Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

[mantis]

It's funny I don't need a lot of pedals as I don't use that many different things. I like Chorus, Reverb and Delay and basically that's it. But OD style pedals I constantly look at like I'm searching for something I don't have. On my board I have 4 OD style pedals. I have OCD and a Waza Blues Driver. Whats funny about that is I set them both up to sound basically the same. I dialed in the OCD and got it sounding the way I like it. Then at another time of dialing I dialed in the Blues Driver. When I click between the 2, I can barely tell the difference LOL. I got them dialed in so close to each other that it almost doesn't make any sense to have them both. They can sound very different from each other as the Blues Driver seems clearer but I can make it sound like the OCD and visa versa.
Over the years I have purchased and sold more OD pedals then any other kind. To this day I still have like 5 or 6 pedals I want to go buy and try out, they are all OD style pedals LOL.
IS there something wrong with me?

The funny thing is that my Chorus effect is very important to me Yeah yeah old 80's guy here so I use it often for clean stuff. Once I went through various Chorus pedals and found the Waza Chorus by Boss, I stopped looking at them except the 500 series as I have the other 2 and was thinking of having all 3. But the Waza Chorus is so damn good I have no reason to have the mega digital 500 . Reverb I had many different ones and the RV-6 landed on my board and I was set. BUT I picked up a DD-500 as I'm a delay nut and wanted the matching reverb. I set it up and use 1 patch LOL on the reverb. The DD-500 I use 2 patches LOL. And really I find myself using my Waza Delay most of the time as I prefer it's organic sound. I don't look at delay pedals anymore.

Fanger phaser and all the other style effects I could care less about but you show me a OD pedal I never used before and I'm all in.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I don't get it. But I'm very pragmatic in sense of pedals anyway. If I don't need one I sell it.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

When it comes to OD pedals, I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Easily enticed by the promise of a new sound, I’ll check out just about any pedal that I think might sound just a little bit different. So I have about thirty-two of them and feel like I haven’t scratched the surface.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

First of all, for the people that come in the thread to say “I don’t use an OD pedal, I use amp gain”, or “they all sound the same”, there’s probably a more appropriate thread for you.

IMO, it comes down to your core sound or sounds. If you can’t get your sound with just an amp, you are using a boost/OD/Distortion/Fuzz for the basis of your tone. How many times do you use chorus or phaser? A basic one would work for me. Even delay, I love my analog and tape style delays, but really I could get along fine with almost any delay.

Gain pedals all sound and react differently to your guitar/pickups, amp and other effects. You’ve got it on pretty much all the time, so it’s important to get it exactly how you want it. If all the variations on tube screamers really sounded the same, only the cheaper ones would sell. People have been missing them for years to get the sound they want.

A while ago, Gearjonser had a great post about finding the OD that works with your guitar and especially your amp. For me, my Princeton Reverb and Full Drive 2 just mesh perfectly with my Strats. I think we all buy a bunch until we identify exactly the combo we like.

All just my take on it.

 

[mantis]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

First of all, for the people that come in the thread to say “I don’t use an OD pedal, I use amp gain”, or “they all sound the same”, there’s probably a more appropriate thread for you.

IMO, it comes down to your core sound or sounds. If you can’t get your sound with just an amp, you are using a boost/OD/Distortion/Fuzz for the basis of your tone. How many times do you use chorus or phaser? A basic one would work for me. Even delay, I love my analog and tape style delays, but really I could get along fine with almost any delay.

Gain pedals all sound and react differently to your guitar/pickups, amp and other effects. You’ve got it on pretty much all the time, so it’s important to get it exactly how you want it. If all the variations on tube screamers really sounded the same, only the cheaper ones would sell. People have been missing them for years to get the sound they want.

A while ago, Gearjonser had a great post about finding the OD that works with your guitar and especially your amp. For me, my Princeton Reverb and Full Drive 2 just mesh perfectly with my Strats. I think we all buy a bunch until we identify exactly the combo we like.

All just my take on it.

It's a good take my man.
OD pedals I use in all kinds of different ways. First off I have a High Gain amp and love how it sounds for what it is designed to do. BUT I can't get any usable Rock tones out of it for lighter stuff. Even with the Gain rolled all the way down it attacks to much so I look to OD pedals of sorts to find my Classic Rock tones.
I do once in awhile BOOST the front end of my amp with a TCE Spark setup in all kinds of different ways. I'm a tone freak and I'm never perfectly happy with my tone. I'm constantly messing with it to find the flavor of the day.
The people who comment on how they don't need a OD pedal and use just amp gain is fine by me. We all have our way of expression and if that works for said them cool. I like options and I like to write as well as play covers so versatility is key for me.

 

[Artie]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I gotta admit, I'm in the camp that has more OD/Fuzz/Distortion pedals than a person could ever need. And some fairly expensive. Palladium, EVH5150, Twin Tube Classic, Keeley Blues Driver, and I wish I hadn't sold my Uberschall. Plus many others, not to mention what's built in to modeler/multi-effects boxes. They're just plain fun.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

A while ago, Gearjonser had a great post about finding the OD that works with your guitar and especially your amp.

I can remember that. Great insight there.

Despite that I'm a cable-amp guy, OD pedals totally make sense to alter the flavour, especially in the studio during reamping.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I think a lot of people buy a lot of OD/distortion pedals because they are the cheapest part of your sound to alter. The difference between two distortion pedals is many times bigger than the difference between two amps. Buying distortion pedals until you find just the right one to take the rest of your setup to the next level is a lot cheaper than buying and flipping amps, cabs, and guitars until you find the perfect sound.

That plus distortion pedals can make or break a tone. My DOD Boneshaker can make my Ampeg 1x10 sound HUGE, but even my hot rodded DS-1 cannot. But the DS-1 sounds better (and is easier to dial in) for thinner grungier stuff, so it is worth it to me to have both.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I also think that they are on the cheaper end of most pedals, so it is easy and fun to collect many of them.

 

[Artie]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

Not only that, but they're one of the easiest pedals to mod. Simply change a diode or two, and dramatically alter its character.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I'm not. I have like two OD pedals. Rarely ever use them. One is stock TS9.

I think, though, it's because we are also too cheap to buy a decent amp most of the time.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I'm a fan of using an overdrive in front of a distortion. Yes, I know, nothing subtle about it. Then follow up with with a clean boost for leads.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

First of all, for the people that come in the thread to say “I don’t use an OD pedal, I use amp gain”, or “they all sound the same”, there’s probably a more appropriate thread for you.

IMO, it comes down to your core sound or sounds. If you can’t get your sound with just an amp, you are using a boost/OD/Distortion/Fuzz for the basis of your tone. How many times do you use chorus or phaser? A basic one would work for me. Even delay, I love my analog and tape style delays, but really I could get along fine with almost any delay.

Gain pedals all sound and react differently to your guitar/pickups, amp and other effects. You’ve got it on pretty much all the time, so it’s important to get it exactly how you want it. If all the variations on tube screamers really sounded the same, only the cheaper ones would sell. People have been missing them for years to get the sound they want.

A while ago, Gearjonser had a great post about finding the OD that works with your guitar and especially your amp. For me, my Princeton Reverb and Full Drive 2 just mesh perfectly with my Strats. I think we all buy a bunch until we identify exactly the combo we like.

All just my take on it.

Quoting for emphasis of a phenomenal post. Well said, sir.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

Not only that, but they're one of the easiest pedals to mod. Simply change a diode or two, and dramatically alter its character.

View attachment 98610

 

[formula73]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

I have 1 OD that I never use anymore because my tastes have changed.

I have 2 fuzz boxes I use nearly constantly.

 

[Diego]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

Because a distorted guitar is the best effect ever and we need it to feel just right.
I wouldn't say that I'm obsessed, but it's a critical part of any rig.

In the end, some of the best sounds I've had have been from Boss pedals. I recently tried the OD3 and holy crap it's good.
Might even take the Blues Driver's position as my favorite OD ever.

What can I say? I'm not fancy.

 

[Cynical]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

The thing about ODs is everyone can use them.

Metalhead with a high-gain amp? Level up, gain down, and make everything tighter and juice up your harmonics. Bl00z d00d? Run the dirt up in front of a mostly clean amp. Hard rocker? Somewhere in-between. Country guy? Kick it on for your solos. No matter who you are, no matter what you're playing, a good OD pedal has a place on your board.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

It's funny I don't need a lot of pedals as I don't use that many different things. I like Chorus, Reverb and Delay and basically that's it. But OD style pedals I constantly look at like I'm searching for something I don't have. On my board I have 4 OD style pedals. I have OCD and a Waza Blues Driver. Whats funny about that is I set them both up to sound basically the same. I dialed in the OCD and got it sounding the way I like it. Then at another time of dialing I dialed in the Blues Driver. When I click between the 2, I can barely tell the difference LOL. I got them dialed in so close to each other that it almost doesn't make any sense to have them both. They can sound very different from each other as the Blues Driver seems clearer but I can make it sound like the OCD and visa versa.
Over the years I have purchased and sold more OD pedals then any other kind. To this day I still have like 5 or 6 pedals I want to go buy and try out, they are all OD style pedals LOL.
IS there something wrong with me?

The funny thing is that my Chorus effect is very important to me Yeah yeah old 80's guy here so I use it often for clean stuff. Once I went through various Chorus pedals and found the Waza Chorus by Boss, I stopped looking at them except the 500 series as I have the other 2 and was thinking of having all 3. But the Waza Chorus is so damn good I have no reason to have the mega digital 500 . Reverb I had many different ones and the RV-6 landed on my board and I was set. BUT I picked up a DD-500 as I'm a delay nut and wanted the matching reverb. I set it up and use 1 patch LOL on the reverb. The DD-500 I use 2 patches LOL. And really I find myself using my Waza Delay most of the time as I prefer it's organic sound. I don't look at delay pedals anymore.

Fanger phaser and all the other style effects I could care less about but you show me a OD pedal I never used before and I'm all in.

OP, if your only using ever one guitar or guitar pickup style, different ODs can often cover the same ground -as there are really only a half dozen "types" of OD -the rest is gain, filtering, headroom, settings etc etc, but I feel like if little OD nuances combined with various permutations of amp, pickup, guitar and other pedals get you gassed experimenting with tone (like me) then it's sort of like the old mountain climbing adage. "Why do people climb mountains? if you have to ask, you will never understand "

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

Because a distorted guitar is the best effect ever and we need it to feel just right.

View attachment 98618

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Why are we obsessed with OD style pedals?

How about this: I get my gain from my amp and I STILL have flipped through probably 3 or 4 dozen gain pedals in the past few years! I just love trying them out, and I like having at least one to use as a boost when I am playing quietly at home to give me the sensitivity and sustain I expect at stage volume. But mainly...it is FUN! Nothing else really alters your fundamental sound like an OD or distortion box! Even the bad ones are fun to mess around with and every now and then I stumble across a specific sound that my ears really like.