Pedals that arent great at home, but shine live with a band...

[dewman]

A few pedals sound less than great at home, but lately I've rescued a few from the TGP emporium or Ebay because they sound STELLAR live! It's killing me. Almost sold my Tim because I must have dog ears and kept hearing that crunchy overdrive. However, last night it sounded killer with the group of guys I play with. I find the Eternity dark and muffled at home, but live it is amazing sounding. Anyone else have these stark differences with pedals or like them live better than at home? Wish we could amass a running list since a lot of things come and go because I didn't like them at home and let them go before I could use them in a band context. Here are some of my faves live:

Cochrane's Tim
Lovepedal Burst Eternity
Lovepedal 200lbs
Analogman Beano Boost

Some one's I didn't like live but liked them at home:
Clyde Deluxe Wah
BB Preamp
Bad Monkey
Zendrive


One's I want to hear live:
Duncan Twin Tube
H&K Tube Factor

[re-animator]

any sort of rangemaster.... they are NOT made for the bedroom.

[rusty a.]

i can't get any OD pedal to sound good at practice volume...best example...my FULLDRIVE sounds great live and cranked up, but i hate it through my small amps or at low volume...

[eclipseall]

MXR DoubleShor or MXR Dime Distortion. They slice through the mix and sound thick and heavy with the right Eq.

[big mike]

I think the Klon really shines on the gig...as does a good phaser.

[parns2112]

everything Fulltone...

[Josh O]

The Keeley modded DS-1 really shined when opened up, not a good bedroom pedal at all.

[gang twanger]

MXR DoubleShor or MXR Dime Distortion. They slice through the mix and sound thick and heavy with the right Eq.
+1 on the Dime and Doubleshot. I tried like hell to get a good sound out out of either one at the music store, but no luck. I guess you have to really goose 'em and add an extra dose of EQ to get a decent sound.

My Beano Boost is definitely not bedroom friendly either. My NKT Sunface sounds good at low volume, but you really need to run it through a cranked amp to get the real mojo out of it. Same thing with my Pro Bender. You give it some volume, and it sweetens up and starts feeding back in that uber-cool way where you just press down on the strings and BWAAAHH!!!!
:RoCkIn

[AaeCee]

I think the Klon really shines on the gig...as does a good phaser.Big +1. A Klon is GREAT at decent volumes, but not an ideal bedroom pedal.

[tonewave]

fd2 cranked is another beast entirely at live gig levels
at lower levels I can't get past the colouring it does to lower end of my sound. Also at lower levels it reminds me of McDonalds for some reason.
Who knows, it could that you just don't notice these things in the heat of the battle.

[plexirocker 68]

Ts-9 tube screamers are the king of this!!

plexi

[Dog Boy]

Hotcake ain't so hot at bedroom lvls. On the gig it rocks!

However I never use mine as a distortion unit...just a gritty OD.

[Joses]

Most of the Jetters, if not all of them, aren't too crash hot at low levels - but really bring the heat when your amp is loud and proud! :)

[StompBoxBlues]

Though I would argue that it sounds very nice at home, the Zendrive is absolutely the biggest "trick" I know of....it's like wizardry.

The Klon, I agree also, but there again, like it ver much at home, and other than the effect it can have on other pedals with its bufffer, with the band it shines too.

[mike@nortoncable.com]

The box of rock sounds great all around But at bedroom levels It really doesnt shine as well without the cranked amp-. This really applies to most OD pedals I suppose. There meant to be put infront of an amp thats already breaking up. So at lower levels They all just seem to be BLAH. Then again thats what the crunch box is for, sounds good at all volumes! (especially loud ones)

I agree also on The klon thing, the amp just needs to be driven to breakup for it to do its thing, It even states this on the setup paper.. Not a bedroom peice if you live in a condo :D

[aarondavis]

IMO, the RAT (mines a Keeley) sounds OK at home at low volume. But live and on recordings it fits so well.

[Fatso Forgottso]

klon

[bkd_guitarist]

any sort of rangemaster.... they are NOT made for the bedroom.

+1 - the Beano Boost side of my Sunlion (Rangemaster based clean boost) tends to be harsh and ice-picky in the bedroom, but in a live setting it jumps right out, cuts through the mix, great pedal.

[FloridaSam]

Anything made by Fulltone. Sound GREAT loud but not made for bedroom levels.

My Wren and Cuff Red Camel sounds good at bedroom levels, but loud (and I do mean LOUD, its a LOUD pedal) it plays more like an amp than most amps I've owned. Superb at gig levels.

[jgyn]

Roger Mayer pedals sound best loud.

[Dave]

any sort of rangemaster.... they are NOT made for the bedroom.
+2 Although, I've found that some OD pedals sound really good with a treble booster in front of them. For practicing at low volumes I love a treble booster into a Skreddy Screw Driver.

[pir8matt]

I wasn't big on the Fulltone OCD when I tried it at home, but found it to be a great live pedal.

I never could warm up to the Fulltone '69 in either environment.

[thiscalltoarms]

everything Fulltone...

truer words have never been spoken.



fulltones drive me nuts at home, sound mediocre at practice, but KILL live.

[Thin Slices]

When classic rock tones is needed, my 90'ies vintage RAT always smokes the rest of em damn boxes. I have tried a lot I return to the RAT again and again.

Often I have grown tired of its sound. Then I play a rock gig and brings it with... just in case. I always end up using it the whole night.

[CWFurst]

I didn't really care for the Cruch Box at gig levels.

[Jon C]

Pro Analog Dual Drive... good at home, GREAT at gig level, esp. along with the TIM.

I don't think the TIM sounds bad at home volume, but it does really shine at gig level.

[ed84246]

G2D cream tone sounds good live, but amazing at low levels at home. Lovepedal Eternity is the same thing to me. My Zen 2 is great for Dumble type stuff at home, but through my Shiva at volumes in the clean channel with a Diamond Compressor it's an awesome Marshall type rock sound - I did not expect that at all, but the Shiva's a strange amp.

[Sharkey]

Hey Dew, you know this already but thought I would post it for others... My list of pedals that sound best when cranked are:

Klon
Ts-9 Tube Screamers
Pro Anolog- Dirt Royale w/cheeze
Freakshow- Rrown Rabbit

I feel these sound OK at low volume but through an amp thats cookin;:banana

[MightyGuru]

Wasn't crazy about the Bad monkey at home...but it sounded pretty good at the gig.

[fishcake]

i dont know if i should start another thread about this, so i suppose i should just ask it here since it is a bit related:

are there any OD pedals that do not lose quality, or lose the least amount of quality, when played throughout the volume level spectrum (i.e. played at bedroom levels, at mid-sized auditorium levels where your equipment is mic'ed, etc)?

ive seen a couple of posts about the zendrive being good at almost all levels, so are there any other?

[Dexter.Sinister]

Pro Analog Dual Drive... good at home, GREAT at gig level, esp. along with the TIM.

I don't think the TIM sounds bad at home volume, but it does really shine at gig level.

Do you use loop in Tim? Would/does it work better at lower volume with EQ or "softener" in loop?

DS

[alivegy]

Any tubescreamer type pedal. They're meant to overdrive the amp, not so much the pedal itself.

[KBN]

Any tubescreamer type pedal. They're meant to overdrive the amp, not so much the pedal itself.

Not sure how much the Diamond J-Drive mk3 shares with the TS, but this is certainly true for the J-Drive. Almost sold it after using it at practice for a while. It is a good thing that I waited until I used it live and got the rig cooking a bit. Sounded great then.