boosters vs od vs DS

[Keven]

Sorry to flood the forum with my overabundance of questions, but i'm completely reinventing my band rig and going 100% analog. and i've been trying to educate myself on OD Pedals. my limited use of OD's are a boss SD-1 and a General Guitar Gadgets ITS8 clone i've built into a valve junior amp

i've tried the SD-1 in front of alot of amps, sounded nice. i liked, if all else fails i might just get one as a backup and keep searching.

but i'll explain what i want. i can basically get the amount of gain i want from my amp, but it likes to be turned up, so getting decent grit-compression at a lower volume can be a pain. and it's awfully reactive of the pickups i use. If i could find a pedal that allows me to boost the output level of my guitar into my traynor's preamp, i'd be a happy man. there's enough dirt in that amp to keep me happy for my metal moments. currently i'm down to a few choices, and since you're all such gentlemen and tone hounds, i figure you can help me kick out what doesn't work. I'm looking to tighten my low end (using a 7 string tuned to Bb and 6 string tuned to Eb and standard D) so i can control it a bit more from my amp.

Maxon DnSII (mostly because a friend has one for sale, he'll let me try it out for a while to see if i like it....)
Boss SD-1 (backup plan, i like, but there could be better)
Xotic BB Preamp (heard good stuff, or maybe go for an RC Booster?)
HK tube Factor (basically another tube gain stage in front of my gain stages... pricey though!)
MXR GT-OD (mixed reviews, haven't tried or heard anything as a guitar booster)

hope you'll help me sort this out once and for all! i'd rather shell out on a good OD than a cr@ppy one and too many EQ's.

thank you very much guys!

[sgmypod]

Not used the Maxon D&S2 but tried the od8 think it was and was a great pedal to go from clean boost to OD grit
Boss SD-1 great pedal..even better modified..think plenty of easy mods out there to turn it into OD of your dreams..if not HTH on here does them.
Xotic BB have tried the small one not the plus...great for clean boost..upto a little dirt.
Other 2 not tried...another option is the BYOC OD2 is a OD which comes with all fav mods(and OP amps), kit to turn into mosfet OD and also has a switchable clean boost

[PhilKing]

If you can pick up the Phil Hilbourne Thundertomate booster I think it will do what you want.  Other than that i can also recommend the Fulltone RTO (Robin Trower Overdrive) or if you can find an old one, the Washburn Stack-In-A-Box.  I don't have any experience on the pedals you have listed, but did used to have an old MXR distortion which was OK, but not as good as the pedals I have mentioned.

[Denim n Leather]

It sounds like you and I are on the same tone track right now ...

You want the Phil Hilborne treble booster! Trust me, this pedal will reinvent your life!

http://www.philhilborne.com/enter.htm  click on SHOP

[Keven]

haha. definitely seems like we are. i'm buying a BOSS SD-1 for now, it's something i know well and that has served me well the last time i owned one.

 and  i will definitely check out the treble booster, but can you explain me what it does in more than a OD would do? i will check out clips, but you seem to have first hand use so it would help!

[Denim n Leather]

Well, I have several overdrive pedals, too. A boost is quite different in that you aren't feeding any kind of distortion into the preamp stage of the amp, just GREATLY amplifying your guitar's output -- so what you end up with is your basic sound, but it's SLAMMING the input stage of your amp and causing the valves to break up.

The other major difference is in the final level. An OD pedal will take a breaking up/crunchy tone and give you a creamy, thick, distortion tone that's a bit louder than what you already have. A boost will double or treble your amp's volume. It gets L O U D !!! I run my amp clean and get all my drive from the boost.

There are different kinds of boosts, too -- from clean boosts, flat boosts, boosts that add just a bit of harmonic content, to treble boosters, full range boosters, etc etc.

The Hilborne has a set of DIP switches inside the unit that allow you to dial in what frequencies you want to boost.

[Keven]

Hmm, so if i dish out for boosters, i must first dish out for an attenuator, as covered in that other thread.

what i liked about the SD-1 from when i used it is that it took a flabby blues amp like the traynor YCV40 and really tightened up the low end. and it's the low end i have a problem controlling with my current YCS100H2. it sounds great, it's just sooooooo bottom heavy that i end up turning the bass -and- resonance really down. and the way the EQ works, if i add mids the way i like them (to 11 :D) the low end comes rumbling and here's my problem again.

with the GT-10 i really tamed down the low end with the OD models in there, but they -are- models so i've gotten tired of the tone.

the way i see it, a treble booster will be a much more useful buy than an EQ pedal.

very helpful advice however. a simple way to get the tone i like is to bring back my old ADA-MP1 to band practice and use my GT-10 as a way too expensive midi switcher ;) but this preamp is so old it has issues!

[Denim n Leather]

I'm currently running 3 different 'drive' pedals, depending on what kind of distortion I want:

For rhythm work I'm using the Thundertomate. For mild breakup I use the HipKitty Oxblood. And for lead work I use the Hartman Tommy Bolin Fuzz. All 3 are switched from a pair of Lehle D.Loops controlled by a Roland MIDI footswitch.

The whole thing works seemlessly, gives me 4 tones right off the bat (5 when I put my piezo in), and the best part is it sounds GREAT.

As for the volume ... that's just too bad for everyone else!!!!!! PDT_008

[JDC]

for tightening the bass I'd say get a tube screamer, it's EQ has a mid hump which helps tighten the sound

[HTH AMPS]

a TS-9 or SD-1 will tighten the low end as they cut some lows out of your signal, but leave enough intact for metallers.  if you want slightly more bass, you can mod them fairly easily.

SD-1's are the best value pedal you can buy really - £30 all day long on ebay. 

[JDC]

isn't the sd1 pretty much the same as a ts9 but the ts9 has symmetric clipping while the sd1 has asymmetric clipping, or am I thinking of something completely different?

[jpfamps]

isn't the sd1 pretty much the same as a ts9 but the ts9 has symmetric clipping while the sd1 has asymmetric clipping, or am I thinking of something completely different?

No you a quite correct the SD-1 has asymmetric clipping cf the TS9. Other than a couple of component values they have the same circuit. Last time I looked in an SD-1 they also had the JRC4558D chip too, so they can easily be converted to TS9 or TS808 spec, etc. or modded versions of these.

With the stock circuit I find the SD-1 gives a touch more top end than the TS9, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the rest of your gear.

[Keven]

Yeah. SD-1 will be the choice, though i'll still try the Maxon DnSII when my friend brings it around, could be a nice booster for solos

fun fact, on the ITS8 clone i built, i put the asymmetric clipping mod ;) i guess i'm naturally inclined towards the SD-1 even if i didn't know it!

[Roobubba]

Or just go straight for a Bodenhamer Electronics Bloody Murder. Once I got hold of mine, I never looked back. I can't imagine my rig without it again!

It's a modded TS9, essentially. More bass let through, but very, very tight. I run it on full volume, half tone and zero drive in front of my 5150-II and it is precisely what I needed!

Roo