or amps, that is why I need more pedals

Dirt whore.....I like that.

We should start a pedalboard's anonymous.......

Do it!!!

I don't think there's anything wrong with four. My set-up is a Sparkle Drive > Pork Loin > Tone Pump, which is kind of like having four. Gives me a full range of tones from clean with a little hair, to Vox-y to almost Marshall. Great for a cover band, and I stack for solos to change things up. I had a DS-1 on there for a while, but don't really need it with my new band, as we don't get that heavy.

My MXR m78 is like a DS1 on steroids and the M77 is like a SD1 on steroids.

My MXR m78 is like a DS1 on steroids and the M77 is like a SD1 on steroids.

Sounds like I would like the 78' alot!

the 78 is a great pedal..just got it a few days ago after playing 1 chord on it in the local musicstore.

Sounds like I would like the 78' alot!

the 78 is a great pedal..just got it a few days ago after playing 1 chord on it in the local musicstore.

The M78 is just a thicker toned and crunchier DS1, a lot like the Keeley DS1, but I like it better than the Keeley.

In fact, the M78 sounds a lot like a brighter Fulltone OCD on High Power Mode (Marshally Crunch), but it laso has more gain on tap than the OCD, this lets me use my Fulltone OCD in Low Power Mode for a different tone.

I actually like the OCD better in Low Power Mode and then hit it with a boost.

Let's see...on the main board it is:

- highly modded BD-2
- anonymous preamp
- OD-3 (slight tweaks, could almost be stock)
- anonymous OD
- highly tweaked Muff scratchbuild (sounds nothing like a Muff)
- anonymous distortion

On small board #1 it is:

- another highly modded BD-2
- moderately modded DS-1
- scratchbuilt Rat - tweaks are mainly to hit "sweet spots" at lower gain settings

On small board #2 it is:

- Biyang Mouse (Rat clone) with basically no tweaks
- highly altered DOD OD 250 scratchbuild
- RunoffGroove.com Peppermill (built from scratch)

So my main board is a bit out of control, but there is really only some overlap with the amount of gain/distortion. All six boxes have their own signature EQ's/colorations, some have more or less harmonic content, and one might work better for certain playing styles that center more around chords, one might work better for more individual string detail for something with fingerpicking (to hear more nuances than some of the others are capable of)...

The two smaller boards are more under control, with one being for more of a traditional rock sort of thing, and the other crossing back and forth between different genres, and again something like the Rat has those great detailed upper mids with a nice spongy sort of feel to it, while the super tweaked OD 250 walks the line between Old School gruffness, but also has this cool glassy edge that is great with single coils in particular. The Peppermill has just a slight bit of grit and heat to it, but its overall design gives it more "modern tech" performance (mosFET into jFET transistor design).

So with all of this said, IDK that it can be narrowed down to any given number. Some folks can get away with just one, some folks have a lot more for many different levels of drive/dirt, and some folks even have a lot of very similar pedal designs on the same board (TS derivatives, just as an example), so it comes down to what you want and need, really.

For me, it is only "out of control" when I am doing a bit of comparison between any given two boxes, and I realize that I'm splitting hairs. But that is normal IMO, and it's just one pitfall that musicians struggle with in any number of situations, not just gear decisions.

The beauty of pedalboards is that stuff can go on and come off of them, so if you hit a minimalist phase, it's no problem. Or if you hit a phase where you can really get mileage out of more colors/characteristics, you can put some back on.

Some folks here stack pedals, so that provides even more options. You can get two cool lower gain sounds with pedals on their own, and something singing/saturated/tighter/etc. for higher gain stuff, that is conceivably better for your needs than any singular drive box can provide, at least at that time.

I really try and let the needs/wants kind of steer what is on the pedalboard. I will just run thru any given bit of material to get a feel for which boxes are going to "complete the rig." And - I try and do it without resorting to what I see, because it's easy to start thinking that one should work better than another, or one should always be on the board, or one is a standard for certain types of music or playing, or other "non-aural criteria" that don't meet the needs for whatever reason.

Just let your ears and needs guide you, and then try to frame it within practical terms. If you don't want/can't have a bigger board for practical needs, you might sacrifice one box, or maybe just rotate a couple on and off.

So many options - that is the best part!

Let's see...on the main board it is:

- highly modded BD-2
- anonymous preamp
- OD-3 (slight tweaks, could almost be stock)
- anonymous OD
- highly tweaked Muff scratchbuild (sounds nothing like a Muff)
- anonymous distortion

On small board #1 it is:

- another highly modded BD-2
- moderately modded DS-1
- scratchbuilt Rat - tweaks are mainly to hit "sweet spots" at lower gain settings

On small board #2 it is:

- Biyang Mouse (Rat clone) with basically no tweaks
- highly altered DOD OD 250 scratchbuild
- RunoffGroove.com Peppermill (built from scratch)

So my main board is a bit out of control, but there is really only some overlap with the amount of gain/distortion. All six boxes have their own signature EQ's/colorations, some have more or less harmonic content, and one might work better for certain playing styles that center more around chords, one might work better for more individual string detail for something with fingerpicking (to hear more nuances than some of the others are capable of)...

The two smaller boards are more under control, with one being for more of a traditional rock sort of thing, and the other crossing back and forth between different genres, and again something like the Rat has those great detailed upper mids with a nice spongy sort of feel to it, while the super tweaked OD 250 walks the line between Old School gruffness, but also has this cool glassy edge that is great with single coils in particular. The Peppermill has just a slight bit of grit and heat to it, but its overall design gives it more "modern tech" performance (mosFET into jFET transistor design).

So with all of this said, IDK that it can be narrowed down to any given number. Some folks can get away with just one, some folks have a lot more for many different levels of drive/dirt, and some folks even have a lot of very similar pedal designs on the same board (TS derivatives, just as an example), so it comes down to what you want and need, really.

For me, it is only "out of control" when I am doing a bit of comparison between any given two boxes, and I realize that I'm splitting hairs. But that is normal IMO, and it's just one pitfall that musicians struggle with in any number of situations, not just gear decisions.

The beauty of pedalboards is that stuff can go on and come off of them, so if you hit a minimalist phase, it's no problem. Or if you hit a phase where you can really get mileage out of more colors/characteristics, you can put some back on.

Some folks here stack pedals, so that provides even more options. You can get two cool lower gain sounds with pedals on their own, and something singing/saturated/tighter/etc. for higher gain stuff, that is conceivably better for your needs than any singular drive box can provide, at least at that time.

I really try and let the needs/wants kind of steer what is on the pedalboard. I will just run thru any given bit of material to get a feel for which boxes are going to "complete the rig." And - I try and do it without resorting to what I see, because it's easy to start thinking that one should work better than another, or one should always be on the board, or one is a standard for certain types of music or playing, or other "non-aural criteria" that don't meet the needs for whatever reason.

Just let your ears and needs guide you, and then try to frame it within practical terms. If you don't want/can't have a bigger board for practical needs, you might sacrifice one box, or maybe just rotate a couple on and off.

So many options - that is the best part!

Great idea....

I can start a second board so I won't look like I have too much dirt on one board:mrgreen:

I've got SD TweakFuzz, Wampler Paisley Drive, BBE Green Screamer, Boss DS-1, and Boss BD-2. Doesn't seem to be a problem.

I too love experimenting with pedals. However I am trying to reduce the number of pedals in the chain. I have Cry Baby wah, Boss compressor, Boss Digital delay, Line 6 tremolo, Ibanez Ts808 an Ibanez Sound tank chorus and a Boss chromatic tuner. My next gig will be just the compressor (gotta have that) tube screamer and delay and that's going to be it.

The TS808 arrived and I spent an hour or two with it....

The MXR M77 is not necessary now, it will soon be in the classifieds.

Here is how my board looks NOW:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m25/yell03/2012/May2012005.jpg

The TS808 arrived and I spent an hour or two with it....

The MXR M77 is not necessary now, it will soon be in the classifieds.

Here is how my board looks NOW:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m25/yell03/2012/May2012005.jpg

I tried the M77...really did nothing for me...I know a lot of folks like it...came home with the Ibanez Jet Driver instead which I LOVE.

I tried the M77...really did nothing for me...I know a lot of folks like it...came home with the Ibanez Jet Driver instead which I LOVE.

The M77 is nice, but I like the TS808 a lot better.

4 is too many for me, but not because I don't like them. I have a modest pedal board and I only have enough real estate for 2 distortion boxes. I have a Sparkle Drive for the hairy clean stuff, a TS 9 silver mod for the crunch, and when they're both on I get my "amp on 11" tone. When things are really cookin and I can crank the amp, the natural od of the amp combined with these two drive pedals allows me to melt faces when appropiate :).

I'm rocking a BD2, ToneBone Classic, DS1 (JCM800 Mod), and Swollen Pickle. I'm never satisfied with it, been looking for more dirt.
Anybody tried the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret yet? I've heard great things about it, our lead guitarist has one in the mail.

I'm pretty sure that dirt pedals are more addictive than guitar collecting.

I have a Swollen Pickle, Germanium Bigmuff, and a DS-1 on my board. Technically three, but the BM is 2 pedals in one. I never use the DS1 though.

I run a Big Muff w/ Tone wicker, Catalinbread Formula 5 and a Cbread Dirty Little Secret. I had a fat sandwich and a crunchbox on there for a while too.

The dirty little secret is more of a stacking pedal. To me it is not a stand alone dirt box. But it makes other pedals sound so much better.

I run a Big Muff w/ Tone wicker, Catalinbread Formula 5 and a Cbread Dirty Little Secret. I had a fat sandwich and a crunchbox on there for a while too.

The dirty little secret is more of a stacking pedal. To me it is not a stand alone dirt box. But it makes other pedals sound so much better.

That is how I felt about my SD1 and M77 overdrives.

My TS808 is different....
I am tempted to leave on all the time at Zero Gain just to fatten up the cleans and boost the other distortion pedals.

The names of some of these pedals cracking me up!!!

Swolle pickle..... sounds painfull ........best see the doc!!!:wink:

four or five is ok
more than that is indulgent
IMHO

Not at all. I am putting my fourth in my rig tomorrow. I love stacking 'em.

Visual Sound Open Road (to thicken the tone and push it) -> Timmy (slight edge) -> Gearmanndude Luther Drive (punch n' crunch) -> CMATMODS Butah (for boost/additional hair)

My board has been the same for over 4-5 months now, Ts808, OCD, M78, and Dispatch Master Reverb/Delay.

I use the TS808 and OCD all the time, I rarely use my M78, I could easily part with it, but for $50, I'll keep it.

The M78 works great with my Fender Pro Jr, but not as well with my Tubemeister or Blues Jr.

My board runs Blackstone OD > anonymous fuzz > Rodenberg 828 > other stuff. Both the Blackstone and the Rodenberg give me two in one effectively, and the Rodenberg can be switched to stack internally, although I rarely do. I play mainly rhythm and accompaniment, as I am a guitarist/vocalist and I can cover all my guitars with these and Redback Preamp/over-drive for my acoustic. I also have a Fetto Standard Overdrive but there is no room for it on the board currently, but it sometimes travels with me as a stand-alone when travelling light.

Yeah I run a lot of dirt too. My main go to OD is my Blackout Effectors Mantra Overdrive which cleans up so well I really should just use it alone. But then I have my ever faithful SD-1 (c6 clipped) for some light rhythm (it also sounds better into my solid state teisco amp) or to boost the mantra. Then I have a DS-1, as another flavor (for some hard rock crunching or screaming leads) and then is the ever-present fuzz: which alternates between my Russian Big Muff or my Roger Mayer Voodoo Axe (I can never decide if I am a fuzz face or a muff kinda guy I just love both, so much so I might swap the DS-1 for the other fuzz) :)

I have four: Vox wah into Dano CC Drive v.1, Visual Sounds Double Trouble (dual 808's), Dano CC Fuzz v.1. Great variety of tone.

I've got a drawer full of stuff, and do change things up now and then, but lately have narrowed it down to two; a slightly modded GGG Bluesbreaker and a modded DS-1 into my 5E3 (the ultimate dirtbox) which has also been messed with.

The BB has been changed to original '92 specs with a gain mod borrowed from the KoT and a small tweak to the HP filter which seems to make it a little more vocal. It does a good job at cleaning up the 5E3's lows and adds some dirt wth the guitar's volume up.

The DS-1 has what I jokingly refer to as my "rattle and hum" mod and sounds, to me, like a big amp under duress. While I'm sure the 5E3 contributes to the tone, it also sounds very good through the little SS amp in my shop.

I'm not a presets guy and use my guitar's volume and tone knobs to access pretty much the whole range of tones from these pedals

"Too many" is relative but I believe most of us have more than we really need. Yeah, we may rationalize why we need so many flavors of dirt, but unless you're in a tribute band, maybe not even then, do you really need a board full of overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals, not to mention boosters and compression pedals used for increased gain.

I have three on my board. Zendrive, Direct Drive and Green Screamer. They all have a different voice and are useful. For the longest time I only had a TS-5. It's like the pedals started breeding. And last week I found a Jordan Boss Tone that's plugged into the guitar. What's funny is I think of myself as a clean player.

On my gig board the most I've run is four.
A Timmy for transparent
a Paisley Drive for that classic OD pedal stuff
and a Blackout Twosome Fuzz with the Fix'd side set for low gain and the Musket side set with a little higher gain for soloing.
Different tools for different jobs.

Errr.... I have a couple of drives ;)

3 for me is plenty , I only do original material so "my sound" is more important than having to copy every Tom Dick and Harrys sound so I`m fortunate that way, They are a recently aquired Bad monkey , a stock original DS 1 and a Belcat blues driver , plenty for me , might add an old time fuzz just for a "first gear back in the day" moment or two (I used a cheese wedge fuzz in the 70s , mind those ???) lol

One dirt pedal on my pedal board - five tonal options. More than enough to play a 4-set blues gig:

1. Clean - Tele into Bassman.
2. Natural Overdrive - Turn up my guitar volume for leads for a little breakup.
3. Overdrive Pedal - Normal volume, mild overdrive.
4. Overdrive Pedal - Turn up my guitar volume for mid overdrive.
5. Overdrive Pedal - Turn up the gain knob for heavy overdrive/distortion.

I do have a total of two overdrive pedals but only gig with one at a time, rotating them on and off the board as my mood dictates and the gig requires. Current on-board pedal is a Red Llama.

Errr.... I have a couple of drives ;)

Yeah, I think I saw some pics of your board from NAMM.

At the moment I have the Bad Monkey. At some point I will probably add a Way Huge Pork Loin but I haven't found a good deal on a used one yet. I dont want to go out and spend money on a new one because I am not so sure I really NEED one since I already like what I have going on.

I have my Blues Deluxe dirt turned up to about 7 and then use the B.M. for the rest. I have the Level set to about 9:00, the Low set to about 2:00, the High turned all the way down, and then the gain is cranked. It gives me a nice boomy mellow sound that I absolutely love!

So I guess to answer your question, I can't :mrgreen:. 1 maybe 2 eventually. I also have a Jet City O.D. on the way. Unless it kills the monkey I will just use it to get some dirt on my Champ 600.

Here's a somewhat recent shot of my board...

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z348/sackvilledan/DSC06406.jpg

I have a Tim, an Analogman modded TS9/808, and a Rat (swapped out with a Marshall Jackhammer depending on the set). I play a lot of covers, and swap between various single coil and humbucker guitars. Quite often I will also have a Super Hard On clone for a boost, and sometimes a fuzz on the board as well. So no, four is not too many. Lots of people can get by with less, but if we have the flavours and space on stage, why not?!

I've got six gain options if I count both sides of my Double Muff, although I could probably slim it down if I was ruthless!

I'm running:

EHX Double Muff
Joyo Ultimate Drive (OCD Clone)
Boss OS-2
EHX LPB-1

My George Dennis Wizard Rock volume pedal also has a distortion option (that's the 6th!) but I don't use it, just keep it on the board for the volume. I'm finding more and more that the LPB-1 covers most of what I need and I'll alternate between the Boss and Joyo - the Muff only comes out for one song in the set so I could probably ditch it.

I'm only playing in a fuction/wedding band at the moment though, so I'm reluctant to ditch any in case I get myself back in to a proper rock band soon and need to bring the noise!

I play mostly in a lousy cover band .. easy songs power chords (green day etc..)

And i do like drives, i play on a valvestate (yes.. i know)
and my idea of drive is they are to be stackable.

So.. i have an earthquaker tone reaper (fuzz) into a Cool cat transparent od (v1/timmy) into a cool cat Overdrive (v1/ocd) into a BB preamp.. isn't it TOO much of low gain drives ?
Oh yes.. i have a dirty little secret clone and a hipkitty java distortion that are not plugged.
What would you do with this 6 drives.. which are to ditch ? (sorry for my french)

Whatever works for you is the correct number. I have 2 and it works well.

Nope, if it sounds good and works for you then go for it. I have a OD, fuzz and distortion and love to stack all three.

My current setup is:
Xotic AC (used as solo boost) > Analogman Sunface (for the fuzzier moments) > Fulltone OCD (low gain setting, mainly for rhythm parts) > Xotic EP (pretty much always on, set to unity gain, to add a nice bit of sparkle. The EP sounds especially good stacked with the fuzz I find).

I am continually tweaking my board and A/B'ing different dirt pedals. I like to be able to simply stomp on pedal to get different tones rather than tweak knobs on either amps or pedals. Currently I'm running a Fulltone OCD for my low gain rhythm, a Wampler Triple Wreck for all things heavy and a BBE Boosta Grande for a solo boost.

I think what I have is actually pretty versatile. The OCD is awesome and responsive and can be used for clean to dirty just by picking dynamics, the Triple Wreck is incredibly thick and adds a ton of low end. The Triple Wreck also has a boost that turns my sound into a very fat fuzz sound.

I also have a Rat, Luther Drive, Bad Monkey, Rockett Animal Drive and Joyo Ultimate Drive and have thought about getting something like a Fulltone 69 fuzz and a treble booster of some sort. LOL, guess you could say I have a dirt pedal addiction.

The short answer... yes.

I'm thinking of having a separate side board only for dirt boxes
I'm getting 2-3 more
I have 5 now,
so, no
Four should be ok

IMO, It's a personal decision, it depends on what type of gear you're using and also what type of music you're are playing. Because I mainly use single coils (Strats) I def need two separate dirt settings, one setup for my neck pu and another for my bridge. But I also run another pedal at lower gain that will work with both positions. So three for me.

Wampler Tweed 57 (setup for bridge pu)
Metal Pedals American OD (setup for neck)
PedalworX Tejas (low gain)

I'm trying to squeeze an old Ibanez SD9 on there too..:smile:

When you've got them on your board and don't use all of them, then you've got too many.

With my big board, it was a struggle to get it down to four, but I did it. As a result, the big board is now too big and I'll have to build a smaller one, which is fine since it was too daggone big to be practical for most stuff IMO.

I have two smaller boards, and they each have three. One of the three has a fuzz pedal on it, so that's two if that doesn't count. It's a one knob fuzzy fuzz, so I'd say it's not OD or distortion.

Bear in mind that other than drive boxes, I'm just using a delay pedal primarily. I may use a 'verb or comp like are on some of the boards in the pics, and I'll rotate out a phaser, trem, or other pedal. So if there is no need for a wah, chorus, flange, rotary, etc. etc. etc., then I don't think numerous drive boxes is too much.

This assumes that the board isn't impractically large, that YES all the pedals are used, and that the amp(s) being used are typically super clean IMO. It's also a matter of application. I favor pretty bright pickups these days (aside from that typically being the case with Teles/Fenders), so all the nuances with different drive box characteristics tend to get really well conveyed. If I played hotter pickups, or even P90'ish sounding stuff primarily, some of those nuances have a tendency of getting lost in the sauce (unless the pedal design is specifically tailored to address it). So again, it all comes down to a complete rig as opposed to just trying to quantify something, IMO.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j269/chubbo_2006/IMAG0196.jpg

Right now, gigging board, I'm going with a dirt line consisting of:

Sparkle Drive
Jetter Jet Drive (2 OD's on one pedal)
Walrus Audio Iron Horse

I can go from mild to bizzonkko with this current setup.

May change my mind from time to time... hmm........

One pedal I understand,maybe two for different eq.(One for mid and one flat).If you have a decent guitar and amp it is very easy to kill the tone instead of enhancing it.Like most people in my generation I started out with a fuzz (which really can make all guitars sound the same) and then upgraded to better distortion devices.Personally,I have never needed more than one on the board.I could blame it on my age but on the other hand,anyone here who plays louder than Jimi Hendrix or Pete Townshend?

I have six:

SD-1 modded for more 'hi-fi' clean boost
SD-1 modded for more volume and 'throaty' drive
Joyo Vintage OD (TS clone)
Bass Big Muff
Big Muff NYC
Proco Rat 2

All on different settings and offer different flavours of distortion - low gain from the SD-1 and Joyo, medium gain from the Rat and full on warfare from the two Muffs!

I don't play live at the moment but I only have a Blackstar HT-1 amp so no EQ to play with apart from the ISF control, so in essence these are my dirty EQ pedals :)

I have just one, a TC Nova Drive. It's linked to a G-System, though, so I have a ton of flavors available-overdrive only, distortion only, overdrive into distortion, distortion into overdrive, overdrive and distortion in parallel, and a pair of expression pedals to control various parameters.

I have 2 - occasionally 3 dirt boxes in my board, depending on which amp I use.

If I have my Mesa-Boogie, then I have a Green Rhino for mild distortion and an MXR 108 for fuzz (I get the high gain tones from the amp). If I'm using my Trademark 30, then I add a Digitech Hardwire SC2 for my all-hell-breaking-loose distortion.

I'm pretty much a single-coil guy these days so I need a bit more dirt from my dirt boxes.

Honestly, the od channel on my amp (Ceriatone HRM BM) sounds better than all the dirt pedals I'm running through the clean channel. However I like the flexibility of different tones on tap. If I get lazy though I can just plug straight in w/only echo and wah. I like that option too.

I thought somebody brought up an interesting point here that I have found myself guilty of in the past.. Setting up several dirt pedals only to end up with bassically the same tone (usually the tone in our heads) Better to find the strong points, intended use or sweet spot in that particular pedal and go with it. Can be very inspiring. JMO, ymmv.

If you have a decent guitar and amp it is very easy to kill the tone instead of enhancing it.

Therein lies the rub. Not only that, but oftentimes we might not be aware that we are enhancing it like we might think.

And I'm noticing a perception of "only one type of distortion but with differing EQ's/voicings," when that is probably the opposite of the way to look at it, IMO. Because not only will some drive boxes have their own signature coloring, but not all have the same clipping curves - some are tighter, some have more sag, and therefore some respond with more or less dynamics, rounder note and chord detail, more emphasis on harmonics, and so on.

Is it all applicable? Maybe not, depending on your needs. But IMO, if the amp is really clean, one pedal with a potentially looser/asymmetrically clipping curve like a Rat will excel at certain things, and possibly not others. This is even if you set it for light breakup, where I think it absolutely kills, especially live. It still IMO is not a "tight" pedal. And its coloration is all its own. Are there other boxes that you might be able to dial in the same coloration? Sure. But IMO there's no need if you know the Rat is a proven tool for that sort of thing.

...So if you have the Rat and that covers a certain range of things, you might want/need another pedal with a quite different curve - maybe one with a lot more focus on the attack, but with a curve that either softens out or maybe does not. There's a whole range of pedals that will do different things, and it's completely audible within the din of a live situation. A good tool will project and cut, and blend when appropriate. A not so good tool might tend to either get lost in the sauce, or "punish the audience," something I like to paraphrase from Jim Campilongo.

I never seek to have a pedalboard that looks like Mission Control, but it really is great to have some options that are really in the clutch for any given setlist. While some pedals on the board will give a lot of options just by working the guitar's volume, some will simply excel for other things. And I don't mean just a song here and there, or something from a particular genre, but almost where I will use 2 or 3 different boxes within just a single song. As much as I love my Rats, they aren't good for that sort of "pedal steel with just a smidgeon of harmonics" thing, so another pedal is needed for that, at least the way I play.