Boost or OD?

[Coma]

What I want to do is get more use of the crunch (blue) channel on my EVH 5153. I want to keep the amp again somewhat low for cleans with a good bit of grit thrown into the mix, but then switch to full blown. Tried using my buddy's OD on the clean (green) channel and that was pretty good, but mean doing the toe-tap-tango whenever going between channels.

So should I go with a clean boost or should I get an OD pedal? Ideally, I'd like to just really hit the tubes hard rather than relying too much on the pedal circuit.

 

[Artie]

Re: Boost or OD?

Of all the things in a guitar signal path, a pedal is probably the least expensive. I'd just snag a couple or three, (even used), and see what works for you. The journey is half the fun.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Boost or OD?

A few things to think about...

•The cleaner the amp, the more a boost will raise volume, and the more an amp is distorting, the more a pedal will just make it distort more.
•Overdrives can be used to contribute more volume, clipping/gain and EQ. (A lot of those that use an OD with a distorting amp use the gain low and volume high to push a little more signal and add focus to the midrange/reduce the bass.)
•Remember the tried and true way guitarists used to get a clean tone... roll the volume back on the guitar. You might be able to set the Blue channel for the hotter tone you want then roll back to get the mid gain tone. Switch to green when you need true clean.

Just some perspective. It's always great to have a clean boost and an overdrive on hand to get some different tones too.

 

[Blille]

Re: Boost or OD?

•Remember the tried and true way guitarists used to get a clean tone... roll the volume back on the guitar. You might be able to set the Blue channel for the hotter tone you want then roll back to get the mid gain tone. Switch to green when you need true clean.

This.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Boost or OD?

I'd think a clean boost would do it. I use a Pickup Booster. The Killing Floor is also a boost, but has a little gain in there, too. It isn't really an overdrive pedal in the traditional sense.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Boost or OD?

Check out the Keeley Time Machine Boost, it can kick the front end of a tube amp right where it hurts.

 

[Coma]

Re: Boost or OD?

Found the following perdals for a good price:

Fulltone Catalyst
TC Mojomojo
MXR Classic OD (same as GT-OD) with the ZW swith mod

Anybody got any experince? Recommend or no?

 

[Blille]

Re: Boost or OD?

Found the following perdals for a good price:

Fulltone Catalyst
TC Mojomojo
MXR Classic OD (same as GT-OD) with the ZW swith mod

Anybody got any experince? Recommend or no?

The TC Mojo is quite amp like/touch sensitive and you have EQ control. It worked well for me first in the chain as boost/light od.

The MXR afaik is a tubescreamer, so it's mids heavy. Not saying it's bad, but it will sound different from your amp. Whether you like that or not, it's up to you



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Boost or OD?

I've got the Classic OD. It does have a kinda Boss SD-1 with some Tube Screamer thrown in flavor to it with some added grind and grit. It's a cool pedal, it is less mid-focused than a Tube Screamer, but it definitely imparts its own color to the sound.

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Boost or OD?

I briefly used my Suhr Koko Boost (reloaded) on the blue channel. OMG. Set the gain low, and the Koko on the green setting, and even with mild boost took the Blue into completely melt your face of territory. I don't need this with the 5153, and I use the Koko with my Friedman, but I think it will do the job for you.

 

[Coma]

Re: Boost or OD?

I realised I could create a custom setup in my Flashback to use it only as a 24 db boost, so I tried that today. It made things louder, but not much more than that. Tried it at home through my USB interface, amp sim and hifi speakers and then it clearly increased "amp" saturation. So not sure why it isn't affecting my real amp the same way. Headroom, maybe?