Distortion pedal for Carr Rambler and single-coils.

[Paul Conway]

Got a Rambler, got a strat. Lovely clean sounds, but I need a pedal for dirt. I don't want a massive jump in volume, so I guess I need something that's more distortion than overdrive. Nothing too esoteric (i.e. preferably no waiting list stuff).

Have tried (and been unsatisfied by):



Guvnor
BBD
Drivetrain II
Bad Monkey
Screaming Blues

These were all OK-ish, but not what I was after...need a bit more gain without going all death metal.

Look forward to your thoughts.

[sanhozay]

The BB Preamp, MJM Blues Devil, Fulldrive II, Lovepedal Eternity - all very nice sounding with that amp.

Have to add....Klon is a really good mate. $344 with about a three month lead time. Not cheap but really special sounding with the Rambler.

[Blueser]

Got a Rambler, got a strat. Lovely clean sounds, but I need a pedal for dirt. I don't want a massive jump in volume, so I guess I need something that's more distortion than overdrive. Nothing too esoteric (i.e. preferably no waiting list stuff).

Have tried (and been unsatisfied by):



Guvnor
BBD
Drivetrain II
Bad Monkey
Screaming Blues

These were all OK-ish, but not what I was after...need a bit more gain without going all death metal.

Look forward to your thoughts.

Paul,

A Barber Direct Drive will get it done. The Barber will get a nice Marshally distortion and will also do a great blues tone, and it would be my first pick for what you are describing.

If you want it a bit gainier than that, try a Hotcake.

Dave

[A440]

BB Preamp, or an older RaT works great

[Den]

I love my Barber Burn EQ with my Rambler and a strat ... or any other guitar for that matter. Two channels on the BBU can be set from clean boost to crunch to singing violin overdrive. The "dynamics" setting gives you control over compression. More dynamics gives more Marshally rock tones, but you can also dial in Dumble sounding stuff as well.

One of the keys to getting the most from this pedal is taking some time to tweak the internal trimmers to really dial in what you're looking for. The BBU is awesome right out of the box, but once dialed in with the trimmers, its like having a custom three-channel amp. You should check it out.

[John H]

I'm, primarily, a Strat and Tele player. With my Carr Hammerhead, I loved the tones I got with my M.I. Audio Blues Pro*, Barber Small Fry and mod board Direct Drive, Durham Crazy Horse, and Pedalworx McFuzz (and McFuzz Hot).

* The Blues Pro was modded.

[Paul Conway]

Thanks all.

[rusty a.]

fulldrive is a tweaked version of what you've already tried...MORE gain :) and the second channel helps also, BUT i like it cause it can keep the volume (like you said, that's tough to do with gain pedals)

Klon sounds great, but i just have to run it soooo hot volume-wise to get enough drive -- just don't know if it will quite work with my rig yet...and i play loud! lol!!!

zvex box of rock is a little pricey, but it sounds good on the demo video (youtube)...i've heard great things on Barber but i just haven't tried them...

[Presc]

The Rambler is a Fender-inspired design right?

I'll give another nod to the Barber Direct Drive. It's a great pedal without being too pricey and definitely a major improvement over the standard fare Boss, Ibanez, etc pedals. At lower gain settings it can sound similar to a tube screamer, but it has a much larger range of gain and can do some Marshall-ish singing overdrive at the higher ranges. It's really well voiced and build is high quality. I enjoy mine with a Fender DRRI and a G&L Legacy so I'm guessing if the Rambler is Fender-ish it will probably work well for you.

Here's a couple examples of the sounds I get with it:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=702186&songID=6587143

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=702186&songID=5714292

[texzy]

Klon loves the Rambler!
Sex Drive, too

[Paul Conway]

Thanks, guys. I may look into Barber or the Hotcake, I think. The Sexdrive sounds great when Chuck Prophet uses one, but it's a little pricey for me.

I did think about trying a Crunchbox, but my concern would be that it added fizziness like the Guvnor does.

Just found my old TriOD, however. Forgot I had it, almost. Let's see how that does..

[5150gtrmonkey]

I love running the following pedals solo or combined through my Rambler with awesome results:

Fulltone OCD V.4
Jettergear Gainstage Blue
Fulltone 69
H.B.E. Powerscreamer
Zendrive 2

If I had to narrow it down to just one, I personally would choose the OCD. I can get some really fat and sustaining tones with my strat style guitar with the gain at about 3:00.

In combo, I like to run the Jetter or 69 in front of the OCD at medium/light gain settings for the Claptonesque Woman Tone. The H.B.E. or Zendrive 2 in front of the OCD at medium/light gain settings creates a nicer, slightly smoother distortion with great sustain.

[Tweeker]

I find that my Rambler pretty much "likes" any pedal, they all sound good. It's more a matter of what's right for you - the sound you hear in your head.

I find the pedals that work best for me are the ones with a certain forwardness in the midrange. This compliments the single coil and "Fendery" sound of the Rambler.
My two faves are:
Zendrive
Blackstone

[Paul Conway]

Had a Zendrive before I had this amp. I found that with a strat, it really needed the amp to be going some and to have the pedal output fairly high. I don't want a big volume boost. But it's a good pedal, absolutely.

[thinline01]

Menatone Red Snapper ;-)

[JamonGrande]

Having a rambler for about 7 months, I would say my experiences depend upon the amp settings.

For quite a while now, I've been using the triode mode when I'm particularly obsessive about pedal interactions. It seems to soften the treble (particularly the "blackface" highs), so it has worked well with my Reezafrazitz and burst eternity.

In pentode mode, I hear a top end sizzle that says "pedal" to my ears with the aforementioned pedals, two fuzzes and an AC booster. With that said, in a band context, those frequencies are somewhat masked by cymbals, so i've been getting back into the pentode setting.

Without exactly knowing what you are looking for, the low-mid gain tones (9-11 o'clock) with volume boost (2 o'clock) with the reeza may get what you want (from your description). There is a pretty substantial low end boost though, it can be boomy.

best of luck on the search
joe

[lukeII]

If you want a rock sounding distortion on the bridge single coil you'll need something that adds some compression and a little bit of mids to fatten that pup up. The OCD version 3 does this wonderfully when the gain hits about 1 or 2 o'clock but version 4 might also work (I haven't tried v4). Other suggestion might be a Rat based pedal like the Lovekraft Chupacabra.

For a more bluesy OD there is a legion of OD that will do that (all the Tube screamer clones mod for one, the Red snapper, timmy or zendrive would also be great.

[G&L Player]

I play a Suhr Classic through a Carr Hammerhead, and use a Wampler Pinnacle II for low to medium dirt, and a CMATMODS Brownie for the high gain stuff. For an overall dirt pedal you should try the Pinnacle. Highly flexible, and has a boost switch for those moments you need it to "go to 11"

[Dion]

I find the pedals that work best for me are the ones with a certain forwardness in the midrange. This compliments the single coil and "Fendery" sound of the Rambler.
My two faves are:
Zendrive
Blackstone

I would add the Skreddy Screwdriver and Menatone Working Man's Blues

[Paul Conway]

Particularly looking for something that doesn't rely upon driving the amp hard and boosting volume to get the sound.

[trisonic]

I like the Blues Boy Deluxe with a clean Fender amp.

You should take on board what Blueser says - he has the nicest sounding Rambler that I've heard.......

Best, Pete.

[Blueser]

I like the Blues Boy Deluxe with a clean Fender amp.

You should take on board what Blueser says - he has the nicest sounding Rambler that I've heard.......

Best, Pete.

Pete,

Thanks mate. Sadly, my Rambler is gone, but I do have an Imperial, which is a double Rambler, and sounds every bit as incredible, with the same reverb and trem circuit. It has the added bonus of a footswitchable variable boost. Mine was a 2x12 combo that I just sent off to Crusty Cabs to have a head cab made for it to match my Tone Tubby 2x12 cabinet.

I would love to grab another Rambler as a quick grab and go, but I haven't been doing a lot of going these days, and I have been filling out the guitar lineup with the cash expenditures! :cool:

I hope all is well on your end.

Regards,
Dave