Overdrive Pedal Shopping Spree: Help me out!

[themusicboxstudios]

Hey guys, i have a divided by 13 ftr37 and i absolutely love it, i'm looking to buy a few overdrive pedals to give me a wider variety of tones. I'm looking to buy 2 or 3 pedals that will do the following. Please help me find the right pedal for each tonal task.

1. I want a really really smooth overdrive for rythm playing, i played a dr.z 6545 and LOVED how smooth the overdrive was. I know that the zendrive seems to be the popular choice for leads, but what about a chord that just sounds like an angel while striking a nice pretty G chord. AGAIN, the key is SMOOOTH.

2. I want a pedal that'll bring out the Voxy characterics in my amp, i'm thinking the Catalinbread SCOD, or Hotcake? Let me know what you think. I want this to be a little more edgy. Almost Orangey.

3. I want a pedal that'll bring some nice beefy powerchords. Something that'll rip your face off, not over the top gain ... but definately some nice chunk and crunch. Basically i want some classic marshall tones in a box with a decent amount of gain on hand for when i need it.

thanks so much guys, jon

 

[evanjackson]

Here are my suggestions, for what they're worth:
1. My two favorite pedals for rhythm playing are the Tim (or Timmy) and the Subdecay Liquid Sunshine....both are extremely natural sounding and both have great eq options.
2. The hotcake might be a good one for this. I had one and sold it, and I regret it...it was a great pedal.
3. Maybe the Liquid Sunshine, again? It has three knobs, one for volume and two for overdrive...one controls od over the full frequency, one controls the midrange and high break up. With the latter cranked it can sound really nasty...not very much gain with this pedal, but if the amp is on the verge of breakup it may be enough for you.
Those are just some of my favorites. Good luck!

 

[themusicboxstudios]

thanks so much for those new ideas, i'll check them out.

anyone else? i'd love to hear some reveiws on the pedals i listed above.

 

[J Purcell]

I don't have a lot of od pedal experience but I have been using a 3 knob Hotcake on and off for the last 3-4 years with good results in just about every amp I've tried.
Good sustain and it is easy to dial in a good sound without a lot of fuss. Definitely sounds best when you're gigging and your amp adds a little of it's own od to the mix. Not all that great sounding for bedroom playing.
Works really well with humbuckers. It adds a little high end.

 

[CharlieNC]

i just bought a HBE Power Screamer with the FatBoost option.

Don't let the name fool you, it doesn't sound anything like a TubeSceamer. It uses an op-amp type design but there is no midrange hump and the gain is sick.

 

[themusicboxstudios]

thanks guys, i just thought i'd add that i'm using all these pedals at gigging volumes, so they definetly need to sounds their best at loud volumes. And please, let me know which pedal you talking about for Either option 1, 2, or 3. I understand that we all have our favorite pedals, but those sounds are all i'm really going for right now.

 

[erksin]

For smooth rhythm stuff, a MI Audio Blue Boy is fantastic - keeps all your string definition without getting muddy or loose with any pup I've tried, even at max gain. A Timmy is also killer, but not quite as smooth as the BB, IMO.

 

[themusicboxstudios]

Originally posted by erksin
For smooth rhythm stuff, a MI Audio Blue Boy is fantastic - keeps all your string definition without getting muddy or loose with any pup I've tried, even at max gain. A Timmy is also killer, but not quite as smooth as the BB, IMO.

i noticed that you got a hotcake and got rid of it fairly quickly. What were your thoughts on it?

 

[CharlieNC]

Curehardy:

I'm sorry, I think I misread your post. Do want to choose between only the pedals you've already listed or are you looking for something to cop those three tones that the pedals you already mentioned have?

 

[themusicboxstudios]

sorry if that was confusing, i currently have no pedals on my board other than a tuner and the d/13 switchazel. I'm looking to get those 3 tones, and i just heard some good things about those pedals i listed. Basically i wanted to see if people would agree that they would give me the kind of tone i'm looking for.

btw, thanks for the help on my pickup/guitar questions

 

[CBeeper]

I'd have to go with a Timmy on the rhythm tones. The addition of the Bass and treble roll off controls allow you to tailor the tone to your guitar. I find it likes my strat over my Paul but it adds a sparkle that's hard to beat.

Voxy tones from a /13 FRT I'm not too sure on.

For power chord crunch I'd have to go Lovepedal Eternity. It kills in that department and cleans up nicely with the volume control. An added bonus is to kick the Eternity in the pants with the Timmy. Smooth, liquid lead tone with all the controlled feedback you need.

 

[evanjackson]

Yes, the MI Audio Blue Boy is a really great pedal...that might work for #1 or #3.
I haven't played one, but one pedal that always seems to be described as "smooth" is the hermida mosferatu.

 

[Moe45673]

for number 1, don'd discount a digitech bad monkey. It's got boutique sounds for 40 bucks! Smooth as hell.

For number 2, an SCOD sounds like a good choice.

For marshall in a box, try out a keeley modded ds-1. Great pedal and not too over the top.

 

[erksin]

Originally posted by curehardy
i noticed that you got a hotcake and got rid of it fairly quickly. What were your thoughts on it?

I liked it, but it had too much low-end with my amp (a '63 Gibson Falcon). The buffer was great, it was completely silent, had a nice top end to it - probably a great pedal thru the right amp. I also like the bottom a little tighter, again could have been the amp...

 

[erksin]

Originally posted by evanjackson
Yes, the MI Audio Blue Boy is a really great pedal...that might work for #1 or #3.
I haven't played one, but one pedal that always seems to be described as "smooth" is the hermida mosferatu.

The Mos has lots of string definition for such a gainy box and is the definition of smooth - but I didn't particularly like it for rhythm stuff, too much compression for my taste...

 

[themusicboxstudios]

well, the blue boy sounds like a good one to check out then, thanks.

 

[Phil M]

Are you sure that's the right amp for you? Never played one, but was seriously considering that very amp for awhile. You seem to be wanting it to do a lot of things that you feel it lacks. Don't take this post the wrong way, I'm just confused because I thought that amp was capable of lots of drive.

I did read your list carefully though and I think that you could get a lot out of use out of a COT50 and your guitar's volume knob. It's bright and fat at the same time and I think you could get #1 and #3 from your list accomplished with this pedal, assuming your amp is overdriving a little on its own. #2 might be in there somwhere, but that one's a little more elusive for me.

Good luck.

 

[Phil M]

One more thing, since I just noticed your gear list in your sig. Get the Les Paul. You might find that simply plugging that in after playing the tele brings #3.

 

[themusicboxstudios]

Originally posted by Phil M
Are you sure that's the right amp for you? Never played one, but was seriously considering that very amp for awhile. You seem to be wanting it to do a lot of things that you feel it lacks. Don't take this post the wrong way, I'm just confused because I thought that amp was capable of lots of drive.

I did read your list carefully though and I think that you could get a lot out of use out of a COT50 and your guitar's volume knob. It's bright and fat at the same time and I think you could get #1 and #3 from your list accomplished with this pedal, assuming your amp is overdriving a little on its own. #2 might be in there somwhere, but that one's a little more elusive for me.

Good luck.

no no no, without a doubt, this is the amp for me. i played about 100 amps on a search before i bought my ftr37 and have never looked back since. The tones my ftr37 provide are exactly what i was looking for. Beautiful blackface cleans with amazing breakup, and i nice raw overdrive on the second channel. And in any case, after hearing how fred's amps sit in the mix, i can't find myself ever buying an amp other than another one of his models. They're magic.

on my amp i can get some decently voxy tones for when i want it, but i just wanted the pedal so i didn't have to eq my amp. I also just wanted another kind of overdrive for smooth ballad country stuff. and about the les paul ... i agree about the number 3. i might just cross that off my list, i actually did try out 3 or 4 les paul's last week and it was getting me there. I think the problem i was having before is that i couldn't crank it as much as want to at practices so i wasn't getting the amount of gain i needed (very very close though). I just bought a weber mass, so that should change a lot.

anyways, i LOVE my amp and it is first choice by far. I can get the kind of tones i was talking about through my amp but since i don't call for them that often, i'd rather just have them at the click of a button and not have to re- eq my amp and lose the tones i use most of the time.

 

[erksin]

Originally posted by curehardy
well, the blue boy sounds like a good one to check out then, thanks.

Here's one for sale in the emporium...

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/111443

Nice seller too!