Help please - looking for overdrive or boost pedal for 5E3 Deluxe clone

[Condemned soul]

While the MXR Timmy is not a budget pedal, it is worth suggesting,
The pedal provides some clean boost and some light gain with compression.

 

[jeremy]

i love timmy, though dont have the mxr version. its fine option and my favorite overdrive though i usually use it through a bf fender reverb amp.

i dont know of anything that sounds like a cranked 5e3 at bedroom volume. catalinbread did make a pedal formula 55 that was sorta close to what you want

 

[marcello252]

i love timmy, though dont have the mxr version. its fine option and my favorite overdrive though i usually use it through a bf fender reverb amp.

i dont know of anything that sounds like a cranked 5e3 at bedroom volume. catalinbread did make a pedal formula 55 that was sorta close to what you want

I have both, an original timmy and a Formula 55: the Timmy was my favorite OD, for years I had it on my pedalboard, it's great but it has a completely different sound compared to the formula 55.
the Formula 55 is instant Neil Young in a box, with that engulfed farty bass too, it's even on the verge of fuzz in the extreme settings, it works as expected but, in my opinion, there is an issue with the volume, that it is manageable only in the first 20% of the pot, beyond that it is too loud, and I think that bombing the input of an amp with that kind of sound is too much, it works better to my ears in a clean amp. So,o I don't think it's the right OD for the OP, mybe the Timmy could be (pssst... in a ear.... there is a chep Caline 1:1 clone around....)

 

[jeremy]

a cranked 5e3 is exactly the neil young tone. i modded my 5e3 slightly as mentioned above, to reduce that farty bass. my buddy has a formula 55 and i dont recall that volume issue you speak of. he was playing through peavey and fender amps, but i used it a few times through my old dr as well.

 

[justFred]

i love timmy, though dont have the mxr version. its fine option and my favorite overdrive though i usually use it through a bf fender reverb amp.

i dont know of anything that sounds like a cranked 5e3 at bedroom volume. catalinbread did make a pedal formula 55 that was sorta close to what you want

You are exactly correct. Had it explained to me in detail by an amp guru. There is too much going on, not just overdriving the preamp section. Yes, overdriving the preamp section is part but the power section gets overdriven, the rectifier. transformers and speakers all add to the overdriven sound of the 5E3.

Thanks to all for your suggestions!

 

[jeremy]

one of my main rigs for a few years was an esquire through a 5e3 clone so i am very familiar with the amp and all the magic it has. one of my buddies who is a truly amazing blues guitarist uses a fender reverb unit and 5e3 as his main rig for club shows. tone for days. my favorite setting is basically everything on 9 (these go to 12) and plugged into bright 1 input. gets a bit too mushy with the bright volume higher, the normal volume is set for maximum fatness, and tone set to be bright but not cut your head off. but yours is modded so is a different beast. different speakers make a big difference too. ive been running a g12h-30 in there for over a decade but have tried at least a half dozen speakers in there over the years

 

[marcello252]

my buddy has a formula 55 and i dont recall that volume issue you speak of. he was playing through peavey and fender amps, but i used it a few times through my old dr as well.

Don't know, I'm currently using a Princeton, the volume issue on mine is quite evident, I think it's related to the pedal vol pot taper but I've never opened it to check the type

 

[Chistopher]

I was gonna say clean boost of choice too, but then Ehd suggested EQ. I like EQ a lot, and here is why:

As you lower the volume, the response curve from bass to treble really changes, especially at lower volumes. So, with the Master volume, using an EQ you can
1. Hit it harder while maintaining low volume and
2. Adjust B/M/T for changes due to the overall volume in frequency response

I think that is what the real issue. Not what the amp is doing, but what comes out of the speaker. So make some pre-adjustments to the EQ, along with some clean boost.

I'm a bit late on this, but it's actually not even fully what's coming out of the speaker. Your ear perceives loudness differently depending on frequency, and this relationship changes based off of overall volume. Look up Fletcher Munson curve if you are interested in knowing more.