Need help: '59 Trembucker through Jeckyll & Hyde pedal

[Stratfan]

I'm running a H/H Strat (Jazz neck / '59 Trembucker bridge) through a Jeckyll & Hyde OD/Distortion pedal into a Hot Rod Deluxe amp. The Jeckyll side of the pedal is supposed to replicate the "Tubescreamer" sound; which is said to have a "mid-hump". The '59 Trembucker sounds great through this side, with a fantastic nice, full, crunch sound. But, it doesn't have any high-gain capabilities, so I switch to the Hyde side for that. On the Hyde side, the '59 sounds thin and scooped, no matter how I adjust the tone and EQ knobs. (I even tried boosting the mids on my amp, but that just sounded terrible.) It has plenty of gain, but has a problem standing out over the drums and cymbals. (It's just me and a drummer!) I have to turn my volume way up just to hear myself over the drums. I don't have this problem using the Jeckyll side.

My question: Is this just the nature of the Hyde side of this pedal, or doesn't the '59 have enough mids to cut through at high gain? Or, maybe it's because the alder-bodied Strat is too thin-sounding compared to a mahogany body? BTW, my other Strat with the stock single coils doesn't seem to have this problem. The single coils aren't as full-sounding (which is to be expected), but they don't sound "scooped" at all. Should I be thinking about a JB Trembucker (or ?), or another pedal? Thanks!

[Benjy_26]

Re: Need help: '59 Trembucker through Jeckyll & Hyde pedal

I think it's the way the Hyde side is voiced. It's intended to be a "modern" sounding distortion, hence the scooped mids.

[mrid]

Re: Need help: '59 Trembucker through Jeckyll & Hyde pedal

I think it's the way the Hyde side is voiced. It's intended to be a "modern" sounding distortion, hence the scooped mids.

Yep, I bought one and immediately returned it because I thought it sounded like crap. To be fair, though, all the other Visual Sounds stuff is excellent, IMO.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Need help: '59 Trembucker through Jeckyll & Hyde pedal

That's the danger of dual mode OD's. Sell it and buy a Banzai Fireball. Thank me later. $200 well spent.

[Stratfan]

Re: Need help: '59 Trembucker through Jeckyll & Hyde pedal

Thanks for the replies! The J&H pedal replaced my old Boss BD-2 Blues Driver. The BD-2 seemed to have a lot of gain available using my single coils. I'll have to try the '59 through it. A big selling point of the J&H is having 2 pedals in one housing. Maybe I'll have to go back to using separate OD and Distortion pedals. I also need to spend some time using the '59 through my amp's drive channel to see if I can get a decent bluesy low to mid gain crunch out of it. With a mortgage, bills, wife and kid to pay for I can't just keep buying pedals until I find a winner. I'll try to work with what I have until it's hopeless. It's possible that some combination of the amp's drive channel, J&H, and BD-2 will give me what I want. One thing I haven't tried yet is using both sides of the J&H together. Maybe I could use the Jeckyll side for crunch, and boost it with the BD-2 for higher gain? If that works, the Hyde side would be a waste; I'd sell it and buy a Tubescreamer-type pedal. If none of this works, then I'll consider a higher output pup. Or, sell the H/H Strat and find a mahogany-bodied H/H guitar.

Since my amp is at the drummer's house, I can't do much experimenting until our next practice on Thursday!