What's your fav over drive stomp box?

The only decent sounds I've ever gotten out of a pedal had a lot to do with some crappy amp been driven pretty hard, in this regard the Boss DS-1 rules. I know there's two camps on this one, but it's a great pedal to have in your case when you don't know what you're going to have to play through.

For just the sound of the pedal, like direct in or through a good clean amp, I'd probably go with the old yellow Boss Overdrive, or OD-1 whatever. It doesn't try too hard to be anything special and is at least usable in my opinion.

The tube screamer wasn't too bad, it had a phycadelic edge to it that was pretty cool. Kind of thin sounding at the higher gain settings if I remember right.

They're all old pedals, but it's been a while since I bought any pedals.
 
Although i don't own it, my friend's modded SD-1. Man that thing is a beauty, he replaced the filter caps and it sounds 100x better, i didn't really like the sound at all before that..but now..sheesh
 
I opened up my TS-10 I just bought and it has the JRC 4558 chip in it! Maybe this one was already mod-ed and that's why I think it sounds better than my TS-9 reissue.

I've been playing both pedels for just about everybody that I know and most of the people my age (late 30s to early 50s) like the TS-10 better and younger filks seem to like the sound of the TS-9 reissue.
 
64Firebird said:
Has anybody used the TS-5 Tube Screamer? I just bought one off ebay. $31.00 + shipping.

i-1.JPG
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Well, you just bought your self a great Screamer. $31.00 + shipping? That's a steal of a deal. Let me know if ya don't like it, i'll take it off your hands ;)
 
freshears said:
Well, you just bought your self a great Screamer. $31.00 + shipping? That's a steal of a deal. Let me know if ya don't like it, i'll take it off your hands ;)
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I should have it by the end of the week. I'll post my thoughts on it in this thread.
 
Sobbat Drivebreaker I

Uses the same chip as the Tubescreamer, can work as a clean boost with the gain turned down, but it has a much wider gain range than a tubescreamer, all the way into total meltdown range. Also has both bass and treble controls, one thing the Tubescreamer could seriously use. And a cool graphic. Also, you can't beat the Japanese>English translation of the description.

http://www.musictoyz.com/sobbat.htm

I have also been getting really great tones from my Tech21 XXL lately, but it's super-loud. Even with the drive at 0 and the volume at 3 or 4, it distorts a tube amp's input section. These thigns are discontinued, and go really cheap used on ebay and at local music stores everywhere.

I'm intrigued by the Tech21 DoubleDrive too, anyone have samples?
 
Tech 21 SansAmp Classic,technically a DI/modeler but in my mind a very versatile distortion box.I favor less distorted clean on the edge of breaking up tones so this may not apply to ultra gain heads.
Also I've developed a very nasty Supercomp habit.It seems I can't plug in without that pedal at the front of the chain.It really effects the sound of whatever comes after it.
 
let's see...

My distortions (the current ones) are:

AKAI Shred-O-Matic: my main distortion. AWESOME.
http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/AkaiD1.html

Marshall Drive Master (old UK made one): excellent, but I am not using it much now.
http://www.olywa.net/blame/mardrive.htm

Denio Super Overdrive: My favourite Overdrive ever. I think is Australian made. Could not find a home page for Denio. Always in my rig!
http://www.stairwaytokevin.com.au/product.asp?prodid=183713

Snarling Dogs "Black Dog": Nice for extra boost. I use it after the Denio for extra crunch. Not my favorite by itself though.
http://www.snarlingdogs.com/products/blackdog.html

Boss DS-1: Dont use it much. Too "fake".
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/search/src=00631/g=guitar/detail/base_id/35135

Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal. The tightest low end EVER!
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/gogo7188/guitar/hm2.jpg

Ibanez SOUNDTANK Tubescreamer TS5: VEEEEEEEERY nice. Not exactly as the original screamer but...it works. I love it.
http://www.monteallums.com/EFX/TS5.jpg

Check my rig here if interested. Needs update though!
http://www.sodiumchannel.com/gear_martin.html

Peace...

PC
 
i don't use distortion pedals......and especially not multi effects units....i've heard quite a few of both and none of the multi effects sound good.......and the good distortion pedals that i've heard still aren't "good".........they're definitely better than the multieffect crap........both are generally really thin sounding..........

distortion pedal wise though......the metalzone pedal from boss seems to be fuller sounding than most. i don't like it because it's just too much for me though.

the rat and turbo rat are horribly thin and harsh sounding.

i just got an ibanez tube screamer from a friend for free......i hear it's supposed to be better than even the tube distortion pedals.....but i haven't use it yet because i need to fix one of the pots on it.......and i can't find anywhere around the tri-cities that sells them.....radio shack doesn't carry what i need and can't order them........and i don't want to go through a music store because it'll cost more.


I prefer a tube amp and using the amps distortion.......

does anyone know of a site on the internet that sells volume pots?
 
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...the only ones I have, but don't really use them......MXR Distortion and a BOSS turbo overdrive.....I use the gain channel on my Boogie these days..

/dara
 
My first was the DOD 250.

Then I got a Boss BE-5, with 5 efx on one pedal, incl OD.

Lately, I got the Road Kill distortion, just for fun.

With all these highly technical, multi-mode processors and pedals, it's sometimes fun to just plug in the simple, one-function stomp-box pedals.
 
I just got my TS-5 Tube Screamer and it sounds very good. A little harsher than my TS-10, but not as harsh as my TS-9 reissue.
 
64Firebird said:
I just got my TS-5 Tube Screamer and it sounds very good. A little harsher than my TS-10, but not as harsh as my TS-9 reissue.
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Great news man. I had a TS-9 a few yr's back, I traded it off while it was still pretty new..yeah it was a bit on the harsh side. I'll have to try a TS-10 out sometime's..
 
I've tried a handmade Barber Direct Drive, which was OK, but I went back to my original setup...

Fender Strat with Kinman Blues pups straight into a 60W Gibson Super Goldtone: great clean AND overdriven tube tone depending on pick attack, volume/drive settings, etc.

This gets me pretty much everything I need, from Fender clean to Marshall crunch, with Vox-y tones somehwhere in between. And there are no batteries to change or pedal board to deal with!

It's a great setup for Rock and Blues, but I must admit, it's no good for metal distortion (which isn't my bag anyway). The only pedal I use is a Demeter Tremulator in the effects loop, to give me the classic trem sound ala Fender VibroKing.
 
I have a RAT 2 which I hate. To damn shrill and harsh sounding. I also have a an Ibanez TS9 reissue which I like a lot. Then this morning I went to Guitar Center to buy some strings and I walked out with an MXR Wylde Overdrive which I love. I'm using a POD 2.3 set to Rectified w/4x12's and it sounds awsome. The MXR really compliments the POD. The tone is nice and full. BTW, maybe I just don't know how to use the RAT properly w/the POD. Any tips or tricks are appreciated, as I really want to use it.
 
I've had lots of overdrive and distortion pedals over the years, and got rid of a lot of them. The ones I've liked enough to keep are:

Ibanez TS 9 Tube Screamer
Boss OD1 overdrive (OD1 is discontinued, SD1 is pretty close)
Reverend Drive Train
Fulltone Fulldrive 2
Fulltone 69 (Fuzz) (got stolen from a gig, grrrrr)

Also, I like an MXR Dyna Comp before overdrive pedals occaisionally jut to boost the signal and hit them a bit harder.

Also, I'm sure most of you have tried this, but if you haven't... get 2 or more different overdrives you like and plug them in at the same time, but just turn each one up a little bit, then you can mix and match types and amounts of overdrive. Usually, two pedals turned halfway up sounds better than one all the way up, to my ears. Also, the order in which you chain your overdrive pedals will affect the tone a lot.

My current rig consists of Vox Wah -> MXR dynacomp -> TS9 -> Fulldrive 2 -> OD1 -> Line 6 Delay -> Holy Grail reverb -> tube amps (i have too many different amps to list here.)
 
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