Overdrive Pedal Recommendations for Worship

I'd try to find a used EHX Soul Food. Nice transparent OD(Klone) that could be minimal for the appropriate worship songs but then could tear the roof off if you needed it to. Plus the name sounds like it was made for worship anyway. Haha.

 

The Boss blues driver is a good inexpensive OD if you buy it used. A Tube Screamer is also worth having if you can get one for the right price, especially with single coil pickups or filtertrons. Danelectro has the Cool Cat OD which was supposedly a clone of the Timmy. I've never played one, but have read they are good. You can actually buy a new Timmy for about $129, and while it is not a "magic bullet" it is another pedal that is definitely worth having if you can swing it.

I think you want to put together a core of pedals. If I were starting out again, I would probably start with an OD, a distortion, and good tap tempo delay. You'll be able to cover about 90% of the songs you'll need to cover with those 3 effects. Get an OD and a distortion that work well together. I have an old DOD distortion that was the first box I ever bought. It is a crappy distortion, but it sounds great with my old Tube Screamer. The DOD has scooped mids, and the TS has a midrange hump, so when they are stacked, they sound really good. Experiment, and try different boxes together. i just checked my local Craigslist, and found several used Boss OD's, and distortions, for well under $100 each. I also found a DD7 delay with tap tempo switch for about $100. Surf CL, and you should be able find some good pedals at good prices.

 

Budget, DigiTech Bad Monkey. It is a tube screamer clone.

+1 for the blues driver.

CHAD

 

Ts9 every time... Or you could get the GFS Twin Od like I did...

 

I forgot to say, let your ears be your guide. The TS9 "Tubescreamer" is usually much maligned in worship guitarist circles, but it is one of the most popular OD's for a reason. It is especially good with fender style single coils and other pickups that are weak in the midrange department. This goes for amps as well. If your amp has a significant midrange boost, then the TS9 may not be what you need. If your amp has a pretty flat or mid scooped response, then the TS9 might be a great pedal for you. I much prefer the TS9 over the Timmy when I'm playing my Strat or Tele through my Deluxe Reverb. On the other hand, when I'm playing my Les Paul through my Marshall, the TS9 boosts the mids too much.

If you play hot hum buckers or p90's, you will likely want to look for an OD that allows you to scoop some mids or at least keep the EQ flat. If you play other single coils like Strats or Teles, then having the ability to boost your mids is usually a good thing.

 

Boss OD-3 works for me. Bought it used for $25.
Having said that, if you are new to pedals, I'd suggest a multi-effects processor.
You can familiarize yourself with what each effect does without spending loads of money. Fender mustang floor is on my radar right now. It's $200 new, and you get a lot for your money.
You could spend that on just a tuner and a dirt pedal without blinking your eye.
I've been playing in church for years. I've bought and resold pedals ad nauseam.
I'm about to retire my board and DI box and buy one myself.
However, feel free to disregard all that. I was given this same advice years ago and I still went the single pedal route. I'm no worse for the wear.
Good luck and have fun.

 

I did Sunday mornings for around two years with a special 6... it was actually a great little amp for the price. I found through the ins and outs of some pedal swaps that "character pedals" worked great for mine. More specifically, since it didn't have it's own unique/outstanding character, it allowed character pedals to shine through.
YMMV.

 

Out of the pedals you're looking at, I would start with the Vintage Overdrive or Boss SD1 (I know you mentioned the OD1). A good tubescreamer type pedal covers a lot of ground in worship music. The previously mentioned Soul Food is also a great idea. I'm addicted to mine. I never understood people "needing" multiple overdrives, but I've been bitten by the bug and own several. Best of luck. I hope you don't drive yourself too crazy chasing tone (or maybe I do, it's fun!)

 

Isn't this a 2-channel amp? Have you tried the dirty channel on your amp?

I currently use a TS9 which sounds great. Since you are looking to add something affordable, I would consider a Digitech Bad Monkey.

 

I would try a TS derivative. The Special 6 is a 6v6 amp, so the mid focus of a tube screamer might help you through cut nicely

+100 on that Ibanez DE7. It was my first delay pedal and man do I kick myself sometimes for letting it go. Simple. Tone full. Awesomely silver.

 

Ditto on both.

 

I have 2 VHT Special 6 amps, 1 is a combo I use at church. Only thing I changed were the tubes. I use a Boss blues driver. My amp starts breakin up with the volume knob 3/4 opened.Usually after bout 30 minutes of running, I can notice the amp start to open up. Give the amp a chance for the speaker to break in. I do believe you will come around to this amp.

 

Ive come to rely on a Fulltone Fulldrive and Digitech Bad Monkey fir a little more boost - only thing i add may be a Timmy.

Works great with an AC15!

 

My gretsch 6120 (with TV Classics) sounds great through a Timmy into a Princeton Reverb. I've tried tube screamer and rangemaster clones for years but the Timmy has been the best so far. Whenever I put the filtertrons through anything other than a transparent type OD they lose some of the magic. Which might be different on a solid body.
If you don't want to take the time to save up for a Timmy (which I'd recommend since a good OD can be the foundation of your tone) you could try a Boss Blues Driver (BD-2). The high end can get a bit brittle but not a bad transparent OD for the price.

 

Filtertrons are hum buckers. Because of their construction, their coils are smaller and they are therefore narrower than a Gibson style HB. As a result, the two coils pickup string vibration from narrower section of the string than PAF style HB's. If you have the TV Classics or even the Classic Plus, they are not wound nearly as hot as traditional PAF HB either. The result is that they fall between a Fender single coil and a PAF in how they sound (at least to my ear). They're good pickups and they've got a unique sound. They sound good with every drive pedal I've put them through. I personally find them quite bright, so I've got to really back the high end off when I play them through my Timmy which is a bright pedal.

I think they really shine with a pedal or amp that pushes the mids. If you listen to any old AC/DC, you'll hear Malcom Young's Gretsch Duo Jet through a Marshall Plexi and you'll get an idea of what Filtertrons sound like through an amp with lots of mids. It's an awesome tone. I know this is not a tone that gets touted often in worship circles, but if you listen to it closely you'll notice that he only uses a moderate amount of drive. This is one of the tones I strive for because it is such a good one. There really is nothing quite like Filtertrons through a Marshall.

I'm not sure where the Special 6 falls in the spectrum. If it's a bright amp like a Deluxe/Princeton Reverb etc, I'd be looking for a TS9 type pedal with some mid boost for sure. If it is darker like an AC15 then the Timmy, or other transparent drive, is your friend.

 

I'd be looking to get an always on clean boost, then a drive to stack. I bet a sweet baby going into an Ultimate drive would get you up from under to whelming. That doesn't keep you under $50, but at $60.41 for both on amazon right now, its not too far off.

 

I run an EP booster into a Timmy into a GFS greenie into a Fat Boost v3

 

Are you talking about a Boss OD-1 from the 90s, I love those pedals had one along time. I have seen where some place's a mint one will sale for 200 bucks or more. I used one many years in worship until I lost it. But now my amp has a decent overdrive, and both Boss SD-1 and Boss Blues Driver would be good. As far as pedals I like the Marshall BluesBreaker II, you would maybe have to go to Evilbay to get one, I don't think they make them any more.