Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

[alex1fly]

Hey all. After a good while of being a clean-amp-only purist, I've decided its time to throw some dirt in the mix, and this is by far the best place to come for guitar tone advice!

What I've got:
Amp - Pignose G40V, which is a 30 or so watt tube amp with 6L6 tubes. It's in a semi-closed back 2x12 cab - not sure what the speakers are.

Guitars - Strat with an Air Zone/P90 combo, Les Paul with VPAFs, Tele with a bridge Quarter Pound and stock neck, and PRS knockoff with an EMG 60 bridge and 85 neck.


What I want:
Mesa Boogie style overdrive. Think Single Rectifier, F-30, Dual Rectifier. I love that wall-of-sound effect, the crispy highs, the chunky lows. Mad palm mutes. It doesn't need to sear and scream too much - I'm not talking Slayer/Pantera/Metallica type sound - but it does need to give that powerhouse sound, while still transmitting the beautiful tone that comes from tubes and nice pickups.

The cheaper the better. I would be hard pressed to go above $100. But if I have to in order to get a pedal that doesn't sound like a swarm of angry bees, I will!

Think you all can help me out?

 

[crguti]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

 

[devastone]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Add this to the list of ones to look at: http://www.wamplerpedals.com/distortions/triple-wreck.html

I do have an AMT Fatal Tube, may not be what you are looking for, but they make great pedals, the California Sound definitely might be worth looking into.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

What I was gonna post too. But he won't find one of those for the kind of money he wants to spend. Not even close. I had one for a few months. Definitely good at the "Boogie sound". Not my personal cup-of-tea though.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Rocktron...

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

you cant do it (ive tried)...just save up a little while and get a used boogie dc50...they will give you clean for days, thick and pure crunch plus a switchable eq. It runs 6l6s too, but everything about it (even tho its a cheaper boogie) is solid quality.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

If you really want to go cheap, get a Smashbox. It's in the same ZIP code, though it's between a vacant lot and a check-cashing place.

 

[some_dude]

Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Tech 21 SansAmp on California mode.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Here's a problem: Recto tone and distortion is NOT Mark Series or Dual Caliber/F-Series/LoneStar tone. While the Dual Calibers and the Nomads have a LEAD channel based on the Recto, it is different. (The Nomad is probably closer to the Recto's tone.) So, are you looking ro Mark Series singing, soraing distortion--or the heavy, deep grindiing stack tone of the Rectifier Series? I think you might be talking two very different pedals.

My old Real Tube 901 with a lower gain 12AU7 tube gives a pretty good Boogie Mark Series tone. I hardly ever use it, because it's too close to the Boogie tone I already have with my Mark III and Mark IV amps. (I keep looking for a JTM45 in a box!)

I think Sansamp has a couple that will get you there (as Some Dude mentioned), one for Recto tone and one for Mark Series tones. (I think the California pedal is supposed to emulate the famed Mark IIC+ amp.) The Radial Tonebone Classic and Tri-Mode will also get you close to the singing distortion tone of a Mesa Mark Series.

Good luck!

Bill

 

[LesPaulRules]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Here's a problem: Recto tone and distortion is NOT Mark Series or Dual Caliber/F-Series/LoneStar tone. While the Dual Calibers and the Nomads have a LEAD channel based on the Recto, it is different. (The Nomad is probably closer to the Recto's tone.) So, are you looking ro Mark Series singing, soraing distortion--or the heavy, deep grindiing stack tone of the Mark Series? I think you might be talking two very different pedals.

Good luck!

Bill

The above quote is right on the money. I have owned a DC-5, Nomad 100 and Dual Rectifer. The DC and Nomad can get close (especially the Nomad, which has more gain than the DC series), but they are NOT the same. The Rectifier simply has a hotter preamp sound with a different low end.

If you're looking for a Rectifier sound in a pedal, the only thing that has impressed me is the resistifier.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jimosity#p/u/1/gqXEsmaeiQE

 

[H8Red442]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Line 6 has a really accurate model of the Dual Recto. Check out the Uber Metal pedal from them.

http://www.amazon.com/Line-6-99-040...8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1305648972&sr=8-1

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Hardwire Metal on the loose setting with the EQ right cops it well enough.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Great suggestions, thanks everyone. Some followup...

Hardwire Metal - every Digitech pedal I've had saps my amp of its tone. Does this one evade my accusation?

Resistifier - looks like the resistifier has one channel, the dual resistifier has two channels.

Boogie Bill - in your post you seem to be comparing Mark series and Rectifier tones, but when making the comparison you say "are you looking for the tone of the Mark, or the tone of the Mark?" Am I misunderstanding your wording?

I don't know if I've ever seen a Mark series amp on stage. The Boogie tone I dig comes from the Rectifier amps - as long as the gain isn't ridiculously high. Pettrucci's tone on Falling Into Infinity is supposedly from a Mark amp, and its great, but there's all kinds of studio magic on that sound too.

Tech 21 SansAmp - I've been eyeing Tech 21 gear for some time now, but haven't had the chance to demo any. Tempting.

Metal Muff - I DO like Electroharmonix gear, for sure!

Wampler - this looks like the ULTIMATE distortion pedal. Wowza. The only thing I don't like is the price tag!

I would also consider the Jemini if I could find a used one.

Cool stuff.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Hardwire is true bypass, but yeah, agreed on most DOD/Digitech's.

 

[H8Red442]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

I've got three Hardwire pedals in my effects loop and lose no signal at all.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Boogie Bill - in your post you seem to be comparing Mark series and Rectifier tones, but when making the comparison you say "are you looking for the tone of the Mark, or the tone of the Mark?" Am I misunderstanding your wording?

It was late, so sorry! I've edited my post...it should be Mark or Rectifier. Please re-read for more obfuscation!

Thanks,

Bill

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

I try to cop a dual rec on a Mark.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Cool. Thanks everyone. I think all those pedals would sound great.

I've wanted a Sansamp for so long.
The Resistafier comes in sweet colors.
Line 6 (UberMetal) is really good at metal tones and I can later pop in other kinds of Line 6 pedal modules.
Electro-Harmonix (Metal Muff) is a great brand.
Hardwire Metal is true bypass which is awesome for letting that clean tone shine through.

I'm leaning towards the Resistafier because of the cool colors and the Sansamp because I've wanted one for so long.

 

[H8Red442]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

The Hardwire stuff is awesome. I can't recommend it enough. I've got three like I said and you'd never know. They're pretty versatile as well.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Pedal for Mesa Boogie overdrive

Yep. It's Resistafier or Hardwire. Hardwire cuz you all recommend it highly, and Resistafier because a yellow or sparkley distortion pedal would be awesome.