Drive Pedal That Does Low, Med and Hi Gain?

A bit of an expensive solution, but:

I use a Radial Tonebone Trimode. It has two channels for rhythm and lead tones, and three different gain ranges. Each channel has independent controls for gain, level and mid boost, and there are shared controls for EQ.

Each gain range has a pretty wide range, and the level controls provide a lot of boost (which you can use to overdrive your amp). Altogether it goes from a little push to face-melting.

The Trimode is more "American" voiced. There's another called the Plexitube which is the same basic idea, slightly different controls, and more "British". Each of these also has a smaller, simpler, presumably less-expensive single-channel version, though I forget what these are called (though the British one may be "Hot British" or something).

Good luck!

 

in before the rat

 

Tall order! Here's what I like to do: get a TS-9 and a RAT. The TS-9 goes first in the chain, the RAT second. Low gain is the TS-9 with the drive at less than 12 o clock. Mid gain is the RAT with the distortion at less than 10 o clock. High gain is both of them on at the same time. They sound great by themselves and they sound magical together. If you prefer a Boss SD-1 to the TS-9, that's fine - similar vibe. You get three drive sounds for about $120 used, and it's a whole lot better than reaching down to twiddle knobs when you want to go from low to mid to high gain.

 

Do you need to access both settings with a footswitch? If not, I'd take a look at J.Rockett's Animal. Sam Vilo plays the s*it out of the pedal in a series of demos, check them out.

 

the Dude

 

RAT here as well. If you want to stretch it to two pedals I’m having good luck with either a Plumes or ODR-1 into the RAT.

 

The EAE Longsword and ss/bs f*ck overdrive both fit that description, as do most harmonic percolator circuits (Land Devices HP-2, Dirge Evan Anguish).

Longsword in particular can really cover an insane spectrum of gaininess.

 

Analogman King Of Tone with high gain on 1 of the channels.

 

Fulltone OCD.

 

The Wampler Euphoria (previously Ecstacy) can go from very low gain on the "open" setting, to medium on the "smooth" setting, to higher gain on the "crunch" setting. My Joyo Zip Amp is very similar, with its 3 way toggle switch.

 

While my version of high gain may not be high enough for many, I put forth the Snouse Black Box 2.
Does boost, Blues Breaker type low to med overdrive and a quite nice (after adjusting the internal switches) higher gain drive. Just (imo) a great sounding, great feeling pedal. The Black Box 2 pro mod has switches on the outside to adjust on the fly.

Also, I would recommend checking out Machine Head Pedals. Keith (11 Gauge on this forum) makes some absolutely fabulous pedals. I have one of his 72 Degrees pedals and it's aces.

 

I've used a bunch over the years, but only two have survived the purge. A Klon KTR set to push the front end of the amp with just a hint of gain has been a mainstay for me, and for additional gain, I have a Timmy that seems to tick all of the boxes. To be clear, I'm using mostly Fender tube amps, and want the sparkle and spank on tap - but my band will often venture into rock and even hard rock territory, and I wanted to get there without switching amps. I keep the Klon on all the time, and use my volume knob to dial things in, but will use the Timmy if the starting point needs to be driven harder and I want more gain.

 

I should note that this amplifier has a great clean sound and most people don't even realize it. Not sure if this has anything to do with Fender's involvement, but it does sound great clean.

 

Fulltone OCD.

I've posted this before, but this is where stacking two OD pedals really gives you a tremendous degree of flexibility without having to constantly tweak the knobs on a single pedal. I use a ZVex Box of Rock into an OCD and between the two there's very little ground I can't cover from a clean boost to amp on 11 rawk.

 

I'm a two pedal deciple as well...but my two may not be your two as it's all amp dependent.

 

Barber Gain Changer goes from just a touch of hair all the way to “dimed Marshall“ territory, and sounds good through the whole spectrum.