Best overdrive pedals?

[toejam]

I really love the DOD Juice Box Overdrive (FX51). It's made to be used with an already distorted amp to give it a boost from just a little or push it extremely over the top! It's a dark green box and seems to be DOD's version of a Tube Screamer on steroids. I've actually got two of them since I love it so much! The controls on the older ones that I have are a little strange: Sweet (output level); Pulp (bass); Tang (treble); Juice (gain). I heard the later ones had normal markings. The pedal's been discontinued for a few years, but they can usually be found cheap. I got my first one on ebay and second from a board member here.

[skidd]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

I'm big fan of the boss sd-1.I had mime modded with a ts 808 chip.It's alot cheaper then the real thing and sounds very cool.

[hippietim]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

A couple other things to consider:</font><ul type="square">[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Radial Tonebone Classic - 12AX7 based distortion - sounds great - this is what is currently on my board</font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Akai Shred-O-Matic - they're 50 bucks at www.americanmusical.com, they have true bypass, tube (courtesy of a 12AX7) and diode distortion, and a rocker pedal to let you sweep the gain. Before I got the Tonebone this pedal had replaced my Keeley DS-1 on my pedal board.</font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ibanez SM9 - this is the "Super Metal" pedal. Don't let the name fool you though, it's not a Nu Metal triple rectifier pedal. It's from the classic "9" series - has the same op amps as the old TS9. It is just a classic distortion/overdrive pedal - from crunchy Jimmy Page to Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath to 80's rock. I got one a few weeks back for $55 and love it.</font>[/list]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[jgcable]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

DOD YJM308 (works great with tube amps). It really slams the front end hard.
MXR Micro Amp
TS-9 (the turbo model)
or of course the MT-2 Metal Zone

[MSGfan]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

The only overdrive I use is the original first issue of the Boss OD-1! Nothing else sounds as good! [img]graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]
By far the Best overdrive for any type of Hard rock/Metal!!! [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Chuckracer]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

I've got a TS-9 modded by Analogman with the brown mod, the 808 chip, and the silver mod. Sweet pedal!

[Top Jimmy B]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

I'm with jgcable...that Malmsteen pedal is a great little unit for heating up an already distorted tone.

[Black Mariah]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

Something else you might want to try is a clean boost. Instead of adding some possibly unwanted character like a distortion pedal could, it just overdrives the input with more gain. Not all amps can work like that. Some just sound very, very crappy when the preamp is overdriven too hard. I don't think the Univalve would be one of those though. It seems tough enough to handle it.

[toejam]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

Originally posted by Black Mariah:
Something else you might want to try is a clean boost. Instead of adding some possibly unwanted character like a distortion pedal could, it just overdrives the input with more gain. Not all amps can work like that. Some just sound very, very crappy when the preamp is overdriven too hard. I don't think the Univalve would be one of those though. It seems tough enough to handle it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, that's basically what an overdrive pedal is for, helping to overdrive an amp that doesn't have enough gain. Distortion pedals should be used as a stand-alone pedal for the only source of distortion, not in front of an already distorted amp.

[skidd]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

Here is the link to the mod in my earlier post
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2541388935

[Black Mariah]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

toejam: Yes, but a lot of overdrive pedals add their own characteristic to the sound. This can be a good thing, of course. I just mentioned the clean boost since it will leave the tone alone for the most part.

[Hotrodder]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

Something like the SD pickup booster might be cool in this case.

Me, I just turn the gain off on my Rat and use the volume for boost.

[chrisolson]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

Well, I've learned alot here! But things have possibly changed, and I may have a Line6 Duoverb lined up instead, so I may not need to worry about it! But I have to get rid of my Bengal Gunslinger - $550 if someone wants it. I may still go after the THD though -- we'll have to see what GAS brings me to next!

Thanks for all the help, folks! You guys are, as usual, the greatest!

[charvelguy]

Re: Best overdrive pedals?

I used an MXR micro amp for years as a clean boost.

[chrisolson]

Best overdrive pedals?

I'm hoping to get something along the lines of a THD Univalve possibly -- I know this amp won't have quite the gain I'd be used to having, so I wanna slam the front end a bit.

What would be some good choices for an overdrive pedal to kick that front end a bit? I like the Boss SD-1, so let's go from there...

Thanks!