Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

[Chickenwings]

So i used to have a blues driver. I liked the feel of it and i liked the basic concept.
It just sounded a bit fake when it was decaying and it had this "thing" in the treble that cut my ears. To be fair i was running it thru a twin reverb and that amp shows up every trace of imperfection in whatever i plug into it.
So i modded it with a monte allums thing (H20 mod i think). Decay was good, but it still had a piercing treble that i could not dial out.
Im looking at the new waza craft one...maybe that is better?
Maybe analogman?
What are your experiences?
Waza, analogman, keeley?

 

[hydro]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Is a Blues Driver in the same family as the Marshall Blues breaker pedals?

Supposedly the King of Tone is a highly modified blues breaker circuit. I have one, I really like it, but they have a waiting list and all that, and it costs some bux.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

I own a Keeley modified Blues Driver (BOSS), love the tone, it is one of my most often used pedals........better bass response, a little "thicker" overdrive....Having my DS1 modded by Keeley in a few weeks.....

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

I already love the stock BD-2 an unwholesome amount. Would love to try some mods.

 

[Diego]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Mine has the Keeley mod, sort of. I never ended the job but I like how it sounds.
It sounds less piercing than stock, with more bass and mids. Stock is good, modded is excellent.

The BD has a presence in the highs, a sizzle you can't take out. Smooth and warm is NOT what it's about.

I wouldn't use it in front of any clean amp. Only for adding dirt.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

I owned a Keely BD-2 Phat Mod and sold it for some reson. It was a great pedal. Recently I had an opportunity to try Artie2s BD-2 with the Monte Allum mod. It seems to me that it cleaned up a little better that the Keeley. In all fairness, I can't accurately compare two pedals I used years apart., but like I told Artie ... I think the BD-2 is Boss' unsung hero. It is better than many, many ODs stock.

 

[Diego]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Why the Super Overdrive is so popular with the Blues Driver around, I'll never understand.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

well, i stopped wondering and ordered one of those new waza craft things from my local shop. SHould have it in a couple days. Ill let you guys know if its any good.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

:reporter:

 

[Artie]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

I owned a Keely BD-2 Phat Mod and sold it for some reson. It was a great pedal. Recently I had an opportunity to try Artie2s BD-2 with the Monte Allum mod. It seems to me that it cleaned up a little better that the Keeley. In all fairness, I can't accurately compare two pedals I used years apart., but like I told Artie ... I think the BD-2 is Boss' unsung hero. It is better than many, many ODs stock.

I'm in the same boat. Laz loaned me his Keely BD-2, which I loved. But when I got my own, I decided to try the MA mod. Again, too many years in between to A/B them, but I love the MA mod also.

So i modded it with a monte allums thing (H20 mod i think). Decay was good, but it still had a piercing treble that i could not dial out.

I don't know if this would makes a difference, but there's one cap change in the whole MA mod that he says to do last. That is, do everything else, then try the pedal out before changing that last cap. That cap is supposed to take the BD-2 into Tube Screamer territory. I don't think I wanted that, so never did that last step. (Btw, it's not actually the last step. Don't know why he wrote it up that way.)

Anyway, I love how this thing sounds now. But I have no "piercing" treble. At least, not in my rig.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

So the WAZA craft BD-2 arrived today. Its really good. No annoying buzzes or weird artifacts. Very natural sounding. I like it a lot - and i can't say that about too many pedals when running thru a twin reverb. That amp tends to let you know exactly what is going on inside any pedal.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Bump. Getting my semi-annual GAS for a modded Blues Driver.

Has anyone directly compared any of the modded versions? Also, how does the OD-3 (not SD-1) compare to the BD-2?

 

[jimijames]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Is a Blues Driver in the same family as the Marshall Blues breaker pedals?

Supposedly the King of Tone is a highly modified blues breaker circuit. I have one, I really like it, but they have a waiting list and all that, and it costs some bux.

Completely different topology... The schematics I've seen actually use a dual concentric gain knob but I'm unclear whether it blends clean and gain like the klon does or changes the eq, like the klon also does lol.

It's possible the high end artifacts may be because of a clean blend... The sonic texture we call distortion inhabits the upper frequencies so whenever you blend clean and distorted channels you have to be cognizant of EQ. The klon solves this problem by rolling off some highs in the clean blend. Likewise germanium IME clips just a bit more gradually than does silicon.

As far as modded blues drivers go, I think they can be great low-medium gain ODs - you just have to really tailor the EQ "problem" they have depending on whether you play a strat or a les paul. My guess however is that like the sd-1 it will really shine at ear-splitting volumes, even stock.

I would need to look at the schematic again but as far as mods go I'm sure they're all well thought out.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Why the Super Overdrive is so popular with the Blues Driver around, I'll never understand.

VERY different-sounding drive pedals with different applications.

An SD-1 into a Marshall-ish style gainy amp is a good alternative to a Tube Screamer to boost it into tight chunka chunka or singing lead territory.

A BD-2 sounds great as a "second channel" kinda pedal in front of something like a Blues Junior. IMO.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Why the Super Overdrive is so popular with the Blues Driver around, I'll never understand.

cause the top end of the blues driver makes me want to hurt people, where the sd1 is a slightly more aggressive tube screamer. nothing wrong with the blues driver, especially in modded form, but i dont care for it

 

[jimijames]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Haven't played a bd-2 in a while but my memory is that it was way too bright.

My sd-1 through my cranked 1974x clone sounds glorious. Seriously it compresses the signal just enough to make notes pop and changes the eq to bring everything out front. One of my favorite pedals with a Marshall style amp.

 

[Diego]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

The Blues Driver is a piercing bastard in stock form.

I always forget that I modified mine halfway to Keeley specs (I think I just missed some noise reduction resistors) and I did something that added more mids and bass than the stock Keeley specs, and I assume they all sound like mine. They don't.

Mine sounds glorious for pushing dirty tubes dirtier, hence why I took a stab at the Super Overdrive. This BD2 kills it IMO. But in stock form... not so sure.

 

[Shooter.556]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Get on the list for a KOT. I'm only like 9 months away from getting mine lol!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

Im already at the top of the list. Lol. it happened like a week after i bought the bd-2Waza

 

[jeremy]

Re: Blues Drivers. Stock, allums, keeley, analogman

i had a kot. it was a good pedal but i ended up getting rid of it. a friend of mine has it and really likes it but he uses it differently than i did. he uses it as it comes from the factory, OD feeding clean. i loved the sound of the clean but with the settings i liked it was slamming the front end of the amp so there was waaay too much of a volume boost so it wasnt practical for me. still a great pedal though