Overwhelmed by Overdrive/Distortion pedals

I decided yesterday that I want to get another OD pedal and went about researching. I'm now exhausted, there must be half a million of them out there! I have a MI Audio Tube Zone which is fantastic, but I want to get another because I can.

I'm leaning towards something in the 'Plexi' vein, but haven't yet decided. What can you guys recommend???

Jaime, try the Carl Martin PlexiTone. There is a nifty YouTube video by Peter Thorn on the main page. Worth watching and will provide you with some idea whether it's up your alley or not.

- Jos

Jamie,

I've been really happy with the Fulltone PlimSoul. It is extremely versatile, and definitely has some "Plexi" tones within it. Check out this Youtube demo from Gearmandude (who some believe is actor Jack Black):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCwA0Ho8Tvw

-Adam

I have to admit I have absolutely no idea what a 'plexi' is/referers too. Off to google unless one of you fine people can train me up.

Hi Jamie,

I know you love a good DIY project, so have you seen the Build Your Own Clone (BYOC) products?

I'd really love to build one of these overdrive units. They get the tick of approval from Gearmandude (Jack Black?) and sound wonderfully meaty - even through Youtube. I thought my GreenScreamer sounded good till I heard this.

[youtube]37RfgSdn53w[/youtube]

Desertrat: The Plimsoul is on the shortlist. You could be right about him being Jack Black - I find them both highly irritating


Jos: I was considering the CM Plexi but it requires something other than 9/18VDC to power it up. Nice pedal though.


Phil: I'm getting sick of building my own, it's too much of a pain to get all the parts. I have a Klon clone and a Zen Drive clone that are both almost finished. When I ordered all the parts it took hours to locate them all, then I get them and there's a note saying that other parts have been backordered etc...... This time around I'm just going to splash out and buy one

I have an OCD I'm pretty fond of. It isn't perfect but if you run it at 18v (you can run from 9-18) it gets a different interesting sound. For distortion I'm really into my big muff but I know that wasn't what you are looking for, but I thought of it when you said 'plexi' cuz I can get some really cool sounds like a, well, fuzz into a plexi

Jamie,
I have overkill on OD and distortion pedals right now.
I have been experimenting with OD/Distortion pedals lately. I got in my chain in this order; Bad Monkey-MXR Classic Overdrive(OD+) and Boss DS-1 I have had forever. All are set for different levels and tone. I will kick in one of the OD pedal with the DS-1 if I want quasi-heavy distortion I never kick in both OD pedals at the same time.
With technology nowadays or it may be my ear but there isn't too much different in sound on any of the OD pedals anymore no matter the price, IMO.

Chet

I've just ordered a GFS (Guitarfetish) "Brownie" which boasts a switch with three plexi type tones. Only $50, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I can't comment personally. (the reviews are pretty good. Some nice demo's on YouTube.)

I've just ordered a GFS (Guitarfetish) "Brownie" which boasts a switch with three plexi type tones. Only $50, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I can't comment personally. (the reviews are pretty good. Some nice demo's on YouTube.)

Hey! That's good value for money. Can you get these in the UK? I'm going to check the Net.

Thanks.

Bill

Yea, you can't go wrong with at that price. I bought the GFS greenie & I'm having a blast with it... took me a while to figure out how to use it, but I'm impressed enough to want the brownie next. (If they ship to Tasmania, they'll ship to the UK!)

I've just ordered a GFS (Guitarfetish) "Brownie" which boasts a switch with three plexi type tones. Only $50, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I can't comment personally. (the reviews are pretty good. Some nice demo's on YouTube.)

Cool, let us know when it arrives if it's any good. The other guitarist in my band has a GFS tuner and that thing is awesome, super visible, even in broad daylight - I can see if he's in tune from the other side of stage!

Will do! ...It was the gearmandude reviews on YouTube that really sold the thing to me. I haven't read many negative reviews about it elsewhere either. I'm still waiting for the mail dude to deliver the plexi-pedal goodness before my jury is out! (Stay tuned)

I use and like:

"Grind Fuzz" - http://www.heavyelectronics.com/GF.html

"King of Tone" - http://www.analogman.com/kingtone.htm
I use a version 2 Jumbo.


Cheers,

Will

Well, I like the look of that GFS Brownie. And, what a great price too. I've just elected to receive the BBE Green Screamer for writing last week's 'Lunch Report'. Looking forward to getting it. But, you are right - there are 100s of pedals out there. So many to choose from. It's not easy.

Bill

Hey Ken,

I have a few variations on the distortion / overdrive pedals for different tones. Not sure any can get the plexi sound yer lookig for.
Still have my Boss DS-1 which is a good ol' standby, a Boss MT-2 for the scooped 80's metal, a BBE Green Screamer which has a more subtle overdrive to my ears, and an original ProCo RAT which has a sound I love. When yer looking for something beyond your amp I would recommend any of these.

OOPS, Jamie that post was to you was just reading Ken's LR

Cheers,

Will

I bought and built a British Blues Overdrive pedal from BYOC. They give you all the parts. Anyway, the BYOC OD2 pedal sounds like a sure winner. The only pedal I want to buy is the Caitlinbread SFT. The rest I'll build.

FYI you can buy any BYOC pedal pre-built from http://axeandyoushallreceive.com/store/page1.html

Now you have no excuses.

Will: The KOT is a nice one, but waaaaay beyond my budget.

Glvourot: Those BYOC ones sound good but, to be honest, I expected they'd be much cheaper than they are, even the kits. If you are confident building pedals then you can find a good layout/parts list for the SFT right here.

The Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret is at the top of my list at the moment. Sounds great in all the demos I've seen, now I just have to locate one at a reasonable price....

Blarg, thanks for the Catlinbread specs. ( I love this forum ). I respectfully disagree with you about BYOC being too expensive. Great quality, and compared to the pedals that they emulate ? You save a ton.

It seems Caitlinbread pedals are $159.00 across the board online for new. They do make good pedals. I did see a DLS at a shop recently. I think they were trying for $180.00 or something like that.

Have a look at the Zvex Box of Rock. If it's a Marshall tone you seek, you might find it in this pedal:
http://media1.zvex.com/FLASH/BOR/

RickT

that BYOC OD 2 has my interest piqued. I may have to try that some time.

Have a look at the Zvex Box of Rock. If it's a Marshall tone you seek, you might find it in this pedal:
http://media1.zvex.com/FLASH/BOR/

RickT

Yeah, a Minnesota company. Although they work in secret...


Cheers,

Will

I have the BYOC OD 2 and also the Catalinbread DLS. Both are great pedals, for ease of use I'd go for the DLS, it is very responsive and sounds good with every guitar that is plugged into it. It also sounds great when stacked with other od / distortion / boost pedals. At the moment I'm preferring a Zendrive an RC Booster and the DLS, all of those pedals sound great individually but they all work really well with other pedals. The BYOC OD 2 is great for getting lots of different tones, it probably has too many options, whereas the DLS is easy to dial in quickly.

The OD2 isn't in the shot below, as you can see I like a pedal or two



The tape over the LEDs are to reduce the light show when several pedals are on, some are like laser beams !

Damn Southpaw! You have just about every pedal I've shortlisted! I'm guessing the tape is there because the LEDs are too bright to see you settings?

At the moment I think I'll get one of the MI Audio 'Boost 'n' Buff' pedals to push my clean boost (Durham Sex Drive) a bit harder. I really like the gritty sound I get out of it for rhythm playing.

Just a quick follow up on the GFS "Brownie" pedal I ordered (just turned up today in the mail!) ...I've only played with a few minutes and I'm VERY impressed. It'll definitely satisfies my plexi thirst! ...I have it plugged into a Vox AC15cc1x (the ones that were supposedly notoriously difficult with pedals), but this Brownie sounds even better than the Greenie I ordered a few months ago. Does the punk-crunch to Hendrix-smooth stuff nicely! For the measly 50 smackers it cost, I'm over the moon.

Damn Southpaw! You have just about every pedal I've shortlisted! I'm guessing the tape is there because the LEDs are too bright to see you settings?

At the moment I think I'll get one of the MI Audio 'Boost 'n' Buff' pedals to push my clean boost (Durham Sex Drive) a bit harder. I really like the gritty sound I get out of it for rhythm playing.

Some pedals LEDs are way too bright so I put a small piece of tape over them to reduce the glare. I had a large bout of PAS, pedal acquisition syndrome, which superseded my GAS. Thankfully my AAS, amp acquisition syndrome, isn't too bad.

Some more pedals, they just as addictive as guitars

Some more pedals, they just as addictive as guitars

You have all the nice ones . I expect to see a bit of discussion about pedals in next weeks lunch reports!

I took delivery of a Menatone 'Foxy Brown' today. It's a very nice pedal - much more lo-fi sounding than the Tube Zone I'm using. In comparison it sounds gritty and loose. It's supposedly sounds like an old 18 watt Marshall, but I've only spent a few minutes playing with one of them and that was years ago so I can't say for sure whether it does or not. It has no op-amp at all in the circuit (no op-amp was one of the criteria in this search), and sounds almost like a fuzz pedal at times but with much more definition. I haven't spent all that long playing with it yet but it's a good one! It can get damn loud - unity volume seems to be around 10-11 o'clock and from there it gets hugely loud. There's a lot of grind there too. The build is first class, all PTP wired on perf-board.