Best 'just Clipping' Overdrive Today?

[Chalky]

My 1987x gives nice clean sounds, but at the volume I play at the amp is not really able to offer that "just clipping" drive and sustain suitable for soloing Carlton, Scofield, Ford stuff which demands a full tone that can also go a gear shift up when needed to give more expression. I'm not interested in attenuators so that leaves pedals. I have a lot of drive pedals, like Xotic, Radial, Friedman, and they're great but they are designed to operate in more gainy situations, I need one that specialises in low gain.


Is anyone using a pedal they'd can recommend that offers a quality low gain tone with the ability to express from the fingerboard?

 

[JohnH]

I reckon you might like a Hardwire CM2. Its my current favorite low-gain drive. Super build quality and tonal range too. Its discontinued but there are still some around, new or used.

 

[Jab996]

I have good luck with Analogmans Bad Bob boost.

 

[chiliphil1]

The Ibanez tube screamer mini works well for me. I don't have the 1987 but I push the clean channel of a DSL15 with it and it works well. You can adjust the level and drive, so it's easy to dial in the "just right" amount of gain.

 

[charveldan]

 

[Frodebro]

The Barber Gain Changer is my personal favorite. It works well with all of my amps, too, which many overdrives don't.

 

[Goldmember]

@Chalky

You have perfectly described my favorite od pedal:



Even the color is my kinda thing. I set the volume at unity and leave the gain at 8:00 for an extremely low, "transparent" effect.

 

[Kris Ford]

Why stray from the classic?

 

[charveldan]

Thats so 80's ...

 

[Fusedbrain]

Tube screamers and the Boss SD-1 are the classics, but thin out the low end. The Waza version of the SD-1 less so.
For what you are describing, I'd probably recomend a "Klon clone" and the Wampler Tumnus and the J Rocket Archer Ikon are 2 of the best I've tried. Set the gain low to off, Volume to get the amount of drive you need from your amp's preamp section, and tone to taste.
The Klon type pedals don't mess with the amps tone, and just kind of give you "more" of your core sound while pushing the front end a littlle ( or a lot ).

 

[tmingle]

I have the cheap Joyo Vintage OD & Tube Screamer mini. I use the Joyo 80% of the time.

 

[chiliphil1]

Tube screamers and the Boss SD-1 are the classics, but thin out the low end. The Waza version of the SD-1 less so.
For what you are describing, I'd probably recomend a "Klon clone" and the Wampler Tumnus and the J Rocket Archer Ikon are 2 of the best I've tried. Set the gain low to off, Volume to get the amount of drive you need from your amp's preamp section, and tone to taste.
The Klon type pedals don't mess with the amps tone, and just kind of give you "more" of your core sound while pushing the front end a littlle ( or a lot ).

Sorry to veer but yeah, that Waza craft SD-1 is amazing.

 

[JimiRules]

I have good luck with Analogmans Bad Bob boost.

I love my Bad Bob too.

 

[RickyLee]

Have you tried the older first generation Marshall Bluesbreaker? That pedal just about sums up what you mentioned for me and my ears anyways.

 

[AlanH]

Sounds like you're after something like the Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive. It adds the hair but with the picking dynamics you desire. I'm a cheapskate and have the Joyo version - the Sweet Baby....

 

[Australian]

My 1987x gives nice clean sounds, but at the volume I play at the amp is not really able to offer that "just clipping" drive and sustain suitable for soloing Carlton, Scofield, Ford stuff which demands a full tone that can also go a gear shift up when needed to give more expression. I'm not interested in attenuators so that leaves pedals. I have a lot of drive pedals, like Xotic, Radial, Friedman, and they're great but they are designed to operate in more gainy situations, I need one that specialises in low gain.


Is anyone using a pedal they'd can recommend that offers a quality low gain tone with the ability to express from the fingerboard?

Xotic works.

 

[wakjob]

There's SO many pedals that will do the job for you, including the ones you have already, just set for lower gain.

Pedals designed to barely have any clipping at all might leave you wanting in some situations.

Better to have it and not need or use it,
than to not have it at all.

That said, the "Low Gain Transparent Overdrive" market is just as saturated as the rest. So a search under that title will give you enough info to keep you busy researching.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=best+low+gain+overdrive&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

.

 

[AlanH]

http://tonereport.com/blogs/tone-tips/less-is-more-6-sweet-low-gain-overdrives

 

[rick16v]

Thorpy Gunshot