Overdrive pedal

[Steven Lafferty]

I've been wanting to get a new Overdrive Pedal. But, I don't really know that much about what is a really good pedal. I like the sounds of Brad Paisley, Brent Mason, Vince Gill and Keith Urban. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

 

[jak3af3r]

Hard to go wrong with the Brent Mason Signature from Wampler.

 

[Boogie]

Oh man...this is a deep rabbit hole.

What kind of amp will it go on and what feel/sound are you seeking? Is there an artist you want to emulate?

 

[Going Modal]

Oh man...this is a deep rabbit hole.

Yes... DEEP rabbit hole indeed.

Without knowing much more about your playing style or targeted tone (but drawing from the artists you've suggested), I'd agree that Wampler's Brent Mason or Paisley Drive could be good options. But don't forget about the Zendrive that many such modern country players use as well. (Original Zendrives are getting hard to find, but I believe several clones now exist out there.) And might I suggest my all-time favorite low-OD pedal, the Barber Gain Changer (or the LTD, which came before it); this one's also relatively low-drive, very rich with harmonics, and very neutral/natural.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Oh man...this is a deep rabbit hole.

What kind of amp will it go on and what feel/sound are you seeking? Is there an artist you want to emulate?

I will either be on a older Fender Twin or a new Fender Champion 100 (2X12s) Sometimes I'll play my PRS SE Custom 24 or my Fender Strat or my Fender Nashville Tele. I like the tone that Brad Paisley and Brent Mason gets.

 

[ViperDoc]

This is a horse that will never die.

Your sound is the sum of everything that happens between your fingers and your speaker cabinet and beyond. A pedal by itself has no sound at all. It receives whatever you send to it and spits out however it's altered, either by merely passing through the pedal circuit, or however you turn the knobs. Where you put that pedal in relation to everything else can produce profoundly different results. I think one of the best resources for understanding pedals and tone is, without doubt, the "That Pedal Show" channel on YouTube with Dan and Mick. If you've never seen it, let me apologize in advance for how many hours you will donate to binge-watching their episodes. I've learned a ton from watching them and putting their lessons into use.

Here's an episode with Josh Scott from JHS Pedals about the different gain pedal types out there.

Wampler is also a tone genius and makes wonderful products. The PlexiDrive is sensational.

You should probably plan to own several pedals of different types to discover what you're looking for. But in terms of overdrive, one of the most iconic and permanent pedals in the overdrive universe is the Ibanez Tube Screamer. They make a vintage reissue version that is so excellent, I have two of them. Also, RYRA (Rock Your Repaired Amp) makes an incredible KLON type pedal called the Klone. It is pure rock and roll. I can also second the Paisley Drive, it's an excellent, upgraded TS type pedal with excellent drive. Perhaps the pedal in my mind that covers literally every possible base (and offers 299 MIDI presets!) is the Strymon Sunset. It has two sides with individual tone stacks that combine in incredible ways. Given the real estate that pedal covers, I'm not sure you could do better for $299.

Have fun!

 

[Steven Lafferty]

This is a horse that will never die.

Your sound is the sum of everything that happens between your fingers and your speaker cabinet and beyond. A pedal by itself has no sound at all. It receives whatever you send to it and spits out however it's altered, either by merely passing through the pedal circuit, or however you turn the knobs. Where you put that pedal in relation to everything else can produce profoundly different results. I think one of the best resources for understanding pedals and tone is, without doubt, the "That Pedal Show" channel on YouTube with Dan and Mick. If you've never seen it, let me apologize in advance for how many hours you will donate to binge-watching their episodes. I've learned a ton from watching them and putting their lessons into use.

Here's an episode with Josh Scott from JHS Pedals about the different gain pedal types out there.

Wampler is also a tone genius and makes wonderful products. The PlexiDrive is sensational.

You should probably plan to own several pedals of different types to discover what you're looking for. But in terms of overdrive, one of the most iconic and permanent pedals in the overdrive universe is the Ibanez Tube Screamer. They make a vintage reissue version that is so excellent, I have two of them. Also, RYRA (Rock Your Repaired Amp) makes an incredible KLON type pedal called the Klone. It is pure rock and roll. I can also second the Paisley Drive, it's an excellent, upgraded TS type pedal with excellent drive. Perhaps the pedal in my mind that covers literally every possible base (and offers 299 MIDI presets!) is the Strymon Sunset. It has two sides with individual tone stacks that combine in incredible ways. Given the real estate that pedal covers, I'm not sure you could do better for $299.

Have fun!

Thanks so much for all the info and videos. Helps a lot.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Yes... DEEP rabbit hole indeed.

Without knowing much more about your playing style or targeted tone (but drawing from the artists you've suggested), I'd agree that Wampler's Brent Mason or Paisley Drive could be good options. But don't forget about the Zendrive that many such modern country players use as well. (Original Zendrives are getting hard to find, but I believe several clones now exist out there.) And might I suggest my all-time favorite low-OD pedal, the Barber Gain Changer (or the LTD, which came before it); this one's also relatively low-drive, very rich with harmonics, and very neutral/natural.

Barber Gain Changers and LTDs are GREAT pedals.

 

[Tone-y]

I'm a recent overdrive pedal convert/fan. For years I've been mostly using my amps for drive, but since discovering That Pedal Show (I also live near where it's filmed) my interest has been renewed. Partly because my eyes have been opened as to how many types are out there these days, but also in how to use the pedals better/more appropriately.
Now I'm also fairly skint (poor for those in the US) at the moment what with having two young children and a wife to support on my single salary, so I have made a few of the pedals on my growing list of desired overdrive pedals. There are companies out there that provide kits of clones pedals that you put together yourself. It's one way of being able to put together a collection essential OD pedals without breaking the bank and it's quite good fun in the process.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Good googly moogly...Monster KILLER Rabbit Hole, indeed!!!
But...Wampler has both the Paisley Drive Deluxe and the Brent Mason, which are both pretty versatile...Love the Paisley deluxe.
Barber definitely makes some killer pedals, and the Zendrive is currently made by (uh, I forget at the moment, but more affordable), but they sound great, too.
Get yourself a nice Pedaltrain board and load that sucker up!!!!

 

[Tone-y]

and the Zendrive is currently made by

Lovepedal make the Zendrive these days with agreement from Hermida

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

I build my own pedals, and have built clones of many of the "classic" pedals mentioned here - I have a shelf full of them!

As mentioned, an OD pedal is typically used to "push" a dirty amp into more breakup (while adding it's own character to the sound); or, to provide dirt to a clean amp. The amps you have are known for their clean tones, so unless you're running your Twin really loud, an OD pedal won't do much to push it into breakup - it will probably just sound louder.

So, I'd pick an OD that has the ability to sound great on it's own. A Tubescreamer (or any of the 100s of TS variants) would not fit in this category). My current favorite is the Barber Direct Drive, which on its own into a clean amp sounds fantastic! Both for rhythm and for leads. And for a killer ("thick and smooth") lead tone, followed by a Zendrive pedal when I need it.

 

[GADonis]

I'm a big fan of Rockett pedals. Their Blue Note is a really nice OD that doesn't really alter the base tone. It's fairly low OD. I also love their The Dude pedal. However, It may be more rock and roll than what you are wanting. It's a Dumble style OD. They have a new one coming out called Hot Rubber Monkey which sounded killer in the one demo I've found for it. But, once again it may be more rock and roll than your goal. I like their pedals so much I rarely pass up an opportunity to bring them up.

 

[toothace]

Pick one, play it. If you like it, get it. If you don't like that one, try another! Repeat until satisfied.

 

[elvis]

At least you're using mainstream amps, so you should be able to try lots of pedals in stores through an appropriate amp.

For sure I recommend you try the old-school pedals that the new boutique pedals are tweaks of. The TS9/OD808 are probably the best starting point, as every other overdrive is one of these at heart, with its own twist.

Depending on how much drive you want or character you want, there are lots of "amp in a box" pedals that have their own sound regardless of the amp, assuming you run them into a relatively clean amp. The wampler pedals are like this. I like the Carl Martin Plexi to get a classic Marshall tone from a clean amp. I also like the Friedman BE-OD for Marshall tone from a clean amp.

My fave boutique overdrive is the Bondi Sick As. It has a lot of range and dynamics and a nice full harmonic overtone voice.

For amazing clean tone with a little boost and squash, the Unit67 is pretty incredible.

Lots of videos available for any of these. Pete Thorn makes a lot of great demo videos, but he's so good they make me want to buy everything he demos.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Pete Thorn makes a lot of great demo videos, but he's so good they make me want to buy everything he demos.

Yeah, Pete makes everything sound so good that after a while you realize how good he is at the recording/mastering process.

 

[danktat]

But in terms of overdrive, one of the most iconic and permanent pedals in the overdrive universe is the Ibanez Tube Screamer.

Yes. I have a TS9 from the early 2000s and a TSmini (which I understand is based on the TS808 circuit if I am not mistaken). I run them back to back so that I can get a "just on the verge of breakup" out of one. A decent rhythm saturation on the other. And then when I use them both at the same time a really nice, full lead tone. This, of course is on my analog board. I have been using my Line 6 HD500X modeler recently. Fortunately, they have just about everything that I had on my analog board in their effects. So, I literally set up a digital version of my analog board and have it stored as a patch. I can't say that it is exactly the same.....but it is really close.

 

[CyFan4036]

I like a transparent-ish OD so Klones work great for that. I don't lose too much of my direct to amp tone. I can control drive with just my volume control on the guitar once it's dialed in, most ODs will. The Rockett Archer iKon suits this need. The EH Soul Food is an excellent budget choice at about $130 cheaper than the Rockett pedal. Good luck!

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

I like a transparent-ish OD so Klones work great for that. I don't lose too much of my direct to amp tone. I can control drive with just my volume control on the guitar once it's dialed in, most ODs will. The Rockett Archer iKon suits this need. The EH Soul Food is an excellent budget choice at about $130 cheaper than the Rockett pedal. Good luck!

EH Soul Food - killer! Not boutique (whatever that means ) but delivers the goods in spades.

 

[gush]

I normally don't use OD pedals, I haven't for many years.

However I do actually own two. Wampler pin deluxe and a pettydrive v2 (225.00 off reverb).

I bought bv the wampler on a whim because of it sounded really good on the demo videos but once I got it ........blah.

Les posted a video of the V2 and it was impressive. I do like it although I haven't had much time to play with it since I got it.

Got a round of music coming at me very soon so I'll get to use it for that and we'll see just home much I actually like it.