Ideas for an ideal overdrive pedal

[The wetter bass]

Once I got this I now have about 25 overdrives I need to sell. This is it.
View attachment 4339006

Looks amazing. Gonna check it out.

 

[The wetter bass]

Hows that Behringer overdrive treatin' ya?

Jajaja!!! It’s good, suprisingly good for the money. Lacks refinement though, or perhaps I am being a snob…

 

[The wetter bass]

For me an overdrive that is tuned right for my application should only have a gain and output level knobs.
I am not exactly looking for one , but an od with just these two knobs would be something I might still buy - maybe the midfy full frequency OD?

At this point, my favourite is the barbershop and I find the sag knob and high cut toggle really quiet useful ( although I was doubtful to start with...)
I do not know how tubelike it sounds but when set right it really, really works for me.

I’ll have a look at it. Thanks!

 

[The wetter bass]

An overdrive with an eq and an ssl style buss compressor with the side chain HPF would be something I haven’t seen done that would probably be awesome. Especially if you added a boost and made it switchable to either boost the output signal or use it for makeup gain for the compressor

I agree with you. Nice ideas.

 

[The wetter bass]

I don't mind multi-band functionality on my dirt pedals.

You mean like selecting the frequency(ies) you want to saturate?

 

[The wetter bass]

No switch pops, no 60hz hum, no ridiculous volume spike, play well with others. That's just the start. I've made tough calls on great OD's that while sounding great, were just too noisy to be musical. "Ideal" is subjective AF.

Ideal is subjective, yes. I meant by ideal what you consider is important and you answered that. Thanks!

 

[smo]

Hi, I’m new here… I was wondering what you think are the “must have gimmicks” an overdrive/preamp should have or you wish would have?

Or even which pedal comes closest to your ideal OD and why?

I favour drives that sound kinda like a tube amp, work with flats and rounds alike, and don't lose the low end. Simple stuff really, but I've only found a handful that do this well (for me)
My ideal (so far) has been the FTT Black Vehicle. Sounds great with flats especially, it's based off the B15 I've heard. Powerful EQ. The boost is simply the best implemented I've seen - being able to achieve a dirty cut or boost, a clean cut/boost, or simply hammer the front end for a big dirty mess at any volume/gain, is a feature more pedal builders might want to copy.

FWIW, I think drive pedals with tonnes of switches and knobs aren't necessary. The best pedals (for live use) generally lean towards the simpler side IMHO, as I find them quicker to dial in to the room.

Once I got this I now have about 25 overdrives I need to sell. This is it.
View attachment 4339006

What? Isn't that a guitar pedal based on the Boss BD-2 & a Nobel ODR-1? Hows the low end on each side, and do you down tune?

 

[Hypocrite]

The Darkglass X7 is pretty close to my ideal drive/preamp. If I were to improve it I would add high and low pass filters, add another crossover knob so I can set the drive to the midrange and keep the high frequencies clean, and make the compressor more adjustable with attack/release and ratio settings

 

[IvanBassist]

Hi, I’m new here… I was wondering what you think are the “must have gimmicks” an overdrive/preamp should have or you wish would have?

Or even which pedal comes closest to your ideal OD and why?

The reason I ask this is for a future pedal project. Got my own ideas but want to know yours!!!

variable HPF/LPFs or cab sims to tighten up the sound and remove unwanted harshness

 

[darren1970]

The Darkglass X7 is pretty close to my ideal drive/preamp. If I were to improve it I would add high and low pass filters, add another crossover knob so I can set the drive to the midrange and keep the high frequencies clean, and make the compressor more adjustable with attack/release and ratio settings

Totally agree.
This is one of my "forever" pedals. A superb versatile piece of kit for all the reasons you said.

 

[NoiseNinja]

3 separate parallel bands with each a HPF and LPF, as well as an Orange tube amp like Gain/drive for each, and a master bass, treble and 2 mids EQ control with a sweepable mid frequency control for each of the two mid EQ volume controls, working on the combined signal of the 3 bands.

That's what I'd like to see.

 

[foal30]

I favour drives that sound kinda like a tube amp, work with flats and rounds alike, and don't lose the low end. Simple stuff really, but I've only found a handful that do this well (for me)
My ideal (so far) has been the FTT Black Vehicle. Sounds great with flats especially, it's based off the B15 I've heard. Powerful EQ. The boost is simply the best implemented I've seen - being able to achieve a dirty cut or boost, a clean cut/boost, or simply hammer the front end for a big dirty mess at any volume/gain, is a feature more pedal builders might want to copy.

FWIW, I think drive pedals with tonnes of switches and knobs aren't necessary. The best pedals (for live use) generally lean towards the simpler side IMHO, as I find them quicker to dial in to the room.

What? Isn't that a guitar pedal based on the Boss BD-2 & a Nobel ODR-1? Hows the low end on each side, and do you down tune?

I bought Free The Tone Bass Blaster OD

Baby cheeses it's the Fountain Gate of euphoria tone.

 

[The wetter bass]

The Darkglass X7 is pretty close to my ideal drive/preamp. If I were to improve it I would add high and low pass filters, add another crossover knob so I can set the drive to the midrange and keep the high frequencies clean, and make the compressor more adjustable with attack/release and ratio settings

Very interesting!

 

[The wetter bass]

3 separate parallel bands with each a HPF and LPF, as well as an Orange tube amp like Gain/drive for each, and a master bass, treble and 2 mids EQ control with a sweepable mid frequency control for each of the two mid EQ volume controls, working on the combined signal of the 3 bands.

That's what I'd like to see.

I’m not sure I understand why three parallel bands?

 

[Stubb]

The Damnation Audio MBD-2 is pretty close, honestly.

Came to post this. I guess I wish it had more mids available, but that's just looking for something to nitpick.

 

[JonathanSV]

Toobz in it.
I had a EHX Hot Wax dual overdrive, the sound was like a tube in it. I mean "like". I now have a slampegg pre form sushi box effects. It has a tube in it so it doesn't sound "like" a tube, it IS a tube.

https://www.sushiboxfx.com/

 

[The wetter bass]

Toobz in it.
I had a EHX Hot Wax dual overdrive, the sound was like a tube in it. I mean "like". I now have a slampegg pre form sushi box effects. It has a tube in it so it doesn't sound "like" a tube, it IS a tube.

https://www.sushiboxfx.com/

Sushibox do amazing stuff! Gotta look more into them. I own a lightstorm bass tube 2 preamp (w/ 2 12AX7), an awesome (small) preamp. I was curious to have opinions on ODs/preamps anyway. Thanks for the link!

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

You mean like selecting the frequency(ies) you want to saturate?

Yes. DarkGlass MicroTubes X is a good example - despite being marketed as a distortion. You basically split your signal into two signals at the frequencies of your choice, and keep the low clean while saturating the highs.

For example, I can keep my bass & low-mids below 500Hz unaffected and saturate only above 500Hz.

This is a well known mixing engineer trick to keep the low end intact. Good to have a pedal that can do the same.

 

[monsterthompson]

I bought Free The Tone Bass Blaster OD

Baby cheeses it's the Fountain Gate of euphoria tone.

Just looked that up. Not a lot of demos, but it seems to be a nice low to mid gain pedal.

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

What makes it stand out from the rest for you then?

It is extremely tunable, with a tilt eq, selectable mid-cut, and control over the amount of low end fed into the drive circuit; a very broad and controllable gain range; a low-passed clean blend; and all in a compact, top jack-mounted, pedalboard friendly form factor.