Punch it! An overdrive question.

ridgeback

ridgeback

New member
My current set-up.
Fender Mexi Standard Strat with Carvin SHB kit (dbl coil, sngl coil, sngl coil)
72 Fender Twin Reverb
Blue Tube Overdrive

I'm not much of lead player but I'm trying and learning. I've been playing rhythm for many years. I play in an Alt-Country/Rock/Punk type band. I like the over-all overdrive sound I have with the BlueTube but when it comes to lead time it doesn't put me on top. I've tried riding my guitar volume and raising it during leads but at full volume it's gets a little too gritty. I've been looking at some two channel pedals and wonder if anyone has used these.
plexitube-top-labeled.jpg

lqb_persp_1.jpg

sfx_03.jpg


All three have what I believe I need and I've narrowed down to these. Thoughts or opinions?
 
I've had Tube Screamers in the past. I liked them. Not really the sound I'm after now. Also I'd rather not throw another pedal in the chain. These pedals offer "boosts" on top of their overdrive. All have true bypass.
 
Have you tried any volume pedals? The Ernie Ball comes to mind. I really like it. I push my Univalve with it. Set the volume pedal at full, set up the amp with the desired over-drive sound then back the pedal off.

I haven't really tried it on any of my high-gain amps.
 
For live performance at gigs I use a volume pedal that has a preset pot that lets me set a rhythm sound when the pedal is all the way up and a lead tone when the pedal is all the way down, this was refered to as a minimum volume pot. A nice thing with this is that you can fade betwen the 2 sounds whenever you need to. My volume pedal is an old Ernie Ball that is at least 20 years old-I got it used-and is built to last probably 60 years more!

Well, I have looked around and there are volume pedals with the minimum volume pot-but the Ernie Ball no longer adds it to their pedals. I think Boss and Zoom had them, but are plastic construction and don't last too long if you stomp them too hard.

But I think the volume pedal is you're best bet-I find it the best pedal for lead / rhythm I have found.

Punkin--you read my mind!! :D
 
Like the idea. Have you experimented on where you put the VP (before or after the OD) in the chain. Does it make a difference? I wonder how my BlueTube would handle being driven that way. I guess it would be no different than riding the volume on your guitar.
 
ridgeback said:
Like the idea. Have you experimented on where you put the VP (before or after the OD) in the chain. Does it make a difference? I wonder how my BlueTube would handle being driven that way. I guess it would be no different than riding the volume on your guitar.
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I have always put the volume pedal first in line after the guitar, usually out of the effects loop, Guitar-Volume pedal-into amp head. I place the pedal next to my mic stand-on the right side so I can add lead bits at any time while singing and the pedal is easier to hit than the on/off switch in a booster pedal or adjusting the volume control on the guitar. :)
 
i've got a visual sound jekyll and hyde pedal that i like a lot. tube screamer on one side and an overdrive on the other. the overdrive has some good eq options that will scoop the mids if you want. run both sides for over the top stuff.

later...
 
When it comes to compressors....

I needed one for my bass, and reading the reviews turned to EH Black Finger...

Tried it on my guitar too, and Behold!!...

It's got 2 tubes in it one in compression and one to amplify, and you can overdrive the latter. When I played with my regular recording-crunch, (little distortion, some overdrive) and stomped on the Black Finger;
Whoa... added some really nice smooth kick into the sound.. When I showed this to my woman, she asked:"Did you put reverb in it?.." :D

Minusside... in recording with guitar, it has intermittent static noise when cranked.. no prob with bass, since not cranked to overdrive.. end rant.
 
I also recommend trying a compressor pedal. The problem with the riding the volume is that it can add or subtract from your gain. I turn down my volume when I want less gain. So turning it up would create more gain.
 
freshears said:
I've been using one of these for the past two months and love it. Haven't tried anything you mentioned but the ducan twin tube, didn't like it.

http://www.miaudio.com/CB2.htm

btw..the crunch box dosen't clean up that great with the volume knob, but what it does do ( I use mine for solos) it does great imo.
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Seems like a nice pedal, but again I'm looking for a single pedal to do both my gain stages. Here's the thing. Mainly I played a slightly OD sound for most songs. I need something for a lead boost yet with a true bypass for occasional clean "Fender Twin" stuff. The volume pedal I borrowed works OK but seems to lose tone in the medium volume rhythm stuff. And during switching off the OD for clean the Fender takes the stage with a very mid-bass rumble. I'd like to dial in my clean, then punch my rhythm, then with a second punch put the leads over the top. Again I fall back on my original three. I did however hear a neg review of the SD pedal from a buyer so that might be out.
 
visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde is great. best sounding overdrive/distortion//combo pedal I have ever heard. They are built rugged and cover a lot of different sounds.
 
Another option would be to use an EQ pedal for lead boost. That way you can boost just the frequencies needed to cut through.
 
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