Which Overdrive Pedal

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braintheory

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So I currently have a Mad Professor Sweet Honey (Hand Wired) and its great, but too compressed for my tastes. I understand that it's supposed to be one of the best and least compressed overdrives out there (and from my experience it is), but again for my tastes I want something even more open.

I mainly use the SHOD to boost the crunch and lead channel of my Soldano SLO. One of my favorite things about the Soldano is how much air pushes, but I find when I turn on the SHOD or my other OD's (MXR GT-OD and DOD YJM) it doesn't move as much air and sounded too contained (less broad).

The OD's I am considering now are:


Paul C Timmy

Solid Gold FX Superdrive

Analogman King of Tone

Maxon OD-820

Lovepedal Kalamazoo

Rockbox Boiling Point

Skychord Truckloud

Mad Professor Little Green Wonder or Sky Blue

Mesa/Boogie Grid Slammer or Flux Drive

Jetter pedals



So, out of these pedals, which ones will be more open than the Sweet Honey? I know I'm being very picky by wanting a more open sound, but that's definitely what I want. Also, please don't recommend pedals other than the ones I just listed.


Also, let me know if any of the pedals I listed are either more compressed, worse in quality, or in any way sound like they are not for me compared to my Sweet Honey.

Sorry for the long post.
 
Are you wanting this for higher gain or are you keeping the amp's gain low and using the pedal? I think for the best answer more information is needed on how you are setting your amp and what you are looking for from an overdrive pedal. In an amp like an SLO guys use a pedal to tighten the sound, which is adding compression. If this is the case you may want to look a boost pedal instead of an od. There are some that will juice the front end but at the same time add some air in between the notes and not affect how much air your amp is pushing which you seem to like. I think what you are hearing is your low end being cut a little from the OD. Also if you are setting your gain higher you want a low noise pedal. Some you listed add allot of hiss.
 
I see you mentioned the GT-OD. That is my favorite overdrive......even compared to a bunch of high end pedals I've owned. Have you tried flipping the internal switch on the GT-OD?
The "non-stock" setting is more open and less compressed. Just a thought......and will cost you nothing to try.
 
Catalinbread Naga Viper or Super Chili Picoso. Both terrific OD.
 
I mainly use the OD's for high and medium gain sounds, but sometimes also use it with low-gain or even clean sounds from the amp. But in any of those situations I still prefer a very open and nuanced sound and never have the gain on the pedal turned up too high (it's almost always below 10 'o clock on any of my pedals) and have the volume maxed.

Also, yes I do use noise reduction pedals to keep things under control and yes the MXR GT is an excellent pedal (even compared to really expensive boutique stuff), but it's still too compressed for my tastes.

I understand that using an OD pedal will obviously add compression, I just want to minimize that.

Also, from my experience, boost pedals rather than overdrive pedals don't really tighten up my sound the way OD's do.
 
King of tone wasnotmy thing at all. Do not recommend....
 
When you start hammering the front end with a hotter signal, you are going to get compression.

If you just want more of what you already have, go with a MXR Micro Amp on the cheap or a Koko Boost on the not so cheap.

Results will vary depending on how high you have the gain set on the amp though. If it is already up a good bit, slamming it with a hotter signal will squish it up a bit regardless of the pedal you are using.
 
stompboxfreak72":3eitdm1t said:
King of tone wasnotmy thing at all. Do not recommend....
Click to expand...

What didn't you like about it? Would it be more compressed and less nuanced than the Sweet Honey?

Also, to Fek, I have a Koko Boost and sometimes use it for what you are talking about and like I already said, I understand that any OD will add compression, I just want something more open than my Sweet Honey (the Sweet Honey is almost there, but not quite).

Based on my research, I would think the Timmy or Maxon OD-820 might be what I want.

Again, let me know if any of the pedals I listed seem like they wouldn't be for me.
 
I've got 3 of the OD's on that list and my personal favourites in order of what I like and sounds best with my rig and ears

- Analogueman KOT
- Rockbox Boiling Point
- Tim Pedal

I don't actually use the BP & Tim much these days.
I like the BP as I can use it @ 18v when I feel the need
The tim pedal occasionally makes an appearance when I require light shimmery tones but majority of the time KOT gives me what I need and is relatively transparent.

My 2c
:rock:
 
I have an OD9 Pro +, which seems similar to the OD-820 (which I've never played). In 18V mode, "normal" setting, the OD9+ is not very compressed at all IMHO. When I say not compressed, I mean 1) it doesn't cut very much bass or high end when engaged and 2) the dynamics are still there. I assume the OD-820 is similar.
 
I know you don't want it, but I use a Himmelstrutz U/O with my SLO and I found this to be the best at boosting and retaining all the openness of the amp. Just like turning the gain on the amp up. I've tried about 1/2 of the ones you listed and didn't like them that much - basically for the reasons you listed.
 
Shark Diver":1af2ya9c said:
I know you don't want it, but I use a Himmelstrutz U/O with my SLO and I found this to be the best at boosting and retaining all the openness of the amp. Just like turning the gain on the amp up. I've tried about 1/2 of the ones you listed and didn't like them that much - basically for the reasons you listed.
Click to expand...

The Himmelstrutz actually looks pretty cool. I may add it to my list. If it's as transparent as you say, would it be similar to my Koko Boost and would it still tighten up my sound like other OD's?

Also, out of curiosity, which OD's from my list did you try and not like?
 
braintheory":2cwsj3f6 said:
Shark Diver":2cwsj3f6 said:
I know you don't want it, but I use a Himmelstrutz U/O with my SLO and I found this to be the best at boosting and retaining all the openness of the amp. Just like turning the gain on the amp up. I've tried about 1/2 of the ones you listed and didn't like them that much - basically for the reasons you listed.
Click to expand...

The Himmelstrutz actually looks pretty cool. I may add it to my list. If it's as transparent as you say, would it be similar to my Koko Boost and would it still tighten up my sound like other OD's?

Also, out of curiosity, which OD's from my list did you try and not like?
Click to expand...


Well, I'm not sure it tightened the SLO up, it seems to just be more SLO. It is an OD, but a boost - but a great one. :) I think glip22 got one as well and liked it.

I have never tried the Koko.

It's not that I didn't like these - I just liked the U/O much more.But with a different amp you never know?

Paul C Timmy

Analogman King of Tone

Maxon OD-820

Lovepedal Kalamazoo

Rockbox Boiling Point

Mad Professor Little Green Wonder

Mesa/Boogie Grid Slammer or Flux Drive

A few others I remember:

Riot

Brownie

2 different Wamplers

I just found for me I like to boost the amp, not add outside distortion. I'm kind of in that mind set that if you can't get out of the amp what you need with a boost then you should get another amp. :lol: :LOL:
 
braintheory":1ml34lwx said:
I just found for me I like to boost the amp, not add outside distortion. I'm kind of in that mind set that if you can't get out of the amp what you need with a boost then you should get another amp. :lol: :LOL:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I found my SLO to be one of the few amps that doesn't like OD's. On the other hand, my Fryette Pittbull UL can sometimes work really great with the right OD's and so can my Mesa Mark III Coliseum.

Also, in case I misread, you said the Himmelstrutz was a boost and NOT an OD, correct?

I'm surprised you found the timmy and Maxon OD-820 to be too compressed. I heard that they're supposed to be transparent. But, in the sound clips I heard it seemed like the OD-820 still had that mid-hump that make tubescreamers sound overly congested. Were any of those pedals you played from my list more open than the Sweet Honey? If so they may be what I'm looking for.
 
braintheory":3jwvs8ng said:
braintheory":3jwvs8ng said:
I just found for me I like to boost the amp, not add outside distortion. I'm kind of in that mind set that if you can't get out of the amp what you need with a boost then you should get another amp. :lol: :LOL:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I found my SLO to be one of the few amps that doesn't like OD's. On the other hand, my Fryette Pittbull UL can sometimes work really great with the right OD's and so can my Mesa Mark III Coliseum.

Also, in case I misread, you said the Himmelstrutz was a boost and NOT an OD, correct?

Also, I'm surprised you found the timmy and Maxon OD-820 to be too compressed. I heard that they're supposed to be transparent. But, in the sound clips I heard it seemed like the OD-820 still had that mid-hump that make tubescreamers sound overly congested.
Click to expand...


U/O is a boost. Multi Harmonic Booster the sight says, lol

It's not that the Timmy was too compressed. Just compared to the U/O. The U/O works with my amp like nothing else I have tried. But whether it would with say a Bogner IDK. I had both the the Tim and Timmy, and did like them, but wasn't totally happy - or I never would have tried the Himmelstrutz. I have Mullards and Telefunkens in the pre, and run KT66s - so that may also be part of what works.
 
Of those OD's, which one had the tightest bottom end? Out of the OD's I've tried my MXR GT seems to be the tightest, while my Sweet Honey isn't that tight compared to other OD's, but still tight enough to serve its purpose.

Also, which one's were the most open or more open than the Sweet Honey? Again, I don't actually want something totally transparent. I want some color, juice and compression just not too much like the Sweet Honey (even though it's way less compressed and less colored than most OD's)

The Himmelstrutz might cool in the future as something to replace my Koko Boost, but now I'm more interested in finding the right OD.
 
XTS Pedals at Xact Tone Solutions

http://www.xacttone.com/

Only a couple of dealers operating out of Europe so can't source these pedals without first selling vital bodily organs. If I lived in the states, i'd be all over these like a rash.
 
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