For the pedalholics around here

AlanRatcliffe

I am friends with a guy in the US who is a complete tonehound. Unusually he actually has the money to buy just about anything he wants, and even more unusually, he has a really great ear. While he's a sports photographer by day, he's a real player, out on the roots circuit, hanging out with guys like Kenny "Blue" Ray, Hubert Sumlin and Tab Benoit. We've compared notes on the exact same guitars, pedals, speakers, pickups and parts (in many cases, not just the same models, but the very same actual guitars, etc.) and we are often so close in our judgement of things that it gets a little scary.

When this guy wants to get something, like a speaker for instance, he buys everything he thinks he might like, keeps what he wants and sells of the rest. For example, in a speaker shootout he did a couple of years ago, he bought 25 different speakers and kept 2 (no you can't have his email addy)... and now if anyone asks what speaker suits what amp, he has a good, accurate and detailed answer.

Anyway, there was a question recently about what overdrive to use with a smaller valve amp and this is what he posted. I thought as in many cases, this is stuff you don't get to see and try in local shops, it would be a good thing to pass on the info.

Gee... OD pedals suitable for a low powered amp. I don't think that topic has ever come up here! ?

Often low wattage amps are better served by a booster to push the low watter into it's own OD. A booster with a trailing OD covers most of the bases except high gain stuff. Everyone has their favorites and will tell you what they use. These are my favorites over the years.

Here, I'll save ya lots of time and $$ with a short list so ya never end up with anything as ludicrous as my old pedal board:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/stratdev/OD-Booster/?action=view&current=InitialBoardNov30.jpg
Ty-- this is what an OD pedal frenzy looks like. ?

Timmy- a great booster or mild OD depending on how ya set it. Simply gorgeous OD. Removable chip set for tailoring your sound. Treble and bass cut style controls make a lot of sense. You can easily dial out any fizziness with the treb cut, and boominess with the bass. After over 30 OD's, Timmy sets at the top of my heap.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/stratdev/OD-Booster/Timmy.jpg

Zendrive- very smooth, almost to a fault. Robben Ford in a box

Lovepedal Eternity (Roadhouse edition)- still trying to remember the circumstances leading to it's departure. BB in a box

RC Booster- an all-around great choice with some extra hair on board. One lives in front of Phideaux Fury (7-10 watts) lately

Klon Centaur- legendary mid-enhanced booster/OD. It has a mid hump, but it's gorgeous wherever you set it. It made a resurgence to gig status lately but has been displaced by the Dragon/Timmy combo.

Analogman KOT- designed from the bottom up on and for low wattage amps
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/stratdev/OD-Booster/?action=view&current=WEBSNA_0718.jpg

Keeley Java boost- the tone control is worth the price of admission; colors the sound a bit in a very nice way. http://www.javaboost.com/

Flying Dragon- the slogan is "what you have already, just more of it." Despite all the yappin' and hype about transparency (highly overated), this stands head and shoulders above the rest. This was a real sleeper found on the Dr Z list. My favorite boost. Not a treble booster, it boosts all frequencies equally retaining your base tone. Limited only by Fletcher-Munson. ? With a low powered amp, I've never found anything better in that respect. Fantastic in front of another OD, like Timmy, Klon
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/stratdev/OD-Booster/?action=view&current=300_9743.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/stratdev/OD-Booster/?action=view&current=Dragon-01.jpg

Retro-Sonic Chorus- ordered it yesterday... I've been looking for a mild chorus and this calls back to the old Roland units. Damn you Darrell!!!

808 Tubescreamer- set as a boost (level up/gain down) is the SRV tone standard

Sugar Baby- I auditioned the Fulltone Supra-Trem (nice and pricey), the Voodoo Labs unit (both 3 and 4 knob versions), the Diaz Tremadillo, and the Boss unit, but the swampiest trem pedal I found was another cool sleeper, the Sugar Baby. http://www.tonefactor.com/proddetail.php?prod=SugarBaby for $100 on TGP.
Love this Sugar Baby clip: http://www.tonefactor.com/sounds/sugar1.mp3 Dying to combine the Sugar Baby with the Retro-Sonic Chorus.

Stamps Drive-O-Matic-- only made a few years and occasionally found on eBay, $100-$125. The first "boutique" dual drive unit and Bonnie Raitt's secret weapon for slide for years http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/stratdev/OD-Booster/?action=view&current=Drive-O-Matic.jpg

JoeyBones

I've seen a lot of threads on other sites that follow these formulas. The problem is still the USD / ZAR exchange rate. I wanted to buy a timmy until I saw what they sell for. I guess you need to really weigh up the improvement in tone vs the cost.

If anyones wondering what I'm doing updating threads at this time on a Friday night, I'm stuck at home. Got the flu. I'm not a happy camper ☹

Renesongs

No it's cool be home on Friday nights Joey - what with all the all the corporate clowns dribbling single malt and driving the wives 4 x 4 like there is no tomorrow - As a muso I feel safer at home - considering how badly musicians travel - air disasters etc.

NorioDS

I'm almost always home on a Friday night. Got to agree with Rene, I'm not a fan of how people drive on Friday nights but, more than that, I'm usually WAY too buggered to go anywhere. That and I usually stop working at 9 in the evening which, when coupled with being buggered, is a good reason to stay home ?

AlanRatcliffe

So with all us stay at home types (yes, me too) why does this place go so quiet over the weekends?

I guess you need to really weigh up the improvement in tone vs the cost.

For all my love of effects, I don't get too hung up on which is better - as long as there are no major flaws in what I am using, I'm happy. Most of the great tones we emulate were made on crappy equipment, the difference being that the players mostly had little to no choice, so were forced to learn how to use them effectively.

Mr-M

Interesting post Alan. Thanks! Your friend really is a serious tonehound! In some ways I'm actually glad I don't have the money to get everything I want, otherwise I would have tons of unused equipment lying around gathering dust. As it is I have kilograms of dust magnets.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Most of the great tones we emulate were made on crappy equipment, the difference being that the players mostly had little to no choice, so were forced to learn how to use them effectively.

I second that, which is why I'm trying my level best to not change anything anytime soon and do the best with what I have (although I mostly have boutique pedals so I can't really talk I suppose).