I'm one of those unfortunate to have to isolate myself for the foreseeable future, so in my breaks from working I've been trying to make sense of a pedal board that covers most bases, and is nice and simple.
I've decided to use an HX Effects for most mods, delays and verb, but keeping an AquaVibe as it sounds much nicer than the ones in the HX. But drive pedals are causing me some consternation, I have a Throbak ODB that's very versatile, a Hudson Broadcast that I really like, a Hudson Sidecar that I also like in spite of its TS roots (I normally don't like TS type pedals), and a Paul Cochrane Tim.
It's a great place to be, and when trying to stack them, there are quite a few overlaps, depending upon how they are set. However, I I know that I will just spend too much time playing with settings, and not enough playing for my own good. Also, I want a nice simple life, with a small pedal board, 4 drives is too many I feel, but I do love them all, and am struggling to decide what gets cut.
Also, I do use a few different amps, from SF Fenders to JTM45 and 5E3 (Tweed Deluxe), and some pedals suit different amps better I feel. Where I am currently, it's just a 5E3 .
Anyway, I'm writing this in the hope that someone else who has this somewhat obsessive problem with drive pedals will talk some sense into me
Comments
I wouldn't usually have more than 4 on any board, and no more than 2 (plus maybe something distorty like a Rat or Revival Drive) on a gigging board. In that scenario switching things out and trying new combinations and limitations becomes a nice way to keep things fresh and keep yourself inspired.
But owning too many doesn't seem possible without having literally one of everything and then starting on duplicates.
I'm in the same boat as you mate....here was my self-isolation photo from last week's noodlings!
Too many drive pedals you say?
I'm currently deciding on which one' s will make the cut. As you can see, once my Stomp, MIDI controller and wireless are on my board, I don't have much room to play with. I also need to add one of my wah pedals!
I've currently got a Frederic Effects Accomplished Badger and a DOD FX50B sitting on the sidelines, both mighty fine drive pedals.
The point of drive pedals is to either make an amp overdrive where limited volume is an issue or when using a clean amp, dirty amp system is impractical. For multi channel amps they are effectively using inbuilt over drives.
So, having too many over drives is a good thing. Some pedals work well with a clean amp, some don't. Some pedals work nice with one amp but not with another. Some pedals sound great in a band and not solo.
So build two or more boards or have two slots on one board with enough space for your largest pedals.
For home use the following pedals are excellent...king of tone, Friedman be, dude and model h both not mine. Stay away from ts or Klon (e) circuits at low volume and or solo/bedroom playing.
Finally during the lockdown do not watch demos from Mike Hermans Andy Martin and Pete Thorn .
Over the past year I have grown to appreciate drive pedals much more, to the point now that, like reverb, I find it hard to play without having one. Current favourite is probably the Fredric Effects Grumbly Wolf, just the right amount of interplay between sparkling clean and fizzy overdrive depending on pick attack.