Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

[Diego]

A friend of mine is looking for an OD pedal, so we lined up a bunch of boxes and had a great time:

Boss BD2
EHX Soul Food
Jekyll and Hyde
Fulldrive 2
Fender Santa Ana

Tried them through a Fender Princeton and a Egnater Tweaker 15.
Used a Fender Telecaster and a Chapman Tele as well.

The BD2 is by far the most scoopy of the bunch. Not a smooth, warm sounding unit. Loads of character. Makes for a great, crisp clean boost, and the mid cut + hi-fi highs can change the character of a boxy sounding combo. Loved it. Used to own one and wish I still had it.

The Soul Food I'd never tried before and I absolutely LOVED it. Great bark in the mids, made a Telecaster sound HUGE. Very dynamic, excellent under both low and high gain. Can sound creamy and fat, or spanky and pushy. A fantastic dirt pedal. I genuinely loved it.

The J&H is extremely flexible and it sounds excellent, but it's a bit too complex for me. I like straightforward units. It must be excellent if you'll play through God knows what amp in any given gig.

The Fulldrive 2 left me absolutely flat. Nothing wrong with it, but it didn't catch my ear. The EQ just sounded neutral and thr guitar disappeared a bit when on compared to the other boxes.

The Santa Ana sounded very good, but the boost isn't adjustable and it can't be used independently. For the price it should have a bit more possibilities.

I'm not really into dirt pedals that much anymore, but the Soul Food truly got me thinking a bit... That **** is good.

[BenPerkins]

Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

Try the Wampler Tumnus - you’ll love it [emoji106]

Currently using Egnater Tweaker 15 and Tele:

[Silence Kid]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

Seeing the name "Fender Santa Ana" raised my eyebrow. it reminds me of when K-Line released a guitar called the "San Bernardino" ; the concept of using California place names is a good one, but they sure could have picked any place with less meth.

That said, "Santa Ana" isn't quite so bad as calling your pedal the "Fender South Central" or something - but it has a reputation as a place snooty Orange County housewives refuse to go except maybe for divorce court. In fact Fender had sales offices in Santa Ana- but the city itself is more associated with Rickenbacker, who make their guitars there. Just weird, sorry for the tangent.

[justFred]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

Duncan 805 missing from the list...it is my go to OD pedal...although don't use OD pedals much...my 5E3 does better OD than any pedal ever made...

[Diego]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

Duncan 805 missing from the list...it is my go to OD pedal...although don't use OD pedals much...my 5E3 does better OD than any pedal ever made...

Wasn't in stock. The shop did have the Palladium but that's way out of my buddies' price range.

[ThisDyingSoul76]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

I'm a huge fan of the J&H. The V3 version is so versatile.

[Aceman]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

Man - that sounds like a good day!

[Silence Kid]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

I actually really like my Fulldrive 2 Mosfet - because I find it exactly as you described. Very subtle, even the tweaks between 'vintage' and 'modern' mode aren't obvious, and not much sweep on the 'tone' or 'drive' knobs make sure you can't use it in a very obnoxious way. The comp-cut & secondary boost give you 'more,' but they are also quite uncolored.

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

Others to try: Boss OD-3, TC Mojo-Mojo, EHX Riverside (? I think). The second two are inexpensive as well.
Al

[Jacew]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

not much sweep on the 'tone' or 'drive' knobs make sure you can't use it in a very obnoxious way.

That's sad. Isn't that the best thing in OD pedals!

If one doesn't want to sound obnoxious nothing beats real tube amp drive.

[Aceman]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

I'm shopping hard for the right Crazy Cactus - which I believe is a Fulltone clone....

[Mincer]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

I like the Soul Food. It is sort of Klon-like, but not exact. The BYOC Klone I built and the 805 are my favorite OD pedals, followed by a cheap Bad Monkey.

[Silence Kid]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

That's sad. Isn't that the best thing in OD pedals!

If one doesn't want to sound obnoxious nothing beats real tube amp drive.

I own several Devi Ever fuzzes and other distortions, so obnoxious is def. covered In practice I mostly use the Fulldrive when I cannot just turn up my amp (and thus am blocked from true tube distortion.)

[Chistopher]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

You haven't lived until you've dialed in the perfect setting on a JHS/Boss Angry Driver.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Tried a bunch of OD pedals today.

The Soul Food and the Way Huge Green Rhino are my favorite dirt pedals ever. If I had to, I could ditch everything else, except maybe a Crybaby, and be happy with those.