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Silvercrow

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Hello and happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. They (who ARE they, anyway?) say today everybody's Irish!

 

I always enjoy a challenge and a pursuit. I'm getting ready to go on the trail, looking for a Boost / Light OD for my beloved SG. Currently, I'm using a straight Bluesdriver, as my Keeley modded is out of service for a bit. Meanwhile, I loved that Boss BD with my single coils, but am having a devil of a time dialing in what I want for my SG. I come close with the level at 12 o'clock, gain off or just barely on; tone between 12 and 2. As soon as I put the gain on it started to get "fizzy" I NO LIKE FIZZY! :angry:

 

It's an SG special, with 490R/T pups. The amp is a Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb.

 

I love the guitar straight through the amp. Very nice since I got the pups adjusted and amp dialed in.

 

So what all are you using? I want something transparent as possible; some boost with a little dirt or crunch; not maxed out distortion. I play mostly blues, jazz infused rock, classic rock (Love Allman Bros, Gov't Mule,Mark Selby...too many to mention here).

 

My budget is $200.00 maximum. Actually $200.00 is pushing it.

 

I looking at/ reading about the EHX Soul Food, Fulltone OCD, Fulltone FatBoost FB3, Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive, etc.

 

I gotta have durability and good construction. I'm not hard on my stuff; I take exceptionally good care of my gear. But I hate flimsy "roodie-poo" put-together POS's!

 

If this is the wrong place / forum to ask this please direct me. Since I'm asking for my SG I figure the best answers will appear here.

 

Thank you all so much! So many of you have been a real help and encouragement to me in my newness to the world of Gibson / SG!

 

Brian

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The OCD is a great pedal....very transparent and not too fizzy or gainy. I personally really like the Maxon 808 OD pedal. Transparent like the OCD, however more smooth and creamy sounding to me. For a great budget OD pedal you could give the Visual Sound Garage Tone Drivetrain a go. Also a very nice sounding OD at half the price of the other two. I carry the Maxon and Garage Tone on my pedal board (I play a Marshall JCM 800 and both work really well with it) Good luck in your search and please let us know what you end up choosing. Also, post some pics of that SG!

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I am a big fan of the FULLTONE which one is up to you however the product is well made engineered and I have enjoyed some very costly custom shop gear from them and think they have been worth every penny.. Right now I would think as far as if you like the feel and intonation then stick with either FULLTONE *)O(* post-48729-029024300%201426696058_thumb.jpg

post-48729-029024300 1426696058_thumb.jpg

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I run two ODs: a Maxon OD808 and a FμckOverdrive by Small Sound/Big Sound. The later is probably too much dirt for what you want so I highly recommend checking out the OD808. It does have the known mid frequency bump popular with all flavors of tube screamers, but the light overdrive is very natural sounding.

 

Regarding the Boss Blues Driver, I used one for years and retired it after I got my OD808. At some point I dusted it off and took it for a test drive. Blech! It made my humbucker guitars sound like a Strat so I am not surprised you are not liking the stock Boss BD. I wondered how I was able to use it for as long as I did. That pedal is now someone else's paper weight.

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Of corse, over the net using words instead of ears (IN PERSON, not a crappy sounding vid or soundclip), there is no way to know for sure what your sound is and what you want.

 

But a guess: I am guessing that you just aren't playing loud enough. What you describe you want, to me, doesn't sound like a pedal, but rather, the sound of an amp (that amp?) at a fair volume.

 

Anyway, what I THINK you describe you can't get from a pedal. NOTHING replaces the dynamics and "clarity" you get from an amp doing what you want it to do. Or a good guitar plugged into it, with good pups (which you have). What I believe you are describing, is the sound of tubes pushed into tubes pushed through a transformer and into a speaker. No pedal does that.

 

What pedals do, is REPLICATE the sound and "flavor" of this, but at the cost of the real signal. It's like putting a tissue, or a piece of glass between your eyes and what you see. You loose dynamics, responce, "clarity", and fidelity, because you basically put a mini-amp in between that squelches these things and replaces them again.

 

But, I get it. Pedals are a fact of life. Just as I am long winded and opinionated on the matter. Requiring a separate post. Think of my post as a pedal, a little BS in between your question and the answer.

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Anyway, pedals.

 

I kinda have/had the same issue with my Fender amps, in particular, the need to boost volume for some things, get a little "dirt" for leads while at the same time having the amp set-up and adjusted for the sound I want.

 

Don't know about re-issue Fender amps, but I imagine the "responce" to volume changes and levels is maybe about the same as actual Fender amps they are modeled after.

 

I used a few Tube Screamers, or those in that family of pedals. Many have been mentioned here, and the reason they are so popular, I think it's the way they have a more natural on-set of fuzz, or dirt, than most pedals.

 

Thing about Tube Screamers, they have a mid-range "growl" and a burnished quality to them that doesn't go away. Leaving them on all the time can get old, but at the same time, that quality to them is what sets them apart and makes them seem more natural.

 

The most "burnished" sounding I think is the Maxon made ones and the reissues from the late 80's early 90's. The good old TS-9. That burnished midrange growl is what helps them to sound more natural and less "fuzzy" or "buzzy", but it can also drive a guy nuts.

 

A little less "burnished" are the OD-808 reissues, the Sparkle Drive, and a lot of the so-called "OD-808" reissues or copies made by just about everyone. A little less natural in the fuzzy area, but less so in the mid-range in that it won't be so obvious the pedal is on. In fact, there really isn't much difference (or any) between a TS-9 and an OD-808, but the DESCRIPTION of one or the other in the copies is meant to tell us an OD-808 is a little less intense than a TS-9.

 

Good alternatives are the TS-7, the Ibanez made TS-9 (looks exactly the same as the Maxon made Ibanez). Get them used for about 40 bucks? You don't have to get all "Tube Screamer collector" and get that exact one with the exact chip made in the exact time that go for 400 bucks or whatever to get quality. Many of these used ones are just as good, some better and some worse, but seriously, real close.

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Of corse, over the net using words instead of ears (IN PERSON, not a crappy sounding vid or soundclip), there is no way to know for sure what your sound is and what you want.

 

But a guess: I am guessing that you just aren't playing loud enough. What you describe you want, to me, doesn't sound like a pedal, but rather, the sound of an amp (that amp?) at a fair volume.

 

Anyway, what I THINK you describe you can't get from a pedal. NOTHING replaces the dynamics and "clarity" you get from an amp doing what you want it to do. Or a good guitar plugged into it, with good pups (which you have). What I believe you are describing, is the sound of tubes pushed into tubes pushed through a transformer and into a speaker. No pedal does that.

 

What pedals do, is REPLICATE the sound and "flavor" of this, but at the cost of the real signal. It's like putting a tissue, or a piece of glass between your eyes and what you see. You loose dynamics, responce, "clarity", and fidelity, because you basically put a mini-amp in between that squelches these things and replaces them again.

 

But, I get it. Pedals are a fact of life. Just as I am long winded and opinionated on the matter. Requiring a separate post. Think of my post as a pedal, a little BS in between your question and the answer.

 

I love this, Stein, particularly the last line. I've played through an actual 65, and later a '64 (or '66, I forget which)Fender Deluxe Reverb. Both happened to be VERY good and toneful. Both happened to be re-capped and serviced by George Allessandro. If you don't know about him, he is a local boutique amp builder who has some national and international notoriety. One of the things he does is re-do the RI Deluxe Reverbs, Princetons, '59 Bassman etc. to PTP and as close to original spec as possible. He's done two of mine; both phenominal. I foolishly sold the Bassman (Jimmy Vaughn bought it, if that means anything. I like him, but I mention it here as just a curiosity)and later sold the DR George had redone when I lost my job in 2010. I've owned a Dr. Z Maz, A Ben Fargen Blackbird 20 and an original 70 Super Reverb that was blackfaced / recapped by George. I LOVE the Deluxe reverb and when funds allow will ask George to do mine. I'll probably never have the $3K to get an original Deluxe Reverb and even if I did, they were not all great...

 

All that to say I know what you are talking about. With single coils, I used my Keeley mod BD as a "set it and forget it" thing when gigging. I do not constantly switch any pedals on / off. I like using the volume on guitar to increase volume, and the pedal to hit the tubes harder and add just a touch of color. I'm a believer that tone is mostly in the fingers, guitar and pups.

 

Thanks for the insights (this and your second post). I've got a lot to learn about Gibson / humbuckers in general. You all are helping me!

 

Brian

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The OCD is a great pedal....very transparent and not too fizzy or gainy. I personally really like the Maxon 808 OD pedal. Transparent like the OCD, however more smooth and creamy sounding to me. For a great budget OD pedal you could give the Visual Sound Garage Tone Drivetrain a go. Also a very nice sounding OD at half the price of the other two. I carry the Maxon and Garage Tone on my pedal board (I play a Marshall JCM 800 and both work really well with it) Good luck in your search and please let us know what you end up choosing. Also, post some pics of that SG!

 

Thanks! I did post a couple- check my post "Final Polishing" on this page. I'll post some more when I get the pup covers on in a week!

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SO...I ordered a Fulltone FB3 from Musicians Friend on Wednesday. Today, the brown truck pulled up and delivered it! Good service! Being the anxious type, I waited 3 minutes for the package to acclimate and tore into it.

 

First off- it appears built VERY well. Nice heft, nice finish, robust looking. Four side screws w/ thumb knurled heads must be unscrewed to get to the battery compartment. Future buyers beware- for whatever reason I thought there were a goodly amount of threads on these screws. I unscrewed the first one and it went "boing" and I spent the next 5 minutes looking for it. Just be aware that the screws, while adequate, don't have a lot of threads.

 

The switch is a 3PDT...the kind I use for doing my wah pedals to true bypass. The pots seem good quality. They have a good feel to them- not too loose, not too tight. The mini knobs/pots for bass and treble feel good too. The unit came with a battery installed! On the PCB is written 4/18/14, then I believe Mr .Fullers name- looks like a fine marker.

 

Cranked up the amp, got a good tone, volume on 3. The I got an equity setting on the pedal- the drive knob full off / counterclockwise. Right away I noticed, turning the drive up to the 1st notch (the drive pot is notched- I happen to like this)that the tone got beefier. More robust. As I continued to turn the drive this effect seemed to hit a "point" between 10-12 o'clock where it was as "fat" as it was going to get. VERY good tone- switching back and forth in the middle of letting a chord ring out you can notice a definite add of good "character" to the tone. Single notes fattened up-the bass did not get flubby- although I had to set the "bass" mini-knob at 10-11 o'clock, to do this. The treble seemed best- not too spiky, still maintaining character, between 12-1 o'clock.

 

Back to the drive control- after 12 o'clock some hair is added...incrementally. The SHIMMER and harmonics of chords remained...EXCELLENT, but a little crunch added. Up to about 3 o'clock on the drive I feel is VERY usable.

 

BTW- the above all was on the neck pickup. Switching to the bridge pickup, a slight tweaking of the guitar's tone control yielded a great rock / crunch and tamed some spikiness that was there w/ out the pedal.

 

THEN I cranked up the amp to between 5-6 on the dial- about where I play when gigging on the 'lower' side. WHOA! Good stuff- all the character, chord overtones / harmonics are there. Cranking the volume on the guitar gets it to just going into harmonic feedback...just what I like.

 

THEN the e-mail tone chimed on my computer; I'm working from home. Enough pedal for now...

 

I caught myself with a BIG grin on my face. Dang! This is almost too easy. Anyway...I'm still exploring this pedal- but to dial it I so quickly and to have it produce tone that I'm looking for- all indications are it's a keeper! More to come...

 

Brian

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  • 2 weeks later...

While I am new to this forum, I have been on the Gear Page forum it's inception and before that when it was the orig/ PRS Birds forum - I have owned and preferred hum bucker or P90 guitars for going on 20 years. I have spent all that time looking for OD pedals that do not bring that Tube Screamer Mid-hump to the party - those are fine for Strat-type single coil guitars, in fact they benefit from that little boost in the mids that the Tube Screamer and 808 type OD's provide, but hum buckers and P90's tend to get very mushy when their base tone w/more mids than a strat single coil have mids added. So, here are the pedals that I have landed on for my board: VFE Blues King: a Marshall Bluesbreaker inspired low OD pedal w/no added mids - i have an orig. black metal box Marshall Blues breaker pedal from the initial release, and wanted to give it a rest - the VFE Blues King is everything that the orig/ Blues Breaker was, and more w/the possibility to add and subtract Bass/Treble (instead of "Tone" only), and choose asymmetrical/symmetrical type OD - a great pedal for humbuckers. The Rockett Blue Note is also a great flat eq type OD that can do mild to med OD and has a switch that will give you med OD that is again, very transparent w/no added mids - just your guitar and some extra flat gain. The Catalinbread SFT is a tremendous Ampeg type OD, bringing all that late 60's/early 70's Stones/Faces OD, all w/no extra mids - a very under-rated OD box for classic OD. Jetter Red Shift OD - two different OD's in one box, plays very well with Fender 6L6/6V6 type amps, and will not clog up your hum bucker guitar. The Keeley modded Boss BD2 is good for not adding mids but I find that the gain control will not dial down far enough to get real good edge of break-up tone - and the gain on that box above 9:00 o'clock gets grainy real fast - I should sell mine, I have better. Exotic RC Booster is killer for low, edge of break-up OD. The Analog Man Astrotone Fuzz is my go to for Fender voiced amps and a Fuzz, not OD, type pedal for earlier 60's fuzz tone. That's what I have determined are my most Humbucker/P90 friendly OD pedals. I do use mostly Fender voiced blackface and tweed voiced amps.

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While I am new to this forum, I have been on the Gear Page forum it's inception and before that when it was the orig/ PRS Birds forum - I have owned and preferred hum bucker or P90 guitars for going on 20 years. I have spent all that time looking for OD pedals that do not bring that Tube Screamer Mid-hump to the party - those are fine for Strat-type single coil guitars, in fact they benefit from that little boost in the mids that the Tube Screamer and 808 type OD's provide, but hum buckers and P90's tend to get very mushy when their base tone w/more mids than a strat single coil have mids added. So, here are the pedals that I have landed on for my board: VFE Blues King: a Marshall Bluesbreaker inspired low OD pedal w/no added mids - i have an orig. black metal box Marshall Blues breaker pedal from the initial release, and wanted to give it a rest - the VFE Blues King is everything that the orig/ Blues Breaker was, and more w/the possibility to add and subtract Bass/Treble (instead of "Tone" only), and choose asymmetrical/symmetrical type OD - a great pedal for humbuckers. The Rockett Blue Note is also a great flat eq type OD that can do mild to med OD and has a switch that will give you med OD that is again, very transparent w/no added mids - just your guitar and some extra flat gain. The Catalinbread SFT is a tremendous Ampeg type OD, bringing all that late 60's/early 70's Stones/Faces OD, all w/no extra mids - a very under-rated OD box for classic OD. Jetter Red Shift OD - two different OD's in one box, plays very well with Fender 6L6/6V6 type amps, and will not clog up your hum bucker guitar. The Keeley modded Boss BD2 is good for not adding mids but I find that the gain control will not dial down far enough to get real good edge of break-up tone - and the gain on that box above 9:00 o'clock gets grainy real fast - I should sell mine, I have better. Exotic RC Booster is killer for low, edge of break-up OD. The Analog Man Astrotone Fuzz is my go to for Fender voiced amps and a Fuzz, not OD, type pedal for earlier 60's fuzz tone. That's what I have determined are my most Humbucker/P90 friendly OD pedals. I do use mostly Fender voiced blackface and tweed voiced amps.

 

GREAT POST! Thanks- you've articulated this VERY well. I sort of came to the same conclusion, driving myself nuts over the past several days looking at countless reviews, watching videos, putting out an Ummim and Thermin (sp?) LOL

 

SO I've ordered a J ROCKETT Archer- should be here by Monday latest. Klon Clone but seems to be more "usable" over a wider range of settings. Maybe. I won't know until I actually get it and use it in my "context". Pretty psyched tho... [woot]

 

Thanks- Brian

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