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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:02:16

Best overdrive is the amp itself fairly cranked. To accomplish this without hearing loss, I've discovered the best solution, albeit a pricey one, is an attenuator between the amp output and the speaker array. I got a Weber Mass Attenuator for something like $150 used and I'm happiest I've ever been with amp tones, after decades of pedals.

Squink Out!

Hey ICantSurf

If you're prepared to go on a waiting list the Analogman King of Tone is a great sounding pedal that always stands up in a band situation, is transparent, and very dynamic. The Fulltone OCD also isn't too bad - it has good dynamics too but can get a little lost in the mix at times (I use it for higher gain settings so that's probably why). And I just acquired a Timmy pedal (which I bought specifically to go on my instro pedal board) that I haven't really had much of a chance to give a good work out yet but it certainly sounds like it has heaps of potential. It seems like the most transparent of the three but haven't had a chance to give it a work out in a band situation - doesn't seems quite as dynamic as the KOT. I also have an old TS9 but these will compress you sound and kill your bottom end unless you get one modded.

As Tqi suggests, preamps can be a good option too.

So many more options now than there was 20-30 years ago.

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Last edited: May 31, 2018 18:54:29

I really like the EHX Soul Food, which, like the Wampler Tumnus is a Klon clone. I had JHS do their mod to my Soul Food pedal, and it's great. But truth be told, I find myself using the original (non-modded) setting more than the other settings. Unmodded, it's about the best bang for the buck out there at about $80.00. Even with the mod, it's not bad, at +/- $135.00.

There's a lot of love on this forum, for Nocturne's Atomic Brain and Dyno Brain pedals, and for Xotic EP booster. These pedals sound great!

Bob

Last edited: Jun 01, 2018 01:19:48

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:02:24

It's probably a little premature to recommend this one, as I just bought it last evening and have only tried it twice... but I hoped to push my reverb tank with a little more treble content, and possibly some subtle overdrive, with the Hungry Robot [lg] (Low Gain) pedal.

http://www.hungryrobotpedals.com/the-hungry-robot

Aside from being a delectable surf green, it specializes in a lower range of transparent gain, which is further (very) customizable by six dip switches inside. In my tests so far, the overdrive flavor absolutely lets the character of my guitars shine through, amplified very pleasantly.

First I tried it without messing with the dip switches, and loved the results, only to find when cracking it open that it was on the 'wrong' setting for my tastes. There is a combination called "Chimey EL84" that is much more what I had in mind. I haven't messed with any of the other dipswitch suggestions yet.

In my brief test, just using the Topanga reverb pedal instead of a real tank, it absolutely did 'activate' more drip, aside from its very viable and musical overdrive possibilities.

Last edited: Jun 01, 2018 09:13:22

I'll thrown in (once again) the Zoom MS-50.
With the latest software update (3.0) you get an outstanding RC Booster, a Klon, really good Compressors that can be used to push an amp, Boosters, and other actual overdrives plus great delays, reverbs, tuner, tremolo...
All for $99.00
I've heard/played almost all of the above suggestions and they all could work great depending on what an individual is looking for but I continue to be amazed by this little do all pedal and it's sonic capabilities.

FWIW, five or six years ago I would have never given this product a second look, I considered the Zoom products as made for the amateur market but this pedal and some of their other latest offerings have made me reconsider.

Cheers,
Jeff

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Last edited: Jun 01, 2018 10:35:13

crumble wrote:

+1 on the Zoom but can you trust it for live performance. It's fiddly to setup and a guitar player really needs something he can switch no/off with little use of the brain.

The Zoom G1Xon worked perfectly for live performances, after getting used to it during rehearsals. You have to learn the pitfalls of your device. On the G1Xon I found that I have to deliberately keep cables--and my feet-- away from the patch up and down pedals while playing.

Methods, knobs and pedals to control the Zoom MS-50 differ from the Zoom G1Xon, so the cautions differ, and so does the flexibility. Many of the effects used by the patches have the same names on the MS-50 and G1Xon devices, and I suppose they sound similar.

Finally, I found some sweet overdrive tones on the Zoom G1Xon. The sweetness depends greatly on the guitar pickup, as it should.

Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com

Last edited: Jun 01, 2018 12:15:27

RobbieReverb wrote:

I really like the EHX Soul Food, which, like the Wampler Tumnus is a Klon clone. I had JHS do their mod to my Soul Food pedal, and it's great. But truth be told, I find myself using the original (non-modded) setting more than the other settings. Unmodded, it's about the best bang for the buck out there at about $80.00. Even with the mod, it's not bad, at +/- $135.00.

There's a lot of love on this forum, for Nocturne's Atomic Brain and Dyno Brain pedals, and for Xotic EP booster. These pedals sound great!

there's a lot more to the tumnus than just being a klone. Sure, it does the clean boost thing as anything else in the realm, but it's much better as a drive than the klon/klones ever thought of being. I'd like to get my mitts on a soup'd up SF. the regular is pretty decent, no doubt, but I generally run my OD's with a little gain, and not just as a boost.
that said, the soul food really is marketing genius, it's pretty much a homerun no matter how you shake it.

I'm a huge fan of the Diamond Memory Lane jr. It's been my only delay for quite some time. Another topic, I know, but since we're giving shout outs...