I can’t believe more people don’t use this pedal or one like it. I’m with you, I only really use pedals for fun and messing around. I don’t care for most distortion pedals at all and like to get my drive from the amp. However I just bought a new pedal called the Horse Breaker, a Klon on one side and a Blues Breaker on the other. I’m amazed how good it works, doesn’t seem to mess up the amps tone and works great. The Klon side is great for adding a boost, lead tone or just a little more drive. The BB is great for blues tones and some leads. Much better than those distortion boxes, this one I’ll keep.
What ODs Are You Guys Using in Front of Your Marshalls
- Thread starter tallcoolone
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tallcoolone
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My two fave ODs for the past year are the Rockaway and Ikon from JRockett. Klone + Marshall = goodness. Gain way down, level way up!
This is the one I just bought and really like for some stuff. It makes a good extra lead boost to just go up in volume a little or to add a little drive and volume. It's best trick is the tone stays the same with or without it and it is very versatile. Each side sounds different and you can combine the two, Klon into BB or the other way around. Neither are crazy distortion boxes but depending on the amp's drive and using either one or both sides you can get all the distortion you want. It's more the crunch & boost I like, so much better than the TS type stuff I'v had in the past. (I was never happy with those things.) It makes a good way of adding another ch for lead in a single ch amp. To me, this pedal sounded "better" than the original Klon. I picked it 3 out of 3 times in a blind test, so I said what the hell and bought one. It sure makes a good companion to my 2202 combo and I can just through it in the back.
On a side note,
I have a combo pedal by Keeley called the Mod Workstation, you can't buy them anymore. It's a fantastic pedal to throw in a bag or combo amp just to play around with. It has a bunch of modulation effects that are fun, but the other two pedals in it work great. It has a distortion pedal with 2 setting's, and another pedal with both drive or just clean boost.
Both work very, very well, it's the only pedal I have kept forever because it works so good. Super handy if you ever see one, I think it was about $290 new but well worth it, check it out if you see one.
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Jethro Rocker
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It's little known that Randy Bachman used pedals very sparingly. He only used two. Here are Bachman's Tuner n Overdrive.
I'm a fan of putting my Rat in a loop with a 7 band eq pedal, David Gilmour style.
The Rats character can be shaped and manipulated with subtle adjustments, hardly a shock I know, but not all pedals react as well to eq changes. Gilmour used several Rats each with its own eq curve using Boss eq-7 pedals, each in its own loop, to fine tune his tone.
I just picked up on the idea, why replace components for more/less midrange when you can dial it in with an eq pedal.
The Rats character can be shaped and manipulated with subtle adjustments, hardly a shock I know, but not all pedals react as well to eq changes. Gilmour used several Rats each with its own eq curve using Boss eq-7 pedals, each in its own loop, to fine tune his tone.
I just picked up on the idea, why replace components for more/less midrange when you can dial it in with an eq pedal.
tallcoolone
Well-Known Member
One reason is that eq pedals add noise. GE7 especially
WellBurnTheSky
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Yes (well, I've built several clones) and it's great in front of both my DSL100 and my Studio Vintage. Halfway between a TS and a SD-1 (punchier than the TS but smoother than the SD-1).
The only thing you might not like is, it has no Tone control, just Drive/Level.
But, killer pedal.
Madfinger
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Cool. I have the SV20 but not interested in pushing it into metal territory. Think I'll go back tomorrow & offer $150 see what they say.
WellBurnTheSky
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For reference, the OD-1 into a Superlead is what Jake E Lee said he used on the first Badlands album (that has some monster guitar sounds - and playing).
Getting it for $150 would be an awesome catch. If you don't like it, you can always resell it and make a nice profit. Perfect win-win proposition.
Picked up a SV20H last night and mostly played straight in, but of course ended up jumping the normal and treble in the typical Plexi fashion. I was plugged into the high treble input. Oh what fun this is going to be......
I run a long forgotten but very good Option 5 Destination Overdrive II pedal second to last in the pedal chain with an old Guyatone Tube Echo last. (I have a love/hate with the Tube Echo because it can easily slip into EVH territory). We all like different tonal flavors and I'm to the point now where I really don't use distortion pedals much anymore. A good overdrive that "sings" and doesn't take over the amp's tone is what I always look for. I have no idea what this pedal's circuit is based on, but I did look inside and it's NOT a simple circuit.
BTW - I saw Jake E. Lee play with Ozzy many, many moons ago. This was right after Randy was taken away. Jake E. Lee was doing a good job at covering all of Randy's parts and could get close to his tones, just not all of the inflections and character, which is to be expected. I believe this was the first tour of Bark at the Moon. They played the whole catalog plus some Sabbath.
What a GREAT sold-out show. The audience truly loved Ozzy. I saw a ton of shows back then, but have never seen an audience show so much love for the front man. It had such an impact on me which is why I still tell this story all these years later.
Much respect to Jake E. Lee for stepping into some really big shoes. Ozzy's solo tours were the biggest show in the land at the time !
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Iron1
Well-Known Member
Saw a few on the 'Bay just now for under that - and Reverb is showing quite a few that have sold recently in the $75 range...
I am using these. Each good on their own, and also stackable for some really cool tones. (This is just the OD area of my board.)
houseofrock
Well-Known Member
For dirt, at the moment, I'm using a EQD Life Pedal. Kind of like a Rat with more features.
For straight up clean boost I have a Randall Face Punch.
For straight up clean boost I have a Randall Face Punch.
WellBurnTheSky
Well-Known Member
@JamminJeff oh man, I would have LOVED to see Ozzy back then, I love both RR and JEL, amazing players both of them. The main solo to Bark At The Moon might be one of the best constructed leads ever, super melodic yet technically challenging, builds up progressively...just perfect.
@TXOldRedRocker nice selection ! Of all those, my favorite (aside the Tube Screamer) might be the Haunting Mids, super cool boost, sounds killer in front of a Marshall. Though I'd mention the Morning Glory is my favorite of the Bluesbreaker derivatives, as it solves the main issue I have with the original one, ie the lack of output volume (you really need to crank it to get it to unity gain). I really need to build myself a Solo Dallas/Schaffer-vega clone...
@TXOldRedRocker nice selection ! Of all those, my favorite (aside the Tube Screamer) might be the Haunting Mids, super cool boost, sounds killer in front of a Marshall. Though I'd mention the Morning Glory is my favorite of the Bluesbreaker derivatives, as it solves the main issue I have with the original one, ie the lack of output volume (you really need to crank it to get it to unity gain). I really need to build myself a Solo Dallas/Schaffer-vega clone...
Vesperado
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If you want clean repeats on the "Analog-Simulation" locate the diode-pair left of the opamp (4580) below the input jack on the mainboard and remove them; they are responsible for the clipping repeats. There are some other things you can do to lower the noise even more, also.Picked up a SV20H last night and mostly played straight in, but of course ended up jumping the normal and treble in the typical Plexi fashion. I was plugged into the high treble input. Oh what fun this is going to be......
I run a long forgotten but very good Option 5 Destination Overdrive II pedal second to last in the pedal chain with an old Guyatone Tube Echo last. (I have a love/hate with the Tube Echo because it can easily slip into EVH territory). We all like different tonal flavors and I'm to the point now where I really don't use distortion pedals much anymore. A good overdrive that "sings" and doesn't take over the amp's tone is what I always look for. I have no idea what this pedal's circuit is based on, but I did look inside and it's NOT a simple circuit.
BTW - I saw Jake E. Lee play with Ozzy many, many moons ago. This was right after Randy was taken away. Jake E. Lee was doing a good job at covering all of Randy's parts and could get close to his tones, just not all of the inflections and character, which is to be expected. I believe this was the first tour of Bark at the Moon. They played the whole catalog plus some Sabbath.
What a GREAT sold-out show. The audience truly loved Ozzy. I saw a ton of shows back then, but have never seen an audience show so much love for the front man. It had such an impact on me which is why I still tell this story all these years later.
Much respect to Jake E. Lee for stepping into some really big shoes. Ozzy's solo tours were the biggest show in the land at the time !
I've had the Tube Echo for too long and have grown tired of it. I have changed the tube a few times trying for cleaner, dirtier, etc. and it does have some affect/effect, but a starved plate tube doesn't really do much. I really don't mind the dirt on repeats, but this pedal has some of the classic EVH flavors in it and that's just not what I'm looking for. Maybe it's time to remove it from the board and replace it with something better.
I use amp/spring reverb way more than delay and now have my sights set on the Catlinbread Talisman that does a great job of plate reverb and will likely insert it in the SV20H FX loop.
In some ways, I'm enjoying the new head without reverb, but prefer running a little wet most of the time. If I do replace the Tube Echo, the Dunlop Echoplex or the Belle Epoch is where my ears are taking me.
I'm headed back to the mid to late 70's for awhile. Thanks again for the mod info. I may do that after I replace it.
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