Best Overdrive..Rockett Animal?

[stubhead]

What's curious is that about the only way you could ever hear what frequencies any boost/OD/fuzz pedal is actually affecting would be to plug it into a SS power amp, into a PA speaker with tweeters.... and it would sound like a dog's ass on angel dust (some love this!). And the only way you'd ever know how it works with your amp is to buy it.... I don't put any credence behind YouTube vids, in other words. Without knowing the specific amp well, the settings, speakers, mic'ing, mic preamp etc. you might as well just call over Rover. :dontknow:

I'm in line for one of these, around December or so:

http://www.customtonesinc.com/

It's sort of like a Zendrive, only with 2 channels and all the Dumble "tone stack" switching too. It's Sonny Landreth's fault.... :toothy11:

 

[jalane]

I'm in line for one of these, around December or so:

http://www.customtonesinc.com/

It's sort of like a Zendrive, only with 2 channels and all the Dumble "tone stack" switching too. It's Sonny Landreth's fault.... :toothy11:

Wow, that looks really interesting.  I'll have to check that out sometime.  The wait list is backed up to December???

 

[stubhead]

No, by now it's probably June! I got on the list 2/21/10. They're getting killer reviews... another one you could sell for a profit, if it doesn't do you.

 

[Superlizard]

What's curious is that about the only way you could ever hear what frequencies any boost/OD/fuzz pedal is actually affecting would be to plug it into a SS power amp, into a PA speaker with tweeters.... and it would sound like a dog's ass on angel dust (some love this!). And the only way you'd ever know how it works with your amp is to buy it.... I don't put any credence behind YouTube vids, in other words. Without knowing the specific amp well, the settings, speakers, mic'ing, mic preamp etc. you might as well just call over Rover. :dontknow:

I'm in line for one of these, around December or so:

http://www.customtonesinc.com/

It's sort of like a Zendrive, only with 2 channels and all the Dumble "tone stack" switching too. It's Sonny Landreth's fault.... :toothy11:

Bah... just get a BOSS HM-1 Heavy Metal, dude.  Cuz like, you know - they RAWK!

 

[stubhead]

I have an old Peavey Classic 30 that sounds like a really good clean Marshall - only. It needs a boost to kick it up a bit. I also have an old non-master 50 watt Marshall head - the Duane Allman/Jeff Beck one, so I know what it's supposed to sound like. That Marshall has high plate voltage and needs new tubes at least every year if you're gigging steady though, and I got away from using it in the dark 1990's when decent tubes were like the Unholy Grail to find. Now, it's too valuable to play (or modify to lower the plate & save tubes), which is a weird conundrum. I rev it up every few months to keep the caps happy.

 

[elfro89]

the proco rat is a nice pedal. you should give this a listen too.

 

[TJD]

the proco rat is a nice pedal. you should give this a listen too.

I tried the Rat and if that's a nice pedal then I quit. I might as well run a line out of a scholtz Rockman like I did in the 80's.

 

[elfro89]

the proco rat is a nice pedal. you should give this a listen too.

I tried the Rat and if that's a nice pedal then I quit. I might as well run a line out of a scholtz Rockman like I did in the 80's.

all depends on the sound your after man, the proco is a beast if you want that brian adams/may kind of ac30 with a bit more hair it sounds great, if you get an aweful sound from it then there's definitely something wrong with what your doing, or you just don't like it.  :toothy12:

either way is cool.  :icon_thumright:

 

[jalane]

the proco rat is a nice pedal. you should give this a listen too.

I tried the Rat and if that's a nice pedal then I quit. I might as well run a line out of a scholtz Rockman like I did in the 80's.

all depends on the sound your after man, the proco is a beast if you want that brian adams/may kind of ac30 with a bit more hair it sounds great, if you get an aweful sound from it then there's definitely something wrong with what your doing, or you just don't like it.  :toothy12:

either way is cool.  :icon_thumright:

The RAT always seems to evoke very polarized opinions.  The one time i played through it (granted- the one i played had the Keeley mod) i thought it sounded glorious.  I've definitely heard it sound like poop in some player's chains before, though. 

 

[stubhead]

The Rat is a perfect example of 'zard's point - Jeff Beck used one OCCASIONALLY for his stellar 1980's tone, but the heart of it was a totally dimed-out 50-watt Marshall head. The Rat was just a boost with a bit of hair for solos, not the main determinant. I always liked the Rat & DOD 250 and other overdrives that used the LM308N chip, because they (can) have more bass & howl than the Tube Screamer JRC4558 types.
They're noisy, but doog dog, man - it's rock 'n' roll.  arty07: Good speaker choice can take out some rasp, and careful grounding can minimize hum. But noise is a good thing.*


*(Channeling my inner black-leather Martha....) :hello2:

 

[Dan025]

most transparent overdrive ive tried is the boss blues driver, best overdrive ive tried is well none of them. worst was the boss super overdrive and next to that is the tube screamer, they're basically the same. super overdrive has more gain and assymetrical clipping but they both sound horrible IMHO, the boss OD-1 IS a tube screamer and i find it hillarius that it's never talked about, proof that tone is in your head and not based in reality.

best distortion i ever tried was a boss DS-1 modded by robert keely and his metal distortion looks good too. i drive the DS-1 with the blues driver sometimes. keely has a modded blues driver too but i cant here the difference from the stock one, im considering modding mine just a tad but my own way.

my take on it is boutique pedals are 99% expensive copies of old pedals that sucked to begin with. boss pedals are 99% cheap copies of old pedals that sucked to begin with.

pedal mods are fun and easy so get a cheap boss OD-1 SD-1 DS-1 or BD-1 or that distortion overdrive hybrid thing they had, and a soldering iron and a bunch of capacitors and have fun creating the tone enhancer of your dreams. when i find time i might even scratch build a few

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Dan025, you should check out the Monte Allums Blues Driver H2O kits.

http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mods.html#boss_bdh20

 

[erogenousjones17]

That "overdrive distortion hybrid thing", as Dan put it, is a Boss OS-1. I got one for $20 from a friend. I think cheap ones are always pretty easy to find. It's pretty cool how you can go from fizzy DS-1 sounds to classic rock-ish overdrive, but it still sounds pretty artificial. Mine sounds really good with my Strat and pretty mediocre with all my other guitars, so I guess it's hit or miss. Mine's also been modded, but I have no idea how or why. 

 

[stubhead]

An old Tallahassee friend of mine has a little article in the current September Guitar Player Magazine about connoisseur fuzztones titled "Julien Kasper on Big Fuzz." The main point he makes is that if you wanted Jimi Hendrix's tone on "Machine Gun" it's not enough to buy a silicon-diode Fuzz Face or clone, you also need to play it through a Marshall turned up to at least 7 or 8. If the amp isn't "breathing" and the speakers aren't flapping, you can't really evaluate one from the other, or even come close to duplicating a final result if you don't have an understanding and control of the complete signal chain. There was an old Christmas edition Guitar Player that had some "Rigs of the Stars" or some such thing, and I was really struck by how many of the famous guys were using really standard Boss, MXR and E-H stuff - and not at all endorsers or anything. You can plug one of those pedals that "suck" through your Line6 or Peavey into a $4,000 amp, and all of a sudden it doesn't suck anymore...

I wonder if talent helps too?

Nah.... :toothy10:

 

[AutoBat]

ah, the Band of Gypsys tone is one of my favourites.