Throbak Overdrive Boost

[daphil_1]

Just thought I'd drop a thread here to give a massive props to the Throbak Overdrive boost I got recently from Jon. It is the best overdrive pedal I have ever come across - and I have owned a hotcake, zendrive, eternity + a bunch of others and still own a timmy. Super quiet, great eq, bunch of sounds and the master volume is just an awesome idea.

[jgyn]

It's a great sounding, versatile pedal.

[JRC4558Dude]

I was really, really interested in one of these until I watched Gearmandude's demo of it. It sounded AWFUL. Really spitty and fuzzy and just plain harsh. I like the demo clips on Throbak's website, but the GMD demo was a real turn-off for me.

I'm still interested in this pedal, but I'm hesitant to drop the $$$ on something I'm not sure I'll like. It seems like this pedal is really, really different from the type of circuits I'm more familiar with, seeing as it's not a TS-type pedal, not a Fuzz Face etc. Really on the fence here...

[cooljuk]

I've been keeping an eye out for one. I'm waiting for "the deal" though. It'll come along eventually and I'll join you in the "awesome boosty-ness" club.

[PCR]

+1 on the Throbak OB.

I also have the TOB and a Timmy. I pretty much use on or the other. Haven't plugged them in together yet.

[250k]

I've had this pedal for a good while now. I don't use it for everything BUT, it is by far the greatest overdrive for classic rock tones. Not just the 70's Jeff Beck tones (which it nails) But Page, Gibbons, Ronson, Perry, faces, some Gilmour tones are all in this pedal. It even does a pretty convincing 60's spitty fuzz sound. Anyway, what I don't use it for is modern more polite studio sounding sounds. Like stuff you would hear on a modern pop record. That's more of the timmy/ocd territory. Even though those pedals can get unruly they somehow do it in a smoother way. The throbak is unapologetic....to my ears anyway.

[mrbuddy]

you can't go by the GMD video. He made it sound like crap as he did the Catylist, and just about every other od pedal he demos
Here's the Throbak into a Marshall VM

[spookyelectric]

Originally Posted by JRC4558Dude

I was really, really interested in one of these until I watched Gearmandude's demo of it. It sounded AWFUL. Really spitty and fuzzy and just plain harsh. I like the demo clips on Throbak's website, but the GMD demo was a real turn-off for me.

I'm still interested in this pedal, but I'm hesitant to drop the $$$ on something I'm not sure I'll like. It seems like this pedal is really, really different from the type of circuits I'm more familiar with, seeing as it's not a TS-type pedal, not a Fuzz Face etc. Really on the fence here...

As much as I love gearmandude's commentary (reverb sucks-- -why? because it does), the mics that he uses to record his demos sounds aweful. It's always harsh, tinny and most OD pedals end up all sounding the same (i.e. terrible). The only exception I can think of is the Lovepedal Gold Dragon.

A shame since he goes to alot of trouble to put the demos together, and I always love the tunes he puts at the beginning of the clips until the demo kicks in.

[thedroid]

The only overdrive or fuzz I own. Does pretty much sound I would want and some I wouldn't. But, yeah, don't buy it if you're all about the smooth, liquid OD tones.

There's a guy demo'ing it on youtbue who says it "makes a big amp sound like a small amp." I'd say that's a fair assessment.

[JRC4558Dude]

Originally Posted by spookyelectric

As much as I love gearmandude's commentary (reverb sucks-- -why? because it does), the mics that he uses to record his demos sounds aweful. It's always harsh, tinny and most OD pedals end up all sounding the same (i.e. terrible). The only exception I can think of is the Lovepedal Gold Dragon.

A shame since he goes to alot of trouble to put the demos together, and I always love the tunes he puts at the beginning of the clips until the demo kicks in.

Maybe you're right. I can appreciate that youtube gear demos (even with a good mic) are NOT a substitute for actually trying out a pedal with your own rig (and hands). I've seen some GMD demos that were well done, and others that weren't, IMHO. My other complaint about his demo of the ODB was that he didn't really show how much range the bass/treble controls had.

[thedroid]

The EQ works great if, like with the Tim/Timmy, you keep both knobs in about the same spot. Sweeps perfectly from open with lots of highs and lows to extreme mid-range emphasis. You can get some pretty unbalanced sounds if you, say, put the treble high and the bass low -- in my experience.

I like everything about 3 o'clock, with the pregain bass cut on for more of an overdrive sound.