Members mbengs1 Posted March 21, 2017 Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 I have two pedals for boosting my tone into high gain. Both are boss pedals, OS-2 overdrive/distortion and SD-1 super overdrive. they both sound pretty good especially since they are cheap. what boost pedal do u use or recommend? what are other great pedals good for pushing your tone into high gain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I have an HBE Germania that is my main "booster" for sending a tube amp that's on the edge of distorting over the cliff and into full-blown saturation. The EHX Soul Food also works very well for the same basic purpose, plus it can add a little (or even more) grit of its own to the recipe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Speaking of Homebrew Electronics, I just realized that they've closed shop and have gone out of business. That's very sad news - I always liked Joel and company - they are nice people and they made some very cool pedals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 21, 2017 Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 I used to use a Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer but it doesn't see much action any more. I still use a Boss Blues Driver, especially with a SF Princeton Reverb but what I use most often now is a Boss ME-25 multi effects pedal with a few evolving patches that are not too over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members travisbrowning Posted March 22, 2017 Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 My main overdrive is a Boss OD-3. I typically like it more as an OD than a clean boost but it can do both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 22, 2017 Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 Your thread title doesn't correspond to your actual post. Clarification of the different categories is important. There are different categories of drive pedals based on how they work electronically and the results they achieve that should be noted so you know what you're actually buying. They begin with 1. Clean boost which simply pre amplify the signal without distortion and can be used overdrive a tube preamp. 2. Overdrive - produces low gain saturation, they can be one or two gain stages. 3. Fuzz - uses one gain stage to overdrive another. - These can contain 2 or 3 gain stages and the transistors themselves do the clipping. 4. Distortion - can contain 2 or more gain stages but usually have a clipper circuit which clips peaks using diodes. 5. High gain/Metal - usually have an extra gain stage and scooped mids depending on the pedal. 6. Amp Modelers - These are newer digital pedals containing pedal drive, amp drive and cab tone options You already have distortion pedals. They can be used with other pedals. For example, if you run a low drive pedal like a Tube screamer into a high gain pedals you can have even higher saturation levels from that pedal. On the front end of my board I usually use a compressor which can make any drive pedal sustain longer. Then I'll use a pedal that has low drive like a Tube screamer or Marshall Blues Breaker. Then I can use a higher gain pedal like a Governor or a Big Muff. Depending on the combinations I use I can drop back in gain and use a TS for chords or blues leads, Run the governor for regular leads and run both for violin like sustains. I also use a pedal by Rocktron called a silver Dragon which has a 12AX7 tube which runs on medium low voltage (18V stepped up to maybe 48V) Its a two channel pedal which can produce tube or solid state drives and also has Treble bass and adjustable asymmetrical clipping (one diode instead of 2) I have at least a dozen others dating back to pedals I bought in the 70's I usually combine three or more pedals on my board to achieve a greater variety drive tones. Many of the higher gain tones mimic what Marshall, Vox, Fender and Ampeg amps can achieve. One of my latest additions are one of these AC Tone Pedals. I don't own a Vox amp. I Have Fender Marshall, Music Man, Sunn, Ampeg and others. Joyo makes some great clones. This series contains a Vox, Fender, Marshall, Mesa Boogie and High Gain which are cloned from another manufacturer. Unlike other gain pedals you'd use early in your chain, these are designed to be used last in your chain and act like the front end of a guitar amp. The actual guitar amp would be set for a clean flat sound and these pedal would take over that job. They can also drive a power amp so you could essentially buy the whole set and plug them into a power amp and speaker. Then you can switch from a Vox, to a Marshall, Mesa etc depending on what you want. They let you model whatever amp you're plugged into and can also produce the kinds of preamp drive those classic amps produce. For example you can dial up a mild tube drive tone then run your normal gain pedals into this one and produce a convincing vox amp tone. Its got a wide range of voicings that can emulate most of the classic vox amps made including an AC30. These can be used as regular drive pedals too but they aren't specifically gain staged for that purpose. These are better for acting as a guitar preamp or to act as a DI or Direct recording preamp. They are more like a Morely JD1 or a Sans Amp when it comes to modeling. These Joyo pedals like they're others are very low cost. They are a great option for a guitarist who really doesn't know what kinds of sounds he want and doesn't want to risk blowing high dollars on a pedal he knows nothing about. Many of them are as good if not better then originals too. I bought the TS clone which sounds as good as any TS I've owned. I also bought a OD clone. I had heard about that pedal allot but never tried one. I Bought the clone for $25 and realized I already had pedals that could do that job well. I didn't have to bust my wallet just to find that out. If its a pedal I do like then I can think about buying an originals knowing what I'd get at that higher price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Harvester1199 Posted March 22, 2017 Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 Mxr Badass modified Overdrive for the last couple years, was a green rhino before that and a TS9 before that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted March 22, 2017 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 My main overdrive is a Boss OD-3. I typically like it more as an OD than a clean boost but it can do both. yeah i used to own a boss od-3. sounds great. i got it on ebay, used. I through it in the trash though since i was frustrated i couldn't write my own songs yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted March 22, 2017 Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 I will occasionally put the boost channel of a Marshall BBII into an Ibby DX's (a tube screamer plus three more channels) turbo mode. The transformation is amazing; huge crunch and no mud whatsoever. Other than that, all my sounds are mostly front end and any drive is a function of how the pre and main amps are set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted March 22, 2017 Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 This is what I has. The Fullton II has a boost on it and the MRX is a nice color-less boost. Works for me, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MesaMonster Posted March 23, 2017 Members Share Posted March 23, 2017 Still trying to figure it out. I am learning about what types of overdrives and distortion go with which type of amp. Currently, I am trying a TC Electronic Spark Mini, BBE Grean Screamer, Fulltone Fulldrive 3 boost section, and a TC Electronic Nova Drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 27, 2017 Members Share Posted March 27, 2017 Still trying to figure it out. I am learning about what types of overdrives and distortion go with which type of amp. . It depends on the guitar/pickups too. When I switch guitars I nearly always have to change my gain settings to match the pickups. The difference between single coils, mini HB's or Full sized HB's with a gain pedal can be striking in both gain and tone plus the guitar itself plays a big factor in string tone. Drive is a dual edged sward. It allows you to do things at high gain by amplifying small details but it also robs you of dynamics which is the essence of musical emotion. As a general rule the amount of gain I use goes down as I play at higher volumes and the rooms I play in have more natural reverb. I have all kinds of drive pedals, guitars and amps. I been playing a real long time now too and have all the various drives pretty much mastered where I can get just about any drive tone I want from the mildest saturation to extreme. Finding one specific drive tone is no longer a focus for me - hasn't been for decades. Instead a variety of drives and tones is what counts. I play so many different styles of music, I need just as many different drive tones to express those styles. I suppose playing in many different bands over the years has just as much to do with it too. What I dialed up playing in a Rock, classic rock, country rock, alternative, metal, jazz motown, and even disco require different tones from clean to driven. You do what you have to, in order to get the closest match when playing cover music. I mostly write and record my own music now so I simply draw on all that experience and give the music what it needs and have enough options where I don't get bored with just a few drive tones. Each have they're own unique qualities and one you learn how to get the best from then singularly then you can still combine them for endless possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Grumpy Posted March 29, 2017 Members Share Posted March 29, 2017 I'm currently using a Tubescreamer - the TS-7 version as my "clean" booster - drive set to 2, tone on 4, volume on 7 or 8; this feeds into my Nady tube overdrive that's set for a light breakup "crunch" rhythm. With the TS7 on, is my lead and hi gain chugga-chugga-skweee tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eyobeez Posted March 29, 2017 Members Share Posted March 29, 2017 I have a Fulltone OCD v3 that acts as either a standalone crunch box or a boost with some grit of its own depending on how loud I can crank my amp. For saturation, I kick the front end of the OCD with an Analogman TS-9, and for volume boosts I have a mini Spark after the OCD. I also use my volume knob A LOT. Simple, but this setup--or slight variations of it--has worked for me for the last nine years or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted March 30, 2017 Author Members Share Posted March 30, 2017 I'm currently using a Tubescreamer - the TS-7 version as my "clean" booster - drive set to 2, tone on 4, volume on 7 or 8; this feeds into my Nady tube overdrive that's set for a light breakup "crunch" rhythm. With the TS7 on, is my lead and hi gain chugga-chugga-skweee tones. Does the ibanez tubescreamer sound good for metal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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