Best single OD to take to open mic, when you don't know what the amp will be?

[StompBoxBlues]

Here's a new idea for a thread.

You decide or get invited to an open mic jam, and are told "just bring your guitar and a cord, they have a couple of amps there" but you have no idea what amps they are.

Please, please, please do NOT just name a pedal, but tell why you came to that conclusion (i.e. "I have tried it with Fender blackface, Marshall non-master volume, Cube 60, and many amps and it is a champ!") and what the pedal will let you do.

So anyway, what pedal do you bring?

I have to decide tomorrow latest, in the morning, and I am still trying to decide on the guitar (which may have a lot of influence on the pedal).

My first thought is my trusty Zendrive. I know it, I know it works with most amps (all amps I have had) almost equally well, and if my choice is between a Strat or LP, both work well with it.

My other thought is my Cot50, because this is what it is specifically designed for. The Cot50 apparently came about because the builder wanted a pedal for exactly this situation, so the guitar can control the OD/gain sound. In my experience it worked best though with a Marshall amp (actually a Germino Classic45 which is a JTM45 clone) but I need to test it with my Fender concert II, and other amps to see...

Another though was the OCD. I have really been loving it with my Soldano SLO, and my Peavey Classic 30, but need to try it with some Fender clean amp to see how it sounds with a lot of headroom.

also, I have a KOT I haven't bonded with yet.

I'm guessing (it's been a while for me since my last open mic night) I can be allowed to adjust the amp, whichever it turns out to be...

So, given the situation (can take either a Strat or LP...I have been a strat guy the last many years, but just recently got a great LP that I love how I can bend notes...which is much harder with the Strat trem involved, but the tone of the strat is always great where the LP sometimes sounds dull in some amps) strat or LP, and then....which OD to take that will give me a little bit of an option ?

What's the verdict?

[slopeshoulder]

I'd bring an amp in a can: for me this would be a Kar Krash or Workingman's Blue, but KOTB, TBIAC, and Howie would all be fine.
They sound like amps I love, I know them, and they have eq and boost functions. A no brainer.

[somedude]

I was going to start a thread on this very thing the other day. I've been jamming on borrowed amps lately and wouldn't mind using a pedal for dirt so I can set the amp clean and forget about it.



Another though was the OCD. I have really been loving it with my Soldano SLO, and my Peavey Classic 30, but need to try it with some Fender clean amp to see how it sounds with a lot of headroom.

I had a Fulltone GT-500 for awhile. I thought it would be really cool for this purpose, but I only remember it doing heavier gain Marshall thing. I honestly never really messed with it too much, so I don't remember how it performed on lower drive settings.

The RTO is also supposed to be up this path (never tried one).

[Thin Slices]

You decide or get invited to an open mic jam, and are told "just bring your guitar and a cord, they have a couple of amps there"

Then I just bring a guitar and a cord. No pedals.

If the music demands overdrive and I have to bring a drive pedal, then the ProCo RAT always does the job. With a great amp, it will sound great. With a poor amp, it will sound OK.

It has a "honky" sound that I don't like very much, but that is what makes is work great - also with poor amps - in a live situation.

[jcv]

It depends on what I plan to play. If I'm doing a classic rock set - which I do frequently at a local open mic - I'd bring my MI Audio Crunchbox. It alsways sounds great... I've used it with my Z's, my DRRI and a couple of friend's modeling amps set to clean. It will give a nice light OD all the way to a ripping cruch.

If I'm doing a blues set, definitely my Keeley TS9. Used through any clean amp I can pretty much get my tone with it. I used to frequent an open mic where I couldn't bring my amp and I usually brought this pedal. Sometimes I needed it, sometimes I didn't (sometimes I got to play though this killer yamaha modeling amp that just sounded great... even though I'm a hardcore tube amp guy).

These days, I won't go if I can't bring my amp. Open mics to me are all about bringing my toys and making some noise :dude

[Rock72]

I would have brought the British Ball Breaker by Geekmacdaddy. It can be dialed in to be in the Marshall or Vox camp, and on lower gain settings it is very transparent adding nice hair to the tones. If the amp is already a tad pushed, it kicks the amp in the drive heaven. It is a very versatile good sounding box. I use it with both single-coil and humbucker guitars. It has worked well through all my amps, 65 Amps Soho, Fargen Miniplex Mk. 2, Suhr Badger 18 and Two Rock CRS.

[frankiestarr]

Well.....The Timmy does a good job for me. It sounds real natural, and works well with most amps. It also has the most flexable EQ I know of. Or I just might bring a good sounding Tube Screamer of some sort. Something with a small foot-print too.....There are a ton of pedals that what cut it...I guess it depends on what kind of jam it is....:dunno

[oldmanmetal]

Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive

[Moe45673]

Definitely a Bad Monkey. Small footprint, great sound, fairly tweakable, and a tubescreamer clone (is there an amp that a TS sounds bad out of?)

The forumite that mentioned a RAT brings up another pedal that would work

If you just need dirt, the Bad Monkey (this works for pretty much any genre of music and can give you all the dirt you need, IMO, to rock out to anything except 80s Hard Rock or Metal from any period). If you need to kick it up a notch(which, IME, open mics tend to steer away from), then the RAT would come along.

The fact that open mics are relatively unreliable from a consistency standpoint (if you want to gig regularly, that is) and probably noone there will really concentrate on your tone (unless it's BAD), I'd go with cheap, readily available pedals over the harder to obtain/expensive variety

[ibobunot]

The Barber B-Custom Cool was designed for that.

"The Custom Cool project started when Monster Mike Welch came to Barber in search of an overdrive to help with rental back-line gigs"
--Dave Barber--

[Brett Valentine]

That's a tough one. I have a few pedals that can fit that job, and I tend to rotate them.

The first might be an MI Audio Tube Zone just for the fact that it covers such a wide range. The EQ options make it flexible enough to work with just about anything, and it works well in low gain, medium gain, and high gain situations. ALso works as a decent clean boost, and has more headroom at 18v.


Also along those lines would be the JetterGear Gain Stage Blue. Though not as flexible EQ wise, it also goes great edge of breakup, clean boost, and I think a pretty great high gain sound with a couple of different feels.


Next down the list are the lower gain pedals, and the first would be a Catalinbread Silver Kiss also because of the EQ options, though it's not as high gain, it can get pretty gainy when all 3 eq's are boosted.



Then is a PedalworX Tour Pro Toggle. The midrange "hump" is pretty gentle, and more "amp reliant" for the overall tone, and with the 3 levels of compression (full TS, medium, and none) can get a wide range of feel.

[jeak]

Bad Monkey. What if you get stuck with a keyboard amp, an old SS junker, or the house PA? The BM has a speaker sim out for such worst-case scenarios.

I once tested a bunch of ODs through a sterile SS bass/keyboard/acoustic amp. Most sounded like fizz, including the Timmy (till I changed the chip), some MI Audio pedals, a Maxon or two, and -- worst of all -- the Blackstone. The exceptions were the Bad Monkey and a 1980s Rat that I had at the time.

[Charles#5]

Most of the boutique OD's I have are pretty picky when it comes to amps. The one OD that always works well no matter what amp is a Boss OD-3. I always carry one in my bag, just in case.

[kidmandude]

Keeley BD-2

[JUSTJOB]

I would always take my Blackstone Appliance Overdrive. It is two channel, stores away in my guitar case, is very very dynamic, amplike, and sounds great no matter what amp is there whether a solid state, modeling amp, or tube amp. All I need is a clean or cleanish amp and the Blackstone will do the rest and give me a passable and playable option.

[orogeny]

no hesitation.

timmy every time.

[StompBoxBlues]

Then I just bring a guitar and a cord. No pedals.

If the music demands overdrive and I have to bring a drive pedal, then the ProCo RAT always does the job. With a great amp, it will sound great. With a poor amp, it will sound OK.

It has a "honky" sound that I don't like very much, but that is what makes is work great - also with poor amps - in a live situation.

you have to consider the source. When a host who is a guitarist says that (though I dont know any that would) it is one thing, but when another guest (who invited me) that is a keyboardist says it, they don't know.

It's not that I "need" an OD always, but with an unknown amp, and depending on the music, it might be too clean for some of the things I like to do. Don't get me wrong, I love playing clean, I do it probably more than most guitarists I know, I love the sound, but there are times I want a little dirt in there...and I love some cleans, but not all amps cleans are for me.

It's a little insurance...

[mfolet]

Mad Professor Little Green Wonder(MPLGW) it has a wide range of OD to Distortion and lots of headroom to boot.With this you dial in a decent sound on anything.

[GTRJohnny]

Because of the EQ and the extra compression, I might bring the BB. It sounds pretty good at low AND high overdrive for me, which non of the other pedals I have can do. If I were splitting the low/high gain chore, that would be a different story...

[rongtr]

It probably would be a tossup between my KOT and my Analog Man modded TS-9. If it was a great Fender amp (or Marshall or clones of those) it would be the KOT. If it was an unknown quanitity or a pretty bad amp, then it would be the TS-9. The reason is that the KOT is pretty transparent and would bring the amp quality out more, where the TS-9 would add some midrange boost and overcome the shortcomings of the amp.

[StompBoxBlues]

I didn't really think my question through enough...though this has been turning into a really useful thread I think, generally, and it doesn't have to be "about me", but since I need to decide tomorrow, my own choices are pretty much limited to what I have.

But again, would love to see this thread continue, as well as get a little thoughful help (which has been great so far, just that I can't go out and buy the most recommended pedals) so...while we can keep going, some of you that have an opinion about what I already have and am considering...

It is going to be blues. I am leaning to either my strat or LP, and with either I like to get clean (no problem...not what the OD is for) but also a little dirt, and I like playing ABB style, BB King style, Freddie King, Warren Haynes, etc.

Also, I don't want to bring a lot of stuff, for their convenience, and it must be an OD that can run on battery, I don't want to have to plug in a power supply or anything like that.

I have:

A Bad Monkey
Cot50
OCD
Klon
Zendrive
TS-9 (late 90's)
KOT
Blues Devil
ZIM
Jekyll & Hyde

Also a number of fuzzes that I might pick one instead of an OD, but I still am leaning towards OD.

Again, my first thoughts are:

- I might try my best chance OD's through my Cube 60 clean (flat) channel, as that is the worst-case scenario and if one OD shines with that, and also my clean Fender, and marshall, etc. then it might be the one. This isn't a "huge" deal, and I'm not getting all angsted out, but just would like to keep my tonal options open...


OCD: I know this pedal works with my amps. I like the touch sensitivity.

Zendrive: Ditto, plus I have been using mine for years and know it well, the only thing is I have been using it low gain, not so much higher, I might want higher gain tomorrow.

Klon: Doesn't always play great with other pedals, but I won't be bringing other pedals, so...am thinking it might be the pedal for that deep wonderful sound.

Bad Monkey: Haven't used it all that much but I do like it and several folks here have given it a real nudge up my list, mentioning especially that it works with any amp well.

So, please keep the thread going with other suggestions too, but if anyone wants to vote for which of the OD's I have currently for the one I ought to take, I'd love to hear!

[telechuck]

Eternity

[oldmanmetal]

Jekyll and Hyde. Not my favorite, but lots of tones in there for 1 pedal. Should handle blues rock stuff no problem.

[popinvasion]

you guys are crazy, boutique madness. Of course we would all bring our $400 handwired pedals, but then we would be silly. You need a workhorse, a do it all, versatile but yet good tone machine that is not amp picky. Its not going to be an expensive pedal. Its going to be a something no flashy. I agree a RAT can swing it, so can the suggestion of the Jekyll and Hyde, but still I think the Bad monkey makes the most sense.

[Prodigy]

Something cheap.. Bad Monkey or Boss SD-1. I barely ever see boutique pedals at open jams...

[nibus]

Cheaper: NOC3 Pure Drive
Expensive: BJFE Baby Blue Overdrive

The Pure Drive can get heavier, but the BBOD is hard to beat.

[TheLemon]

TIM.

works great through literally any amp I've tried it through - Orange AD30 combo, AC15CCX, AC15TV Heritage mahogany, late 70's Univox head, Peavey classic 30, valve jr. etc.

[StompBoxBlues]

TIM.

works great through literally any amp I've tried it through - Orange AD30 combo, AC15CCX, AC15TV Heritage mahogany, late 70's Univox head, Peavey classic 30, valve jr. etc.

This actually brings up another point I might ask in the amp forum....
Seems to me that in my experience the most common amps you get on an open mic are like Classic30, hot rod deluxe, peavey Bandit, etc.

I think I will start another thread just to ask that...

[PremiumPlus]

Tonebone Classic. Does it all. The only thing is you should probably bring an extension cord because you have to run it on AC.
I keep coming back to it after all these years and I can tweak just about any sound I need from it. Great, forgotten pedal.

[jeak]

Pedals don't take up much space in a gig bag. Pick your top three (with a battery in each and two jumpers) and go. Next day, tell us what worked best. I'd take the Monkey, the J&H, and maybe the TS-9 or possibly the Zen if you're brave. For open mikes, I think, "What can I afford to not come home with if it gets swiped or lost?" Nobody really cares about tone at open mikes anyway. You get up there, do your thing, get off. Grab and go.

[Cornbread]

For me it's my C0T red

My other 2 dirt pedals would be good choices too, Bad Monkey (as mentioned) and Brown Rabbit....but I prefer the C0T

[jgyn]

Interesting question. If you don't know the amp, you might want to consider overdrives that are NOT too transparent. Definitely something with a tone control. If the amps are likely to be open back combos with a Fender type circuit, I'd say a tube screamer type.

[eric-d]

It does not matter if I'm going to do blues, rock or whatever - I take my Telecaster and a Landgraff Mo'D - those two can do whatever I need..... :AOK

[Electric I]

a box that:

has a full range of gain

plays nice with guit vol ctrl

relatively cheap to replace

a boss sd-1 w/o mods, maybe...

[wingwalker]

If Im gonna take a Telecaster or a Gibson I might very well grab my Box of Rock...I love that pedal with every amp I've ever tried it with and it likes all my guitars except my Strat, plus having the built in clean boost in the end makes sure that no matter how much a pain the neck the sound guys ends up being I can make sure I get heard when it's solo time if need be. Now, if I do bring a Strat or want something a little different I'll gran my King of Tone...I just love that pedal with the dip switches and 2 seperate channels I can get 3 completely different volume levels or tones if need be with the pedal on, it cleans up so well and likes all my guitars and amps!

[mrMix]

One pedal - Tchula

[Shiny McShine]

Zen 2 because it can either be used very light to sweeten up an amp that already breaks up good and it can also provide full break up on a clean amp. It's fairly neutral too and the OD is not to jangly or electronic sounding for blues.

[harryjmic]

Probably the TIM, powerful eq controls are a good thing to have.

[Belmont]

the Sansamp classic or the Sansamp GT-2 are the only pedals I know of that will make a solid state/generic you don't know what you're getting amp,sound like a Fender or Marshall.I would bring the GT-2 and set it for a cleanish Marshall just on the edge tone,and then run a OD-3 or DOD250 into it,so the GT-2 becomes the amp front end.

[NewarkWilder]

Ethos. Most versatile OD I've ever played. Not even a close 2nd I can think of.

[ManleyF]

I don't really get the bring a cheap pedal, nobody cares about your tone comments.

If you are like me, the occasional open mic / open jam or sitting in with buddies is when I play out, as I'm not gigging regularly with my projects- So, when I DO get out, I wanna bring my best tone.

I don't know what kind of sketchy people and scenes you are hittin, but for me, I almost always roll with my #1 guitar, my custom AAAAA quilt top Baker B1C that I have $6000 invested in (not my $300 Epi LP or Mexi Strat), and for a overdive pedal I'd probably bring my AC+ for it's versatility. If I had a cheap OD would I bring it? Not unless it sounded better and was more versatile than my AC+.

Do I keep a close eye on my Baker when I'm out? You bet- but if I'm really concerned that I can't take a piss with my pedal sitting on the stage while the jam is going, and the crowd is that sketch, then I'm probably staying home!

So- a bit of a rant, now to give you a specific idea-

Go with what you are most familiar with that is versatile- that is even if you have a pedal that is in theory more versatile, if you don't really know it, you'll probably be limited compared to something like your Zendrive.

Good luck- and whatever you do, once you get there try to remeber to set it, forget and play your heart out- and your tone will be good either way...

[StompBoxBlues]

Thanks all! Some great suggestions. I very much like ManleyF's advice above. I agree, I want my best possible tone, and it is also a good idea to bring something I am familiar with and that is quick to set and has tone controls.

I like that folk went from not just specific pedals, over to "types" of pedals, and some excellent points about that. Jgyn also made the REALLY good point that in contrast with when you want a pedal for an amp you love the sound of you want transparency often, but in THIS case...you might want a pedal that puts its own sound on the signal, in case you don't like the amps sound.

It's morning here in Norway now, and I think I am going with my Strat, and play ZD, OCD, Cot50, and bad monkey and decide which one from just what strikes me today. Then, like you said, set it, forget it and play.

But keep the suggestions coming in! for those of us that are now bandless, this is a really useful thread and I may buy a couple of OD's with open mic jams with unknown amps in mind!

[doralin]

I think you should bring a menatone Amp-in-a-can.

That way you can set the "unknown amp" to a fairly flat and clean sound and just get your sound through the pedal.


Brian's pedals sound and react like a real amp. Kar Krash and Workingman's Blue are my recommendations.

[Seegs]

I have two schools of thought here...either I bring a versatle pedal that I kick on for solos or a leave it on all the time pedal which I control from my guitars volumn knob...

a lot of time I will also use this as a testing ground for new and ungigged pedals...

when I had one I always brought my MO'D as the 3 clipping options allowed me to set it up for the myriad of cheap-crap SS amps that are at all the sessions here...

when I had one I used to love to bring my 3 knob Menatone Foxy Brown and leave it on all the time and adjust from the guitar...

both got the job done with single coils or hums..

now I am not allowed to bring pedals as one over zealous guitarist kept blowing the speaker in the 2nd house amp so I bring my Les Paul and adjust the amp (Vox modelling amp) for overdrive and back off the volumn control to get cleans...

the house bands guitarist has a Texas Two Step which I use when going through his setup...

Chow,
Seegs

[Strat58]

Hi very simple a Super Chili Picoso and Blues Pro and a Tuner thats all.
Peace Strat58

[steinwand]

I would always take my Blackstone Appliance Overdrive. It is two channel, stores away in my guitar case, is very very dynamic, amplike, and sounds great no matter what amp is there whether a solid state, modeling amp, or tube amp. All I need is a clean or cleanish amp and the Blackstone will do the rest and give me a passable and playable option.

:agreewill always sound like a blackstone, whatever amp its thrown at.

[Brett Valentine]

I didn't really think my question through enough...though this has been turning into a really useful thread I think, generally, and it doesn't have to be "about me", but since I need to decide tomorrow, my own choices are pretty much limited to what I have.

But again, would love to see this thread continue, as well as get a little thoughful help (which has been great so far, just that I can't go out and buy the most recommended pedals) so...while we can keep going, some of you that have an opinion about what I already have and am considering...

It is going to be blues. I am leaning to either my strat or LP, and with either I like to get clean (no problem...not what the OD is for) but also a little dirt, and I like playing ABB style, BB King style, Freddie King, Warren Haynes, etc.

Also, I don't want to bring a lot of stuff, for their convenience, and it must be an OD that can run on battery, I don't want to have to plug in a power supply or anything like that.

I have:

A Bad Monkey
Cot50
OCD
Klon
Zendrive
TS-9 (late 90's)
KOT
Blues Devil
ZIM
Jekyll & Hyde

Also a number of fuzzes that I might pick one instead of an OD, but I still am leaning towards OD.

Again, my first thoughts are:

- I might try my best chance OD's through my Cube 60 clean (flat) channel, as that is the worst-case scenario and if one OD shines with that, and also my clean Fender, and marshall, etc. then it might be the one. This isn't a "huge" deal, and I'm not getting all angsted out, but just would like to keep my tonal options open...


OCD: I know this pedal works with my amps. I like the touch sensitivity.

Zendrive: Ditto, plus I have been using mine for years and know it well, the only thing is I have been using it low gain, not so much higher, I might want higher gain tomorrow.

Klon: Doesn't always play great with other pedals, but I won't be bringing other pedals, so...am thinking it might be the pedal for that deep wonderful sound.

Bad Monkey: Haven't used it all that much but I do like it and several folks here have given it a real nudge up my list, mentioning especially that it works with any amp well.

So, please keep the thread going with other suggestions too, but if anyone wants to vote for which of the OD's I have currently for the one I ought to take, I'd love to hear!

In that case, I agree. Go with what you know. Sounds like the OCD or Zen. Maybe try the Zen with the gain boosted and see if that would work, and you could adjust the gain level on the fly between songs.

[StompBoxBlues]

I ended up taking the Zendrive, and the Les Paul. They put me through a Princeton amp, it sounded pretty nice. I used the clean on the princeton, and the ZD for medium gain, sounded fat and fine!

I know the ZD (though mostly with my strat) and I didn't want to play it safe with the guitar, it was the first time I played a LP out, and I dialed in the Zd quickly and easily and got the sounds I wanted.

Chimey and all .

Thanks!

[StompBoxBlues]

Just to mention, for one thing I had a mishap with my zendrive when I got home (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=282771 second page) which turned out okay.


On the day of the jam, I tried:

Bad Monkey: And it was really nice, but I was reminded that the ONE thing I am not crazy about with the BM is that it doesn't work well with chords. Solos work great, chime and all, but chords lose their distinction, especially 7th, 9th, 11th, etc.

OCD: was a REAL contender, but was a little too high gain (as I liked to set it) for this application.

Klon: sounded fine, just preferred the Zendrive.

Cot50: I fell in love with this pedal into my Germino Classic 45, but as we said at the start, I needed a pedal that would do it for me with any amp. As someone mentioned (very astute) above, one would want an OD that imparted it's own sound on the signal, and definitely that had a tone control or two on it, when working with an unkown amp. But on top of that, I tried it through my Concert II, and it sounded fizzy.

KOT: I didn't try, also from advice above because the KOT specializes in giving "more" of what you get from the amp....but in this case the amp might be a dud so I wouldn't want more.

I learned all this from you guys! And it was a good lesson.

I totally agree, that when you are planning on playing some jam you want an OD for the option of...OD, (if it turns out to be a clean amp) AND you want tone controls (in case it turns out to be a dark, or bright or flat amp) and you want battery operation (so you don't have to ask them "where do I plug this in?", and you want something that works with many different amp types, because you don't know what you will get.

Those are all things I learned, and gleaned from my thread here.

THANKS!!!

[apoyando]

I find an Ethos (TLE in may case) has made PAs, solid state amps, and just plain junk sound great for clean and dirt....

[vintage66]

I used to bring a Fulldrive II-but I also brought my own amp. The fact that it has 3 settings plus a boost makes it pretty versitile, but I'm sure an OCD would work well too, or whatever kind of tube screamer you have.

[jmcorey]

Analogman SD-1/808/Silver

[Junior Stephens]

In a totally blind situation, I would probably bring the cot50 and the OCD. Just to have enough ground covered to get a tone I'm happy with out of any amp. If it had to be only one...cot50, but it's a hard call.

[doublescale1]

Surprised it took so long to get to a FD2 - with the "vintage" TS type mid-hump and the Flat Mid switch, the MOSFET option, and the boost you have a lot of ways to get to it - w/Strat, use the "vintage" mode, w/LP use the flat mid mode, etc. one box, many options for the moment. Plenty of gain on tap if that's what you decide you need - nice low gain break-up in there too.

[prsnstrat]

Tubezone or OCD

[stucker]

I'll bring my Timmy (and my old dynacomp).

[papa taco]

Kingsley Jester would be my vote by a mile. Versatile and sounds awesome.

[Paulo Grua]

That has happened to me some times already... And my choice has been the FD2. I tried the OCD a couple of times, but the results varied too much - I still think the Fulldrive is safer...

[1973Marshall]

I like this thread

I have been looking to solve this question and I figured the answer is the BOX OF ROCK. What do you all think?

[Hootad Binky]

If I wanted to OD at an open mic, the best single way would be during the song finale

http://www.cmj.com/relay/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/oxford5.jpg