Need a boost or overdrive - which one?

[nosuch]

Hi folks,

yesterdays blues session had some silverface twins, nice clean amps, but with my tele (stock 52 RI) wasn't able to get some hair into my sound, something that supports a bit for melody playing, you know. I like smaller amps and crank them up, but for sessions I never bring an amp.
So in the first set I was not happy with my sound, I was asked to do a second set later anyway. So I asked a fellow musician if he could borrow me a booster, overdrive or something. He gave me a green Ibanez pedal by the name of tube screamer which did a good job. But I heard it is a collectors item.
I was able to control the breakup with my guitar pretty well but there was a difference to how a small amps reacts.

Anyway, I think I'd like to have some sort of overdrive/boost pedal just for the case. something small, battery driven so I can throw it in the gigbag and have it ready when needed.
I'd like to get a natural sound simulating the breakup of smaller amps, like deluxes or princetons.
I've done some research and found a thing called OCD by fulltone which is said to do exactly that. there is a review on german plattform guitartest that's pretty positive http://www.guitartest.de/Fulltone%20OCD.htm
On the other hand some people on harmony central complain about muddy bass. should I give it a try?
anyone here has it?
Another product I might like is the satchurator, vox has a video with joe satriani demonstarting some nice blues sounds. and it has a boost switch in case I wanna play the wild man. I'm not into satriani's music (not at all!) but this pedal seems to be very versatile. would that be an alternative?

thanks,

stephan

[Tele-writer]

you might give a Blues Driver a try, its warm and keeps the low end tight too

[nosuch]

I looked at the video from boss. while being nice and warm it sounds more like a distortion, a bit slick.

I forgot to mention I have a Proco Rat in the drawer. It sounds more distortion too.
I also have a nobels tremolo which has a volume control. setting intensity to zero I can use it as a clean gain boost. but I doubt that will get me there.

what i'd really like to have is a "tweed amp in a pedal". any suggestions?

[wpkg]

Originally Posted by nosuch

I looked at the video from boss. while being nice and warm it sounds more like a distortion, a bit slick.

I forgot to mention I have a Proco Rat in the drawer. It sounds more distortion too.
I also have a nobels tremolo which has a volume control. setting intensity to zero I can use it as a clean gain boost. but I doubt that will get me there.

what i'd really like to have is a "tweed amp in a pedal". any suggestions?

if you want an OD and liked the Tube Screamer, give the digitech bad monkey a shot. its 50 bucks, built well and is the golden boy of OD pedals of late, the HC reviews glow. I like it too...

[MarkV]

Originally Posted by wpkg

if you want an OD and liked the Tube Screamer, give the digitech bad monkey a shot. its 50 bucks, built well and is the golden boy of OD pedals of late, the HC reviews glow. I like it too...

I would agree. If you liked the Tubescreamer, just buy one the thousands of Tubescreamer like pedals. There are many of them around. A cheap choice would be the Bad Monkey. Or go with a real Ibanez TS, a TS re-issue or a Maxon TS re-issue (OD808 / OD820) .

Fulltone makes a TS like pedal called the Fullton Fulldrive. It is a TS like pedal but has more options like a boost and a useful switch to change it to Clean boost, Vintage (TS like) and FM (flat mids: less mids and more transparent)

The OCD from Fulltone is good, but it is more a stand alone overdrive. A TS like pedal is more often used to get some earlier breakup / hair.

[JKjr]

Every megastore on the planet has a Duncan Pickup Booster. If you want to preserve your tone, but just give your guitar enuff oomph to push the amp into overdrive, this is a good choice. The plus is you can hear it before you buy it. +/- $60.
PS: I generally don't like Tubescreamers, but I LOVE them with a Tele. My .02.

[Axis29]

I use my OCD (version 3) for just that tweed sound in a DRRI box thing you're talking about. I like my OCD better than the Tubescreamer pedals. I find it lets more of the guitar tone through. It also works well with all of my guitars. My Fuzz really works best with my Strat and Tele.

As far as Tubescreamers being collector's items... well, the old ones are getting crazy prices, but there are new ones available and kits to make them sound like the old ones... or guys out there modding them to be much better than the originals.

My OCD does not get muddy in the least!

I consistently read great things about the Bad Monkey here. Lotta guys like the Fulldrive, the Blues Driver, the Marshall Gov'ner, The Sparkle Drive, The BBE pedals... The list goes on for great ones.

I tried several in stores, but that was never a good judge for me because they never had my amp or guitar or anything even close at the same time next to the pedals.

So Youtube became my friend for a long time.

Then Lance made me keep his OCD for a few days and I was sold. The OCD is not terribly expensive. I'd put it in the upper mid-priced options. And it does deliver a good solid product. You can crank the overdrive to make it sound like a cranked Marshall, it's got gobs of boost on tap but you can also crank the drive back and get a very tweedy/small amp pushed sound.

Unfortunately, it's not for everyone. Everyone likes something just a hair different it seems. :)

[bo]

If you liked the Tubescreamer then check www.analogman.com. I didn't get any of the silver/gold/etc. mods, just straight TS-808 specs on a new TS-9 and some beefed up soldering. I've tried several other ODs over the years but keep coming back to the Analogman modded Ibanez.

[eryque]

I have an OCD and sometimes use it for exactly the application you describe. I would never describe it as muddy sounding at all. At living room volumes it can make the bass sound a little boomy if you don't tweak the EQ on your amp, but at stage volume no such thing happens.

[11 Gauge]

If you need just a touch of grit, you can save your money, IMO.

Any of the TS offspring will do just fine - just keep the drive knob nice and low.

Folks complain about the mid hump in a stock TS, but if the drive is low, the high pass filtering is fairly negligible.

Not meaning to turn one away from the OCD or other neat-o pedals, but in this case, I think that any of the garden variety light OD's will work just fine.

TS7, Bad Monkey, or Boss SD-1 are great starting points, IMO.

[RomanS]

Another vote for the Bad Monkey - don't be suspicious becuase of its low price, I've played OD pedals that cost 5 times as much and did not sound as good. While it is based on the Tubescreamer-family of OD pedlas, its extra bass pot allows to dial in lots of fat (or dial out muddiness), which makes it more versatile than other Tubescreamer clones.

Now, if you absolutely have to get something booo-teek, my vote goes to the Barber LTD - that's a VERY amp-like OD pedal, really sounds liek you just turend up the amp you're playing through, almost doesn't color the tone of the guitar, very transparent; it's a low gain OD, though, but I guess if you're playing blues you won't be needing more gain than the LTD provides.

As for teh OCD - haven't tried one myself, but from what I've heard its more of a Marshall-ish sounding OD, so I wouldn't think of it first when thinking of blues...

[garytelecastor]

check out:http://www.robertkeeley.com/
Nationwide acclaim.

[garytelecastor]

wpkg-Welcome to the site dude.

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by RomanS

As for teh OCD - haven't tried one myself, but from what I've heard its more of a Marshall-ish sounding OD, so I wouldn't think of it first when thinking of blues...

If you've tried a Voodoo Labs Overdrive, that will give you a ballpark idea of the OCD (IMO). Mike used that basic circuit, but replaced the clipping diode pair with 2 mosfets, and tacked on some tone controls at the end. He also made the first half of the opamp circuit much more of a Tubescreamer variant. Since the VLO is a variation on the DOD OD 250, I guess that makes the OCD a variation of a variation.

[Jenix]

I heard the OCD is better for EL84/34 amps (brittish tones ie vox). It might not be the best for that tweed sound. I have an Ibanez TS TS9 and TS7 tubescreamer. They are the exact same down to the pot values of the drive and tone controls.

The TS7's knobs you can set and then push down so they don't move. Great for throwing in a gig bag. Also the battery compartment is very easy to reach. I got mine used for 25bucks while I was waiting for my TS9 to come in the mail and I havent sold it i just use both.

[nosuch]

Originally Posted by RomanS

Now, if you absolutely have to get something booo-teek,

Did I say that?
;-)

I think I'll give the TS7 a try, just because: I saw one lying around in our bass players studio.
;-)
the bad monkey seems to be one good alternative, I'll think I'll have to go to a store and try some pedals.
Anyway I still would like to try the OCD not because it is boutique but because I read that this and the baldringer drive are the pedals with the most dynamic, amp-like sound. In the end I'll have to judge that for myself. Have to wait until it's available, though ...

thanks everybody.

[xjazzy]

If you like TS sound then I'll vote for the Bad Monkey.
But my choice for a all around booster/drive pedal would be Seymour Duncan SFX-03 Twin Tube. It has the disadvantage of being too big and it needs a power supply but the sound... oh man, the sound!

[junk126]

How do the Barber Direct Drive and LTD compare with each other? Is one more of a boost, or are they different flavors of drive?

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by junk126

How do the Barber Direct Drive and LTD compare with each other? Is one more of a boost, or are they different flavors of drive?

I do love my LTD, but don't have any experience with the Direct Drive - but I've hear that the DD simply continues where the LTD stops - ie. the D is much higher gain than the low-gain-specialized LTD.

[getbent]

sparkle drive fer a little hair.

[nosuch]

I tried the zvex box of rock recently and liked it. still undecided though. thought about building a preamp into my 52 RI, but people talked me out of it.
I'd like to know if someone of you successfully uses the (very cheap) behringer pedals?

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by nosuch

I'd like to know if someone of you successfully uses the (very cheap) behringer pedals?

If you're looking for inexpensive, the Bad Monkey, as mentioned a couple of times ago, is BY FAR the best choice! The Behringer pedals aren't much cheaper, but I wouldn't trust their build quality, too many bad reports...

[Telenator]

If you really want to try something cool, buy a Boss EQ pedal and use that for a boost. Not only will it boost the signal, but you can also EQ it just the way you like!

[franchelB]

Bad Monkey!