GMD Luther Drive/Stacking

[ibanart300]

Hi Guys/Gals,

Long story short I am chasing SRV's tone and have a very good idea on what amp I will be buying and guitar (obviously) but was a little curious about the pedal side of things.

I have become some-what of a pedal junkie lately and was wondering what people think of stacking 2 Luther Drive's seeing as they are TS-808 clones. And if people think this would land a nice rhythm like on Mary had a Little Lamb by SRV and some of his other songs. I have ordered the Luther Drive but was thinking of getting another.

My alternative is to get an MJM Phantom Overdrive seeing as it has a little boost in the low end. So yeah after opinions and what people think and if anyone has stacked 2 Luther Drives and if people recommend using the Luther with the Phantom as opposed to 2 Luther's.

Cheers,
Dominic

[ibanart300]

I know it's not the most interesting of threads but anyone....?

[cpage86]

I had a Luther Drive for a few months and sold it.

[ibanart300]

Can you elaborate? Why did you sell it? Did it stack well...? Did you read the question's above?

[cpage86]

I mainly ended up using the Luther as a clean boost basically, and used it to boost a Muff, and sometimes a DS-1. Gave it a little extra presence during leads.

Sorry for not really answering the question thoroughly. With the Luther I realized I am probably not an 808 lover. I picked up a Butler Tube Driver recently (2 actually), and it was what I needed, warm and smooth, and very diggable to me.

I actually am doing what you are talking about, only with 2 Tube Drivers instead of 2 Luthers :) One is clean boost, one is OD. (Gilmour style baby!) \m/(>.<)\m/

[joe_k]

wow less help here than UG. looks like your fresh out of luck buddy.

i don't think having two pedals with the same kind of base eq section will be that great. that fact that the 808 has a pretty heavy bass cut means you will be lacking a decent amount of bass after running two of them. maybe try and find a slighty more transparent pedal like a timmy to run with the luther drive.

i have a boss sd-1 with monte allums mods to 808 specs and i honestly don't think it stacks that well with other pedals. i'm not a fan of the bass cut though which could be the main reason i'm not a fan.

[ibanart300]

wow less help here than UG. looks like your fresh out of luck buddy.

i don't think having two pedals with the same kind of base eq section will be that great. that fact that the 808 has a pretty heavy bass cut means you will be lacking a decent amount of bass after running two of them. maybe try and find a slighty more transparent pedal like a timmy to run with the luther drive.

i have a boss sd-1 with monte allums mods to 808 specs and i honestly don't think it stacks that well with other pedals. i'm not a fan of the bass cut though which could be the main reason i'm not a fan.

I know hey lol. I guess people are sick of hearing about tube screamers and different ways to use them hence the lack of interest/replies. Pedals are a relatively new thing for me as I ran with a Boss ME-50 for a long time as I couldn't afford too much. I have an idea after lots of research that by having the two tube screamers it will really fatten up the sound if I set it a particular way.

The problem as you already highlighted is the bass cut. And you are spot on about getting one that is a little more transparent. I really liked the MJM Phantom as it sounds absolutely awesome on it's own and has a bass boost for thickening up the sound. So I was thinking maybe setting the GMD with a little gain, volume cranked and tone on the treble side a little and using that for solo's. And the MJM as the rhythm but I was hoping somebody would have a little more experience stacking with the GMD and whether or not it worked well for them so I don't waste moneyz. I really appreciate the input though joe_k and as I said you are dead on with the bass cut and the type of pedal I'll need.

[guitarslinger21]

I have a GMD LD on my board right now. It stacks fine, depending on where you put it.

Works great before Muffs.

Works great before my Barber B Custom SS

Didn't work great with my SS/BS F*ck OD

Works great with my Skreddy Top Fuel

[ibanart300]

Ok so it sounds like it stacks well in the right position and with the right pedals. Thanks for the input guitarslinger!

[guitarslinger21]

Ok so it sounds like it stacks well in the right position and with the right pedals. Thanks for the input guitarslinger!

Oh yeah, and like I said

GMDLD = great before the Barber Custom Super Sport

However.............................


GMDLD = not so great after the Barber.

I think, like all pedals, the combination of input/output buffer mismatches is a roll of the dice. I've had above average good luck with the GMD though,.

[ibanart300]

Yeah I am thinking I will go ahead and get the MJM Phantom and stack it with the Luther. The MJM Phantom has gotten rave reviews everywhere plus it sounds absolutely awesome it sounds really fat and has a bit more oomph then the Luther so it would be good for a nice punchy rhythm tone.

[greeny23]

i didnt like the Luther for boosting.

The TS9 just sounded better.

[Enajera]

I had 2 808 type pedals and found that I only really needed one. I think your amp and guitar play a big role into getting that sRv sound. The Luther pedal is good, especially at its price, but get a good amp and don't cheap out on the speakers either.

Fwiw my two amps are a Marshall JMP 50w with 25w Celestion greenbacks and a EVH 5150III (greenbacks again). Also make sure you adjust your pickups' height correctly. I can nail a great SRV sound with this setup. Texas specials pickups also help out a lot.

Good luck

[King Rat]

luther makes a cool clean boost.

[Marrrty]

Never played a GMDLD, but I wonder if it would stack well with an OCDv4, which has a very thick low end

[zztomato]

If you are after a fatter, more versatile TS you might want to consider a Boiling Point. You can snag one used for about $250. It could easily cover SRV territory and more. I also hear that you can use other chips in it to treat the sound a bit. I had one for a while that I thought was pretty good. I don't think you could hope for a better TS variant.

[ibanart300]

Thanks for the suggestions people really appreciate it. II have checked out the OCD 4 and it seems like a really different pedal maybe a bit too much. But I will check out the boiling point. So it seems that the GMD is a good clean boost. So what I really need then is a more modified TS variant that can fatten up the sound a lot.

I know amp and guitar and all that is the biggest thing but I am getting onto that soon. I will be getting a Deluxe Players Strat and moving up to a Samamp Vac23 for the amp. I thought I would sort out my pedal board first and sell unnecessary pedals. Again thanks for the suggestions keep em coming if you have them.

[guitarslinger21]

IMO, it's not really a clean boost at all. :idk:

It's a bit dirty with the gain all the way down. :idk:

:confused:

[ibanart300]

IMO, it's not really a clean boost at all. :idk:

It's a bit dirty with the gain all the way down. :idk:

:confused:

Yeah I think I will use the GMD as lead and for rhythm I was going to use a Phantom Overdrive or PlimSoul as the PlimSoul has 2 clipping stages that you can blend to fatten up the sound. And the Phantom has a bass and gain boost switch that would also be good for rhythm.

I am probably leaning toward the Phantom at this stage as it is still a screamer and SRV used two stacked at different gain stages so one was always on as a rhythm and the other as a boost to cut a little louder through the mix for lead. I think I have an idea on what I want to do now especially thanks to Joe_k as he reminded me that there is a big bass cut so I need to find one that can fatten that up. The PlimSoul and the Phantom both have that ability more so the PlimSoul I would say.

I know the Luther has grit even early down but I have seen it being used as a good clean boost.