Members gtrwiz Posted December 9, 2006 Members Share Posted December 9, 2006 I've been jonesin' for a new OD, and I had a little time yesterday, so went down to TrueTone music in Santa Monica, a true gear nerds heaven. I was looking for a mild crunch type of OD, perused their wares and asked to try a Menatone Red Snapper, Maxon OD-9 Pro+, Vexter Box of Rock, and at the sales guys suggestion a Divided by 13 Joyride. I also had brought with me my '72 HSS strat loaded with Fralin's, my Analogman KoT ver. 2, and AM TS-9 silver just for comparison. Oh and I plugged into a BF Deluxe Reverb with tone controls at 5 and volume at 3 1/2, and no verb. Joyride - very full range and amplike at lower gain settings, but got a little harsh in the high end when the gain was turned up over 11:00. It sounded good, but nothing special, and I didn't play it long. OD-9 Pro+ - sounds like a TS-9, but the boost knob adds even more mids. I swithed it to the 18 volt setting, and I like this much better. More headroom and a bit clearer tone, but not different enough from my TS-9 Silver to justify the money. If you are looking for a TS type pedal it's definitely worth checking out. Red Snapper - like the Menatone site describes, it it is very open and uncompressed. I didn't peticularly care for the tone controls, the cut and bite controls seemed to kinda counter act each other, but it did sound very good. It has a very wide range of gain that makes it a very versitile pedal. And I got it to come very close in vibe to my KoT. Box Of Rock - After the first chord I played I knew I was now in a different league! Lot's of nice low end, clear mids, and the gain can go from clean to searing. It instantly turned the Deluxe into a rock and roll monster! Even two salesmen came over to see which pedal I had plugged in. This guy made all the other OD's seem safe, and polite. Compairing it to my KoT, which is very clear, it had slightly more low end, and I found that they stacked very well together. I really don't have a need for the boost, so that's just a bonus. About the only compaint is that the two switches are very close together and I could see the possibility of accidentaly stepping on both at the same time. So I clearly had a winner, and was ready to pay when I spotted a Blackstone Appliances. I just had to plug it in... This one was the only other pedal that I thought could hang with the BoR. The first channel is a great sounding mild OD with just a bit more sweetness in the mids than the BoR, the second channel is full on Van Halen! it really sounded killer, but I quickly found what would be it's downfall, NO KNOBS! The little detents are perfect size for a pick to fit in to adjust the controls, but if you are on a dark stage with 10 seconds between songs, good luck... Botttom line: I went home with the Box Of Rock, but I still have the Blackstone in the back of my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric Dahlberg Posted December 10, 2006 Members Share Posted December 10, 2006 Would you mind contrasting the BoR & Blackstone a bit more? I've got a Blackstone & hate it, it's dynamic to a fault, with an unnatural sort of graininess that I hear when picking softer to harder. It'd be nice to hear if the BoR avoids this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jb1911 Posted December 10, 2006 Members Share Posted December 10, 2006 How did the AM TS9 silver fare in comparison with the others? This is my favorite OD right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KjStrat62 Posted December 10, 2006 Members Share Posted December 10, 2006 Originally posted by gtrwiz I've been jonesin' for a new OD, and I had a little time yesterday, so went down to TrueTone music in Santa Monica, a true gear nerds heaven. I was looking for a mild crunch type of OD, perused their wares and asked to try a Menatone Red Snapper, Maxon OD-9 Pro+, Vexter Box of Rock, and at the sales guys suggestion a Divided by 13 Joyride. I also had brought with me my '72 HSS strat loaded with Fralin's, my Analogman KoT ver. 2, and AM TS-9 silver just for comparison. Oh and I plugged into a BF Deluxe Reverb with tone controls at 5 and volume at 3 1/2, and no verb.Joyride - very full range and amplike at lower gain settings, but got a little harsh in the high end when the gain was turned up over 11:00. It sounded good, but nothing special, and I didn't play it long.OD-9 Pro+ - sounds like a TS-9, but the boost knob adds even more mids. I swithed it to the 18 volt setting, and I like this much better. More headroom and a bit clearer tone, but not different enough from my TS-9 Silver to justify the money. If you are looking for a TS type pedal it's definitely worth checking out.Red Snapper - like the Menatone site describes, it it is very open and uncompressed. I didn't peticularly care for the tone controls, the cut and bite controls seemed to kinda counter act each other, but it did sound very good. It has a very wide range of gain that makes it a very versitile pedal. And I got it to come very close in vibe to my KoT.Box Of Rock - After the first chord I played I knew I was now in a different league! Lot's of nice low end, clear mids, and the gain can go from clean to searing. It instantly turned the Deluxe into a rock and roll monster! Even two salesmen came over to see which pedal I had plugged in. This guy made all the other OD's seem safe, and polite. Compairing it to my KoT, which is very clear, it had slightly more low end, and I found that they stacked very well together. I really don't have a need for the boost, so that's just a bonus. About the only compaint is that the two switches are very close together and I could see the possibility of accidentaly stepping on both at the same time.So I clearly had a winner, and was ready to pay when I spotted a Blackstone Appliances. I just had to plug it in...This one was the only other pedal that I thought could hang with the BoR. The first channel is a great sounding mild OD with just a bit more sweetness in the mids than the BoR, the second channel is full on Van Halen! it really sounded killer, but I quickly found what would be it's downfall, NO KNOBS! The little detents are perfect size for a pick to fit in to adjust the controls, but if you are on a dark stage with 10 seconds between songs, good luck... Botttom line: I went home with the Box Of Rock, but I still have the Blackstone in the back of my mind. Tonebone Hot British pedal inserted and no review needed!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jb1911 Posted December 10, 2006 Members Share Posted December 10, 2006 Hey KjStrat62, I get the impression that you really like the Tonebone Hot British. I mean really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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