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I am quite interested in one of this kind. I never have any kind of distortion or overdrive pedals and I am considering buying one. Well, I have a Rocktron Rampage (it was a present) and I hate the tone that comes out. Last week I went to a shop to try one overdrive and I picked up the Maxon OD-808. I was quite impresed with the tone. I've only played it for ten minuts but it seemed to be a very usefull pedal.

I have a Boss DS-1. It really rocks.

You like the Rocktron Rampage? What kind of tone are you most interested in? Metal? Classic rocK?


Originally Posted by Guitar ToadI have a Boss DS-1. It really rocks.

You like the Rocktron Rampage? What kind of tone are you most interested in? Metal? Classic rocK?

Sorry, I had a mistake. I've writen quot;havequot; instead of quot;hatequot;. Now it's corrected.

I am interesten in semi-clean overdriven tones to vintage type of overdrive like SRV, Clapton (Beano and Cream), Page and so. That's why I hate the Rampage pedal, It has a Metal tone to start with and it only gets worst as you pull up the gain. It's cold, metalic, lifeless, transistor distortion.

The Maxon OD808 is defintely on the right track for what l you want tone wise.

I have had way too many overdrive pedals. My favs are the Boss SD-1, MXR Wylde, several do-it-yourself overdrives (including one of my own - sorta). The Maxon OD-808 is a very good overdrive.

In case you don't know, Maxon actually made the original Ibanez Tubescreamer (808) for Ibanez back in the day. You can't go wrong there. You may pay a little more for the Maxon but for the quality of parts they use, it's worth it.

I used to have a Boss Dual Overdrive. Very cool pedal with it's two different settings. One is a SD-1 type overdrive and the other setting has a bit more dirt and is a little warmer sounding. I stopped using it though and sold it.

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Originally Posted by Guitar ToadI have a Boss DS-1. It really rocks.

You like the Rocktron Rampage? What kind of tone are you most interested in? Metal? Classic rocK?

He said he hates the tone of the Rampage... But then he changed it....

I have a Boss SD-1, modded by a quot;certain-southpawquot;, which sounds pretty good. It stays transparent, and doesn't color the overall tone too much. Nice price, as well.

My experience with OD pedals are:
1. PRO CO RAT. I used this pedal exclusivley for about 5 or 6 years. A great OD pedal. I don't think they make it any more, but if you can find an old one its a great pedal.

2. Boss Super OD. I used this after the Rat. This is a very under rated OD pedal. You can buy them new for as little as $40.00. Has a lot of versatility and with a tube amp does the job nicely.

3. Ibanez TS9 Tube screamer. By far my favorite OD pedal. I cuurently have two, a RI and a mooded one that StratDeluxer97 modded for me. I use the RI with my Super Reverb and I use the modded TS9 with my Deluxe Reverb. If there is a negative with this pedal they tend to be a little noisey when you turn them on, but hey its all Rock and Roll When you look for a OD pedal you want a pedal that will interact with your amp and not color the tone too much. Some Amps will handle pedals well (valve amps) where others really make a mess of the pedals tone, so you have to consider what you are going to plug them into. My preference is to use the OD to increase sustain and give me a slight volume boost. I want my Amp and guitar to give me the overall tone I want.


Originally Posted by casblahI have a Boss SD-1, modded by a quot;certain-southpawquot;, which sounds pretty good. It stays transparent, and doesn't color the overall tone too much. Nice price, as well.

I think I know this guy......

And I don't like em!


Originally Posted by BludaveMy experience with OD pedals are:
1. PRO CO RAT. I used this pedal exclusivley for about 5 or 6 years. A great OD pedal. I don't think they make it any more, but if you can find an old one its a great pedal.

2. Boss Super OD. I used this after the Rat. This is a very under rated OD pedal. You can buy them new for as little as $40.00. Has a lot of versatility and with a tube amp does the job nicely.

3. Ibanez TS9 Tube screamer. By far my favorite OD pedal. I cuurently have two, a RI and a mooded one that StratDeluxer97 modded for me. I use the RI with my Super Reverb and I use the modded TS9 with my Deluxe Reverb. If there is a negative with this pedal they tend to be a little noisey when you turn them on, but hey its all Rock and Roll When you look for a OD pedal you want a pedal that will interact with your amp and not color the tone too much. Some Amps will handle pedals well (valve amps) where others really make a mess of the pedals tone, so you have to consider what you are going to plug them into. My preference is to use the OD to increase sustain and give me a slight volume boost. I want my Amp and guitar to give me the overall tone I want.

Dave.....The Vintage Rat is an awesome pedal...Kind of a cross between a distortion and a fuzz with cool harmonics mixed in....I recently built a Vintage Rat and did my own tweaks to it....Sounds great! Check it out...There are some cool mods I did to mine to make it smoother and alot less harsh..Currently one of my favorite pedals. I have had a few over the years. Current fav's are an old black box Marshall Bluesbreaker. Killer on the edge blues tone. Responds well to the guitars volume and tone control. Not a ton of gain, but enough harmonic sparkle to kick it up a few notches. My trusty Vox Valve Tone has been a staple on my board since I bought it on cloesout 8-9 years ago. To some, it's just another TS clone. To me, it kicked the crapola out of two TS-9's and a TS-7 and sent them packing. The tone control is worthless, but the creamy, smooth, oh so lovely tones it produces keep it my #1. Just bid goodbye to a Shannon Overdrive yesterday, Hated to see it go, but the above two seem to fit my style of play and gear a bit better. The Shannon was perhaps the smoothest OD I've ever used, Top quality in build and tone. Smoking blues overdrive on lower gain settings and with the knob turned up, fat, corpulent tones. The Shannon has one of the nicest tuned tone controls I've encountered. Direct Drives, Drivetrains, Bluesdrivers, et all have all had their time and all worked well. Just not well enought to replace the top 2....although, I believe the Direct Drive and LTD are two of the best pedals for the money. Aramat modded DS-1 was a real corker. Lot of gain and a great lower gain tone with the drive off. Whatever the mods were really smoothed it out and gave it TON of low end whomp. The aboslute best I've tried ( and will have one soon ) is a Texas Two Step by Pedlaworx. This pedal just has TONE. Rich, organic and addicitng. Once you step on it, it's hard to stop playing. Very dynamic and responsive to touch. Allows the character of each gutiar to shine through. A class pedal all the way around.

Hey John.... My friend Cris has an original... he said I can have it if I want it. I just did not see the need the TS9 is working so good. But now you've sparked my interest I am going to bring it home and play with it. I haven't used one in a long time hard to remember what it sounded like. So much of my gear has changed since then.

Oh yeah I forgot I have a Marshall Bluesbreaker also. I use this with my 900. It gives it a nice push!!

Well I list my many Overdrive and Distortions and describe for you.

1. Boss Metal Zone- Thin and wimpy, but with a neat vocal quality to it. NOW, it can be modded to add heaps of low end and smoothness. But still not the most responsive pedal out there.

2. Boss Ds-1 Distortion- Interesting that people know this pedal by its model # instead of its name huh? Has a nice dynamic quality, I think of it more like an overdrive pedal with a bit more push. Even has a nice tight bottom. Stock or modded, these puppies are actually quite nice.

3.Maxon ROD 880- I don't think these are quite worth the pricetag, but they have a nice cutting midrange and plenty of clarity. I just wish there was more meat and bottom end to go with it. Not bad by any means, but probably only worth about half.

4. Boss Blues Driver- Ahhhhh....I love these. They hit on something I think. They got a great sounding pedal without *expanding* on the Tubescreamer circuit. Great responsiveness without fuzziness, but can be slightly harsh stock. MOD them and they can gain more bottom and warmth, and EVEN MORE responsiveness, while remaining smooth.

5.Jacques Tubeblower- mmmMMMM!!!! I love this pedal too! It's physically small, it's got more gain range than a Tubescreamer, but with bass and treble boost knobs, you get a remarkable range of tones. I added a bit more distortion to mine, it's probably about on par with a DS-1 gainwise, but the EQ are extraordinarily flexible. I just got it a couple days ago, and it has just about floored me. (At $99!)

So I guess at the end, my message might be, just because it's tube, doesn't mean it's gold. And, just because it's expensive, doesn't make it worth it. Some ss pedals sound amazing, very much rivaling (in some cases besting) tube pedals. Especially with a few tasty modifications. Keep in mind, these pedals are typically created by engineers, NOT musicians. And you have patents to worry about too, and THAT can stand in the way of quality (modders don't have to worry about that!)

Still, at the end of the day, a cranked Marshall or maybe a good Mesa will still win. But these are some things to consider.

I use a regular old tube screamer. Its all I need.

My Jekyll amp; Hyde covers things for me, and is 2 pedals in 1.

I love the sound of my ts9 through my cranked up epi amp.

i really like my RI ts-9, but only since it was modded by stratdeluxer97 -- i recently put a rangemaster clone in front of it -- very very nice

SparkleDrive - A TS 808 clone with a quot;clean controlquot; which throws clean signal through the unit. It makes for a great mild overdrive ala The Stones. It can also be used as a very transparent clean boost with the clean turned way up and everything else turned down.

Marshall JackHammer - Good all around unit that does a lot of things well, from mild overdrive to heavy Marshall crunch amp; sustain. The unit is sometimes hard to dial in because of the amount of tonal variation it has.

I've been using the Rampage for years and it does do metal but with some knob tweaking you can get a good sound out of them. Try setting Bass-3pm, Scoop-11pm, Treble-11pm, Gain-8-9pm and adjust volume to taste. It works well for me but I've never cared for tube screamer style OD's cause at full gain it's never quite enough.