What is your favourite dirty boost/OD distortion?

Started by liddokun, August 27, 2009, 01:58:03 PM

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liddokun

I'm in the process of revamping my pedalboard so that it will be as small as possible. I plan to only have a tuner, wah, booster/OD, EQ, and delay on it.

I've got everything figured out, except I can't decide on the booster/OD pedal yet.
I'm doing a new band that has this kinda sound :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx632ibDctY

I'm looking to get a similar rhythm sound. Yes I know the pickups and guitar and amp and whatever effect the sound.
What I need I guess is a pedal that will be able to produce a similar dirty sound as in that video at lower volumes, but at the same time, when
I'm using a better sounding tube amp, instead of the pedal producing the dirt, I'd like the pedal to produce a boost to drive the amp.
I guess it's quite a generic question, but I'd just like to hear what worked well for other people for an application such as this.
I used to run a Rangemaster into a ts808, but I'd like that to be replaced by a single pedal. What do you guys think?
To those about to rock, we salute you.

ppatchmods

When your life is over, will any of this STUFF really matter?

The French connection

BOR or a SHO combine with a BSIABII...I've discover the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret recently and this is the most versatil box i've made so far. But you know stompboxes are like cowbell, you never have enough of it!  :P

Dan
I know, but the pedal i built does not boost...it just increases volume!
My picture files:
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/French+connection/
http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z4/letournd/Pedal/

liddokun

#3
I tend to stay away from the zvex designs cause it's hard to get schematics for them.

Anyone have experience with the OCD? The youtube demo's sound nice, but that's only half the story.

Also, I'm liking the way the Trotsky sounds.
To those about to rock, we salute you.

ppatchmods

When your life is over, will any of this STUFF really matter?

caspercody

If you want Zvex schematics, and pcb layouts I have these for:

BOR
SHO
BOM

Let me know if you want any of these.

anchovie

If you want the amp to produce the dirt rather than the pedal, why not a simple op-amp clean boost?
Bringing you yesterday's technology tomorrow.

makaze808

Hi. You say you ran a Rangemaster into an 808, very interesting combo there. How did you use the two together? Did you find the sounds produced stable over time?

Blackstar HT pedal has my vote, it does more than the rovk thing that it is famous for.

Cheers.

Oh, and Dopug Hammonds "THE BRICK" which is a Harmonic Perculator, maaaaaaaan, awesome through a good amp set up, it floored SHO, RM, 808m RAT, BMP, I could go on.

liddokun

Quote from: anchovie on August 27, 2009, 05:23:28 PM
If you want the amp to produce the dirt rather than the pedal, why not a simple op-amp clean boost?

Well, sometimes I won't be able to play through a great amp that can produce some nice dirt, in which case I can use my pedal to produce it.
Which is why I want a pedal that can produce dirt, but can also tone the dirt down and produce a boost to drive an amp as well.

Makaze,
I really liked the rangemaster being fed into an 808. I used a different input cap on the rangemaster, so it was more like a full range boost as oppose to a treble boost, but it gave the 808 a nice pleasant gain boost.
To those about to rock, we salute you.

BAARON

I used an OCD for a while.  While the clipping and touch sensitivity was nice, the voicing was always awful: too bassy, and the high end was so harsh that I always had to turn the tone control down so low that it had no clarity.  No midrange push at all, so it wouldn't cut through the band.  I experimented with the voicing a lot (swapped caps and the likes) and never got it to a point where it worked in a band setting.  It seems like every time I try a new overdrive/distortion pedal I end up going back to my LDOD/Eternity hybrid in the end.
B. Aaron Ennis
If somebody makes a mistake, help them understand what went wrong.  Show them how to do it right.  Be helpful.  Don't just say "you're wrong, moron."

mth5044


nbabmf

My jacked up Red Llama sounds a lot like the tone in that video.

Scruffie

I liked the Proco Rat I built up with an switch between 1N4148/1N914 Diodes and 3MM Red LEDs, using an NE5534AP Chip.
The 1N4148 gave it an smoother overdrive tone and then when you stuck the LEDs on you got a bigger bassier distortion and both sounded really good.

The French connection

Quote from: liddokun on August 27, 2009, 04:39:38 PM
I tend to stay away from the zvex designs cause it's hard to get schematics for them.

Anyone have experience with the OCD? The youtube demo's sound nice, but that's only half the story.

Also, I'm liking the way the Trotsky sounds.

Ho, it's just a couple of cascaded SHO i think... :-X Anyway, Google my friend! And if you search hard you can even find perf/vero/pcb layout...But maybe that's not the kind of sound you want.

Salut!

Dan
I know, but the pedal i built does not boost...it just increases volume!
My picture files:
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/French+connection/
http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z4/letournd/Pedal/

WGTP

http://www.diystompboxes.com/analogalchemy/sch/obsidian.html

The Obsidian is SHO/BOR like it that it uses Mosfets (preceding them by several years) and sounds great.  There should be some layouts around if you search.   :icon_cool:
Stomping Out Sparks & Flames

liddokun

I'm gonna give the Trotsky a try first, since it's such low parts count, then if I'm not satisfied, come back and try all these other suggestions.
Maybe I'll box up a rangemaster in the same enclosure and have an optional boost.
To those about to rock, we salute you.

oldrocker

Voodoo Lab
Doug H.  HWY 89
Tonepads dual op amp DS-1

Gus

If you like a rangemaster into a TS maybe try the brown source not the same but a buffer to a  high pass to a feedback diode clipping stage and a tone section after that.

Der Groovemeister

"What do you mean, dynamics? I'm already playing as loud as i can!"

jacobyjd

+1 on the trotsky--with diode switching and a pretty decent amount of headroom with a 2N5088, it's a versatile and great-sounding booster and OD.
Warsaw, Indiana's poetic love rock band: http://www.bellwethermusic.net