Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

J

JesusCrisp

New member
So, I'm in the process of buying a Laboga Caiman amp.

Sound- and gain-wise it's about JCM800-ish territory on the distortion channel, maybe a tad more modern and less pokey.
I'm playing pretty high output pickups already (Dimarzio Super Distortions, AT-1, Duncan Alternative 8) and have some DIY fuzz/OD pedals.
However, the OD pedals I have (EQD Acapulco Gold and Friedman BE-OD clones) work beautifully as standalone drive pedals, not as a boost for the lead channel.

What I'm looking for is an OD pedal that just pushes the front end of the amp a little into high gain and tightens it up a notch, without any too huge tonal changes (mid spikes, harsh cuts to the low-end).
Can't really go the store with the amp and try pedals with it. Previously owned a Boss SD-1 and Hardwire CM-2 with an Egnater Rebel 30 and Marshall SL-X respectively. They did the job and improved the attack and response as I wanted, but seemed to but a focus on the midrange (mid spike?) that made the amp feel a bit artificial and boxy in tone.

Looking for something that gives the amp a bit more grit, bark, balls, tightness, whatever without greatly affecting the mids or drastically cutting treble/bass frequencies. EQ controls other than a tone knob would be nice but not necessary if the base tone is good. Even more of a plus if I can use it with the clean channel as well. Anything that comes as DIY kit is also appreciated, really like building together pedals and the money saved is a great plus.

Thanks!
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Check out the Friedman Buxom Boost.
Not really an OD pedal per se, but worth a look anyway.
I’m using one with my Splawn Quickrod and love it.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Xotic RC booster or an OCD would be the first two that I looked into. Someone posted about the Seafoam Pedals Lighthouse fairly recently and that one has me intrigued as well
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Boss Blues Driver.

Doesn't have the SD1 midboost and it has a very transparent high-end that works great for clear high gain tones.

I used mine to take my Tweaker 15 from a Plexi-esque crunch straight into early Metallica and Mastodon.

It does cut a hint of bass, but since you're handy with DIY work, there's one resistor you can remove that adds all that bass back.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

A MXR ZW-44. Zakk uses its pedal to kick its JCM800. I have a GT-OD in my board that is basically a ZW-44. The GT-Od has a switch in the inside. Flipping the switch and the pedal turns immediately in a ZW-44
 
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Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

I'm straight up classic old skool cliche:

Rat
DS-1
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Boss OD-3. You cannot go wrong.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Thanks for the suggestions so far!
Buxom boost looks interesting, similar tone controls as the BE-OD, which is great for tweakability!

Couple of questions:
Anyone got experience with using a Klon (or more likely a clone thereof, EHX Soulfood) for this kind of thing?
Also, Xotic RC Booster being mentioned, how much is the difference between that and the BB Preamp?
How does boosting with a Rat compare to let's say a Tubescreamer?
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Go with the home team's 805 Overdrive. The active 3 band EQ is so much better than passive tone knobs of other pedals.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

JesusCrisp said:
Thanks for the suggestions so far!
Buxom boost looks interesting, similar tone controls as the BE-OD, which is great for tweakability!

Couple of questions:
Anyone got experience with using a Klon (or more likely a clone thereof, EHX Soulfood) for this kind of thing?
Also, Xotic RC Booster being mentioned, how much is the difference between that and the BB Preamp?
How does boosting with a Rat compare to let's say a Tubescreamer?
Click to expand...

In my experience the Soul Food warms up the signal a bit too much. It does something to the clean boost that doesn't work as good as the Blues Driver.

I tried them side by side and I preferred the SF with lots of gain as a lead boost, and the BD set to smash the preamp with low gain.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Mincer said:
Go with the home team's 805 Overdrive. The active 3 band EQ is so much better than passive tone knobs of other pedals.
Click to expand...

While I don't disagree with the idea of having three knobs is an improvement, my understanding is that the AC and RC have an active Baxandall EQ on op of the TS derived circuit.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Mincer said:
Go with the home team's 805 Overdrive. The active 3 band EQ is so much better than passive tone knobs of other pedals.
Click to expand...

My band picked up a gig playing some different material than we normally play due to the venue being a family oriented campground. At rehearsal I used the 805 for most of the night. It sounded glorious. And more importantly it felt glorious.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

The terms "medium-gain" and "high-gain" are subjective, but...

Catalinbread Naga Viper for the Rangemaster experience with that excellent variable hi-pass circuitry (cuts the low-end flub if you want).
MXR 6-Band
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Boss SD-1

Sent from my REVVLPLUS C3701A using Tapatalk
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

A graphic e.q. pedal will let you create a very well tailored, and frequency-adjustable, boost (among many other things you can do with the pedal).

The foot switchable graphic e.q. on my Mesa Express Plus is invaluable. It's like having an extra channel for the amp, and eliminates a pedal off the board.
 
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Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

Mxr 6 band into my Jubilee with the gain at 5 and Rhythm clip engaged, its a monster, add my Tumnus into that mix, screamer.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

A Decibel 11 Dirt Clod will get you there easily and is feature full
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

I use a Centaur Klone into what is essentially a JCM 800, and it does EXACTLY what you described in your second post. It just adds more of the amp’s natural breakup, just like everyone says it does. I like it much better than my other Tubescreamer-type overdrives.
 
Re: Your favorite OD pedals to kick a medium-gain amp into high-gain?

My vote: Guv'nor clone.
You can get diy kits or have FrankTheAnvilFX (on Etsy) build you one for the same price as a kit. I really like mine. A LOT.
Previously I used a graphic eq pedal for years. Probably can't diy one (?) but they do work well as a boost.
 
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