Members JilaX^ Posted October 5, 2009 Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 I'm a blues guitarist using my Fulltone OCD mainly as a boost pedal, sometimes for the added dirt if a song calls for it. Mainly using a Fender Blues Jr (as cranked as the situation allows), either with a Fender Classic 50's strat, or an LP Clone. I'm mainly dialling it "Stevie-style" as in, High Level - Low Drive. And, well. I'm just finding my tone a tad too compressed. I quite frankly don't know how to fix it, and was hoping you guys in here might have some tips... Chain is usually: Guitar > Korg Pitchblack Tuner > Fulltone OCD (> Dunlop JH1 Wah or MXR 6-Band EQ, if I can be arsed bringing them) > Amp. All help is dearly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nbabmf Posted October 5, 2009 Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 Cranking up a low wattage tube amp generally yields some compression, and slamming it with a boost is going to do that some more. I'm not too familiar with the Blues Jr, but could you hook up an extension cabinet to move more air than the stock speaker? That may let you turn it down a bit and ease back the compression. Barring that, a higher powered amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JilaX^ Posted October 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 Cranking up a low wattage tube amp generally yields some compression, and slamming it with a boost is going to do that some more. I'm not too familiar with the Blues Jr, but could you hook up an extension cabinet to move more air than the stock speaker? That may let you turn it down a bit and ease back the compression. Barring that, a higher powered amp? You're probably right about this.I have seen it done, but not quite sure if it's worth the trouble. (Transport wise)A new amp is certainly an alternative in the long run, but probably not until the summer. (As a student that's my only real chance to make money.) Moving up to a higher power Fender (Or clone) combo is probably what I'll do.What about swapping tubes or the speaker? Any hope for improvement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nbabmf Posted October 5, 2009 Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 If you're really cranking it, you could try lower gain tubes in the preamp and a speaker rated for higher wattage to reduce two possible sources of compression. Do you play with the volume control on the guitar? Pulling back on that some might help, too. You can save the full setting for solos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JilaX^ Posted October 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 If you're really cranking it, you could try lower gain tubes in the preamp and a speaker rated for higher wattage to reduce two possible sources of compression. Do you play with the volume control on the guitar? Pulling back on that some might help, too. You can save the full setting for solos. I'm usually cranking it to 7-10 out of 12 in Band practises, that's (imo) the sweetspot area. I'm thinking the tubes (They're beggining to die, recently. Compression was there before as well.) are going first, then the speaker. Thanks for the tip on the higher wattage speaker, btw. I would never have thought of that I do, but the neck pick up loses quite a bit of higher frequencies, which drives me nuts. Ronnie Earl has inspired me to work the tone and volume knobs as much as possible, but I'm just not getting quite where I want to be. Getting closer and closer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nbabmf Posted October 5, 2009 Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 Have you considered a treble bleed on the volume control? You install a capacitor on the volume pot to still let some treble frequencies through as you roll off the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JilaX^ Posted October 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 Have you considered a treble bleed on the volume control? You install a capacitor on the volume pot to still let some treble frequencies through as you roll off the volume. I do have a treble bleed on my Reverend Roundhouse HB-FM and it does help quite a bit. On the Strat I might be changing the pots anyways, so putting one on at that point might be a good idea. About the OCD in particular, I've heard that using an 18v power supply helps on the compression side of thing. Additional info: I have a OCD v4 if that matters on this particular issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cobalt-60 Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 I'm not sure if you understood, but he didn't just mean putting in new tubes, but different ones. 12au7s I believe are what people use to lower gain/compression. 18v would also help, but I'd swap the tubes first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JilaX^ Posted October 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 I'm not sure if you understood, but he didn't just mean putting in new tubes, but different ones. 12au7s I believe are what people use to lower gain/compression. 18v would also help, but I'd swap the tubes first. No, no. I quite understood. There's no need for rebiasing, right? 12au7s, huh. I'll give it a look. Probably getting JJs from the most reputable guitar dealer in Norway, I'll see what I piece together. The problem is that I'm quite happy with the breakup and headroom (although a touch more headroom wouldn't hurt) just, not the compression. Alright, tubes before 18v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chippy Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 No, no. I quite understood. There's no need for rebiasing, right? 12au7s, huh. I'll give it a look. Probably getting JJs from the most reputable guitar dealer in Norway, I'll see what I piece together. The problem is that I'm quite happy with the breakup and headroom (although a touch more headroom wouldn't hurt) just, not the compression. Alright, tubes before 18v. Not for preamp tubes. Power tubes, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzer Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 or maybe, like most people, you don't like the ocd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JilaX^ Posted October 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 or maybe, like most people, you don't like the ocd Hmm, while you might be on to something there, it's still the best OD I've been able to get my hands on, and I love it for Rock-stuff. It still sounds very good, it's just. Looking for that dream tone. All guitarists know about this I guess eventually I'll have to spring for a Super Reverb and a vintage-ish strat, but until then I'll have to work with what I have/can get. (Not to mention the kind of places I play will never let you crank a Super Reverb ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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