im after an overdrive to go with my setup, just after something that will give a little bit of crunch when i hit the strings harder-what do you recommend?

so, do you want something that is fairly low gain?

a Danelectro Transparent Overdrive should do the business; i prefer it to most of the higher-priced/boutique overdrives i’ve used.

thanks, ill check it out

try the lpb-1 if you have a tube amp. You might be surprised and save yourself a ton of money!

other than that I really like the ocd from fulltone.

yea maybe an lpb-1 or a germanium od or double muff?

if your thinking double muff or lpb-1, there’s always the single “muff” in the nano box as well, i would say its right in the middle.

buying the single muff would save you cash, but if you got extra you could always go with the double muff, and use it in single mode, you will always have the option to have more gain if you wanted by switching it into double mode.

also to think about….anyone can always use a good compressor, and i use the EHX Black Finger (newer tube version) and on top of having a good compressor, you can dial in a bit of good OD with it as well!

I really like the Boss SD-1 for a low gainer. I was amazed how much I liked it.

My suggestions:

For adding a “crunchy” feel and sensitive to playing dynamics, I use the following boxes:

- Aramat Green Machine Overdrive.
- Voodoo Lab Sparkle drive (this one has a “clean” vol pot to retain the body of your undistorted signal, just like if you have clean an OD signals at the same time).

These pair are based on the TS-808 Tube Sreamer, but with more gain and keeping the “bottom” sound of your guitar. I mean, they sound less mid-rangey than the classic TS.

I use the Green Machine also for boosting an EH “Green Russian” Big Muff, while the Sparkle Drive is put after an EH Hot Tubes Overdrive (the tubed reissue version) with the same purpose.

In the style of the above mentioned: Barber Direct Drive or LTD; HBE Power Screamer; Hao Rust Driver, MXR Distortion + (at low distortion values), ... etc.

You may also use a linear booster such the EH LPB models or the MXR Micro Amp. If you use it through the input instead the effects loop, they tend to increase saturation rather than boosting the volume. It’s another affordable option.

How about the EH family?

Well:

My choices are:

- EH Double Muff: Nice overdrive. It’s a retro cool rocker. Also it has the feature of cleaning your sound just by rolling back the guitar volume pot.

- EH Hot Tubes Overdrive: Very versatile. Acts both as distortion or overdrive at mellower settings. Works better with lower gain tubes (not the usual 12AX7’s) as it expands its range.

Good luck!

:thumb:

S.W.

2 questions on the topic of overdrive:

1. what would happen in you plugged in say 5 lpb1s in a row and turned them up?

2. does an lpb1 help create some good sounding overdrive into a 22cal?

gracias

friedjesseradio - 25 May 2010 08:14 PM

1. what would happen in you plugged in say 5 lpb1s in a row and turned them up?

i could swear i remember seeing Mike Mathews say thats how the man behind Peavey amplification, first integrated a distortion into there amps. he seen mike with his lpb-1 and he cloned it and put a bunch in series?!?!

more or less how Mesa got the Mesa sound too- guy designed an amplifier but put a bunch of preamps in series, had them all cranked up but forgot to turn the standby off, flipped it on and was annihilated by feedback.

if you haven’t already, I highly recommend trying the pedals Marshall make.

I’ll second the Marshall recommendation. I’ve been bouncing back and forth between my BOSS SD-1 and the Marshall Guv’Nor, fer the last couple weeks.. But I’ve finally decided I like the Guv’Nor better. It’s got the ‘deep’ control that does a pretty decent job of getting that low speaker pumping (excursion) sound from a 1960A. I also find it can run from slightly overdriven, to full on high gain, depending on how you have the gain and treb/mid controls set.

Compared to the SD-1, I find the Guv’Nor to be a little darker. And maybe not quite as much headroom as the SD-1, but it fills my needs. I run the Guv’Nor into a Little Big Muff, which sounds HUGE… But then I run the Big Muff into a POG2, and finally an LPB-1, just before my Mesa Boogie Rocket 4Forty. Having all these on at once is simply MASSIVE!

Good luck in your Overdrive hunt.. It’s a neverending story;)

TGM

Yeah ... the never ending quest for a perfect overdrive ...sounds familiar.

Am pretty much happy with my Danelectro Cool Cat Drive (ver 1). Not a TS kind of overdrive, more like a Marshlish crunch - pretty mellow and thick.
And for a slightly different taste of od I use the one form BMP 4 Ge. It’s almost perfect but can also be to harsh for some.

Bottom line - you shouldn’t go wrong with those two.

Just ordered a Dirty Little Secret. I’ll let ya know when it gets here!