What distortion/overdrive pedal to use?

[LjR91]

Hey guys..

if i wanna get the blues distortion sound (very sweet!) like SRV's or even JM's (their distortion sounds), what OD or Distortion pedals can i use?

I'm talking abt the pedals... lets not think about the guitars they use.
I'm using a MIJ Fender ST62-78TX

I have always been thinking of the Boss BD-2 but im just curious... Are there any other pedals i can use to get that kinda sound?

Cheers!

 

[Godspeed64]

Your budget? The amp it is going through?

 

[LjR91]

budget.. hopefully less than 150. however, u can just post ur suggestions of any price! =)

not worrying bout the amp just yet though cuz its a very old zax practice amp... haha

 

[Godspeed64]

Above your budget : T-Rex Mudhoney, Ibanez TS808 (or Maxon or Analogman versions)
Slightly above your budget : Ibanez TS9DX (mod it yourself though)
Within your budget : Mod a BD-2; though that can still be a lil too harsh..

You need a warm tube amp to fulfill the equation bro..

 

[LjR91]

hmm...

but what's so special to tube amps? I don't really pay much detail to amplifiers.

and from the name itself.. tube screamer sounds quite heavy..=P

also, where can i get a pedal modified? im new to all these modification stuff.. =/

 

[AaronSoFat]

I remember reading somewhere that the truth in what a tube does to a tube amp is distorts the sound slightly to make the sound warmer.. not sure about that... but it does sound ridiculously better.

 

[leecs]

hmm...

but what's so special to tube amps? I don't really pay much detail to amplifiers.

and from the name itself.. tube screamer sounds quite heavy..=P

also, where can i get a pedal modified? im new to all these modification stuff.. =/

Bro, amplifiers are the most important thing in tone wise. Pedals are there to compliment the tone. Tell me how u feel if you have a chance to try a tube amp & solid state amp side by side. If you think pedals will get you the SRV or JM tone, then its good luck to you.

 

[LjR91]

im not saying that just the pedals will get me that tone leecs. im just asking what kind of pedals will bring me closer to that tone. So basically im just asking about the pedals.. not the amps.

And about the amplifiers stuff.. I am simply asking what advantages tube amps have to offer as compared to ordinary amps.

my apologies if i didnt put that across clearly...

 

[stranger12]

hmmm.. actually it's more of the fingers and the crazily heavy strings.. heh heh

and push it through a nice tube amp and let it distort naturally.. hahaha..kindda not practically unless you got a sound proof room to play in..

 

[subversion]

the Ibanez Tubescreamers are too mild to match the BD-2's crunch, drive-wise. for an impressive drive sweep (while not going into the distortion territory) try these:

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Hey guys..

if i wanna get the blues distortion sound (very sweet!) like SRV's or even JM's (their distortion sounds), what OD or Distortion pedals can i use?

I'm talking abt the pedals... lets not think about the guitars they use.
I'm using a MIJ Fender ST62-78TX

I have always been thinking of the Boss BD-2 but im just curious... Are there any other pedals i can use to get that kinda sound?

Cheers!

Hiya LjR91

i tried both a BD-2 and a TS808 at the store and decided on a 808

the BD-2 has alot of highs and lows but lacks the mids that the TS808 has. and i think blues playing is very much about the mids. theres alot of gain in it but it gets crunchy fast (past the quarter mark and it clips too much for white-boy blues), so i would use it more as a gain boost for classic rock. pair it with humbuckers and it will rock.

for a bluesy, slightly clipped tone with warm tube sustain, the TS808 will nail it. it will give you excellent clean gain boost with minimal fuzz. if im not mistaken, SRV used one...im not a fan of SRV or JM (is that John Mayer?) so i could be wrong. my bridge Hot Rail pairs very well with it.

both pedals are very transparent and bypass well.

something extra if you care to know...

i would place effects at the last of my priorities. IMHO, tone building is about pickups (guitar body to a certain extent) and your amp. these - especially your amp - are the basic building blocks. buy the best amp within your budget, find a setting you like and THEN shop for pedals that compliment those settings. swap your pups if you have to. you save more money in the long run AND you get your own unique sound. plus its more fun

in fact, the BEST overdrive i have ever heard comes not from any pedal but from amps. i've heard a few OD pedals and nothing comes close to the natural cranked tone of a decent tube amp. a OD pedal comes in only to mould that natural clipping.

otherwise, you just end up playing the effect pedal. and anyone can buy a metal box and step on it. your "sound" wasnt made by you but by some guy who works at Boss.

just my 2 cents ya?

good luck!

 

[LjR91]

-Pastor of Muppets

Thank you so much for the great advice! Really appreciate it! =)

I'll look up on those tube amps and stuff =)

Cheers!

 

[lifele55]

Or you could try the Digitech Bad Monkey, a ridicously cheap yet impressive OD pedal.... one for sale over at the Buy/Sell section if I'm not wrong.

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Or you could try the Digitech Bad Monkey, a ridicously cheap yet impressive OD pedal.... one for sale over at the Buy/Sell section if I'm not wrong.

good call lifele55

ive heard some good things about this pedal...apparently it gives tube style OD on the cheap. definitely worth a try

 

[sepultura]

I get really lovely warm tones from my Barber LTD. It's a low gain OD. You can also check out the direct drive or small-fry. Barber makes some really killer pedals.

It's pretty much noise free compared to other Ibanez/Boss/Digitech and the likes, so you can easily hook up two OD's in series for more versatility. I use a tone-press compressor and the LTD. This can give you the classic SRV type tones.

 

[LjR91]

Thanks guys! Really appreciate it - sharing on what you guys have or have tried before!

 

[Godspeed64]

ODs I tried at the same time :
Boss BD-2
Digitech Bad Monkey
Rocktron Sonic Glory
Guyatone OD-2
Ibanez TS9DX

Had all these eliminated one by one..
First off was the OD-2 because it was not versatile.. The tone was good, but the absence of a tone knob proved to be a downfall..

Second was the TS9DX.. Reason? Doesn't go well with humbuckers.. Nice with single coils though, even better with a tube amp (trust me on this one)..

Third was the Bad Monkey.. Nice tone, but I think the Mid range for EQ is the most important part of tone.. Like most Digitech pedals, the lack of a Mid EQ control is an immense downside for me..

My final two considerations were the BD-2 and Sonic Glory..
While I like the crunch offered by the BD-2, it was much too intense to be an overdrive pedal yet too mild to be considered a distortion pedal..
I ended up with the Sonic Glory in the end.. Still using it now.. Chose it because of the drive sweep and its versatility with both single coils and humbuckers..

Since you're using single coils, I encourage you to try the TS9DX and Sonic Glory..

 

[wasabe19]

dude if you're looking for SRV kinda fat sound you should get an 808 or simply mod a ts9. not hard to do if you know how to use a soldering iron. (; as for JM i STRONGLY advise you to get a keeley modded blues driver . the price is a little steep but you're paying for an awesome pedal. ( think good love is on the way and out of my mind kinda tone) with the keeley BD-2. it also has a good drive range sweep and can act as a booster with the gain set low. (; i modded a stock bd-2 based on some of the specs keeley had on his website and it really cleaned the pedal up. less hiss and also less harsh + more bass. so give em a try. good luck. btw i'm a big JM fan heee

 

[LjR91]

oh.. wow =)

thanks for the help!

Anyway, what are the places or who do you go to if u wanna mod a pedal??

 

[teleholic]

for the cheapest way to instantly 'upgrade' your tone, go with strings first..if you're still using wimpy 9's, upgrade to 11's to get used to it..SRV used 13's with 1/2step down and JM 11's..you'll notice the improvement straightaway..A TS type pedal shld get you in the ballpark..remember SRV used old fenders and dumbles back then and used two tubescreamers too..so if you're on a very tight budget the bad monkey shld serve well..if not i highly recommend the MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe..