Off Topic what's your od poison?

[Dante]

i'm looking for a pedal to give my amp the kick in the sack it needs, it's got plenty of gain for most stuff, but for really heavy saturation, the pickups ain't enough.

which one would you get?

 

[bkrumme]

That's a really limited selection of overdrive/distortion pedals. It would help to know what kind of sound you're looking for.

Here are a few of my top overdrive picks which aren't on your list:

Fulltone OCD
TC Electronic Nova Drive
Plush Noxious Overdrive

 

[Astrofreq]

Get a Dr. Scientist Cleanness pedal. They make great stuff, when you can find it.

 

[wolf5150]

Just get a Keeley TS808. search over.

 

[spkirby]

Wow there's so many options here. Personally I have a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 on my board and a Zvex box of rock (the Gain channel is OK but the boost channel is monumental)!

 

[Dante]

ok, it's to push an amp from distorted 80 metallica sound into death metal with pinched harmonics and such. it can't be rare or cost a fortune. just a good run of the mill pedal.
edit: and it can't XXXX my tone.

 

[ScoobySteve]

The Keeley Fuzz Head I use can push already distorted tones, and make them REALLY hairy.

 

[bkrumme]

ok, it's to push an amp from distorted 80 metallica sound into death metal with pinched harmonics and such. it can't be rare or cost a fortune. just a good run of the mill pedal.
edit: and it can't XXXX my tone.

A few choices for that, then.

1. Tubescreamer
2. Zakk Wylde Overdrive
3. Fulltone OCD (a little on the expensive side, but worth it)

 

[Roubster]

Xotic BB Preamp is amazing! It has endless sustain, very warm and fat sounding. It boosts the heck out of an even moderately distorted channel. And it sounds amazing for blues on the clean channel...but I dont think you care about that hehe.

 

[Prosthetic Rec]

How about, get a better amp? If your amp can't even give you the amount of gain you want mixed in with your other settings...then you need a different amp.

 

[Dante]

Xotic BB Preamp is amazing! It has endless sustain, very warm and fat sounding. It boosts the heck out of an even moderately distorted channel. And it sounds amazing for blues on the clean channel...but I dont think you care about that hehe.

i do actually care about all variables cuz i use the turny thingys on the axe

A few choices for that, then.

1. Tubescreamer
2. Zakk Wylde Overdrive
3. Fulltone OCD (a little on the expensive side, but worth it)

i will try the OCD. did you personally test the ZW mxr? they say it's a bit scooped, and i'm afraid my sound is already scooped and the frequency might not match, and i could end up with a thin sound. a tubescreamer might do it, but i need one that doesn't cut my low end. did you ever try the dist 3?

 

[Dante]

How about, get a better amp? If your amp can't even give you the amount of gain you want mixed in with your other settings...then you need a different amp.

because it does what it does great. it covers 9/10ths of the gain spectrum perfectly. i won't trade that for an amp which happens to cover the last 3/10ths perfectly and lacks elsewhere. not to mention, i don't know that many amps with a built in powersoak and large transformers.

 

[bkrumme]

How about, get a better amp? If your amp can't even give you the amount of gain you want mixed in with your other settings...then you need a different amp.

This is hogwash. More gain does not a better amp make. For example, solid state amps typically have LOADS of gain. Do they sound better? I don't think so. But then again, amp selection is subjective by nature. Tone is in the ears of the beholder.

And don't get me wrong. I currently play a Bogner Uberschall which has loads of gain and great tone. I consider it a "better" amp than most...but not simply because of the amount of gain the preamp provides.

Plus, some people can't just go out and buy a new amp. An overdrive pedal is a perfect solution for what Dante's needs are.

i will try the OCD. did you personally test the ZW mxr? they say it's a bit scooped, and i'm afraid my sound is already scooped and the frequency might not match, and i could end up with a thin sound. a tubescreamer might do it, but i need one that doesn't cut my low end. did you ever try the dist 3?

I've used the ZW a bit and it does have a bit of a scooped mids sound to it. It will likely exacerbate any scooped tone you've already got going. Any overdrive you get will change your tone some. You'll have to compensate with the tone knob on the pedal and the EQ on your amp. It all depends on the voicing of your amp and the voicing of the pedal and how they interact.

Try out as many as you can find in your price range. And try them with your amp and guitar if you can.

 

[Dante]

yeah, i'm lucky the shop i bought the amp carries plenty of good FX. i do have gut feeling it's between the cheapos. unless a keeley TS actually does something for me. otherwise, the dist 3 had the best texture on the online clips, albeit a bit plastic.

 

[Slav123]

You should try the Line 6 Uber Metal pedal:

Line 6 - Uber Metal - Distortion Effects Pedal

I have used it a few times and it was pretty versatile.

Good luck,
Slav

 

[Purple ASS]

The Blackstar stuff is amazing and great value in my opinion. I use an HT Dual two channel OD/Dist. Very , very versatile pedal and built like a tank. Always loads on Ebay for good European prices.

 

[bbake1]

Another one here for the Fulltone OCD. +1

 

[zombi]

Creepy fingers doomidrive. Has a bass boost. Check out their myspace. Just search creepy fingers in google and it'll pop up. It's a unidrive clone so it is a drive pedal, but when pushing an already breaking up amp, I haven't heard heavier.

I plan on getting one as my next dirt box. I currently use a way huge red llama but they are super rare and run about $600 if you can find them.

 

[zombi]

And to say to get an OCD isn't exactly a good statement. Yes it's a great pedal, but depending on your needs, you have to know which OCD pedal you want. There are currently 4 generations. The first three were lighter bluesy overdrives. The most recent has A LOT more gain on tap. It gets a really nice classic rock drive to it. To make it a bit easier, if the OCD pedal you are looking at had a red light, it's a fourth generation higher gain model. If it's blue it's MOST likely to be the lighter gain version. So far I have come across one blue one that was actually a fourth generation.

Personally I like the v4 with the switch at hp treble up, drive almost maxed using a 9 volt adapter (can take up to 18v)

You might also like the zvex distortron. It has a bass boost switch to add up to three levels of subs. The mastotron is the fuzz version.

 

[Prosthetic Rec]

This is hogwash. More gain does not a better amp make. For example, solid state amps typically have LOADS of gain. Do they sound better? I don't think so. But then again, amp selection is subjective by nature. Tone is in the ears of the beholder.

And don't get me wrong. I currently play a Bogner Uberschall which has loads of gain and great tone. I consider it a "better" amp than most...but not simply because of the amount of gain the preamp provides.

Plus, some people can't just go out and buy a new amp. An overdrive pedal is a perfect solution for what Dante's needs are.

Are you incapable of reading and comprehension? NOWHERE did I say "the more gain an amp has, the better it is" Seriously, you're really grasping for straws there.
I will say it AGAIN, if his amp doesn't have enough gain for him, then he needs to get a new amp. If your amp can't provide you with what you need (obviously outside of effects like delay, etc.) then why would you own it?
I have a $3,000 power amp, and you can be damn sure I made sure it had everything I wanted before I spent that much on it so I wouldn't have to go out and buy pedals to make-up for what it was lacking. There's no way you can tell me there are NO amps out there that could make the guy happy without having to buy a pedal.
And if he can't afford an amp in that price range, then I hate to break it to you, but throwing an overdrive pedal in front of whatever amp he has isn't going to make it sound any 'better'. It amounts to putting lipstick on a pig.