Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

BluesGuyJ

New member
Hey guys...
I finally have my Mark III setup for a really sweet clean. Problem is that I have to turn the overall gain down a heck of a lot which leaves the lead channel a little weaker then I'd like for when I feel like doing instrumental/high gain/solo stuff.

What would be a good pedal to push the lead channel back into a farely high gain territory? I don't need an insanely strong OD, just something with enough umph to push the lead channel with a little more power?

I m hinkin the BOss BD-2 would be good andidate s ell s aBoss Super Overdrive? What o y l think? I ust want dd hair more o t ound, not throwt nto etal and.
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

Damn, computer can't keep up with how fast I type.

Would a Boss BD-2 or Boss Super Overdrive do the trick?
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

One of the various TS or Boosters (SD has a nice one). Also you may like the SFX-03 for this.
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

I have experience with both Mesa Boogie MkIIIs and MkIVs in the gigging situation. I used a keeley modded blues driver with the MkIII and a Fulldrive II MOSFET with the MkIV. I tried a Fulltone OCD, other Fulltone overdrives, a keeley treble booster, keeley modded tube screamers, and my favorite by far with the MkIII was the keeley modded blues driver. Just gives you that great thick overdrive tone. The blues driver is the huge juicy porterhouse steak with a hefty loaded baked potato that has enough stomping power to raise the blood pressure a lot of points, while the tube screamer is the grilled chicken with a side salad and low fat dressing. :-)
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

For some reason, I feel that a Keeley BD-2 would do the trick... I think I am going to order one
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

If TS style pedals are what you are thinking about the various modified ones are nice, as is the OD-3 for a less mid hump like tone. A thought, as it is what I am doing as it is just more natural sounding to me ... SFX03.
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

You know, as good as the Boogies are, they should only need the Duncan Pickup Booster. I have had MKII's, III's, and IV's over the years, and I have the Quad Preamp right now, which is basically a MKII and a MKIII pre hybrid. I've found that the extra fuzz in the TS pedals is good with the Boogies, but I'm never using mine for pure clean. Even the clean channel is slightly broken up like a Bassman starting to clip. So when I start there and kick on the TS, I get a great classic solo tone. But in reality, a straight gain boost like the Pickup Booster would be like turning the clean gain back up to where you'd probably have it if you were focusing on the dirty sound only.

If you want to try an OD box instead of a clean boost, I highly recommend the Arion Tubulator! It's so cheap and sooo good that it's a fantastic "first" OD pedal. It will teach you what a TS will do. It's made with the TS chip, it cleans up VERY well, and did I mention it's cheap?
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

Well I plan on keeping the clean channel so clean that it will hardly break up. Because of that, the OD channels will be reduced greatly in terms of amount of gain they have on tap.
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

There really isn't one pedal that does it all. Except the old RAT. :-)

Actually, there are tons of decent OD pedals out there. Go to Musicians Friend and listen to the MP3's. Pick one you like.

Right now, I am really liking what I read and what I've heard of the G2D Cream Tone and the BJF Honey Bee.
Neither of which is sold on MF though.

http://www.musictoyz.com/guitar/pedals/bjf.php

http://www.musictoyz.com/guitar/pedals/g2d.php
 
Re: Overdrive pedal for my Mark III?

I'm really curious, since I have a couple of Mark IIIs--but what are your settings on your amp? I'm also wondering if you have a 60, 100, or a Simul-Class amp, and do you have the EQ? What Stripe color version is it?

Bill
 
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