Plain and simple… I love pedals. I have an addiction and I just love how you can grab a new pedal (relatively) cheaply and have a whole new sound.
This video is longer than most, but if you’ve been wondering about what pedal you should get, this will probably help out a lot if you take the time to listen to all the different versions.
I hope you dig it and please feel free to leave comments below:
113 replies to "Guitar Pedals: Overdrive And Distortion Stomp Box Comparison and Shootout"
I play the guitar but I am not absolutely perfect in it, I want some tips from this to help me learn guitar well.
Fender-Mustang
Hey Griff; what’s your overall opinion of the eventide H9 pedal??
Great video Griff on overdrives.
I have had all sorts of overdrives, though I never used a tubescreamer type pedal.
Then a few years ago I discovered this cool web show on youtube
titled ” That Pedal Show “…
They really do a good job of explaining and demonstrating various pedals
Like overdrive, delay, compression, Fuzz etc..
How to use them and what order to get the best sounds.
A couple of great episodes to search are
Tubescreamers, 5 modern classic OD’S, setting up your amp to use drive pedals
big tones from small amps
Hi Griff, I use the Boss blues driver on low gain high volume to boost Ocd or Tube Screamer for gigs sounds fantastic. I modded The Boss with a kit I got from a guy in Spain and it sounds much fuller without loosing the high dynamics love it, by the way nice playing and all the best for Christmas Gray
Superb demo video Griff. Beyond the pedal education it was fun to see you rock out a bit.
Cheers!
Quite simply, 100 times better than yesterday’s pedal video. Nice Job!
Hi Griff,Thanks great sounds gonna get me some Len
i can tell when my friend is playing a major chord when he should be playing a minor but i cannot hear much difference with these pedals- whats wrong with me? when i bought a classical guitar many years ago i got the guy in the shop to play it as that was the only way i could judge the sound quality.i know what sound i would like but with loads of pedals and a line 6 stomp box i am as confused as ever just hope those listening can hear a good sound when i gig. i have to work on this ,great video griff thanks
Thanks for the demo regarding overdrive pedals.
I love the licks, can you transcribe it out?
I am so glad to save your emails. Seeing that I am starting all over again with my guitar I just bought a blues driver and need some more peddles along with a telecaster and a epiphone G-400 PRO also need a acustic guitar and a strat that is not a miniture size. also cables and everything else but buying as I go and really needed this video that I will watch again and again.
THANKS GRIFF
I play pretty clean and use a distortion peddle on a lite level,works for me
thanks griff they all sound great and almost a toss up thanks
If you are tired of fizzling 9 volt batteries, line lumps, wall warts, intractable cable problems and hum, and you are beyond fuzzbox fetishism, then free yourself from the good opinions of dabblers, and fetch yourself a Peavey Vypyr VIP-3.
For the cost of two decent stompboxes, you get 100 watts RMS and 1X12″ and an enormous range of sounds that frankly blow away any other modeling amps. Get the coverage because the VIP-3 is not exactly sturdy, but certainly roadworthy. Our band works eight shows a week, and we have five of them: acoustic, two electrics, bass, and harmonica.
The new Vypyr PRO is much more solidly built. It’s for electric guitar only, but it is hands down the best amp I have ever owned over the course of my 42-year working career.
Watch the demos for these two pieces, check out the poop sheets for each, and go plug into them at your local retailer.
The tone and the features will speak for themselves.
Great video, I have tried almost every pedal out there in the last 20 years. Now I only use a Fuzz pedal, my favorite is the Swollen Pickle. I play Blues and I have used a Fender Blues Deluxe for many years now with the reverb on 6-7 and some gain and sometimes use the Fuzz. I do like the Blues Driver and the Tube Screamer. Pick long and prosper.
Thanks Griff, I normally play through a Fender Deluxe Tube amp with a Line 6 Pod and floor board, programmable channels and a wah. Lots of fun. But, I have wanted to build a pedal board for a while now. So, this video has been extremely helpful. Thanks again!
@Dougie
I like the way Griff answers the questions posted – awesome,…:/
Griff doesn’t even bother reading the comments, he posts his blog (tosses it over the wall so to speak), then moves on, so there is no point asking question, and in my opinion no point in thanking or praising him. I doubt he even cares so long as punters buy his courses.
What a dick
For the non professional…what’s your take on multi effects units..thx
Great video, I have tried almost every pedal out there in the last 20 years. Now I only use a Fuzz pedal, my favorite is the Swollen Pickle. I play Blues and I have used a Fender Blues Deluxe for many years now with the reverb on 6-7 and some gain and sometimes use the Fuzz.
I do like the Blues Driver and the Tube Screamer. Pick long and prosper.
Sorry Rich I meant to just comment on the video and it somehow it wound up on yours.
Thanks Griff,
Your video has saved me hours of comparison and tone searches.
Much appreciated!
I have a tube screamer and an OCD and have not figured out how to stack them well. Thanks for the lesson. I’ll work on it again!
Cool Griff! Most people go for the high distortions but I like the creamy clear tones you can get.
Thanks Griff, this was very educational. Im practically a virgin in the guitar world and this helped
Hi Griff, I was a Navy Musician in a Rock Band,1976-78, later I switched to playing bluegrass, acoustic. But, I’ve always kept my interest in tone, and wondered the best pedal for using a Gibson Pro ES-335, I also play a Strat? Sounds like the RAT would be the one. Thank you for all your contributions, great work!
Same video from May 22 2015. Still cool and relevant. You must be busy. What’s your thoughts on a chorus pedal? Do you ever use a Wha? I’d love to hear your take on other effects as well. Hope you like the new carpet!
Hi Griff!
Is the Rat one that was modified by Modest Mike’s Mods?
To Ron…..if you’re having sound issues with the vids, (assuming a mobile device) check that your Bluetooth setting is off as it can cause a conflict
Thanks for that griff that was a very helpful video.I’m playing a Roland fender G5 stratocaster with a laney LV 100 amplifier and I love the humbucker modeling feature with this guitar and telecaster and of course not to mention the strat sound it puts out, but I’ve been puzzling about what I can do to get different effects from each of these modeling features built into the guitar and also enhance some of the acoustic guitar modeling features that the guitar is capable of also and do so relatively easy .that rat pedal sounds ideal for the humbucker modeling feature with this thing and the rock box and a couple of the boss pedals might be a good addition the beef up other modeling features like the telecaster and strat and one of those pedals you mentioned with the boost function to clean up and add a bit more punch to the acoustic modeling tones this guitar can produce especially the steel strung acoustic and twelve string.any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated griff
Excellent overview of the different pedals available.
Really helpful! Thanks!!!
Griff – As always, great stuff. How about an overview of all pedals with a brief explanation of what each one does? E.g., overdrive, compression, flanger, etc. Thanks!
Hey Griff,
I am re-visiting this Video in Nov 2015 as I would like to now get one or two pedals. I am looking at Boss BD-2 Blues Driver with OD. and maybe Fulltone Full Drive 2 Mosfet. I have a Marshall MG 101CFX which has Crunch & OD plus the reverb etc. I am at Intermediate level and would appreciate your input as to which way to go to get that BLUES Sound.
Thanks
Michael- Sydney -Australia
Say griff like rat my sound thank’s
Hey Griff,
Here again in Dec 2016, it was refreshing to see this video lesson again.. I have since advanced and decided to purchase the Boss ME 80 which combines about 80 + effects ( including the Boss Blues Driver) and includes a Wah pedal which is also used as a Volume control for the effects other adds are it has an inbuilt Guitar Tuner and you can set the Keys of the song. It can be used in Manual Mode or Memory Mode which enables you to save Patches in 3 lines of Banks. It also enables you to link directly to your computer to download additional effects from the Boss wensite.
It is a bit expensive up front AUD 450 but if you have 6-8 separate pedals on average of USD 100 then it is much cheaper and neater on the floor.
All good and I enjoyed your lesson here.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and family and all the BGUers.
Michael-Sydney-Australia 19th December 2016.
Griff – you mentioned your signal chain included the Eleven Rack/virtual Amp. Would you please share your signal chain/setup (e.g. Eleven rack => amp => guitar). Thank you.
Excellent information as usual Griff. Maybe you ought to write a guitar player’s manual and DVD on how to really set up a typical rig for optimum performance, with all the pedal types, waa-waa pedal, delay etc and also setting up the amplifier itself. Quite a large subject that in my experience a lot of excellent players seem to learn about by hit and miss and/or by accident.
Griff – you mentioned your signal chain included the Eleven Rack/virtual Amp. Would you please share your signal chain/setup (e.g. Eleven rack => amp => guitar). Thank you.
Griff, once again it’s been a pleasure to watch and listen to you explaining certain things (like pedals this time). Instead of a salesman in a rush to sell, you take the time to show us what the differences are! Good job my friend.
I own about 20 pedals but you should first buy a quality guitar and amp . Do not spend more than $100 for any pedal it is a waste of money.You can buy 5 Danelectro pedals for $150 and they work fine.
Great lesson as usual. What amazed me most is how quiet everything was. When I use pedals (especially when I stack them) the hum becomes noticeable. When I add a compressor it’s like I put a wet rag over everything. What does Griff have that I don’t (except talent of course)?
Thanks for the information and lessons on petals Griff. I don’t have any petals at this time and I have been thinking of purchasing one but didn’t know which one I should get and now I have a greater understanding of what I’m looking for .
I really injoyed this lesson on pedals, I have been wondering about them. I will be buying several and changing my sound. By the way , my niece came by the other day, I have started her playing the guitar(I gave her a nice gutiar) she is only 13 yoa and doing real well . She will be in a talent show at school next week . I gave her your site and showed her some of the lessons that you sent me, shelved them and is going to order BGU . Thanks for all the good guitar lessons and keep up the good work. It is appricated on this end
Really good stuff Griff.Pedals are expensive we have all wasted some money on ones in the Thought we would like it category.This helped a lot of us out there thank you as always.
Have had nothing but trouble viewing your emails …..I get no sound,just the visual! This video was totally blank. NO audio or video! This has been the case for all your videos over the last few months.Never had this problem before.HELP,PLEASE!!!
Griff, another great and informative lesson!!! I think I was more inspired by your riffing than the pedals, but still a great lesson on the pedals.
For all, note that Behringer makes some pretty decent clones of the tube-screamer (Behringer Total Overdrive 800 or TO800). I owned a TS-9 Tube Screamer which got stolen and this sounds very close to the same. I was able to replace the $100 TS-9 with the Behringer TO800 for $19.99 on Amazon. In addition, they make clones of many other brand name effects (i.e., chorus, flanger, phaser, wah, tuner, etc.). The big difference is that the housing are made of heavy duty plastic vice metal, so if you are just playing at home and want to experiment with some of these different effects, they work fine and mine have held up great so far. If you are hitting the road or just like to stomp hard on your pedals, you probably want the real deal!
Clear, concise and very helpful like everything you do. Thanks for continuing to be such a great teacher.
at 1901 thats a scream -nice . i do use that sort of sound . there are certain chicks that love that sound . you said cranked marshall well thats what i use . i would be interested using the ratt with my epiphone les paul with the seymore duncans that could be cherry. the classic black face sound is very good. you had one time discribed how to obtain the SRV sound . you did not in this video say anything about mod/pitch but hey i only use a didgetech rp7 with 2 marchalls one in front one in back in stereo both are valve state very happy with that, not expensive . cool vid shreader . hey a rp 80 has a pedal for wa wa and a black face channel too . the rp 7 also has a wa wa pedal. late um bhra
Very helpful…
Thank you,
Jim
That was certainly an informative video. Thanks for putting it out for us.
Just so happens I was paying for the Boss Blues Driver you have as the
E-mail went off with this video! How’s that for timing! Anyway, I have the
Fender Mustang amp as well. It has some awesome effects and I have yet
to download all the others into it. Can’t wait to put the Blues Driver to the test.
Thanks again Griff. Your knowledge and experience is greatly appreciated.
Thanks a ton Griff, like alot of beginner players, it’s difficult to know which pedal you should use and how it actually changes the tone of your guitar.A little advice when choosing a pedal, demo it with your own guitar and amp so you know exactly what your getting
Thanks for the GAS, Griff. I just placed a bid on ebay for a Keely modified BD2.
Never used a pedal 40 years ago, now I am overwhelmed by the types. You covered overdrive, check!
How about a session on other types such as chorus, flangers, fuzz, etc?
First an overview of what each type does with just one typical sample of each.
Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Griff,
I think I’ve seen this before. I’ve not seen you demo any Wampler pedals. What about the Clarksdale or the Euphoria pedals? Do you have any thought about those?
thanks
Griff, you must have a couple of clones of yourself ! how do you find the time to do all you do !
As for pedals, how many did the late great BB KING have ?
Ill solve all your pedals problems with Fender mustang digital amplifier head with watts 150 rms with comes with 100 FX special effects and with usb port that you can download 300 FX special effects on laptop and swap them out back and forth ! The amplifier 4 /12 inch speakers cabinet 200 watts rms and their is matching 4 digital switch pedal with 200 FX special ! this is awesome to get what ever special you and need to play true professional from heavy metal to punk to blues and alternative and funk and country and so much more To really list ! Ive bought fender mustang amplifier and 4/12 inch speakers cabinet and matching
Digital 4 switch pedal include tax for $648.00 dollars you will never need anything more because you will have everything need ! Fender mustang has smaller all versions of their line of computer digital amplifiers with usb ports with 300 FX special effects swap out from fender fuse download !
This will save ton of money from buying 100s FX pedals and amplifiers! Look to future not the past for investment!
theses pedals are all analog. thats the best sound you can get . digital amps and effects will never give you that clean sound from an analog pedal. my boss me 70 has so many effects that just never get used. i have one setting that sounds just like david gilmores sound from pink floyd. when it comes to destortion pedals you best to go analog. i have my one sound, like hendrix had his and bb kings who had his sound. every good guitar player has his own sound. i notice that Griff has his own sound in his style of playing. he like b vibrato and the slides. loves doing his teewdilies, lol. saw you dot this video a year ago. thanks bro. played my guitar for about 20 minutes and then had to quit. fingers locking up.
You might have noticed that Griff started by saying that he was using a Digidesign model of an old Fender amp and that it sounded identical to the Fender tube amp that he had once owned – “better than he could get the original amp to sound”.
That old analog/digital argument is tired. If you’ve ever played a Yamaha DG100 (Frank Gambale, Allan Holdsworth, Richie Kotzen, Eric Clapton, etc..) then you know that a GOOD modeling amp can sound awesome. My Dg100 pushes air like a tube amp, responds to pick dynamics just like my Marshall and my Soldano 100, and has an incredible clean tone. Never have to change tubes, rebias, anything. It shakes the walls when it is cranked and thumps your chest with great bottom end. NO TUBES.
The Axe FX 2 is an incredible DIGITAL modeling amp rack unit, with brilliant effects models that you absolutely cannot distinguish from the analog units – their sine waves are identical,
It is true that the inexpensive digital multi-units at Guitar Center (K Mart) can lack something, but you get what you pay for. I agree with J.K. that the draw back (for some) of digital units is that they are more complicated to program – it isn’t just “bend over and turn a knob”, but the tone palette possibilities are pretty limitless.
I have a Mustang III. And a complete full pedal board. The only Mustang effect I ever use is a little reverb now and then. I want good analog pedals that I can simply bend down and tweak a knob on and stomp on and off at will without messing with a digital menu and programming foot switches and trying to remember how I have them programmed. That same pedal board also works just as well with my 3 tube amps. For gigging in a blues band you just do not need 300 FX choices, you only need two or three great ODs, a good delay, a wah, maybe a chorus, maybe a flange and maybe a booster.
Great information! Thanks so much.
Hi Griff — Now, THAT was cool, thank you! I dunno “jack” about most of the pedals out there today. I was around when the hot ticket was the brand-new “fuzz/wah” pedal; it was the only thing around until someone invented little cheapie fuzz boxes that plugged directly into you guitar’s output jack. I’ve been playing the same half-dozen chords (and a few simple riffs) all this time. (Didn’t say I ever actually got much better! That’s what I subscribe to your vids for, thank ya very much!) The only pedal I have is a “death metal,” I like the sound of it, but have one basic argument with the durn thing. Once it’s clicked on, the volume control at the guitar is pretty much gone. I love the sound of James Hetfield, and Lemmy for that matter, so that’s pretty much “where my head’s at” as far as sound goes. QUESTION (for you, or anyone who cares to answer:) what pedal out there will allow me to turn a knob and increase or decrease distortion, while still leaving actual volume control at the guitar? Thanks again, one and all.
Your opinion on individual versus multi effects unit… All so with respect to multi effects.. Which if any do you recommend…
Thx Rich
Griff, Thanks for the first time I have heard what I wrote you about months ago. Gear, how they work together. At last I have heard a sound common to recorded tones and where to find them. When I have gone to the store to ask about tones. They boys
behind the counters just are not equip to explain stacking nor what the best results are with what pickup. I have used both single type pickups and active and Humbuckers. Each have unique qualities, which to say nothing has been said about
the density of the wood in the body of the guitar. Les Paul has more wood to enable sweeter tones, Mahogany plays way different then Spruce, and cotton wood famous for
lighter tones. Hard woods really change how the pickups function. Neck tones with
Birdseye is used for screaming high tones. Blues players opt for Cherry wood necks.
Combined woods change the warmer licks that Fender found useful to deep punch. Allot for the beginner to grasp, yet important to understand when buying a good instrument tied with either double coils and single coil options. Enjoyed this video. Informative.
Excellent pedal demo, I’ve got the TS-9 Tube Screamer with a mod kit and also the blues driver and find that all I need, if I need more I kick in lead channel on my tube amp and stack them all…
Nicely done Griff, very helpful. Thanks
Hey Griff,
Thanks for the info on the pedals. It answers a lot of my questions.
Eddie
I am an acoustic chauvinist and just love the tone quality of all my acoustic instruments and don’t have the proper appreciation for synthesized music.
If I did want artificial electric music I believe that guitar is the wrong tool for the job.
The correct tool has a piano KEYBOARD.
No offense meant, “just saying”
sincerely,
Howard Spruit
Howard, it is very interesting that you consider the music coming from an electric guitar “artificial”. Perhaps that was simply a poor choice of adjective, but that aside, if the “correct” tool for the job is a keyboard, how would you propose performing the classic songs of the late great B.B. King? After playing for 30 years and duplicating his gear, I have a hard enough time time sounding as good as him. I also think one would be hard pressed to play some of Jimmy Page’s material one was getting behind a Hammond B3. “Just saying” . . .
Thanks Griff,
Very enlightening. I have a RAT and love it. Usually I have it set with little filter and distortion and more drive. Makes my ES335 sound very warm and bluesy. I also run a delay, chorus and phase shifter but they are only used sparingly. The RAT stays on most of the time. I really enjoyed this video, especially the idea of stacking.
Blessings!
Hey Griff, Very nice video. I am just curious on how you think the external boxes compare with what is built into the Avid Eleven Rack. Are they not as good as having stomp boxes? I’m thinking of getting an 11 Rack and would like to know if I need to buy external stomp boxes in addition to the rack. Thanks and keep the videos coming. They’re very informative.
Interesting,I enjoyed the info, u layed it out quite nicely for someone like myself who has never used any pedals.I think i,ll try out the blues pro or box of rock.Thks Griff.
Thanks for the video Griff, as always great info and who can argue with the price we pay!!!!! I’ve had a few single effects pedals over the years but now have a Digitech RP500 as a do it all in one rather large heavy box, usually with a Strat or Tele hooked to it. I also have a Line 6 POD and Steinberger Spirit that I take on trips. Both have headphone outputs so I can really dig in if I want to without bothering anyone at home or in the room next door while looking for inspiration at the Holiday Inn.
Thanks Griff,very interesting and helpful.
Videos like this give you a whole new way to look at amps. Find an amp with a clean sound that you really like and pedal to suit. Just don’t get too carried away or you’ll end up like Frank Marino from Mahogany Rush… Surrounded by pedals. LOL I saw a picture of him back in the ’70s from above the stage. There was a close to a semi circle of pedals around him, and he knew how to use them.
Very nice video. As mentioned I too had not thought about stacking overdrives. It does give a different dynamic. Nice thing here is that I can listen to this as many times as needed to see what would suit me best.
Thanks Griff!
Creamy jazz. Love it. Great video. Thanks Griff
Hi Griff,
I Feel exactly the same as Chief Rick who has commented on this Video..
The tone is not only from the Stomp Boxes but Surely the Sweet Smooth sound comes from your fingers as well, Awesome!
I remember in your last Stomp Box Video you had a Phaser/Phase Shifter in your line up,(correct me if i’m wrong)that’s why i started making use of mine..In place of the Tube Scremer, Blues Driver, etc i use a Boss Dual OverDrive and a Super Chorus.
Thanks again very much for the refresher….Very Good As Always.
Llewellyn
I’ve seen your pedal video before, but I liked the refresher. I’ve been an e-student of yours for over a year now, but sometimes I forget how good you are. When you were showing the use of those pedals, I was blown away by the ease in which your fingers flew across that fretboard and the way you pick and bend almost as naturally as breathing. You continue to inspire me. Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving.
I’m still busy learning to play but that is definitely useful for down the road. I’ve got a Boss Metal Box that’s primarily a distortion and gain tool. It also will crank to a “bonecrusher” but I can only use it with my Strat. With the 339 it’s feedback city. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge in the cause of teaching and learning.
Hey Griff, thanks for the pedal set up info. Very informative!! What do you think about the Eventide H9??? Thanks again, & Happy Holidays to you & yours!!! Keep em coming!!
I saved this video to my computer a long time ago because I thought it was so cool and very informative. I’m also addicted to these things and having a video like this to listen to how the pedal sounds before I buy it is just awesome to me. Thanks for looking out for us like that Griff. It’s definitely a really useful video.
thanks Griff, this was really insightful. I like the way you covered it; gave me some things to work with. On a related note, I have a specific interest in wah & synth. wah… and wonder if you happen to know what Garcia used typically.
thank you for the information on pedals i have a fender cyber twin se amp. which has a ton of presets for changing tones i also have a boss bd2 pedal now all i have to do is learn how to use every thing
I like the way Griff answers the questions posted – awesome,…:/
Which one did Robert Johnson use?!
Thanks, that was a great demo.
I’m guessing that your ear is far more attuned to the nuances – I’m just hearing a little distortion, or a lot. I’ve always shied away from “effects” (except reverb – love reverb). I figure before I buy ANY box, I should master the 5 “boxes!”
Thanks Griff. I use a Hardwire OD and wanted to stack with something else. This helps a great deal. I’m diggin’ those Sambas too!
Are pedals generally used with amps that don’t have gain controls or extra channels? Such as more vintage amps?
I noticed that you aren’t too concerned with the type of patch cables used. Do you invest much or choose a certain type of cable? Do you ever use the George L’s? Tom
Well done..
Thanks Griff ! the demo was a eye opener, and gives me insight into how to create some of those awesome tones !
Really enjoyed this video great info Thanks Griff
TY Griff kool video I bought the screaming blues peddle , but still need to mix it with something else. My reverb amp does have distortion I will have to mix them all to see what I get, You gave me a few ideas to try Thanks again
great video .saw in one lesson video you used a: looper?. any one special? i am from the day when the only extra sound effects were blown speakers and kick the reverb box
You might like the TC Electronics Mojo Mojo. Yummy low end growl and very responsive to the guitar’s volume pot.
Great video Griff. I’m getting ready to purchase my first pedal, so this was definitely helpful. Thanks again!
Griff: Thanks again. I own a Fulltone OCD, a BD2 Blues Driver, and A tube Screamer-the exact one you showed. The Tube Screamer disappointed. I’m thinking I have to wiork on some things with my amp and those pedals. I love the BD2 and the OCD. I have a Peavey Classic 1X12 (30Watt ) Tweed. I think I’ve been using too much drive from the amp itself. That’s why tone gets a little too muddy with the pedals on.I’ll be experimenting with playing completely clean, or just a little tiny amount of drive, and then kicking on the pedal to see what works best. You’ve given me some good homework to do.
Thanks again, bro. You always hit on something to help me fix things.
Rob .
This is an excellent video on petals. Would like to see more on gear like this. Thanks.
onya well done griff
Thanks Griff – very informative, important info presented in a clear concise manner. Made things less complicated for me into deciding what to buy.
John.
Thanks Griff, that gave me great insight into the choices of pedals and how to use them. I have a few but haven’t experimented enough with them so now I’ll give them a try.
Mark
it seems to that no matter what stomp box I try, I get a lot of extra noise through my speakers no matter which amp I use fender Marshall Line 6. great demo
GREAT VIDEO THANKS
Thanks pedal stuff was great can you suggest any for acoustic. Guitars
Cool. Thanks.
A question for anyone who has any thoughts on this: I understand why you might want an overdrive pedal if you have a solid state rig. But, if you have a tube amp with separate drive and master controls that allow you to overdrive the preamp tubes, why would you need a separate drive pedal? Do they help to simulate the sound of the power tubes distorting, or just provide a dirtier signal to the preamp tubes so they distort sooner? If so, what’s the point of that? Why not just turn up the gain to get a true tube distortion sound?
Very few tube amps that have a clean channel and a drive channel have the same tone on both channels. So, if you are playing primarily clean and just want overdrive for part of a solo and want the same tone throughout your piece, you’re pretty much S.O.L. without a good transparent OD pedal.
Griff, Thanks for the stomp box comparision. I never thought about stacking distortion pedals. You mentioned you have an Eleven Rack. I got one myself several months ago and I am very pleased with it. I find that I like the LB Blues LP (W3) rig for many things. As a challenge to you, can you come up with a rig for the eleven rack that provides the sounds you like without the use of any external pedals? In case you didn’t know there is a user site where you can upload your own rigs to share with other eleven rack users as well as download ones that have been submitted by other users.
Thanks for all of the videos!
Grif, Two questions: Do you set the amp to have a slight break up or more clean when using these pedals? And, how cranked up do you have your volume pot on the guitar? Thanks
Full drive, OCD, Stacking ,The rat and BLues BD2 are good to me
Thanks Griff, now I know which one to get.
nice vid…..especially liked the stacking part….agree about the blues driver…thanks…later.
cowboy
Is the SD-1 a made in Japan model? Those are lot better than the newer ones, which can be modded to get closer to the MIJ models
Thank you Griff great job.
Great video!! One of the most important about playing, besides playing the right note is getting the sound that will enhance your playing. Thanks for the Demo.