Looking for a nice, open (yet still natural sounding) overdrive

[imguitardan]

Any suggestions? I use a Screw Driver and Eternity (and have a Timmy on order). The SD and E sound great but are SUPER THICK sounding and, though I love that, I'd like to try something that has a similar mid voice that's more open and uncompressed. Thanks

BTW: I'd love to try the new Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret but can't tell if it'll work for me. I also am not a fan of MXR Distortion +, DOD Preamp 250, Barber Small Fry, & Red Llama type ODs 'cus they all sound fizzy...I want to avoid that top end sizzle and fizzyness.

 

[Melodic Dreamer]

Timmy and the Ocd are two open yet natural sounding overdrives.

 

[imguitardan]

Should I just hold out and wait for the Timmy? I was gonna set it as a clean boost and put it last in my chain of drives.

 

[sidehatch]

You can get a dano TOD while your timmy is being built. $40

Other than that the keeley mod Boss BD-2 is awesome for that but its $150.

Of course there are other boutique pedals-menatone red snapper and others but the TOD will do what you ask and you can ditch it when you get your timmy. IMHO there arent many readlily available OD's that are transparent yet offer much gain.

 

[Smokehouse]

Try the Rockett Afterburner, it is amazing

 

[Marc Roy]

I tried an OCD through a Fender-style 6L6 amp the other night, and was blown away to be honest. To my ears, it sounded very natural, and the gain range was right for me (I'm not a high gain type of guy). I play a Strat most of the time, and will be picking up an OCD once my Dr. Z EZG-50 comes in.

 

[Ben C.]

Nick Greer Tone Smuggler does that very nicely...

http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/NickGreerToneSmuggler.html

-Ben

 

[Hugo Da Rosa]

Try the Pork Loin. That lets you dial in some of the clean signal into the overdrive signal and gives you the flexibility to blend the two as you wish.

 

[Marc Roy]

Try the Pork Loin. That lets you dial in some of the clean signal into the overdrive signal and gives you the flexibility to blend the two as you wish.

I want to try that one next time the shop gets one in. I've been hearing good things about it.

 

[aziltz]

Subdecay Liquid Sunshine.

 

[guitarist58]

You can get a dano TOD while your timmy is being built. $40

Other than that the keeley mod Boss BD-2 is awesome for that but its $150.

Of course there are other boutique pedals-menatone red snapper and others but the TOD will do what you ask and you can ditch it when you get your timmy. IMHO there arent many readlily available OD's that are transparent yet offer much gain.

Get the danelectro in the mean time is exactly what I was going to suggest. You're going to love the Timmy!! I love mine

 

[rockstarzusa]

I really enjoy the sound from my cmatmods Butah pedal. harmonically rich, not to attack like. sort of like a smoother tubescreamer type deal. I have been super impressed with my M.I Audio blues Pro Overdrive, and yet another cmatmods pedal, the Tube Slammer. Of the dozens and dozens of pedals I have bought and sold etc, those 3 remain on my board, along with a very very early version BB preamp (sonically very different from the later versions)

Perhaps worth qualifying is that I run through 6V6 & KT88 based tube amplifiers, and not the more common EL34, EL84 or 6L6 variety. I am sure the sonic character will shift with that in mind.

 

[sabby]

The Throbak ODB can cop a thousand tones, but my favorite is a whole lot like a Blackface at the sweetspot just where there's a touch of grit at 10 on your guitar's volume. Its a very convincing likeness of a big OT just shy of saturation at output tubes just starting to give up. (Settings: pre-gain off, germ diodes disengaged, gain cranked between 1:30-3:00 depending the guitar, EQ set neutral at about 11:00.)

Hit it with a boost -- especially light compression -- and it'll grind and sing. This is a big bawdy tone, but you can get smaller amp-like tones too. Plus, the thing is so versatile you'll always have a use for it -- EQ, buffer, OD, fuzz, etc.

 

[Marc Roy]

I'll throw in the OceanEFX Pearl Drive. It is compressed, but when I use it with my Strat with the gain knob set very low, it's just a great sound. Very responsive pedal too. I keep trying box and box, and I keep going back to this one.

 

[theanalogdream]

hold tight on the waiting list because the Timmy sounds like it's your ticket!
It's my #1 go to transparent sounding OD

 

[imguitardan]

The Throbak ODB can cop a thousand tones, but my favorite is a whole lot like a Blackface at the sweetspot just where there's a touch of grit at 10 on your guitar's volume. Its a very convincing likeness of a big OT just shy of saturation at output tubes just starting to give up. (Settings: pre-gain off, germ diodes disengaged, gain cranked between 1:30-3:00 depending the guitar, EQ set neutral at about 11:00.)

Hit it with a boost -- especially light compression -- and it'll grind and sing. This is a big bawdy tone, but you can get smaller amp-like tones too. Plus, the thing is so versatile you'll always have a use for it -- EQ, buffer, OD, fuzz, etc.

I'm very intrigued by this pedal as well. It seems like it's in the same category as my beloved Screw Driver. Does any one have opinions on that? Are they too similar?

Once I got my Screw Driver, all I wanted was another Screw Driver. Maybe this is a way to do that w/out being redundant.

 

[sabby]

I had a Hellbilly, which is supposedly in the ballpark of a Screwdriver. It leads me to believe that they're really different pedals. The ODB can cover treble boost and fuzz tones, perhaps not as well as the SD given one's rig taste. But it also can do a wide-open HiWattish crunch and all shades inbetween.

It has this uncompressed sustain that feels almost like a huge and cooking output transformer, even with my 18watter. There are a ton of EQ shaping options, too, from mid-boost to scoop, from enornmous booty to sparkle and shine. It has a ton of headroom if you want to stack other pedals into it. Set it clean as a buffer or EQ and even the big bottm of a Fuzz Face can stretch out in it.

It's just a Swiss Army Knife pedal that can really do it all.

 

[imguitardan]

Got the Timmy. It's totally worth the wait. Open and clean but can be dirty if I want. I use it at the end of my dirt as a boost and a little compression.

 

[thedroid]

The Throbak ODB can cop a thousand tones, but my favorite is a whole lot like a Blackface at the sweetspot just where there's a touch of grit at 10 on your guitar's volume. Its a very convincing likeness of a big OT just shy of saturation at output tubes just starting to give up. (Settings: pre-gain off, germ diodes disengaged, gain cranked between 1:30-3:00 depending the guitar, EQ set neutral at about 11:00.)

Hit it with a boost -- especially light compression -- and it'll grind and sing. This is a big bawdy tone, but you can get smaller amp-like tones too. Plus, the thing is so versatile you'll always have a use for it -- EQ, buffer, OD, fuzz, etc.

I would second this. ODB ended my search for an open, uncompresed OD.

 

[theanalogdream]

I think you definitely want to try the timmmy! With your screwdriver and E you should be set!