OD Units - I'm Really Confused

Jeff_H

Jeff_H

Dean Hardtail Fanologist
There are so many different things out there....I can't wrap my mind around which one to get. Bonzi Fireball or Rising Sun II, CM Plexitone, Fulldrive II, OCD...the list goes on and on. I don't care about the cost, I want the best....and I realize best is subjective.

I want something to augment the drive on my Marshall....not replace it. Although if the pedal had a cool sound, it could be neat to run it through the clean channel for a different feel. I don't want to change the tone of my Marshall, just compress it slightly more, give it more sustain and richness whild adding just a touch more gain when I want it.

I also REALLY like the idea of a boost function on the pedal, for leadwork. I like as small a footprint as possible with my pedals. In fact, when I get my OD pedal, it will be the only thing I'm using other than a delay and possibly a GE7....I like guitar, chord, amp. I understand that hitting the front end of the pre-amp with a boost signal can really cause some feedback problems, but I have never used one. I dislike the idea of having a seperate boost pedal in the loop, but perhaps I could just use my GE7 for this....although I like to use it to shape the frequencies that I feel my Marshall lacks.

See the delima. I really want some opinions from those of you who have used these pedals, and specifically how something with the boost function will affect tone and feedback if running into the front end of the amp. My amp is a modified 2205 Marshall 2 channel amp.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

What about the Zakk Wylde overdrive? i guess it could work :)
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

What kind of tonality are you looking for? If you go with a tubescreamer variant, you'll get an OD with a bit of a hump in the mids and a somewhat gritty drive (IMO of course). Then you have what I consider to be boxes after that "Dumble" tone in some respects, that are more of a straight clean boost that happen to have some gain on tap. Those are the main two "types" I've run across anyways, and there are variations beyond that of course.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

I was pretty impressed with the Barber Direct Drive I tried recently and my friend has a couple of Klon Centaurs that are very nice (but $$$). I have been using the Boss OD-1 and Ibanez TS-10 for years and years and I always seem to go back to them.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

Jeff, hopefully I'll have my Zendrive in within a week or two and can give a review of it. I know you mentioned wanting more info. about it.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

If you love your existing tone then I would consider a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. They have the blend control (labelled Clean) that basically is a wet/dry mix. You can control the mix of how much of the overdrive tone comes in. When adjusted all the way up then you have a clean boost!! I personally don't use overdrives.... I don't see the need for them in my setup. But there aren't many ODs out there that allow you blend in your natural tone.

Good write-up here...

http://www.voodoolab.com/sparkle.html
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

I use to have a Fender Super 60. I ran a delay & EQ pedal in the FX loop and
it worked like a charm for a lead channel. Now I don't have any amps with a
FX loop I use a TS9 as a boost. I set the gain at 9 O'clock and the level at
3 O'clock. Works great with my Princeton And Laney. :D
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

sooperunkn said:
If you love your existing tone then I would consider a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. They have the blend control (labelled Clean) that basically is a wet/dry mix. You can control the mix of how much of the overdrive tone comes in. When adjusted all the way up then you have a clean boost!! I personally don't use overdrives.... I don't see the need for them in my setup. But there aren't many ODs out there that allow you blend in your natural tone.

Good write-up here...

http://www.voodoolab.com/sparkle.html
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I think in this situation I'd stay away from the tubescreamer variants and go with something that won't alter your tone in any way, but instead look for something that will "boost" what your gear is already doing. The Sparkle Drive is probably a pretty good option.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

Thanks for the replys so far. I'm also really interested in something that has a boost function built in, provided that it's usable thru the front end of the amp and doesn't cause too much feedback.

The Carl Martin is supposed to work really well with Marshall's. Again, I don't want to radically change the sound of the amp, just augment and enhance. A little compression and sustain with some more richness. I have a Spina modded SD-1, and it's great, but it works better with my single coils and I'm playing mainly HB's.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

Banzai fireball has two buttons and one of them is for solo boost. It has even additional knob for adjusting boost level.

Coldfusion looks awesome too. It doesn't have a boost button but you can use another booster pedal in front of it. I use Fulltone Fat boost infront of fireball and it's as impressive as the boost button of fireball if not better.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

FretFire said:
I have to agree. I think in this situation I'd stay away from the tubescreamer variants and go with something that won't alter your tone in any way, but instead look for something that will "boost" what your gear is already doing. The Sparkle Drive is probably a pretty good option.
Click to expand...

The Sparkle Drive "is" another Tube Screamer clone with an extra knob... :wink:
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

STRATDELUXER97 said:
The Sparkle Drive "is" another Tube Screamer clone with an extra knob... :wink:
Click to expand...


I've never played on one, I didn't know that's what vein the OD was in, my mistake :). Maybe brisk is onto something with the Fulltone Fat Boost.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

Regarding the function of a booster, if it changes a tone or volume and take over the entire tone (metalzone anyone?), I don't think it's a good booster.For me, a booster should be for very subtle change.

I have fulltone fat boost. In a clean setup, it add some thickness (fullness). It also increases volume little bit but fatboost seems to be able to thicken the sound without increasing volume too much. In an overdrive setup, a booster makes the overdriven sound creamier and provide more sustain. Still, you need a good overdriven tone to begin with.

Creamier & fuller overdriven tone means more mid. I think that's why TS was designed to have the mid hump. So I don't think mid hump is a bad thing. However, if you want even boost for all frequency, TS should be avoid.

BTW, Fireball really makes the overdriven signlecoil sound creamier and fuller. It becomes even more creamier when I step on the boost button or when fulltone fat boost kicks in.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

The Duncan Pickup Booster is a real winner on my own board....Don't ever rule this pedal out Jeff!
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

Well why not get all the pedals you can get, return the ones that you cannot use??
Is there not a shop nearby that carries some of those you want?
That is what I used to do when I was not working at CM, borrow a sh!tload of pedals and select the one or ones I wanted.
As for the Plexi, well it follows the amps own sound, and if you have some niggles we will mod it for you, it will cost you the shipment.
 
Re: OD Units - I'm Really Confused

I'm in a very similiar situation.

I play a Les Paul through a '88 JCM800 2210

Currently I use my stock TS-9 for both a solo boost and to get the clean channel a little dirty. For solo work, I set the gain low and boost the level to get the mids pushed. When I'm fooling around outside a band setting, I like to get the clean channel to the point of breakup, and kick up the gain on the TS-9 and get a slightly overdriven sound. The only thing I don't like about the TS-9 is it colors the sound. When I get around to it I'm going to get it modded which will hopefully clear it up a bit.

I also have a ZW-44 pedal, and I don't have it on my board anymore. I hate the way it sounds pushing a clean channel, it seems real trebly and thin. If you use it as a solo boost with low gain, it sounds pretty cool. It really seperates the notes, although it can be a feedback monster.

And I also have a GE-7 which I usually turn on if I'm doing a lot of clean work (mainly because the clean channel lacks a mid knob). I'm also gonna get that modded if I stop slacking.

Much like you, I'm a straight into the amp type of guy, I have a Loooper and I put all my pedals in it, so when the loop isn't engaged I'm going guitar -> Teese Wizard Wah -> Loooper -> Amp. In the loop I have my GE-7, a Boss CE-5, an MXR Phase 90, the TS-9, and an Ibaneze AD-9 reissue.

Anyways, I don't have that much experience with other OD pedals, but I figured I should comment since I have a similiar setup to yours.
 
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