Joyo Ultimate Drive on bass

[Corey Y]

Interesting. The only work-around I've found for the low-end loss I've experienced is to set the UD so it is WAY louder when engaged. Otherwise, it disappears on me when I try to use it for a song here and there throughout the night on a gig. Perhaps this is normal when using dirt pedals with no clean blend?

Anyway, I do love the UD for always on OD.

I wish we were able to sit down and converse in person and play with gear, because I'd love to see how your rig is interacting with the pedal. I only have my own experience to draw from. I sometimes use clean blends, sometimes not. I tend to balance the volume on my dirt pedals to unity volume (by closing my eyes and switching back and forth rather quickly) and it's definitely never jumped out as cutting low end in my setup. It might have to do with the level of gain you're using. I've noticed that the low end increases with the gain and I never use mine for low gain OD, I have other pedals that do that sound more to my liking. I use my UD as more pushed, saturated sound, for something like a more fuzzy medium-high gain RAT kind of tone. If you're using it for very low gain, it might be cutting a more noticeable amount of low end. Comparing head to head, I've heard it having noticeably more low end than my OCD, slightly more gain and a "looser" or more fuzzy quality to the gain structure. That's why I still have both, I still like the OCD for a different kind of tone than I use the UD.

 

[MarshallNole]

I love my UD. I highly recommend it. Only $30 too.

 

[jj4001]

I wish we were able to sit down and converse in person and play with gear, because I'd love to see how your rig is interacting with the pedal. I only have my own experience to draw from. I sometimes use clean blends, sometimes not. I tend to balance the volume on my dirt pedals to unity volume (by closing my eyes and switching back and forth rather quickly) and it's definitely never jumped out as cutting low end in my setup. It might have to do with the level of gain you're using. I've noticed that the low end increases with the gain and I never use mine for low gain OD, I have other pedals that do that sound more to my liking. I use my UD as more pushed, saturated sound, for something like a more fuzzy medium-high gain RAT kind of tone. If you're using it for very low gain, it might be cutting a more noticeable amount of low end. Comparing head to head, I've heard it having noticeably more low end than my OCD, slightly more gain and a "looser" or more fuzzy quality to the gain structure. That's why I still have both, I still like the OCD for a different kind of tone than I use the UD.

Ah, great info! I think you hit the nail on the head. I've always used the UD with low gain settings, usually somewhere between 9 and 10 o'clock. Now you've got me excited to give it another go with the band set for higher gain.

 

[tekhedd]

Joyo effects sound great, but so far my results have been 50% reliability. :/ Fortunately they're cheap enough you can afford to have a spare on hand. Wish I could say the same for EHX (with whom I have had *worse* results).

 

[GMC]

Have you tried the fulltone ocd yet?

Which version? There are three different units.

 

[GMC]

I have it. For the price it's great!

Actually, it's great period....the fact that it's cheap as chips is an added bonus. Both the Joyo pedals I own punch way higher than their price tag would presume.

 

[lowfreq33]

The UD is REALLY close to the OCD. I've A/B'd the two, and my impression was that the UD has a bit more low end, and a little more gain on tap. I took it off my board for awhile because it seemed to compress the signal quite a bit even at low gain settings. Notes seemed to have no punch. I think this is what some people are perceiving as low end loss. The bass just doesn't cut through the mix. I've added it back since I bought a Mosquite Blender, and it sounds great now. I usually have about 70% clean signal and it's just right for filling a little space during guitar solos or for more rocking tunes that need a little grit.

 

[zapped777]

I

I did a direct comparison between the OCD and Ultimate Drive, when I bought both. If you go to the actual page, settings are noted in the comments.

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was just going to post the link to this.... Great clips the sad fact is.... You need both

 

[zapped777]

The UD is REALLY close to the OCD. I've A/B'd the two, and my impression was that the UD has a bit more low end, and a little more gain on tap. I took it off my board for awhile because it seemed to compress the signal quite a bit even at low gain settings. Notes seemed to have no punch. I think this is what some people are perceiving as low end loss. The bass just doesn't cut through the mix. I've added it back since I bought a Mosquite Blender, and it sounds great now. I usually have about 70% clean signal and it's just right for filling a little space during guitar solos or for more rocking tunes that need a little grit.

Yes the blender brings this thing right to the front!

 

[GMC]

I'm toying with modding mine, and adding a blend knob. It'll need re-housing and that gives me a perfect excuse to ditch those awful stock graphics too.

 

[robd]

already ditched the graphics on mine

 

[Mosfed]

I did a direct comparison between the OCD and Ultimate Drive, when I bought both. If you go to the actual page, settings are noted in the comments.

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The OCD sounds so much more badass. Some great clips out of the UD but seriously everytime it switches over to the OCD, my reaction is ahhhhhhh right.

 

[gregmon79]

Seten, I'm an OCD fan. I have a UD as well. They're both great pedals but I like the OCD more. It has better response and presence in the mix to me. But, it does lose more low end than the UD. I've used the OCD, one of the newer/newest versions mind you, for about two years now loving it. Not until recently has the low end loss really started bothering me. So I have a blender on the way to help me with that. Hopefully it will. It also stacks very well with other OD's to make for great grindy and strong drives. So my vote always goes to the OCD. Mainly because it simply sounds better to me. It's tastier. The UD is no slouch at all though. For $30 it's worth a shot. I also have an EHX glove on the way to see what I think of it. Got a great deal on one and figured I'd try it since I love my OCD so much.

 

[hintz]

I wish we were able to sit down and converse in person and play with gear, because I'd love to see how your rig is interacting with the pedal. I only have my own experience to draw from. I sometimes use clean blends, sometimes not. I tend to balance the volume on my dirt pedals to unity volume (by closing my eyes and switching back and forth rather quickly) and it's definitely never jumped out as cutting low end in my setup. It might have to do with the level of gain you're using. I've noticed that the low end increases with the gain and I never use mine for low gain OD, I have other pedals that do that sound more to my liking. I use my UD as more pushed, saturated sound, for something like a more fuzzy medium-high gain RAT kind of tone. If you're using it for very low gain, it might be cutting a more noticeable amount of low end. Comparing head to head, I've heard it having noticeably more low end than my OCD, slightly more gain and a "looser" or more fuzzy quality to the gain structure. That's why I still have both, I still like the OCD for a different kind of tone than I use the UD.

I love mine, and from what I can tell, it seems to increase low end as I crank the gain(set with unity volume)

 

[GMC]

From hearing the samples here, the OCD seems to have more clarity than the UD. I've been playing my UD a bit recently and it's great for really heavy grind, not so good for the subtle and softer side of tone. The UD / OCD is defiantly a heavy grind OD, almost bordering on a dynamic fuzz.

 

[fourstringdrums]

How is the Joyo for adding some Geddy Lee grit to your tone (to compliment low, slightly buzzy action and hard attack)? I've seen some videos on YouTube but I don't know if it's too much of a fuzz and in the opposite direction of where I should be looking.

 

[dannybuoy]

I also have an EHX glove on the way to see what I think of it. Got a great deal on one and figured I'd try it since I love my OCD so much.

Good on you, we need more reports on this pedal! Looks like it could potentially be better than all of them - decent low end and internal 18v doubling sounds good to me.

 

[gregmon79]

From hearing the samples here, the OCD seems to have more clarity than the UD. I've been playing my UD a bit recently and it's great for really heavy grind, not so good for the subtle and softer side of tone. The UD / OCD is defiantly a heavy grind OD, almost bordering on a dynamic fuzz.

IMO, that's what the OCD always beats out the UD on, clarity. The UD is more like tube break up to me. The OCD is as well but it's a lot clearer.

 

[GMC]

IMO, that's what the OCD always beats out the UD on, clarity. The UD is more like tube break up to me. The OCD is as well but it's a lot clearer.

I'm wondering if the UD has a few cap values which are different and if the OCD uses better quality caps though out it's design. Either way, the UD is a great OD unit and for the money it's amazing. But the OCD does sound slightly clearer and is better built...you get what you pay for but it's also the law of diminishing returns.

 

[lowfreq33]

I'm wondering if the UD has a few cap values which are different and if the OCD uses better quality caps though out it's design. Either way, the UD is a great OD unit and for the money it's amazing. But the OCD does sound slightly clearer and is better built...you get what you pay for but it's also the law of diminishing returns.

Certainly the UD uses lower quality components, that's part of the reason they can sell it so cheap. But the problem with lower quality electronics isn't that they're worse across the board, it's that the tolerances are much looser. That's why you can line up 10 of the same pedal and they don't sound identical with the same settings.