Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like options

IMENATOR

IMENATOR

Well-known member
Thanks to an unexpected business travel I will be visiting Guitar center in Lake Forest, CA. Recently I was planing on getting new pedals (you may remember my question thread about noise gates) and... yes want to get amp like tone rather than FX right now. I already have distortion pedal for heavy metal which is my prefered genere but really want to diversify so I wan to get different pedals for the following, please give me your suggestions, here in Mexico there is not so much options so my main reference are Boss and Ibanezz pedals (ok, maybe there are a few stores with other brands but honestly I have not found).

1.- What would you recomend for a bluesy sound, kind of SRV? My only reference about that kind of sound would be the boss blues driver. Are "blues" pedals meant to sound like some kind of Fender amp?

2.- What would you recomend for an overdrive tone, kind of a 70's rock tone? My references are Boss BC-2 British combo (I like demos for this one since it sounds like an AC-30 but can get some high gain as well) and Ibanez Tube Screamer (I do not know what kind of amp this one tries to emulate, if it was an emulator I do not know).

3.- What would you recomend for a a heavy rock sound, high gain marshall like? I know Boss Power Stack ST-2 is meant for that, I tried once using my guitar and I really liked.


So thanks in advance to everyone, I really look forward for your suggestions.
 
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Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

What are you running them into? That would change the suggestions alot. Stevie Ray used a tube screamer but he used it to push the front of a tube amp. You might be a bit disappointed in it if your using it to push the front of your pod and would need to go a different route.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

Blues Shaman or the OCD. The Blues Shaman is a bit more versatile and brighter, but the OCD has tone for days. Either would do exactly what you want.

And dude, what's up that's my guitar center I go to too. Ask accessories if you want, Dave won't do you wrong.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

Edgecrusher said:
What are you running them into? That would change the suggestions alot. Stevie Ray used a tube screamer but he used it to push the front of a tube amp. You might be a bit disappointed in it if your using it to push the front of your pod and would need to go a different route.
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I use the clean channel of a Roland Cube 40xl
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

for a marshall tone, the catalinbred DLS is pretty hard to beat
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

I like the low cost Marshall Guv'nor Plus pedal. Marshall in a box, smooth, yet still crunchy and dynamic.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

First of all, the front end of a Cube probably won't take pedals well. You can certainly try it, but you might consider putting some money into an amp that isn't a modeller.

Tube Screamers are the SRV pedal. They don't try to cop any particular amp's tone, but they do have their own characteristic color. The cut some of your lows and bump your mids. The Fulltone OCD is much more transparent. Some people say it sounds Marshally, but I don't hear that at all. Maybe more like an 18W Marshall? Either way, it's very touch-sensitive. The Marshall Guv'nor does a great mid-gain Marshall tone, but it's not really capable of high-gain. MI Audio makes the Crunch Box, which is a Guv'nor circuit with a lot more gain on tap. It's a great pedal.

It might also be worth looking into some DIY pedals. I'm a big fan of the Brown Sound In A Box II, a pedal that's meant to get Van Halen-ish Marshall tones. There's also the Thor, a Plexi pre-amp scaled down to use jfets and run off 9v. It doesn't have a whole lot of gain, but it sounds great.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

mremic01 said:
First of all, the front end of a Cube probably won't take pedals well. You can certainly try it, but you might consider putting some money into an amp that isn't a modeller.
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As someone who plays through a Cube 60 at lot at practice and some jams, I have to disagree. The Cube takes pedals EXTREMELY well. Granted, some of them don't work the same as they will on a tube amp, but every overdrive I've used with it has worked very well with my Cube - MXR GT-OD (Tubescreamer), MXR CMBAOD (Tubescreamer w/ a 100hz knob), Joyo Sweet Baby (Mad Professor Sweet Honey clone), Mooer Hustle Drive (OCD clone).

For what you are looking for, something like the OCD and a Tubescreamer type will probably get you there.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

My own preferred ones...

Blues:
-----
Tweed-alike => Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive; Wampler '57 Tweed
TS-alike => Mad Professor Little Green Wonder
Dumble-alike => Wampler Euphoria (smooth mode), Hermida Audio Zendrive, Domkudo
Blues (blackface-alike) => Wampler '65 Black

Marshall:
--------
JTM-45 => Wampler Plexi Drive (marshallizes anything)
Hod Rodded JCM (driven power tubes) => Wampler Pinnacle
Hod Rodded JCM (driven pre-amp and power tubes) => Wampler Plextortion


For your (1), I would probably stack a Wampler Euphoria into a Wampler '65 Black or viceversa, that should work.
For your (2), I would probably stack a good organic disto (like RAT or Wampler Sovereign or even MXR Distortion III), germanium fuzz (type tone bender MK2) or a tube-screamer into the Plexi Drive, or viceversa.
For your (3), Wampler Plextortion.

My point is that I am not confident such a kind of organic pedals that push amp's harmonics can work equally well with a SS modeler combo.
I bet, you would probably need pedals that have their own sound and that 'overwrite' the voice of your amp.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

hermetico said:
My point is that I am not confident such a kind of organic pedals that push amp's harmonics can work equally well with a SS modeler combo.
I bet, you would probably need pedals that have their own sound and that 'overwrite' the voice of your amp.
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As far as the Cube goes, this is partially true in my experience. I can't speak for other modelers. When I run my Sweet Baby (Sweet Honey clone) into my Cube it sounds different than when I run it into the Mesa DC-5 or the 68 Bassman. The Sweet Honey really just enhances the tones already there with the Mesa and Fender. With the Cube, though, it has it's own sound. It may not be quite as dynamic as with the other amps, but it's still a nice, useable sound. This could be because the Cube has a really nice clean channel, I've not gotten great sound when I've used my Sweet Baby with my little Peavey Rage 158 amp.

To the OP: the best results I've had with the Cube were with at GT-OD set to the Wylde mode, so maybe give one of those a try.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

Why not just go with either a Ts808 or a Ts9? That's what SRV used
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

Running a light overdrive through a solid state amp doesn't usually produce the sound which Tubescreamer-type pedals are known for, but it can still be fun to layer them up with some amp distortion or another pedal. When I want a Fendery tone with a sold state amp, I plug in the Blues Driver.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

I use a soundbloxPRO Classic Distortion and get all of those tones out of one pedal and more. It has a midrange control that allows you to control the voicing of each pedal and the ability to control the gain pre and post mid-tweek. This gives a warm and very natural distortion. There is also a built-in noise gate and 7 band EQ. Very natural fuzz tones and over the top high-gain tones if you need them. There are 6 preset bank to store your favorite tones in.

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Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

I'll limit the answer to stuff you're likely to find at Lake Forest GC.

First look at their used pedal selection. GC is having some tremendous bargains on used gear they're taking in off the streets that's actually better stuff than what they sell new. It's usually in a glass case away from their new pedals. Bring your guitar and use a similar style amp to yours.

Way Huge Green Rhino is a great OD pedal. You can actually adjust the size of your tone with the 100Hz button, unlike most simpler pedals.

Check out the MXR OD and distortion pedals. The Custom Badass Modified OD in gold is a good choice. Same with the Classic OD. Try them all.

If you can spend more, some of the GC's stock Fulltone OD's. Check out the Plimsoul, Fulldrive II, and OCD.

Most of all, don't be shy about having the salesman hook up every OD pedal you want. They need customers.
But have some money and pull the trigger on something, if you're going to be trying everything on the shelf.
 
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Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

baritone said:
Running a light overdrive through a solid state amp doesn't usually produce the sound which Tubescreamer-type pedals are known for, but it can still be fun to layer them up with some amp distortion or another pedal. When I want a Fendery tone with a sold state amp, I plug in the Blues Driver.
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That is a good point. I am NOT trying to "push" the SS amp as others would try with tube amos., I actually wanna get the tone from the pedals.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

Gearjoneser, before your post I noticed GC offers used gear and the Fulltone demos sound quite nice, I am starting to like that brand.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

1.- What would you recomend for a bluesy sound, kind of SRV?
TS808 Tube Screamer

2.- What would you recomend for an overdrive tone, kind of a 70's rock tone?
Fulltone OCD or Wampler Plexi Drive (but there are lots of pedals for this tone, everyone has an opinion, you'll just have to try a bunch of em with your rig.)

3.- What would you recomend for a a heavy rock sound, high gain marshall like?
Could try Blackstar HT, Bogner Ecstacy, or Wampler Plextortion, or SLOstortion

I also have a Tech 21 rack unit that is good for any of these sounds. While I don't own the pedals, I would expect their pedals are as good sounding, just limited to the one amp type.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

IMENATOR said:
Gearjoneser, before your post I noticed GC offers used gear and the Fulltone demos sound quite nice, I am starting to like that brand.
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Fulltone is one of the original "boutique pedal" brands. When they came out, I actually lived 3 blocks from them.
They went from being a small brand all the hip LA guitar players started using, all the way to a US made brand that is stocked by big retailers like GC. It's one company that you can count on to never suck.

Spend some time browsing the http://www.fulltone.com/ website. Michael Fuller, the owner, is the real deal.
He's collected the best Marshalls and Fenders, and has always been a tone chaser.

I've owned a lot of Fulltone products, and actually shed a tear when I sell one. There's about 3 I've had that I really regret selling.......original 69 fuzz, one of the first orange FDII's made...like the 4th. And a gold Deja Vibe.

Get something like a Fulltone Plimsoul and Fulldrive II. Then go home and forget about OD's for the rest of your life.
 
Re: Please suggest me some pedals, looking for blues, overdrive and marshal like opti

I cant help you on #1 as I rarely do that kinda thing, but the OCD comes to mind for a good transparent low gain od. For cheapness try a Rocktron Austin Gold - it sounds great for the price.

2. 70s tone. I have had a Wampler Pinnacle, and whilst it is good, it just didn't do much for me. The number one Marshall in a box pedal for me, is still the Plexitone. Not the 9v version, the good old 3 channel box.

Channel 1 can do a great 70s rock kinda thing.

Channel 2 suits number 3 perfectly. Put the gain on 2 o'clock, tone on 1 and you're rocking on the Sunset Strip ala 1987. Take the gain a bit higher and you're in SLO territory, with a more Marshall-ish flavor.

I am not trying to take anything away from Wampler, I have had the Ecstasy, the Pinnacle and I have tried the Plextortion. All left me kinda wanting. The idea is great, but they just dont have this "wide-ness" in the sound that a proper Marshall has. They are sort of too polite sounding (Yes I know, I sound like Vasshu). But, try it all out. Find what works for you. The Wamplers, the Carl Martin and a few others will put in the ballpark, its all about what you are specifically looking for after that. I give the Plexitone A+. Its been on my board for 6 years and will never come off it.
 
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