Advice required - which overdrive pedal?

[Bro]

You'll never go wrong with the boss overdrives, i'd say the blues drive, the super overdrive or the distortion/overdrive i think its called, it has both dist and overdrive. Great pedal!

[dwardzala]

Greeney,

I was comparing a the BD-2 and a TS9.  The TS9 is about $10 more than the BD-2.

I thought the BD-2 was a bit noisier than the TS9, especially when using a single coil pickup.  Distortion tone is somewhat dependent on your taste, but both had gain and level controls that allow good control of how much.

I didn't end up buying either pedal, because a different trinket for a different hobby caught my eye, but I will eventually get the TS9.

[Greeny]

Greeney,

I was comparing a the BD-2 and a TS9.  The TS9 is about $10 more than the BD-2.

I thought the BD-2 was a bit noisier than the TS9, especially when using a single coil pickup.  Distortion tone is somewhat dependent on your taste, but both had gain and level controls that allow good control of how much.

I didn't end up buying either pedal, because a different trinket for a different hobby caught my eye, but I will eventually get the TS9.

That's an interesting point. I'd be mainly using it with my trusty telecaster, so the noise factor could be an issue worth considering.

Thanks everyone! We have some proper pedal-heads on here - not surprising given all the incredible guitar skills!

[Prive]

I think the tube screamer is kind of overrated, the way every legendary player uses it is like a clean boost in front of a screaming amp so the TS give a help in the overall gain but that tone is not ALL thanks to the TS, the same setting doesn't sound the same in a Plexy Marshall or in a Twin Reverb, Zack Wylde used to play with a JCM800 and an SD1 but you can't expect Zack's distortion from a simple SD1 and a clean amp.
I say, if you don't have a tube amp the TS or the SD1 or any overdrive will sound just like a regular overdrive pedal, more or less gain, treble, bass.
I can make some samples with TS or SD1 or any pedal you want to try plugged directly to MBR, i think it could sound very good but you can overload the input with a clean or distorted signal cause the "over" will lite and will clip the digital stage, this doesn't happen with tubes and the overload is part of the magic.
Suggest some pedals you want to hear and if i can i'll do some comparisson for you to buy the right thing.

[Dmann]

 IMO a tube pre amp is the way to go, I've owned many a overdrive/distortion pedal over the years and once I tried a tube pre amp I could never be satisfied with a pedal again.

 Of course a tube pre amp can be a little more costly, but if you consider the ability to dial in and save for instant recall numerous tones, it's like having an arsenal of pedals at your disposal.

 I own an ADA MP-2 which was made in the mid '90s, so I'm not sure whats out there on the market today, but it's definately something worth considering looking into.

[Kody]

[Blooby]

Greeny, why not consider a Pocket Pod?  They run used for about $100 (American).  About half the tones that you hear from me are from that.  There are also presets for bass and vocals as well as having a headphone out.  You can run it in front of an amp (but switching is out).

Blooby

Addendum: Kody, that was weird that we posted at the same time.

[Kody]

Hah!! Funny it worked out that way!!  I actually have the pocket pod's bigger sibling~ The Pod XT....But, I'm so impressed with it that I'll never go back to pedals....I've had it for years and haven't even chipped the iceberg yet.  Line6's Vox models are so good....might not sound exactly like a Vox, but I like it better. As well as Crushing distortions and sparkling cleans...Line 6 4 Life! 

Here's what is on my wish list:

[steveblues50]

for $99 american you could get a digitech distortion factory,lot's of good tones,quiet and you get a ts9 model and a big muff model along with a few others,all good except one.i have a bd2 but i've had it modded by bob keeley and i like it a lot better.goes from mild over drive to an almost fuzz,it's great but not a match for your price point.ts9 is a classic ,boss pedals are good.but i really think for you greeny the distortion factory is the best becaause it has an output for mixer/recording.also when you use that output you get cabinet modeling.a lot of bang for your buck.

[64Guitars]

I have a chorus, flanger and wah, but want something to give me a bit more crunch. I'd say I was after a more classic / vintage rock tone rather than a metal-type distortion.

Are you looking for a "fuzz" effect sound or the crunch/distortion of an over-driven amp? If the latter, Behringer makes a Tube Amp Modeler that might be worth looking at. It's only £24.95 at Dolphin Music or £21.99 at Absolute Music.

Then there's the VT911 Vintage Tube Overdrive for £38.95 or the VT999 Vintage Tube Monster for £55.95. These pedals use a real Bugera 12AX7B vacuum tube for authentic tube distortion.

Behringer also has a wide range of stomp boxes at very attractive prices. I don't know what the quality's like (I think the cases are plastic rather than metal) but I've heard that they're practically clones of more expensive pedals. Boss actually sued Behringer a few years ago, although I think it was more to do with the look of the pedals than their electronics.

I think Behringer's TO800 Vintage Tube Overdrive (£31.95) is supposed to be similar to an Ibanez Tube Screamer. See these YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UteVdAOsquU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p8HKBO0CL0

YouTube has lots of other pedal demos too. So that might be a good way to get an idea of what you want.


Personally, I'm too old for floor pedals. When I bend down to adjust the settings, I can't get back up.

I think all effects should be rackmount or tabletop so that you can easily access their controls, and they should use a floor-based footswitch or MIDI controller to switch the effects in and out. Roland has made several multi-effects units like this (GS-10, GT-Pro, and VG-99) but they're very expensive.

(Click to enlarge)

I'd like to see somebody offer some modular, individual effects designed to be mounted in a rackmount or tabletop case and switched via simple footswitches or MIDI controllers. Sort of like the old modular synthesizers.

(Click to enlarge)

Each vertical strip would be a separate effect unit which could be purchased individually. So you could gradually build up your effects rack as you find the money to buy new modules, just as you would with conventional stomp boxes. When you start out with just one or two effects, you'd use simple, inexpensive footswitches to toggle the effects. As you acquire more effects, you might opt for a MIDI controller instead (like the one in the VG-99 photo above). So the effect modules should be designed to allow for either type of switching.