Overdrive/Distortion pedals

[Doadman]

Pedals is something I know very little about so I'd really appreciate some help. I use an Ibanez RGT42 loaded with a set of 'Cold Sweat' pups and play it through a Marshall DSL401. Overall I like the Marshall but I'd like to be able to tighten up the distortion and take it further so I can reach the levels of modern Metal as well, such as A7X, BFMV, Disturbed etc. I reasoned that there were two options open to me:

1) Use a distortion pedal on the clean channel of the amp

2) Use an overdrive pedal to push the amp's own drive channels further

It seems to me that using a distortion pedal on the clean channel would have it's limitations as the only volume control for that channel is the master so switching between that and the drive channels would become complex. As I also use this amp in the home I usually have the master volume maxed out and then control everything from the gain channels individual volume control. I tried it the other way around too but it didn't sound so good. Thinking that using an overdrive pedal would therefore be easier and better, I narrowed down my choice to:

Boss OS-2
Digitech Bad Monkey
Hardwire Overdrive
Maxon OD-9

So far I've only been able to try the Boss OS-2 but it didn't react as I expected. It did certainly tighten up the distortion and it sounded better BUT it didn't take it to the distortion levels I was expecting and the controls on the pedal had surprisingly little effect on the sound. Conversely, when I tried it on the clean channel, the distortion was even better and all of a sudden the controls on the pedal came alive and I could affect the sound much better. Unfortunately I still couldn't reach the high gain levels I was after. This raises a few questions for me:

1) If an overdrive pedal is designed to push an amp's drive channels further, why did it work better on the clean channel?

2) Was it just that the Boss OS-2 just isn't very good and the other pedals I mentioned are better?

3) Would any of the pedals I've mentioned do what I'm looking for?

4) Would I be better using a full distortion pedal on the clean channel instead?

5) Am I making some fundamental mistakes here and if so, what do you suggest?

I have no doubt that a lot of this may well be down to the fact that I know very little about pedals and how they work so I'd be grateful if you guys can help. At the moment I use a GNX3000 with headphones for practice but I'd like to get back to using an amp when the wife is out and it's not too late at night. Right now the amp is only used in the home as the last band I was involved in folded. I've been tempted just to sell it and get a solid state modeler like a Vypyr but I really like the richer valve tone and I also figure that if I don't have an amp that I can use to gig then I'll never get off my backside and join a band. At 44 years old I may never be in a band as I'm just not that good but it's still the dream. Anyway, any help and advice you could offer would be gratefully received.

[maverickf1jockey]

I think the Hardwire is too much money for what it is; Overdrive pedals should not be so expensive.

I can live with the idea of a boutique pedal but Hardwire are mass produced and so have no excuse whatsoever.

I personally use a Boss SD-1 into a valve preamp with the volume on 10 and the drive very low. This gets some compression into the sound that valves don't get on their own.

The gain boost mightn't be enough for your purposes, though.

At about £30 it isn't a major investment.

[Gizmo]

I looked into hardwire pedals when i was getting a delay pedal. They are actually better made then they look.

They are in between that of a Boss and a boutique pedal. i.e they use higher quality components but in a standard casing which means they sound gd without the boutique cost. I think Guitarist did a review on the whole range 2-3months ago. From memory they all did extremely well and got choice awards.

The order you've listed them is increasing in cost and "boutique"ness. The monkey has loads of gain btw.

If you can get one id try and find an OCD Fulltone second hand which will go with your marshall and they sound amazing. They are £110 new so not much more the the maxon. The third model was really good and they just released the fourth version so some of the third may now be on ebay.

[Doadman]

Thanks for the ideas. To be honest, I hadn't originally thought of Hardwire but everyone seems to think the Bad Monkey is so good I assumed the Hardwire version would just be an improved Bad Monkey. I stumbled on the Maxon through reviews I read on HC. I've heard the OCD mentioned a few times before but dismissed it as simply too expensive for what I would be using it for but Ebay may be a good idea. I take it that, as nobody has suggested it yet, using a distortion pedal through the clean channel is not the best way to go and I can achieve what I want with an overdrive. On that basis the OS-2 presumably just isn't that good. It's so difficult to try these pedals where I live I'm afraid I have to rely on feedback from forums.

So, the Bad Monkey may well be worth exploring further, as is the Hardwire and Maxon. If I look at used options the Fulltone may be possible and would a Tubescreamer also be worth a look? Would all of these pedals be used to push the drive channels on my amp and would they all do what I want?

[MrBump]

I don't have any OD on my amp, but I get pretty high gain sounds chaining 2 ODs together - a Tone Rider American OD (TS clone) into an MI Audio Crunch Box.

Does the job nicely!

Mar.

[maverickf1jockey]

I do the same as MrBump but using the aforementioned valve preamp rather than a transistor distortion with the overdrive in front.

[99_not_out]

I use a Bad Monkey for the same purpose in part - pushing the gain on my valve amp up a couple of notches. It does it very well, especially for its price, and the separate bass + treble controls it has make it very versatile (can tweak in everything from bass-heavy-crushing to screaming-ice-pick tones). As a bonus it gives you a sweet mild crunch tone when pushing the clean channel, and even sounds pretty good when taking the cab emulation straight from the pedal into a stereo.

I don't really get on with distortion pedals, preferring a valve amps high gain sound - but also have limited experience with said so take that with a pinch of salt.

If you can pick up a Bad Monkey off eBay for £20 or so, its definitely well worth it.

[Doadman]

The Bad Monkey sounds really good and loads of people seem to think very highly of it. I'm watching one on Ebay right now actually. I've also been really impressed with the sound clips at the Digitech website for their Hardwire series. The CM-2 Tube Overdrive may well do the job perfectly and the clips have also got me thinking about the SC-2 Valve Distortion pedal as their information suggests that this can be used either on the clean channel or as a gain boost into the overdrive channel. It's too early for Hardwire pedals to be on Ebay unfortunately but I don't think they're unreasonably priced for what they are.

[Venemous]

If you want a nice tube drive that will give some kick check out a Maxon OD-808. It's the model made by the guy who did the original Ibanez Tubescreamer 808  :P Hope that helps a little!

[99_not_out]

It does it very well, especially for its price

Actually, on consideration, it simply does it very well. No excuses needed just because its cheap :-)
A steal at the price IMO.

[hamfist]

What you generally get with spending more on a tube screamer clone (or similar) is better quality components. This may not improve the tone, but it will lower the noise floor.

 Compared to my MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe (a boutique pedal itself) my BYOC tubescreamer  simply has a much lower noise floor.

The BYOC (build your own clone) series are excellent in terms of value and quality of components. They use very top quality components. If you can build it yourself they are VERY good value for money. If you can't, then buying them ready made is still pretty good value in my book.

[sgmypod]

Ain't horsehead selling his maxon on here..and also isn't there a badmonkey for sale at mo

[Doadman]

I've been monitoring a range of pedals on Ebay to see the kind of prices they achieve. A Maxon OD808 went yesterday for £76.52 and next up is a Bad Monkey. It's only at £10 at the moment but there's still a day to go so I imagine there will be a flurry of activity on it. I'm in no immediate rush and I'm away for a week in mid Feb. so I should be able to try a few of these out myself. I've written to Digitech asking what they suggest for what I'm after, though my focus was the Hardwire series then but I imagine each Hardwire pedal has a standard Digitech equivalant that would be on Ebay.

[the_bleeding]

use any tubescreamer type. I personally use a maxon od808. Should get you right up to modern metal.

You know the band nile? they use dsl100's. ;)

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=U4k2kFQn5WA

[Doadman]

Well, I got a reply from Digitech regarding their Hardwire series and I was rather surprised by their suggestion. I made it clear that I wanted to push the amp's existing overdrives into modern high gain and tighten up the distortion generally. I started this process thinking that an overdrive pedal was required (Hardwire CM-2 Tube Overdrive) but listening to their clips on the website I wondered if the Hardwire SC-2 Valve Distortion might be better. Digitech went even further and suggested I use the TL-2 Metal Distortion pedal!! I had assumed that this was a pedal that would be used on the amp's clean channel to provide all the distortion by itself yet they seem to be suggesting that I should use it to push the amp's overdrive channels  :hmm:

Have I misunderstood how these pedals are used? It sounds like it yet almost all of the suggestions I've received are for overdrives instead of distortions. This is all very confusing to someone as inexperienced with pedals as I am! If it's a full distortion pedal that is needed then perhaps I'd be better off looking at something like a Metal Muff or Metal Mayhem.