Please help me choose an OD pedal:

[hhcave]

Hi,

I'm about to pull the trigger on an OD pedal

I will be using the pedal to boost/tighten up the distortion on my Mesa Boogie F-50 and the guitar i use is a Les Paul Custom with HIGH output pickups (18k Miracle Man set). I will mainly use the pedal for melodic death metal tight stuff (in flames, dark tranquility, insomnium etc.) but will also quite like to occasionally use it as simply an OD pedal as the amp doesn't have a great OD sound...

I was thinking either:

-Bodenhamer Ibanez TS9 Chaos + True Bypass mod

-Keeley Ibanez TS9 Mod Plus

-Keeley Ibanez TS9 Baked Mod

-Bodenhamer Maxon OD808 Chaos mod

-Keeley Ibanez TS-808 mod

What do you think and why?

Also, i was told that the Maxon OD808 sounds dark and smooth - does this mean it will not work well for fast palm muted stuff?

PS: i will use the pedal OVER the amps distortion to tighten it up therefore i will hardly use any gain on the pedal itself

[Ratrod]

One more to add to your list:

The MXR Zakk Wylde overdrive. It was designed to boost an already overdriven amp.

[hhcave]

... Okay and that then!

Any opinions?

[DeanS]

And another to add Xotic BB preamp.................

[Jonny]

If you have MMs, I think the ZW would be a good complement.

[Stevepage]

I'd say go for Bloody Murder from Bodenhamer. Or if you want more gain from a pedal then the Boss DS-1 with the Behemoth mod done by Bodenhamer.

[maverickf1jockey]

The Blackstar overdrive is quite good, if expensive.

It starts as a quite clear overdrive sound and then works up to being a fuzz pedal on the higher gain settings.

[_tom_]

I'd go for the cheapest one that has good bypass. Tbh I am fine with my Behringer tubescreamer copy for boosting an amp, it sounds fine but the bypass is a bit cr@p and it can be noisy at times.

[hunter]

I love my Guv'nor V1 a lot these days, it's got that raspy Marshall vibe.

Other than that I prefer any OD on the grittier side, good experiences here with boosting input stages using

Fulldrive OCD (fat),
MI Crunch Box (fluid and cutting),
RC Booster (clean and punchy with loads of overtones),
Box of Rock (no sustain but great crunch),
Fulltone Soul Bender (fat, creamy, violiny).

Listening to this forum I guess you should consider the Blackstart HT series too.

[hhcave]

I don't want to use the pedal for fuzz or anything - its for tightening up the amp's distortion ie. pretty much no gain on the pedal... Hence the decision not to go for the DS-1

Also, i can't go for the Bloody Murder because i can't afford to wait that long for it

From the list, plus:

-Xotic BB Preamp

What would you recommend?

[_tom_]

If you're good with soldering, how about a BYOC Tubescreamer? Only costs £50 and its a replica of a TS808 only with true bypass and they include other parts from popular mods :)

[Frank_C]

another you should look at is a reezaFRATzitz by emma electronics, its not ba pice wise and sounds great too!

[Brow]

another you should look at is a reezaFRATzitz by emma electronics, its not ba pice wise and sounds great too!

It sounds great as a standalone pedal but it wouldn't be my 1st choice to use as a booster.

Something like a BOSS SD1 Super Overdrive could be a good (and cheap) option for you.

[Daniel G]

I'd say Keeley Ibanez TS-808 mod.
Second guitarist in my band has one, and i seem to keep borrowing it whenever we play gigs.

[jt]

:D Hi there guys. Your not going to believe it but i`m selling a couple of my gain/distortion pedals ! I`ve got a :

Keeley modded Boss OD with keeleys little blue light.It`s the yellow pedal but I can`t remember weather it`s model 1 or 2. It`s a great pedal very subtle and you can adjust the gain on it so it doesn`t have audio impact that your own amp is getting. I`ve also got a:

DHA Purist valve pedal that I got off of Steve from this very forum ! Great gain pedal, again can be as subtle as you want it to be  :) It can also & a little darkness to your tone if you want it to. There both available to buy to anyone on the forum guys if your interested then drop me a PM.

Post agian later JT

 :D  8)