looking for the right pedal. help?

[littleredguitars2]

My friend just picked up a 50 watt Marshall jcm900 and it sounds great but it's having some trouble keeping up with the rest of the band volume wise.  Is there any sort of boost pedal he could use to give him some more volume and help tighten up his tone a bit and get rid of some flub? He doesn't have a ton of money either so cheaper options are preferred

[bucketshred]

DigiTech Bad Monkey will do all of the above.

[littleredguitars2]

Cool I'll take a look.  More suggestions are welcome !

[Kiichi]

Well in terms of a lot for little money bucketshred is righ on with the Monkey. It is a TS type pedal and delivers a big freaking load of value for the money. Boosts, tightens things up through the TS mid hump, and cheap.

If one of you is handy with a soldering iron building a Zves Super Hard On clone might be another option. That is purely a boost, and a very clean and tranparent one at that, but it also somehow seems to draw out more of pickups. A pure boost also does tighten up things a bit, but in a different way than a TS type. It is super cheap and easy to build and is just amazing.

[Telerocker]

Bad Monkey, any Tubescreamer, Boss BD-2, those will do.
I'm surprised a 50 watt tubeamp can't hold up with the rest. How loud you guys play?

[Elliot]

I second (third, fourth?) the Bad Monkey.  Great pedal for little cash.

Another cheapo alternative - Danelectro Cool Cat V2 Transparent Overdrive - has dip switches to make it a pure clean boost.

[Dave Sloven]

I'm surprised a 50 watt tubeamp can't hold up with the rest. How loud you guys play?

This is what I'm thinking.  Are you sure it hasn't got bad capacitors?  They can take a while to die altogether.

[littleredguitars2]

we practice in a tiny room and the drummer is loud as hell. his amp is plenty loud but it needs just a hair more

[Dave Sloven]

You can't hear him over an unamplified drum kit?  In my band the drummer is the only thing that seems to keep a lid on the volume of our bassist

[MrBump]

Crikey - I used to play with a very loud punk drummer with my Egnater Renegade and I never turned about 9 o'clock!  If you're in a tiny room running 50 watt Marshalls flat out, make sure you're all wearing good quality ear protection!!!

[Alex]

What cab is he using it with? A 1960A?

[gwEm]

A 50w amp is a 50w amp.. No pedal will change that :/

[littleredguitars2]

Crikey - I used to play with a very loud punk drummer with my Egnater Renegade and I never turned about 9 o'clock!  If you're in a tiny room running 50 watt Marshalls flat out, make sure you're all wearing good quality ear protection!!!

yeah we all definitely protect our ears.

What cab is he using it with? A 1960A?

he's actually using some compact 4x12. i think crate made it but he said he upgraded some of the speakers? not even sure if he upgraded them all.

[Kiichi]

What cab is he using it with? A 1960A?

he's actually using some compact 4x12. i think crate made it but he said he upgraded some of the speakers? not even sure if he upgraded them all.
[/quote]
Maybe he put in very unefficiant speakers? That can soak out a lot. Have you tried another cabinet to compare?

[Alex]

What cab is he using it with? A 1960A?

he's actually using some compact 4x12. i think crate made it but he said he upgraded some of the speakers? not even sure if he upgraded them all.

Maybe he put in very unefficiant speakers? That can soak out a lot. Have you tried another cabinet to compare?
[/quote]

That's where I'm coming from as well. Maybe it's not the amp, but the cab/speakers that's the weak link in his sound chain.