The ultimate overdrive / distortion pedal

[tomjackson]

I want a pedal that does it all, from clean boost, to light transparent drive, to Marshall in a box roar.  I’m not bothered about the cost because this one is going to be a keeper!

My initial thought is BB plus (Have tried the BB booster and really liked that) but I’m also interested in the Fulldrive 2 and any other ones anybody might think of.

The new BYOC overdrive looks good at £62.50 but would it match the BB plus in tone and versatility?

[sgmypod]

not tried BB2 but the new Screamer is very versatile..and lots of mods(all in package to tweak to what you want)

[tomjackson]

How much gain can you get out of it?

I want something that will give a fat sustaining lead sound in front of a clean amp and also nice low gain sounds

[Twinfan]

I'd say you could do that with two great pedals - one for low gain, one for high.  All-in-ones never quite work in my experience.  What amp are you playing into?

I'd suggest looking at:

Lower gain - ZVex Box of Rock or the new ZVex Distortron, BB Preamp
Higher gain - MI Audio Crunch Box or the ToneRider British Distortion

You can get one of each category for under £200 and then you're set for anything.........

[Ratrod]

The Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor does all that.

Audio clips can be heard on their site.

I have been using it for years and I'm planning to use it for years to come.

Easy to use, reliable, great tone and very versitle. I've used it as a neutral boost, break-up tone, mild overdrive, classic rock and metal distortion.

[dheim]

overdrive and marshall in a box are both in the EHX english muff'n... just replace tubes with a couple of 12AX7s for greater versatility, if you don't dig the extremely vintage tone of its 12AY7s... they add more gain too.
i had poor results when i tried to use it as a booster, though...

[horsehead]

I'm gonna backup SG on this one for the money the BYOC screamer is amazing

[mikey5]

Wampler Super Plextortion or Lovepedal Provalve

[Roobubba]

I'd say you could do that with two great pedals - one for low gain, one for high.  All-in-ones never quite work in my experience.  What amp are you playing into?

I'd suggest looking at:

Lower gain - ZVex Box of Rock or the new ZVex Distortron, BB Preamp
Higher gain - MI Audio Crunch Box or the ToneRider British Distortion

You can get one of each category for under £200 and then you're set for anything.........

I'm with twinfan there, plus the added bonus of two great pedals is that you have more tonal possibilities (use them separately or together). Best of all worlds, if you ask me!

Roo

[shobet]

I like the sound of the Skreddy Screwdriver if you want to try it.

[Brow]

My favourite lower gain OD pedal would be the HBE Power Screamer. Has a 3 way diode switch to change the tone aswell as a 2nd footswitchable boost function (for gain, not volume).

For higher gain stuff I like the G2D Custom Overdrive, EMMA Electronics ReezaFRATzitz, BSIAB2 (Brown Sound In A Box), MI Audio Crunch Box and the HBE Big D (also has a 2nd footswitchable 'bigger' function).

If you want anymore info about any of these, feel free to ask :)

[_tom_]

I had a Power Screamer and it was ok but I do prefer my BYOC to it I think, it works better for boosting an amp.. Dont really like the BYOC screamer as a standalone overdrive though its too nasally and boxy sounding.

For marshally rock stuff the Crunch Box was awesome, just sounded too much like the gain on my Laney to justify keeping it.

[tomjackson]

Well if I go for 2 pedals I think the Crunch Box sounds good for the higher gain stuff and possibly the BYOC for the lower gain / boost.  I currently have the Danelectro Transparent overdrive which sounds great for the lower gain stuff but I HATE the position of the buttons and the may unity gain is near the start of the pots travel.

But I think I'll try the BB plus again first, I'm sure with the 2 channels cascaded it can get pretty high gain (for me anyway).

How about the fulltone stuff, how doeas the OCD compare to the crunch box?

[Elliot]

Talking of OCD - have you checked this video out?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XNXu3jvrSo

[PPPMAT]

I've just bought an OCD v4 I'll let you know what its like  8)