AMP OVERLOADER PEDAL

[overloader]

Hello,

I am looking to have built, an overload pedal. I need it to overload the pedal before it hits the amp or mixing board. It needs the sound of an overloaded amplifier, torn speaker, clipping, loss of high notes.

I've tried all combinations of Pete Cornish pedals and Zvex and didn't come close to and overloaded sound...it just plainly got fuzz and distortion. I'm not looking for much fuzz or distortion, just the effect of melting the tubes off an amp and the amp sounding like it's ready to SHUT DOWN!!! Like someone going over and kicking the amp and taking a torch to the SPEAKER, cranking 1000 watts through the thing till the output transformer MELTS onto my feet!

Can anyone build this pedal?

NOTE: This is not your typical Fuzzrite buzzy distortion pedal. I don't want much distortion / fuzz. It's more of an overloaded amp sound where it's beyond distortion, it's all about breakup of sound and sucking the energy out of the amp to the point where the amp sounds like it's on its last leg!

AnalogMike, Zvex, Death by Audio, Effector 13 all think it's a brilliant idea...but of course it's involved and they just want to keep rehashing their fuzz boxes forever. This is a unique pedal which is not on the market, i've search EVERYWHERE! NOTHING LIKE THIS AT ALL! I tried combinations of pedals but there is always too much dist/fuzz. This pedal needs to overdrive itself and then be fed into the amp or board.

Regards,
Steve
webman344@aol.com

[petemoore]

  Her'es how you can do it.
  Don't try it withought a fire extinguisher..
  Screw with the bias adjust on an amp, or somehow runaway bias so that you can adjust it quickly enough to maintain a little orange glow on the tube plates...
  The creamy, folding harmonics that sub into octave down sometimes do the searing nasty yet appealing FuzzDistorting as it dies, and maybe kills other parts of the tube amp....I did this on a Dyna St 70, setup for 110vac...it just couldn't 'get rid of' or 'use' the extra 15 or so volts without the tube bias going up, running away....
  I'd collect half any EL34's, used, half baked...whatever...pop one in the right rear socket, let it get hot, then...it was 'el melto'...and sounded like an engineer was adjusting Octave in/out and equeing...treble could be made to come and go...all controlled by frequency and level of input.
  Probably this would fry many amps, These A-440 transformers are known for being bullet proof. The "Fry Tube' itself would last up to 20-30min. if it was a tuff one.
  Nothing I've tried or heard sounds quite like the slow burning death of a tube...it attracts attention..."WTH IS THAT?" ...DUDE Your amps Frying...etc. WOW, that thing sounds amazing etc.
  Anyone with an idea how to mimic that without having to fry tubes is invited to share...hopefully the descript is descript enough and not too frilly for some tastes.
  I can get 'bits 'n pieces' of what that did, octave down, Fuzz Harmonic shifting, but not the whole 'real' thing, which required adjustments as the tube melts, to keep it just way too hot, for as long as possible, not 'burnt bent' in the first minute.

[freak scene]

one word: herzog

[Bernardduur]

Colorsound Overdriver on it's max drive setting

[spudulike]

Hello,

Hi

I am looking to have built, an overload pedal. I need it to overload the pedal before it hits the amp or mixing board. It needs the sound of an overloaded amplifier, torn speaker, clipping, loss of high notes.

Erm, this is a DIY forum, the 'Y' being 'Yourself'

I've tried all combinations of Pete Cornish pedals and Zvex and didn't come close to and overloaded sound...it just plainly got fuzz and distortion. I'm not looking for much fuzz or distortion, just the effect of melting the tubes off an amp and the amp sounding like it's ready to SHUT DOWN!!! Like someone going over and kicking the amp and taking a torch to the SPEAKER, cranking 1000 watts through the thing till the output transformer MELTS onto my feet!

I dont believe you, there are quite a few stompers that will get the sound you are after. For a start the FuzzFactory will give you that  sound. Or you arent describing what you want very well. I dont believe you could afford to try all Pete Cornish pedals as you'd have to buy them. Pete does not work that way.

Can anyone build this pedal?

If PC cant make one, and Zachary cant make one, then there would be a market for one and I'd make a lot. And sell them.

AnalogMike, Zvex, Death by Audio, Effector 13 all think it's a brilliant idea...but of course it's involved and they just want to keep rehashing their fuzz boxes forever. This is a unique pedal which is not on the market, i've search EVERYWHERE! NOTHING LIKE THIS AT ALL! I tried combinations of pedals but there is always too much dist/fuzz. This pedal needs to overdrive itself and then be fed into the amp or board.

And its that last couple lines that makes me think youre a troll.
ZVex wants to "keep rehashing" ? ? ?
Get off it. Seek/Ooh-Wah, Probe series, Johnny Octave. Rehash my ass.
AnalogMike doesnt "rehash" either.
I get the feeling that "all think it's a brilliant idea" is a euphymism for "run along and play".

[A.S.P.]

an "overloader" as described is a nice idea... 

[RDV]

A replication of a physical action as overload can only be just that, a replication. That's why no pedal does it by itself. A good approximation can come from a wailing fuzz into a dimed EQ. That gets pretty noisey while still usable.

RDV

[petemoore]

  Hard to describe..or get a sonic picture from a description.
  Try FF>BMP...?

[davebungo]

Go to your nearest tip and find some old meaty hifi speakers which have been thrown away and connect them to your amp.  Make sure you have plenty of replacements as they won't last long.

[Mark Hammer]

Okay....once more....with FEELING.

You are expecting a single pedal, powered by a single puny 9v battery, to do too much.  The sound itself is obviously not impossible to obtain since you can imagine it and have probably even heard it.  But I can pretty much assure you that if the equipment in question lasted to work another day the chances are good to excellent that it was NOT produced by a single pedal.

You can make just about ANY fuzz/distortion/overdrive/booster/preamp "misbehave" and sound like it needs to take its Haloperidol ASAP by simply sticking more than one in series.  Whether that creates the precise tone you want is another thing, but even the tamest and most sedate pedal will become transformed into the sickest sounding thing on earth simply by giving the pedal more than it can handle, level-wise and harmonic-wise.  Just be sure to use this double-dynamite approach with an HB-equipped guitar in a room which has no internal sources of interference, like fluorescent lights, etc., because that much gain applied to that much hum, at that sort of volume, is....well, that sort of pain in the ass.

[vanhansen]

Easy solution here.  Push one Metal Zone in to another Metal Zone and then plug that in to a cranked Mesa Dual Rec.    The amount of gain will be so insane that nobody will know what's being played.

That being said, 99% of the time, players use more gain than they really need.  Sure, we've all gone through the "more gain" stage (no pun intended) of our lives but as we grow as players/musicians, we realize that more gain doesn't necessarily mean better tone, or even good tone.  I've realized this myself.  I use less gain that I did 5 years ago, I use vintage to medium output humbuckers, vintage spec'd single coils, and less effects.  The positive about this is my tone has improved, my playing is heard better, and the one big bonus, it's a lot easier to pull off the classic songs / riffs that I grew up with.  If I need more, that's what a boost or overdrive is for.  Sure, I still go to Judas Priest land with gain but more their 80's gain levels.  Nothing like what many players use today.

Never in a million years would I think that the stuff I listen to and play would be considered "old school".   

[lethargytartare]

Builid a very small tube combo amp, with some indestructable 6" speaker.  put a clean (or vClean...virtua-clean...since clean isn't quite clean) booster in front of it, and a microphone in front of the speaker.  Connect the mic to another booster, then to an output jack. But that whole shebang into a big wooden box with a stomp switch on the top and an input and output jack.   Crank everything inside that has a knob to be cranked.  That whole thing is your pedal...it's a 8"x8"x8" cube, and sounds like exactly what it is -- a severely overdriven amp that is about to disintegrate a speaker.  Call it a TrollBender.  Patent it.  People will line up to buy it.  You'll be rich.

[davebungo]

That being said, 99% of the time, players use more gain than they really need.  Sure, we've all gone through the "more gain" stage (no pun intended)

As the saying goes - no pain, no gain

[CS Jones]

I would recommend that next time you only lick one of the colored pieces of blotter paper.

[petemoore]

  Builid a very small tube combo amp, with some indestructable 6" speaker.  put a clean (or vClean...virtua-clean...since clean isn't quite clean) booster in front of it, and a microphone in front of the speaker.  Connect the mic to another booster, then to an output jack. But that whole shebang into a big wooden box with a stomp switch on the top and an input and output jack.   Crank everything inside that has a knob to be cranked.  That whole thing is your pedal...it's a 8"x8"x8" cube, and sounds like exactly what it is -- a severely overdriven amp that is about to disintegrate a speaker.  Call it a TrollBender.  Patent it.  People will line up to buy it.  You'll be rich.
  I did  something similar with an old Tube Amp...smally one, just Fuzzed that thing to perfection, 1x12'' speaker, miced into a Hiwatt 50w Custom Amp, [custom for somebody else, just big clean too much power for me to use]...one of the very best 'stompboxes'...no fun setup and haul, but hella tone...could be funky and noisey around the edges...

[lethargytartare]

LOL -- nice!  I bet it was a lot of fun to WATCH you set up, though :-)

[overloader]

There's always a few that would rather joke than offer solutions...such as 8" x 8" box, two cranked Metal pedals into a cranked Mesa. I thought I stated this pedal would be with very LITTLE distortion/fuzz.

The first post was probably the most likely way to get the sound, but also too much involved because of time restraints trying to record songs. Diddling around with melted tubes is the last things I'd like to be doing.

I've tried the Fuzz Factory, in fact tried over 200 pedals in the last 4 years trying to get this sound. When I get it, I will just walk on stage with a big black box (unlabeled) and then all you jokers can spend the evening guessing how I got that sound. Oh maybe it's 80 tube screamers lined up inside, or maybe it's a fender blender into 5 swollen pickle pedals with a few big muffs that I stuck in the over to get that sound.

For the serious ones. I am going to try the Torn's Peaker, Silver Crank, Zvex Mammoth, Fulltone Bass overdrive. Plug and unplug various pedals to try and get the sound. Someone from Death by Audio was going to design this pedal, he knew how to do it but probably got overwhelmed or wanted to go make another fuzz. Fuzz pedals are easy to make, make it unclean and you got yourself a fuzz...

The Fuzz Factory is too distorted for this sound. FOR THOSE THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND: It's basically like taking a small tube amp and cranking it way beyond what the speaker can handle. YOU MAY SAY, then go get a small tube amp, da!!! BECAUSE a small tube amp is poor quality. I would rather have a pedal that does the job and then put it through my Fender Brown Deluxe!!! HELL YEAH!!! That's amp heaven. The sound quality is all there, I just need a pedal to produce that agressive speaker blowing sound!

ANYONE WANT TO EARN SOME MONEY AND BUILD THIS STUPID PEDAL. I'M LOOKING FOR A PEDAL BUILDER, NOT A COMEDIAN!!! ALL THE KIDDIES CAN GO PLAY NINTENDO NOW. I CAN MAKE JOKES TOO. OH, GO TAKE A RADIO SHACK 1 INCH SPEAKER AND CONNECT IT TO A 100 WATT MARSHALL, THEN BIAS YOUR AMP TIL THE TUBES ARE GLOWING REAL RED. IN BETWEEN THE GUITAR PUT 10 DS-1 PEDALS. WHILE YOU PLAY JUMP UP AND DOWN ON EACH PEDAL WITH A POGO STICK TIL YOU GET THE SOUND YOU LIKE.

[spudulike]

Are you walters ?

[MartyMart]

GO TAKE A RADIO SHACK 1 INCH SPEAKER AND CONNECT IT TO A 100 WATT MARSHALL, THEN BIAS YOUR AMP TIL THE TUBES ARE GLOWING REAL RED. IN BETWEEN THE GUITAR PUT 10 DS-1 PEDALS. WHILE YOU PLAY JUMP UP AND DOWN ON EACH PEDAL WITH A POGO STICK TIL YOU GET THE SOUND YOU LIKE.

That's not a BAD suggestion ..... I think we have a winner  !!

There have been SEVERAL decent posts, if you bother to read them BTW
OK, one or two "funny" comments perhaps, but some of your first post content
did deserve that .... !!

I dont quite get how a clipping amp on "Meltdown" is going to sound "clean"  ?
If you hammer an amp with a VERY loud clean booster ... IT WILL DISTORT THE AMP"S INPUT  ...
There WILL be distortion in that sound ...... otherwise explain please  ??

[davebungo]

You sort of contradict yourself though.  On one hand you want a torn speaker sound and then you say you want sound quality!  If you just want to use your Fender Amp as a slave with the power and volume, I would seriously consider mic'ing a poxy amp with rasping speaker to get what you want and feed it through your Fender.  Remember, it is an effect you are after, you don't necessarily have to use a pedal to achieve it.  This is a serious suggestion - it's a bit like plugging in two guitars into an amp and using one stood near the amp somewhere as a means to get resonant feedback when you hit certain notes.  Some things are difficult if not impossible to do with a pedal, and while I'm not suggesting this is impossible, it does seem that if you want a rasping/torn speaker sound then go and get a rasping speaker.  Think about it