your favorite pedals for subtle overdrive?

[nebulos]

i've been playing a Marshall for several years now, but it's insanely heavy and solid state, so i've been in the process of getting a small tube amp.

i ran into a big problem right away; on the Marshall, an 8280 Vavlestate, i play exclusively through the clean channel on 'crunch', with the gain set about 3-5. everything else is done with pedals, fed straight (not through FX loop). in particular, my reverb pedal hits the gain and the result is a beautiful and very dynamic edge.

plug into a tube amp, goodbye crunch. you're either spotlessly clean, or you get the tube overdrive, which is a different thing altogether, much 'rounder' than then the tight, sharp edge described above (and only happens at LOUD volumes).

thus, my search for an OD pedal began.

i bought a TS9DX, because in the store i was getting some good light 'dirt' with the gain at 0, but after further use at home, i decided its too dirty and too muddy for what i want, and changes the tone pretty dramatically, all with the gain at 0. it's also to 'round' for me, like the tube OD it is designed to emulate.

i tried the voodoo labs sparkle drive, which is extremely subtle, but noticed a 'fizzy' artifact which ruled it out.

after trying an Xotic BB preamp pedal i decided to take the plunge; it should arrive in the next few days. Xotic also makes the AC, 'almost clean', which i was not able to try, but am also interested in. the BB sounded really good, but i wonder if the AC is actually what i'm after. the BB is often described as the 'Marshally' one though, so maybe not. sadly, the BB did not sound so good after the reverb pedal, but it was pretty dynamic itself; we'll see.

do you know of any pedals that are similar to the 'crunch' channel on a Marshall? (i know, that's vague.)

any other good OD pedals that can do very light, but 'sharp' OD?

any Xotic users out there? any comparisons between the AC and BB?

thanks!!!

[JesterR]

Catalinbread DLS have a great light marshall-style crunch and works with other pedals pretty well.
Also Barber SS gets nice marshall-style crunchy sound.

[Enaitz]

Maybe a Guvnor or a Bluesbreaker?

[Jonny_Quest]

http://www.barberelectronics.com/directdrive.htm

[telerocker1988]

I love the Mad Professor Sweet Honey and the Xotic BB. Of the two, the BB is more Marshall flavored where the Sweet Honey is more transparent gritty and Blackface type of tone. I haven't tried the AC but it's on my list.

Also I really like the crunch channel on my BOSS SD-2. The best BOSS dirt IMO.

[Esquire59]

OCD Fulltone maybe??

[czgibson]

The Blackstar HT-Dual is a pretty versatile 2 channel drive pedal that effectively adds a 12AX7 to the front end of your amp.

[Pajama]

I think the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret might just do the trick. Another pedal that I like for musical overdrive is the Zoom Powerdrive. Great for dirt that still has clarity w/ chord tones.

PJ

[jvanoort]

Originally Posted by Esquire59

OCD Fulltone maybe??

Yep. I sometimes use an OCD for mild breakup. Works well, pretty dynamic and does not color yout tone to much.

[RomanS]

The Barber Direct Drive can get very Marshall-y - don't know whether it is low-gain enough for you - there is a special low gain version of that pedal, the Direct Drive LG, never had a chance tot ry that one myself, though.

My personal favorite (by far!) when it comes to low gain ODs is the Barber LTD - it's definitely not "sharp" and Marshall-y, though, but "sweet" and BF-Fender-ish...

[damaged]

Mi audio crunch box for distortion. Or catalinbread dls for od/distortion.

[Joenuh]

Jetter Jetdrive?

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by nebulos

do you know of any pedals that are similar to the 'crunch' channel on a Marshall? (i know, that's vague.)

any other good OD pedals that can do very light, but 'sharp' OD?

any Xotic users out there? any comparisons between the AC and BB?

Marshall actually has made the Guv'nor for years to provide "that sound." IMO, it doesn't do "lower gain" as well, though. There are also lots of clones or derivatives, like the MI Audio Crunchbox (Guv with a singular tone control).

The original ProCo Rat or its many clones will also nail the "magic Marshall frequency," IMO. What many users don't realize is that you can roll the Dist down quite a bit for just a bit of "heat" and an OD'ish tone. Jeff Beck used the Rat to compliment his Marshall many years ago (it's nice to have an alternative to ear splitting volumes).

...Even jazz cats like John Scofield and Bill Frisell use a Rat with the Dist set very low. Bill prefers Princeton/Princeton Reverb amps, and John uses Vox/Matchless/Z/AC30 clone type amps, and both get a great lower gain sound.

...Bill also uses Teles a bit, and I like how the Rat sounds with those, too. Maybe you will too.

IMO, just a basic Boss DS-1 with a few mods to bring up the midrange, get rid of the fizz factor, and keep it from being muddy at lower Dist settings makes for a great snarky OD with the "sharp" quality you mention. Any old DS-1 is a fine candidate.

The Xotic AC is very close to a TS in many respects, with the biggest difference being the active bass and treble controls. The RC is actually a lower gain variation - both pedals are built off the same circuitboard but have a handful of component differences.

...The BB is more of a cross between a TS and a Marshall Shredmaster - it adds more gain stages, keeps the stock TS tone circuit hardwired at a "fixed mids" point (can't be adjusted), and also adds the active bass and treble controls. Lots of folks like it, but IDK how Marshall-esque I would consider it. A test drive should help confirm it.

You don't really mention the "amp sim" pedals, so I didn't bring them up either. If you have a decent tube amp, IMO it makes more sense for it to do the "heavy lifting" and provide the basic dynamics and a good core clean tone. A non-amp sim pedal can give the "Marshall bump and aggression" at the proper frequencies, and at a lower gain point.

If you do want "the ultimate" in Marshall amp sim tone, I recommend the Thor:

http://www.olcircuits.com/olc_thor.html

It is hands down "the best" that I've personally used, to date. That said, it's strongest point is a "Van Halen 1st album sound," but it is very good for lower gain authentic Marshall tones, too. It really works best with a super clean tone, and many guys use it D.I. w/o any amp at all.

Thor clip #1

Thor clip #2

Thor clip #3

All 3 of the Thor clips either use super clean amps or are D.I..

Good luck!

[cband7]

Very wide range of OD.



.

[blowtorch]

cband7, I love my SD TTclassic, but to me, it's more "distortion" than "overdrive", even at it's lowest settings.

My favorite light, subtle overdrive is the Jekyll side of my old silver J&H pedal, with the drive turned all the way down and the level turned all the way up.

[jnepo1]

Blackstone Appliance Mosfet Overdrive. You can go from very subtle overdrive to full on crunch w/ this. More importantly, you could do this from your guitar w/ a twist or turn of your volume knob. Very dynamic.

[Jimmy Dean]

I just got a VHT V-Drive. It has 11 presets from clean boost to distortion. Texture & depth controls to add more variation. I think the tone is better than the Fulldrive 2 & it gives you more options for less cash. I only use it with the more subtle settings & love it.

[imall41]

Originally Posted by jnepo1

Blackstone Appliance Mosfet Overdrive. You can go from very subtle overdrive to full on crunch w/ this. More importantly, you could do this from your guitar w/ a twist or turn of your volume knob. Very dynamic.

+1

Or a Timmy, only $129 from Paul.

[nebulos]

wow. thanks for all the posts and suggestions guys. i will have to look at all these and get back to you. thanks!

[Paleolith54]

Speaking strictly from personal experience, i suspect the BB, will do the job. You listed no price range, the Empress Multidrive can get that too, along with lots more. Maybe overkill for you. OCD, maybe, i never really settled in with it.

[uriah1]

Red snapper..
Just dial it in

[studio1087]

Barber LTD
TS-808 (not a 9)
Luther Drive

......all do low gain with chime and clarity.

[gwjensen]

Agree with the OCD and Ducan Twin Tube recommendations. Both can go from very slight OD to balls out crunch and everything in between.

[bo]

Visual Sound Open Road.

[bigben55]

Originally Posted by RomanS

The Barber Direct Drive can get very Marshall-y - don't know whether it is low-gain enough for you - there is a special low gain version of that pedal, the Direct Drive LG, never had a chance tot ry that one myself, though.

I got the Barber Direct Drive-LG a few weeks ago. It is an awesome subtle overdrive. Personally, I think every new telecaster should come with one, zip tied to the neck, when you buy one. It sits on my board between my FD2 and OCD. I dont consider the OCD a subtle OD though; mine's more distortion than OD, even with the drive/gain only at noon on LP mode. The one thing with the DD-LG is it can be bright with a tele, so I don't use the pull-out harmonic mids function and I keep the tone knob at @ 9 o'clock. And its just stellar.

[Charlie Davis]

Sparkle Drive. Being able to blend in the clean signal allows this to be about as subtle as you want it to be. Even with the blend off, it's pretty much a great Tubescreamer kind of sound.

[czech-one-2]

Klon work-a-like with bass boost.It adds a sweet midrange bump and warms up my super clean amp in a really nice way.It can be set from clean boost to maxed out tubescreamer.Best low gainer I've owned

bought my pcb here - http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/webstore/

[MCgardyloo]

I like using a fuzz face clone... Maybe not what you think of for subtle but I like to turn the gain to just when it starts getting crazy and not have the volume on my tele 100% up, really like the results.