What ODs Are You Guys Using in Front of Your Marshalls

[Kid_Awesome1]

Thought about this when reading the Tubescreamer thread...I love dirt boxes in front of all—but especially Marshall amps. Bought and sold dozens and dozens of them and I think still have at least a dozen lying around. Love to hear experiences of others...here is what I have at the moment

Maxon OD820—honeymoon period but I love this guy. Like the TS9 but more treble, more headroom...just BIGGER. Also physically larger so keep in mind
Timmy—love this, got replaced by the new Maxon OD820 but will be back. The original ‘transparent’ od
TS9–benchmark mid hump od best run low in front of an already overdriven amp
Secret Preamp—my ‘always on’ pedal at the end of the board. Not really an od, more of a compressor? I dunno—try one out, you’ll thank me.
SoloDallas Storm—like the SP, more of a compressor/boost than an OD but where the SP is subtle the Storm is like a cock punch. Tons of boost on tap and something else that changes your tone more drastically than the SP.
Archer Ikon—best ‘Klone’/Klon Cline I’ve tried. Pretty unique—not a ton of boost but I really liked it run like a TS—low gain, tone up. Great in front of my SC20 when it’s breathing a bit
Naga Viper treble booster—Rangemaster circuit apparently? Sounds ‘Sabbath-y’ to me in front of my Marshalls. I like a lot of high end to my tone and this is lacking a bit in that Dept
Tone Job EQ/booster—replaced the Detox as my ‘clean channel’ pedal. Set low it works just like your guitar volume the way it cleans up your tone. But better and actually tweakable
OCD—if I were going to a gig not knowing what I was going to have as a backline I’d bring the OCD. At home in front of anything really—played a hard rock gig once with a 100w Hiwatt in a small room and only an OCD and a wah

For what it's worth, my marshal is the SV20H, that i play through a 1x12 closed back cab with a greenback. I have at least 1 version of the main types of overdrive (tubescreamer, bluesbreaker, klon, timmy, nobels, rat, fuzz, and a few others), and my favorite is the timmy clone because the way I have it set, it's just like I can turn up my guitar an extra 50% and let the amp do the tone work. Basically I love the classic marshall tone, and usually just plug straight in, and use my weber attenuator as my "pedal". My vote is to let the natural amp sing as much as possible!

 

[dro]

Have been using 120 volt Carl Martin Hot Drive-N-Boost for years.

If I was to put together a new board. I would be leaning heavily to Carl Martin Plexi Ranger.

Big fan of Carl Martin. Not so much so, the bargain stuff you find in the GC cabinets.

 

[mallcorn]

Thought about this when reading the Tubescreamer thread...I love dirt boxes in front of all—but especially Marshall amps. Bought and sold dozens and dozens of them and I think still have at least a dozen lying around. Love to hear experiences of others...here is what I have at the moment

Maxon OD820—honeymoon period but I love this guy. Like the TS9 but more treble, more headroom...just BIGGER. Also physically larger so keep in mind
Timmy—love this, got replaced by the new Maxon OD820 but will be back. The original ‘transparent’ od
TS9–benchmark mid hump od best run low in front of an already overdriven amp
Secret Preamp—my ‘always on’ pedal at the end of the board. Not really an od, more of a compressor? I dunno—try one out, you’ll thank me.
SoloDallas Storm—like the SP, more of a compressor/boost than an OD but where the SP is subtle the Storm is like a cock punch. Tons of boost on tap and something else that changes your tone more drastically than the SP.
Archer Ikon—best ‘Klone’/Klon Cline I’ve tried. Pretty unique—not a ton of boost but I really liked it run like a TS—low gain, tone up. Great in front of my SC20 when it’s breathing a bit
Naga Viper treble booster—Rangemaster circuit apparently? Sounds ‘Sabbath-y’ to me in front of my Marshalls. I like a lot of high end to my tone and this is lacking a bit in that Dept
Tone Job EQ/booster—replaced the Detox as my ‘clean channel’ pedal. Set low it works just like your guitar volume the way it cleans up your tone. But better and actually tweakable
OCD—if I were going to a gig not knowing what I was going to have as a backline I’d bring the OCD. At home in front of anything really—played a hard rock gig once with a 100w Hiwatt in a small room and only an OCD and a wah

Out of the many OD pedals I currently own, the top two or three I use to push my plexi are either or a combination of Boss SD-1, Fulltone OCD v1, and/or Suhr Koko Boost.

 

[Dirty-D]

I have found ,in my experience at least, that a dist./OD pedal just makes your amp sound like that pedal and not like your amp anymore.You loose most of the "body" that makes up your tone.My Marshalls soud vicious all by themselves. That being said, l do use a "Pedals By Tone"overdrive with the gain on like 3 for a lead boost.

 

[Dean Swindell]

Lounsberry Toy Robot and/or Farm A/B Double Drive.

 

[december]

Horizon Devices Precision Drive

 

[nkd]

No overdrive pedals, use a wha for tone.

 

[guitarzan2525]

Keep life simple: Friedman BE-OD. More gain than you will ever need - and it sounds warm (like a Marshall).

 

[Ken Ops]

Tried an SD1 for a while. Good pedal, but going back to just a boost instead. Amp drive is the best drive, as they say.

 

[bullhead]

Currently using the JHS Angry Charlie. It's pretty sweet but I always eventually go back to a SD-1.

 

[Mike Corey]

Thought about this when reading the Tubescreamer thread...I love dirt boxes in front of all—but especially Marshall amps. Bought and sold dozens and dozens of them and I think still have at least a dozen lying around. Love to hear experiences of others...here is what I have at the moment

Maxon OD820—honeymoon period but I love this guy. Like the TS9 but more treble, more headroom...just BIGGER. Also physically larger so keep in mind
Timmy—love this, got replaced by the new Maxon OD820 but will be back. The original ‘transparent’ od
TS9–benchmark mid hump od best run low in front of an already overdriven amp
Secret Preamp—my ‘always on’ pedal at the end of the board. Not really an od, more of a compressor? I dunno—try one out, you’ll thank me.
SoloDallas Storm—like the SP, more of a compressor/boost than an OD but where the SP is subtle the Storm is like a cock punch. Tons of boost on tap and something else that changes your tone more drastically than the SP.
Archer Ikon—best ‘Klone’/Klon Cline I’ve tried. Pretty unique—not a ton of boost but I really liked it run like a TS—low gain, tone up. Great in front of my SC20 when it’s breathing a bit
Naga Viper treble booster—Rangemaster circuit apparently? Sounds ‘Sabbath-y’ to me in front of my Marshalls. I like a lot of high end to my tone and this is lacking a bit in that Dept
Tone Job EQ/booster—replaced the Detox as my ‘clean channel’ pedal. Set low it works just like your guitar volume the way it cleans up your tone. But better and actually tweakable
OCD—if I were going to a gig not knowing what I was going to have as a backline I’d bring the OCD. At home in front of anything really—played a hard rock gig once with a 100w Hiwatt in a small room and only an OCD and a wah

Warbler gearbox and a Nux Silver String. Great combination

 

[Mike Corey]

Warbler gearbox and a Nux Silver String. Great combination

That was supposed to be Wampler

 

[Mike Corey]

I use an OD with higher level but zero gain on some channels, some amps. Adds some extra to the Jubilee, is essential with the 800 4010, and I sometimes goose ch 2 mode B on the 6101 and red mode ch 2 on the JVM410. The TSL on Ch 2 likes it too.
I find ODs with simply a tone control to be lacking some low end IMO. I have an old Bad Monkey I really like for the 2 band EQ and recently picked up an MXR super Badass Distortion used the same way. It has 3 band EQ. It works for me.

The morning is fantastic going into a Blues Deluxe. Kinda fizzy on dsl 40cr.

 

[mark123]

I could have sworn that I replied in this thread.

When I got back into playing it was to join the church band so I got into pedals. A lot! Because church players gots ta have those pedals, ya know? I’d run my amp just before it started to break up and then use a boost (like a SHO) in front. Then I’d add a Klone for rhythms and a Rat for leads. I must have built 8 or 9 different boost/drive pedals.

I got my DSL40C during that time so at first I just ran the green clean channel with my pedals.

The church thing turned out to be pretty crappy. So I quit playing there but I was still into pedals.

However, recently, I’ve been just enjoying plugging straight in with maybe a little bit of reverb. The Marshall 2466 helped in that area because it’s got a really great drive. And now I’ve got a Vox AC30 that is just awesome without pedals but a treble booster in the front really does give that Brian May tone.

I can’t say I don’t want pedals anymore because it’s versatile and sounds good but I’ve just been on hiatus. Sometimes I use one but nowadays I go without. But to answer the thread, when I use them it’s the Klone for boost and a Rat for grit.

 

[tallcoolone]

Just picked up a JRockett Archer Clean and ran it in front of the Twin Sister yesterday for a bit—very cool. I’ve been running my amps hotter lately so really no room for much gain on top at all, just a boost.

 

[nickfox]

I could have sworn that I replied in this thread.

stoner...

 

[mark123]

stoner...

I do not partake. And that’s a bit scarier.

Maybe there was another similar thread. Dunno.

 

[nickfox]

We each have our way of getting to our happy place.

 

[Derek S]

I don't currently own a Marshall (well I have little 15w DSL head for grab n go, practice, etc) but I've always loved pedals in front of gainy amps, gives you more options, even extra channels/levels if you want to view it that way.

I do regret not having a stock JCM800 anymore. I remember trying every pedal I could get my hands on back in the day with that amp and the majority of them just made it howl and hiss, not in a good way. I'm sure a big part of that was my reliance on gain and trying to get more of it lol. I decided to just get some amps that packed more fire and not force a medium gain head into ultra saturated territory that it wasn't designed for (yes, even when CRANKED). Backing off on-hand distortion for lighter stuff seems easier than trying to manufacture more that isn't there. BUT...having said that, I regret selling it because damn these modern pedals are AMAZING (!!) and can transform a stock 800 into a fire breather without all the unwanted side effects now.

I currently have two drives I like in front of my amps, a Suhr Koko Boost for clean boosting that I've had forever and a Jetter Altair (a big fat, low level OD for all things medium to light gain as my heads are definitely geared more towards the high side).

 

[playloud]

Well, I blame this thread for changing my stance on pedals.

Picked up a Koko Boost Reloaded a couple of weeks ago for around US$100 used. The transparent boost is great for hearing your amp under different conditions. The mid-boost is great for doing the Clapton TBX thing with a Strat. Money well-spent!

And now I've just found a local(ish) deal on a Bad Monkey. Should have it in a couple of days...