I need your overdrive suggestions

[Xavier]

The other guitar player in my band has borrowed my Wylde DIY OD and I'm afraid it's not coming back, so I'm in the need for a new overdrive.

I need it to be:

-Spongy
-Smooth
-Dense
-Round sounding
-"transparent" (shouldn't alter the guitar tone that much)
-must NOT be a TS type, I plan to use it as a stand alone overdrive.
-Sag effect

Think Larry Carlton-Robben Ford medium gain type of tone.

Options I have:

-Umble, but the sound samples I've heard aren't that promising
-Liquid Sunshine
-Blues Breaker
-Fetzer Drive
-Vibin' Champ (sound samples are promising)

Options I've already ditched

-Peppermill. I can't consider it an overdrive, but a booster with some ...er....pepper?
-Odie. Didn't like it at all. No character.

[Dragonfly]

How about taking a Peppermill, and adding an extra gain stage on the front end ?

[MartyMart]

Blues breaker and Liquid sunshine would be my suggestions.
Also, a well "tuned" TS circuit can be wonderful !!
Possibly the newer ROG Tube Reamer and a couple of switches ...

MM.

[Doug_H]

Highway 89

(This is not just a glib response because I designed it. "Spongey, smooth, dense round", etc sounds like the Hwy89 to me.)

[tcobretti]

I would say the fetzer is more of a booster, but still worth a build.  For me, the Boss SD-1 is one of the best overdrives I've heard.  I feel certain you could tweak it into being what you want.  You can find schems if you look, or you can buy it for $40 new at Musicians Friend. 

I would also consider one of the other ROG amp sims.  The English Channel is great, the Supreax is great, the Eighteen is great.  In fact, the Eighteen might be perfect for your purposes; it's basically Angus Young in a box.  I'd tweak the output filtering caps/resistors (or maybe omit them) to optimize it for your rig.

[Doug_H]

Think Larry Carlton-Robben Ford medium gain type of tone.

In fact, the Eighteen might be perfect for your purposes; it's basically Angus Young in a box.

Huh?!?

I'm not making the leap here, help me out...

[MikeH]

+1 on the TS.  I know everyone and their brother is using one, but there's no substitution for a good-ol' TS-808 clone.

[Marcos - Munky]

The Zakk Wylde OD and the Dragonfly's Cream Pie are the best overdrives I've used, and they're always on my pedalboard (well, it's not true, since the Cream Pie isn't boxed yet, but I always put it in my effects chain when I play in my home ). Also, they are great when they both work together. I still need to finish the Highway 89 to test it. I will buy the parts that I need to finish it tomorrow.

[aron]

Try a Shaka HV (modded, I can help you) with a 335. I love Larry Carlton and if you check the archives, I have been trying to get a good sound for a while. 

[MartyMart]

+1 on the Highway '89
A little cracker of a pedal !

MM.

[KerryF]

I have the BluesBreaker built.  Its great overdrive, but probably not as much gain as you want.  I would suggest it only with use of another distortion or overdrve unless you want lighter overdrives.  With a boost though, its sweet!

[aron]

I have the BluesBreaker built.  Its great overdrive, but probably not as much gain as you want.

Larry Carlton does not use a lot of gain (unless with Steve Lukather and even then, not that much - unless you are talking FireWire). Robben does use a medium overdrive though.

[tcobretti]

Think Larry Carlton-Robben Ford medium gain type of tone.

In fact, the Eighteen might be perfect for your purposes; it's basically Angus Young in a box.

Huh?!?

I'm not making the leap here, help me out...

I haven't built the Hwy 89, so I can't comment on it.  However, I can say with confidence that the Eighteen does not sound like Robbin Ford.

Sorry, I didn't read the question closely enough.  I guess I missed that one crucial line.  I still think the SD-1 might be a viable option, though.

[jrc4558]

you may laugh all you want at me for saying this, but... BSIAB II. Its the smoothest overdrive at gain turned really low, like 9 o'clock///

[Xavier]

Wow, thanks for the replies !!!

Search narrowed down to:

Highway 89 (how could I forget this one?)
Liquid Sunshine
Blues Breaker
Shaka HV

I don't like TS pedals for this, because you can hear both the clean signal plus the overdriven signal at once. I only want to hear the overdrive.

I'm very curious about the H89, I guess I'll start by this one first, followed by the Shaka.

[Xavier]

I have just started populating the board for a Highway 89. Any advices on this circuit?

[aron]

You need to remember that if you want to sound like Larry Carlton or Robben Ford, you need to play like them.

That also means a 335 type guitar and doing similar string bends etc...

Gil Ayans is an expert in getting a Larry Carlton type sound. He's in AMPAGE and other forums, you might want to ask him for some tips.

Larry runs his Dumble in the _clean_ channel but turns it to 10. He plays LOUD and gets his overdrive from the Dumble output section using a FET booster in his volume pedal.  Robben uses the Dumble preamp or sometimes an overdrive

If you want THE overdrive he uses, you might want to contact Alphonso Hermida who makes the pedal Robben uses.

[Doug_H]

If you want THE overdrive he uses, you might want to contact Alphonso Hermida who makes the pedal Robben uses.

Yup, the Zendrive, which he uses through a Fender Twin.

[aron]

I will also say for the most part that what Doug designs is pretty much guaranteed to sound good. My designs are much more rough than his. I don't "fix" problems like a tone control that has too much treble in one position or finely tune a bias when I can have a trim. OTOH, I will say that I am much more of a fusion-head than he is 

[Xavier]

I must start building something first just to see if it fits my needs

However, the Shaka HV is following this.  I've heard some sound samples and the H89 seems to be nice. This being said, I don't want to sound like Robben Ford. I just want that juicy OD tone (or an approximation ).

My ideal OD tone is the solo on "got to get you into my life" by Earth, Wind 6 fire. Sounds a lot like a 335 through a twin reverb plus something in the middle (orange squeezer?). Fat, smooth, lots of sustain, singing tone.

Buying a Zendrive? sure, but DIY is IDY and for my self esteem it's much better building circuit after circuit until I come close to what I want.