I need an overdrive Pedal

[marcbc]

Hey Good People. I was lucky enough to get my dream rig about a month ago. a 52RI through a vox ac15. I love it! But there is some bruce songs i need a little more with and i think i just need a little overdrive. What should i get? i have about 150 to spend what do you guys think. I was thinking of the OCD overdrive.

[dalandan]

for an AC15? try a treble booster, a crowther hotcake, or maybe just a boost pedal like a ZVEX SHO or Robbie's Bad Bob.

[backalleyblues]

The OCD wouldn't be a bad choice, but I'd try out some of those Danelectro Cool Cat pedals-I've got the CO-1 Drive (which is a copy of the OCD) and absolutely love it... pretty cheap, too...

Franc Robert

[dbenson32]

I'm partial to the voodoo lab sparkle drive!

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by marcbc

I need an overdrive Pedal

Request approved.

[tnt423]

X 2 on the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. Clean control is very usefull.

[TeleBrew]

+1 on the Cool Cat Drive. You'll have lots of money left over for another toy, too. I've also got a Boss OD-3. I have yet to fall in love with an OD over $100.

The MXR CSP-021 GT-OD is a good option, too. Shouldn't have sold mine. Dang.

[jimbach]

$150 for an OD pedal, especially if you aren't sure what you want, is absurd. You could buy a SD-1 or a Bad Monkey for 1/3 that. A used Tube Screamer for about half.

For $150 you could buy a Visual Sound Route 66 pedal, which is a Tube Screamer-like overdrive and a compressor in one box. The Jekyll and Hyde is the same overdrive combined with a distortion pedal for the same price.

[markxander]

I'm going to put a big vote against the Sparkle Drive, I've always been really disappointed by it.

Try Barber. OCD's great, too.

[TeleBrew]

Originally Posted by jimbach

$150 for an OD pedal, especially if you aren't sure what you want, is absurd.

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'd like to add that at age 19, $50 seemed like a lot to me to spend on a single pedal, let alone $150. Get a couple of pedals and have twice as much fun.

[Twanginator]

Start cheap and work your way up. You can always sell what you don't like.

+1 on the Cool Cat Drive. Definitely worth a try.

[Hack]

For $150 you could buy a Visual Sound Route 66 pedal, which is a Tube Screamer-like overdrive and a compressor in one box. The Jekyll and Hyde is the same overdrive combined with a distortion pedal for the same price.[/quote]

The Route 66 is an absolutely fantastic pedal and I recomend it highly. It also is very rugged and stands up to gigging/touring/beer spills. I've used the same one for about eight years. I especially love how it is two pedals in one, with a very nice built in compressor, and anyone playing a tele knows the importance of a little compression.

I also have the Jekyll and Hyde, which has the option of Tube Screamer or Marshall Stack overdive-type sounds, but I never use it as my Rt 66 fills the bill for all the Rockabilly, Alt Country, jangely alt rock stuff I do. - Hack

[thunderbyrd]

if i could only have one OD, it would be a boss od-3. but i don't know how it would sound for springsteen stuff, maybe you'd do better with a tube screamer.

[surfco]

Originally Posted by Tdot

Request approved.

lol

[telechucker]

+1 on the Route 66 od. I run the Route 66 for more rock oriented numbers (I keep a shade of compression on at all times) and a TS 808 for the not so slammin' stuff. I've got a Sparkle drive but wished it "kicked" a bit harder. Regards.

[geddyleedog]

Originally Posted by jimbach

$150 for an OD pedal, especially if you aren't sure what you want, is absurd. You could buy a SD-1 or a Bad Monkey for 1/3 that. A used Tube Screamer for about half.

For $150 you could buy a Visual Sound Route 66 pedal, which is a Tube Screamer-like overdrive and a compressor in one box. The Jekyll and Hyde is the same overdrive combined with a distortion pedal for the same price.

I agree.

[dburns]

far from an expert, no experience with any of the others mentioned, but have you tried Maxon. I have an OD-9 (used $90) which I really like...also hear good things about the Maxon OD-808. Tubescreamers basically. Supposedly true-bypass as well. Pretty sure both go for $150 new...Good Luck

[jjkrause84]

Hold on. Yes $150 is a lot of money to someone i ntheir late teens/early twenties (i.e. that's a lot of money for me!) but do you remember being young and thinking that two cheap pedals was better than one good pedal? Remember looking back and remembering how FOOLISH that sort of thinking is?

I say get what ya want. If you're picky you can get a great pedal (preferrably used) for way under your $150 BUT if "the one" cries out to you and costs that much then go for it. If you don't all you'll wind up doing is continuing to chase it until you have it anyways.

[xjazzy]

Originally Posted by backalleyblues

The OCD wouldn't be a bad choice, but I'd try out some of those Danelectro Cool Cat pedals-I've got the CO-1 Drive (which is a copy of the OCD) and absolutely love it... pretty cheap, too...

Franc Robert

Originally Posted by TeleBrew

+1 on the Cool Cat Drive. You'll have lots of money left over for another toy, too. I've also got a Boss OD-3. I have yet to fall in love with an OD over $100.

The MXR CSP-021 GT-OD is a good option, too. Shouldn't have sold mine. Dang.

+2 for the cool cat drive.

[Jimmy Dean]

I picked up a Fulltone Full Drive 2 at GC last week for $152. I am very happy with it.

[Nub]

$150 is pretty much the average price for a nice OD pedal these days, if you buy it brand new; used, you can get the same stuff down to about $120... Lots of killer ODs in that price range, and that really doesn't seem like much to spend when you have a nice guitar & amp. And is it absurd to buy pedals to try out, even if you don't know exactly what you're looking for? Nah... that's how you find out what you like, and it can be a lot of fun. As always, YMMV.

As for the OP's question... Vox amps tend to sound better with ODs that don't have a huge (TS-type) mid hump. The Crowther Hotcake, PaulC Timmy, and OCD would all be worth checking out.

[Turtletwang]

Originally Posted by dburns

far from an expert, no experience with any of the others mentioned, but have you tried Maxon. I have an OD-9 (used $90) which I really like...also hear good things about the Maxon OD-808. Tubescreamers basically. Supposedly true-bypass as well. Pretty sure both go for $150 new...Good Luck

If I had to keep only one pedal, it would be the Maxon OD-808!

[rockinhorse]

Blackstone Appliance about $225
Danelectro Cool Cat OD about $40

[jimd]

I just switched amps, going from a solid state to a tube amp. My opinion of my OD pedals have totally changed with the new amp. I'm sure part of it is the SS vs tube. But not all of it. I think what I'm trying to say is all of these recommendations are probably great, but how that pedal sounds with your particular amp is really the key. I wouldn't drop a ton of money until I knew it was really going to do the trick. I have a Bad Monkey, Blues Driver and Turbo Rat. On my Orange TT, the Blues Driver is very nice. It was way too harsh before. The Turbo Rat, is very versatile and one to check out too.

[redstringuitar]

Originally Posted by TeleBrew

+1 on the Cool Cat Drive. You'll have lots of money left over for another toy, too. I've also got a Boss OD-3. I have yet to fall in love with an OD over $100.

The MXR CSP-021 GT-OD is a good option, too. Shouldn't have sold mine. Dang.

+1 on the MXR...less mid hump and more fire than a Tubescreamer...not selling mine!

[pistolsteve]

Barber LTD is a nice, low- to med-gain, midhump-less pedal that I think would work perfectly for Springsteen type stuff.

$120 brand new.

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by pistolsteve

Barber LTD is a nice, low- to med-gain, midhump-less pedal that I think would work perfectly for Springsteen type stuff.

$120 brand new.

+1 - the LTD would be perfect for this application.

[nosuch]

can't crank that small vox?

[stanimal]

I use a custom Telecaster with three pickups (lollar mini humbucker neck, lollar strat middle and a GFS fatbody overwound in the bridge) and can get lots of great tones out it through my AC-15 BUT only if i use a good OD.... I tried the Danelectro and the boss but didn't get the sound i wanted until i plugged in one of the more expensive ones... since then I've used a ZVex Super Hard On, Crowther Hotcake and a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 mosfet, i kept all three of them.... but the "cheaper" pedals always seem to make their way on craigslist and sold for less than half what they are worth..... just my 2 cents....

[stanimal]

Originally Posted by nosuch

can't crank that small vox?

OH, and in regards to that.... you get an amazing sound through the AC-15 when you use it clean and crank both the boost volume and the master volume but that means your neighbors want to destroy you.... the OD's give you that sound at lower volumes, especially if playing at home....

but nothing can sound better than having it cranked....

[07 road house]

you can get some great overdrive tones out of a little big muff

[marcbc]

Ok to clarify the 150 dollar price point i mentioned. I have a little money saved up for a pedal and my birthday is on Saturday. So anyway thanks for all the info so far i didn't know there was so many options out there. What do you guys think of BBE?

[stxrus]

Nick Greer makes some nice stuff

steve

[Stringbender.dk]

I'll go for the OCD... I love that pedal so much that I got two of them ;-)
But I think you also should try the Carl martin AC-tone. You'll get drive, more drive and a clean boost.

[octatonic]

If you want an OCD then go for it.

I wouldn't listen to anyone telling you that you shouldn't spend your own money on something you want.

I have a pair of OCD's they are very nice but not that high gain.
If you want a fair amount of gain then I would look at the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret.

[Billy B.]

Originally Posted by Hack

For $150 you could buy a Visual Sound Route 66 pedal, which is a Tube Screamer-like overdrive and a compressor in one box.

The Route 66 is an absolutely fantastic pedal and I recomend it highly. It also is very rugged and stands up to gigging/touring/beer spills. I've used the same one for about eight years. I especially love how it is two pedals in one, with a very nice built in compressor, and anyone playing a tele knows the importance of a little compression.

I also have the Jekyll and Hyde, which has the option of Tube Screamer or Marshall Stack overdive-type sounds, but I never use it as my Rt 66 fills the bill for all the Rockabilly, Alt Country, jangely alt rock stuff I do. - Hack[/quote]

+1 I take mine everywhere I go ,If I have to us a rented/borrowed backline I can always dial in something I am comfotable with

[bo]

I highly recommend the $117 or so Visual Sound Open Road. It seems very much like an extention of the amp. Very natural and open sounding. It can do a good clean boost, add a little grit to a cranked amp, or be a straight up dirt box-pretty much the OD pedal trifecta. It retains all the low end and keeps it tight too. Seems very well built. I've only used it at gigs. I have no idea what it sounds like as a "bedroom box". YMMV

[Axis29]

I'm a fan of fuzz for overdrive.... But I also like germanium fuzzes. They tend ot be very expensive, but then I happened across a Keeley Fuzz Head. Great pedal, reasonably priced.

The other overdrive I have on my board right now is a DanElectro Transparent Overdrive.

I have an OCD and like it, but not as much as the two current dirt boxes.... actually I have abig old pile of dirt boxes sitting over there... A Marshall Guv'nor that I want to try again, an OCD... there's a Dano French Toast a Russian BIg Muff (which is currently not working correctly, cause I like dit too and would probably keep it on the board)....

I got rid of a Tubescremaer. Tried the Bad Monkey and liked it. Liked my Fulltone '70 pedal, but not enough to keep it on the board.

I know there's some I'm missing...

But, the big thing is I play through two different blackface voiced Fenders. Not a Vox. So, what I like may not really work as well for you. If you can, try as many things out as you can through as close to your rig as you can!

Anyways, try the DanElectro pedals, they ain't the greatest thing on earth, but they'll let you audition some more expensive sounds... Oh, and take a peak at a fuzz or two as well. You might be surprised at what you can do if you turn back the gain a bit.

[Tele-phone man]

Try as many different ones as you can before you commit.

[TeleBrew]

Originally Posted by marcbc

Ok to clarify the 150 dollar price point i mentioned. I have a little money saved up for a pedal and my birthday is on Saturday. So anyway thanks for all the info so far i didn't know there was so many options out there. What do you guys think of BBE?

I've never met a BBE pedal that I didn't like. I own the Wah, Soul Vibe, and Tremor, and I've tried the Green Screamer and liked it. Great build quality.

Happy Birthday! Get whatever the heck you want, it's your day.