My Danelectro has been acting funny lately. Instant feedback as soon as I switch it on. Way too compressed and not cutting through the mix at ALL wt the band. I've been using the dirt channel on my Bandit but I really REALLY need a new distortion pedal. The Blackstar HT Distortion is what I think I'm going to get.

And thanks for the OCD suggestion. I wil most definitely be checking one out. I'll probably grab one just to have it even if it's not right for my set up at some point. You can never have to much gear!

I like the Tube Screamer but it's noot quite what I need. Plus replacing it after 3 months sounds like a bummer haha.

Huh? Never heard of any reliability issues with Tubescreamers. I used one in another band that was an original 808 with the gain knob broken off and it still worked fine and sounded great.

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Crustaceo ergo sum

whether or not a distortion pedal still works, you will get a different one in 3 months. That's just how it is

Haha! All too true... although I've jumped off the dirtbox merry go round for a while. Decided I'm sticking with my Blue Boy Deluxe/Rat II combo. Until someone brings out something that totally blows my mind.... *sigh*

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Crustaceo ergo sum

Once I get a good distortion, OD, and a reverb I'll be not buying anymore stomp boxes for awhile. I'm pretty happy with my set-up for now besides my dirt section.

Replace???? More like FIX!!! Had to do this with both a Boss DS-1 and DS-2 as the circuit board was shorting out on the bottom metal panel..... Plus broke the LED, had to bypass.... Tube Screamer though??? You must've really tried to break it, as the only thing on those I would know to go, maybe the footswitch...... I think you'd have more a chance of a BBW breaking your hip bone!

And BTW fullmetalfunk, played the OCD through a Peavey Bandit I think it was with some awesome results, especially pushing the distortion channel! It was a Peavey something 112, the newer style, Black and red. Just used it for a practice amp til I traded it on CL for a netbook. The heavy thing was great for jams though, and all I would bring was the OCD! Good luck in your quest for distortion! And I'm finicky too, why I don't use Boss anymore....

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ESP Eclipse Limited (3/100) or Gibson Les Paul Standard (97) - Fulltone OCD - H.B.E. Detox EQ - Laney GH50L - 80's Ibanez AD-9 (in loop) - Randall XL 4x12
Tortex "The wedge" picks, Blue Steel strings, Line 6 Moble In, Charvel Model 6 modded to a Model 5FX.... Probly other stuff as well

Has anyone considered that he could be talking about the TS7, the little gray plastic one? Those are only about forty bucks new and have known stomp switch issues.

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Stuff I use:
Standard Strat with Lace Hot Golds; Standard Ash Tele; Fulltone OCD, Line6 M9
My Music

my 2 cents on overdrive pedals[/rant]

It's deceiving, what the pedal world has decided to call overdrive is a tubescreamer. Almst every overdrive pedal is a slight variation on the the screamer. OCD uses MOSFET transistors instead of diodes, actually sounds pretty sweet,


If you use tubescreamer on a clean amp, even a tube amp on a clean setting, it just gives you some boost and a high mid eq curve... Any actual "overdriving" from tubescreamer type pedal tends to sit on the highest of eq ranges, youre left with a mostly clean sound,

basically the difference Id like to establish is that tubescreamer as an " overdrie" is a means to an end, its designed to get a tube amp into overdrive mode; but there are pedals that can get you to that end all by themselves.

The three I've settled on, I've had to build myself:


1) Doug Hammond's tone source/ lovetone brown source... **
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/ma..._1_4.gif.html*

this pedal is the best. The original s designed by lovetone, absolute genius. Doug Hammond's version has a few more options for the tone knob. I have yet to build the pedal that follows the schematic of the original brown source to compare, but I'm very satisfied with the doug hammond version, in fact it's like my go-to pedal! Id even replace the bypass switch to just change between two of these pedals on different settings. That good!

2) Tim Escobedo harmonic jerkulator, ( which is a modern approximation of the interfax harmonic percolator without clipping diodes)
Harmonic Jerkulator

Admittedly this thing is pretty low if sounding, *I doubt it will be anyones favorite pedal until you add soe tone knobs...* What I love about the circuit is that its super responsive to dynamics, tone knob setting, what pickup you use, et cetera, its almost TOO sensitive, youd expect a gain pedal to gibe you some extra sustain, it diesnt. At the same time it's not a "transparent" sound, completely overdriven.

This ones an extremely easy build, did the whole thing in one sitting with parts from RadioShack...


3) low gain transistor fuzz face/ analogman sun face... If you read up on fuzz face building *youll see you can choose different transistors. High gains tend to be more like zvex fuzz factory, but low gain give you some crunchy overdrive.
Thats what the creators had in mind when they designed Marshall guvnor... or Marshall drivemaster, daddy'o, Marshall gv2 guvnor, these are all about 98% the same pedal, the original guvnor jst looks the coolest. I love ths pedal, it sounds great if your amp has a lot of headroom. This is also a fairly easy DIY pedal.

I clearly remember this discussion cropping up before (and it wasn't the friendliest such debate we've had either). I guess the confusion stems from what our definition of 'overdrive' pedal is; one person can be talking about 1. a boost/eq pedal and another can be talking about 2. a distortion effect that's intended to sound like an amp being pushed, e.g. a 'JCM800 in a stompbox'.

The manufacturers' promotional blurb seems to make this chronic misunderstanding worse rather than better. Just thought I'd throw that in before the thread gets heated, because I've seen too many good, sensible, knowledgable people fall out over it.

An OCD can be used either way though - it has tonnes of clean boost, a standard tone filter knob and that really cool low/high peak toggle. It definitely does produce its own clipping though, which is the closest to mild 'amp-like' distortion I've heard from a pedal so far. It's been years since I've tried a TS-style effect (I'm not interested in the 'mid hump' people talk about), mind, so can't recall how they behave.

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Guitar rig: CIJ Fender Jazzmaster/CIJ Fender Mustang -> TU-3 -> RV-5 -> OD-3 -> custom IC Muff -> PS-2 -> DD-3 -> RE-20 -> LS-2 -> Fender '65 DRRI & Mesa/Boogie F-50

Bass rig: Fender MIM Jazz Bass -> TU-2 -> RAT 2 -> Sansamp BDDI -> RV-3

"...So now you know the true secret to great tone: all the espresso you can handle."

Yeah, I only have 3 Boss pedal running on my board right now. Only 2 that I'm going to keep. At most I may eventually have 3 but that'll be it more than likely. They make some good stuff in my opinion but it's just not what I'm looking for.

I'll make whatever I get work with my Bandit for now. I'm looking into a DRRI or maybe a Hotrod in the next yea. I'm also looking into a couple of Orange amps too. I've wanted a Rockerverb for a long time but the way I like my set-up...it might not be the best choice for me.

Not so great at building pedals haha. And I tried a Guvnor once and didn't care for it. I can't remember which one it as though.

Still though thanks for the suggestions I'll look at these!

I'm pretty hung up on the OCD, and as for distortion Im tied between a RAT and a Blackstar HT Distortion.

Yeah the line between OD and Distortion is blurry. I think it's kind of subjective too. To me an OD is something that pushes your amp. It makes the signal a little more hot, gives you some bite or a light crunch without going into full on sizzle or chunk territory. A distortion picks up where the OD left off and takes you anywhere from some good crunchiness to "CHUG-CHUG-CHUG-CHUG DIDDLY DIDDLY WEEYOOO!"

You now what I'm talking about.

This is true!!! I typically use it as a boost, but have gotten old school Mesa/ the band Bush tones from it with the right EQ

The "mid-hump" is awesome for what it is, makes an amp sound warm, but not everyones cup of tea.... I gave up when I felt it was "too warm" and not sparkly enough. Try a Tube Screamer and an OCD sometime through a JCM2000 and you'll be amazed at how different the amp responds. Even more so through a solid state amp!

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ESP Eclipse Limited (3/100) or Gibson Les Paul Standard (97) - Fulltone OCD - H.B.E. Detox EQ - Laney GH50L - 80's Ibanez AD-9 (in loop) - Randall XL 4x12
Tortex "The wedge" picks, Blue Steel strings, Line 6 Moble In, Charvel Model 6 modded to a Model 5FX.... Probly other stuff as well

I've got a Boss OD-2r I'm thinking of selling. It can do everything from clean mellow boost up to Santana sustain. Stays smooth all the way up, no fizz like on the DS-2. Let me know if you're interested.

You'd be surprised how pedals sound through the front of the amp. It's not as bad as a lot of people say. And even if you do get the Rockerverb, a dirt pedal on the clean channel is still an option. It's been done (although the dirty channel is the main reason people buy that amp). Fenders are good too.

my thoughts exactly...sounds like he has a 7 series ibanez. I can see the reliability issues with the 7 series but not the tubescreamers

I can't really comment too much to this thread but I've used a rat with a jcm2000 in the past on a record and it was pretty badass i must say. the only other tube amp/dirt combos i've used are the following:
deville+fuzz probe
jcm+muff
jcm+black noise
jcm+hyper fuzz
jcm+8bitfuzz

black noise has sustain but way too thin. I currently do not own any of those pedals. lol