Looking for an OD pedal with a boost.

Mike J.

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Nov 14, 2021
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The other day I plugged my Xotic BB preamp pedal into my Pod Go and was surprised at how good it sounds. Good driving sound with tight bass and a high end that's crisp but not fizzy. Plenty of bass on tap as well.

I'd really like to find the right "two in one" pedal where one side would be the main OD sound with the other side being a boost. I checked out a few pedal reviews on YouTube and two possible contenders are the Xotic BB Plus and the Wampler Patheon. A wide range of tonal control on both.

I prefer an overdrive where the bass has a tighter sound and not the "saggy/mushy" kind of bass response. Any suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks in advance!
 
It depends on what sound you want from your main drive side and what amp you're using in the POD
Couldn't agree more. The amp model I favor is the Soldano Clean with a 2X12 G12H IR. I like it because it's a good, strong, robust kinda clean sound. Has good strength in the highs of which I like very much. Not at all thin sounding. I get compliments with it all the time at church.

It's very hard to describe the OD sound that I'm after but I'll try. Think of this example as the "idea of" that I'm after. I think my favorite overdriven tone of all time is EVH's tone on VH II. I love that crunch in the bottom end and the crisp (not fizzy), clear high end he gets on that album. Trust me, I know there's a lot of variables that contribute to that sound and lets get one thing straight: I'm NO Eddie Van Halen! I'm not at all trying to copy his sound but again, I like the idea of that sound. Something along those lines is what I'm after.
 
Not necessarily what you are looking for, but a fantastic "always on" pedal.


Thanks again! I'll be checking that out as well. Much appreciated.

Bottom line and maybe this will help. If someone handed me a pedal and said "it has that crunch on the bottom and that crisp high end with no fizz....but it doesn't sound like VH II" I'd said "GREAT! Let me try it!"
 
I wouldn’t call the Wampler Pinnacle an overdrive, in the sense of a Tubescreamer, Klon, Bluesbreaker, etc. It’s a full-on distortion pedal/ amp-in-a-box, run best into a clean amp. If VH II is ballpark you’re looking for, the Pinnacle will get you there, and then some! I’ve built one, and it’s a fantastic circuit.

One thing about the boost… are you looking for the boost to go into (before) the distortion circuit, or after the distortion? Whenever I build a drive pedal with a boost option, I always add an “order” switch. Boost->Distortion=Higher gain at around the same volume; Distortion->Boost=Same distortion/gain at boosted volume.
 
I wouldn’t call the Wampler Pinnacle an overdrive, in the sense of a Tubescreamer, Klon, Bluesbreaker, etc. It’s a full-on distortion pedal/ amp-in-a-box, run best into a clean amp. If VH II is ballpark you’re looking for, the Pinnacle will get you there, and then some! I’ve built one, and it’s a fantastic circuit.

One thing about the boost… are you looking for the boost to go into (before) the distortion circuit, or after the distortion? Whenever I build a drive pedal with a boost option, I always add an “order” switch. Boost->Distortion=Higher gain at around the same volume; Distortion->Boost=Same distortion/gain at boosted volume.
I did this as well, and have several pedals that came with that, including the Fulldrive 3.

I made an "SHO-CD" that was a fantastic pedal. Sold it thinking I'd build another, and never did, since I always have 1 or 2 versions of OCD and an SHO clone on hand. But having them both in one pedal (and the right version of OCD) is as good as it gets.
 
I'll also add... a BSIAB kit is a good place to look if you can build one. I have one with lower output FETs and it doesn't have as much gain, but sounds great. I have another kit with standard FETs but haven't built it yet. And again, an SHO clone pushing the lower gain version is a GREAT sound.
 
One thing about the boost… are you looking for the boost to go into (before) the distortion circuit, or after the distortion? Whenever I build a drive pedal with a boost option, I always add an “order” switch. Boost->Distortion=Higher gain at around the same volume; Distortion->Boost=Same distortion/gain at boosted volume.
Offhand, the boost would be before. I envision getting a good, solid overdrive sound for a rhythm and then boosting that for a lead. Some of the pedals that I saw on YouTube have some nice options on them.

I thought "why not just get a regular old boost pedal and put that before my Xotic BB preamp? But then I thought what if I want the boost to have a few more tone shaping options? So right now I've got some clips to listen to that some of you good folks have recommended.
 
Not necessarily what you are looking for, but a fantastic "always on" pedal.


That is cool! Seems like that's an "icing on the cake" pedal. You know, you got your tone sounding great, you love it and then someone says "Yeah, it sounds good. Now try this son and hold on!" Thanks.
 
Friedman BE- Deluxe
Bogner Big Box Red or Blue
 
BMF Marc F'n Ford
 
BMF Marc F'n Ford
Thank you Aahzz! I'll be checking this out as well!
 
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