Edit: OK, I’m opening this out into a peer support exercise, as I’ve found myself browsing the January sales and demo videos yet again looking at yet more drive pedals.
This is aimed at any other folks who find themselves tone chasing, comparing, fault finding and generally hopping repeatedly between pedals.
For the whole month of January, I challenge myself and others to stick with one drive/distortion pedal and work at getting a sound you’re happy with in whatever situation you encounter. Extra points for getting something to work ‘out of character’ e.g. fuzzy sound from smooth pedal etc.
you can use a boost or compressor before or after the pedal.
If if you want to join in, please pick a drive or distortion pedal by 1st January and give some details of how you’ll be using it, then post updates as you see fit, especially if you’re either struggling with a sound or have made a discovery.
I’ve chosen a BB Preamp MB. It’s a tubescreamer-based pedal with a 3 band eq, can be run at 9 or 12v, and kicking it up the jacksie with the spark boost gives a satisfyingly snarly lead sound.
I’m running it into a clean deluxe reverb.
Here’s a pic of the pedalboard:
https://flic.kr/p/RJcnRN
Comments
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Not heard of that one! Feel free to check in and let us know how you use it.
Today I’ve been trying to dial in a Neil Young sound through the B.B. using a strat (overwound bridge pickup) and just focusing on the playing style. The smoother breakup doesn’t detract from the effect as much as I thought it would.
The normal distortion sound from it is a less buzzy, chunkier version of the DS-1, but it seems to have a lot wider range to it and you can get quite an amp-like crunch out of it as well as an abrasive fuzzy distortion. I only use it (like all dirt pedals) as an actual distortion generator into a clean or moderate crunch amp sound, never to push the amp harder with more level - it's not actually that loud a pedal, at least with the gain fairly low. It also responds well to dynamics - in one band I simply left it on all the time (into a clean Fender amp) and did everything from the guitar volume, which is something I don't normally.
I have two of them, one on my pedalboard and the other as a 'one pedal in a pocket' standalone overdrive if I just need 'my sound' with any borrowed gear. At one point I had four! Two on pedalboards, one separate pedal, and a spare...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Good point though Oli, using a pedal outside your comfort zone would be a great challenge...
I suppose the B.B. has spent the least amount of time on my board (never more than a few days), and having set out my stall I should stick to it...
I always pretty much come back to the humble Boss SD1 - super overdrive - honestly almost all my gain comes from the amp in almost every situation. The SD1 on my board has been there for about 10 years.
I have been toying with buying the Waza version, but £110 for an SD1 is a bit much IMHO.
I do try new pedals – I recently bought and returned the Revv G3 pedal, now that was hate at first note.
Want to try the Diezel pedals though – does seem a bit pointless when I’ve got some of the amps
The Boss DF2 / Turbo distortion DS2 / DS1 are all great too - the DS can be a bit raspy.
If not, then my Skreddy Screwdriver Deluxe, which is a distant relative of the Coloursound Overdriver I think. Runs the gamut from clean boost, to "Marshall in a box", to fuzz with enough knob tweaking. I reckon I could cover most stuff worth playing with one of those and a crunch-able amp.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
I've got a Jam Rattler arriving next week so I'm game. I'll be running into a JCM900 clean channel with the gain up high, so a dirty clean.
Let's see how we all get on!
Couple of of hours in and I’m already questioning my pedal choice... must be strong...
Thanks! It’s powered by a Cioks DC5 (which has at least stopped me from switching between different sized boards!)
Jam Rattler - presuming that’s a Rat type? I’m already missing the clarity and crunch...