Overdrive pedals in conjunction with AC30

voxmanjohn

A question for you ac30 users. I am starting to get back into my pedals and want your opinions on which OD suits a vox ac30 for a bluesy/rock tone ???

Gassage

Crowther Hotcake. Utterly brilliant- and designed for the AC30 specifically.

EricTheWeary

Gassage said:

Crowther Hotcake. Utterly brilliant- and designed for the AC30 specifically.

forum/ fora wisdom always says this. Vague memory that @longtallronnie was selling his?

voxmanjohn

Tried and tested. Too much fizz for my liking

Gassage

Timmy is a great choice for lower gain, Catlinbread DLS too. I'd say a FUlldrive but probably  too much gain for you.

Longtallronnie

EricTheWeary said:

Gassage said:

Crowther Hotcake. Utterly brilliant- and designed for the AC30 specifically.

forum/ fora wisdom always says this. Vague memory that @longtallronnie was selling his?

I am indeed: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/22490/fs-t-crowther-double-hotcake-110-price-drop#latest

The Bluesberry model is less fizzy than the original, the Double HC I'm selling has one of each and they combine to give an extra sound - I explain it better in the link!

hubobulous

Based on how it works with the EL84 based Badger 35, I'd throw the Koko Boost into the mix too.

ICBM

I have just acquired an AC30, so if you send me all your expensive overdrive pedals to evaluate I'll get back to you in about ten years.

Fuzzdog

I used to use a Carl Martin DC Drive with the AC30 which lived in our rehearsal room - really worked well for me.  

Gassage

@voxmanjohn

I was racking my brains about the pedal that blew me away when I had an AC30TB back 'in the day'.

I remembered- it was BK Butler Tube Driver with a 12 AU7 in it. Really, really lush and wonderful, so versatile and worked so so well with the Vox.

And generally it's a pedal I don't like with Fenders or my Hiwatt (despite the obvious Gilmour thing)

badlydrawnbanjo

I read that the sub decay liquid sunshine is great with an AC15, so I'd guess it's pretty much the same for an AC30? I PM'd @guitargeek62 about the one he had for sale to pair with my AC15, but he never got back to me...

skay

I find the Zvex Distortron works very well, especially with the subs switched to '2' so some of the bass is reduced. Of course it does impart it's own Marshall-flavoured tone (which is the reason I bought it) but lower gain tones seem to mesh nicely with the Voxey jangle.

The other recommendation is a Rat pedal, it's my favourite when using my Rickenbacker, but can sound a bit thin with a Telecaster and veers into too high gain territory for me too soon on the dial. My Timmy is the ultimate low gainer with the Vox, especially with the LM1458 chip modification, works well with every guitar as well.

I have a Hotcake, full-drive 2 and a treble booster, all recommended as sounding great through a Vox but I don't like any of them very much tbh.

ChrisMusic

Which version of the BK Butler Tube Driver is that @Gassage, the older three or four knob version, or the later ones after he restarted production with the bias control on the back ?

voxmanjohn, if you want some further info on this check out:

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/319676/#Comment_319676

There is a video of the 3 knob version in the comment after, this version is the gnarly one, the others are smoother especially with the 12AX7 replaced by a 12AU7, there are videos of them on YT as well.

Gassage

ChrisMusic said:

Which version of the BK Butler Tube Driver is that @Gassage, the older three or four knob version, or the later ones after he restarted production with the bias control on the back ?

voxmanjohn, if you want some further info on this check out:

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/319676/#Comment_319676

There is a video of the 3 knob version in the comment after, this version is the gnarly one, the others are smoother especially with the 12AX7 replaced by a 12AU7, there are videos of them on YT as well.

@chrismusic

The current non-bias adjust version.

I have found the bias knob version more noisy, esp when turned up towards the + side.

It's a pedal I found needs taming and that's why I habitually run them with a 12AU7.

This allows a real usable range of drive- with a 12AX7 in them- the later stages of gain are uncontrolable noise wise

I always think of a BK at its best with a 12AU7 as somewhere between EQ/Boost to lovely TS9 territory but with more crunchy warmth. Brilliant with an AC30.

Cirrus

Timmy, rat, timmy into rat, rat into timmy. Distortron and boss od-3 were also winners, as was the fuck overdrive for low-mid gain. I find the trick is to get a warmish clean without too much treble and set the pedal bright, using the cut control to shave off anything too harsh. Leaves you with fat midrange roar.

ChrisMusic

Thanks for that extra information @Gassage, it's good to get some feedback on the BK from someone who has experience with them.  Cheers.

DarnWeight

Red Llama

skay

Is the Red Llama more of a fuzz than overdrive? The YouTube videos of it are all fairly poor, but it comes across as fuzzy to me rather than a pedal you could use for chording, which is always the most difficult thing to find for a Vox.

It's the only famed pedal that is meant to work in the top boost channel of a Vox that I haven't tried yet... Is it worth checking out if I want something for just-breaking-up tones?

GIJoe

I used one a few weekends ago - Klone and Tubescreamer worked very well!  Timmy sounded ok, but had no need to use it!

lustycourtier

Timmy is brillint, much better than the hotcake Ive found, however Im curretly loving how th e Les Luis tightens up my AC15TV, better than anything Ive ever heard actually. Its almost my 'always on' pedal atthe moment...

DarnWeight

skay said:

Is the Red Llama more of a fuzz than overdrive? The YouTube videos of it are all fairly poor, but it comes across as fuzzy to me rather than a pedal you could use for chording, which is always the most difficult thing to find for a Vox.

It's the only famed pedal that is meant to work in the top boost channel of a Vox that I haven't tried yet... Is it worth checking out if I want something for just-breaking-up tones?

The RL is actually kind of similar to the Hotcake in the range of drive tones it covers...it'll go from cleanish boost to low-gain drive, all the way up to a fuzzy tones with the drive maxed.  A lot of the online vids go straight for the latter and miss out on the former.  It has an absolute ton of volume on tap, so it makes for a great dirty boost/drive with the drive set lower.