Looking for Overdrive - a special one.

[Kipp Harrington]

I am looking for an overdrive pedal. What I need is more in the region of low gain drive to add a bit of sizzle for hard bluesy grind. In a typical set list, I'll have it running in one song for the major part and for the end bit of another song, so it's not that I use it all the time, or even often.

Currently I own a couple of dirt pedals, to give you an idea.

Tech 21 Sansamp PBDDI: Sounds okay and could cover my needs, but it's too big. I don't need three foot switches.

Sushi Box FX Smoke Signal: Same. It's big and has vast power requirements as well as two footswitches. It is close to perfect in terms of sound, but overkill for my application.

Fuzzrocious Egg Sack: Here's a simple pedal. It does Boost/Drive/Distortion and the Drive works okay, but I'd prefer it a touch darker and there are no tone shaping options.

Sushi Box FX Fluffy Kitten: It's simply too much of a distortion for what I'm looking for.

OBNE Haunt Fuzz: Well, it's a Fuzz. Super versatile and all, but it simply does not add a bit of drive.

EH Big Muff. The standard one in the big enclosure. It's a big muff. 'muff said.

None of the above makes me really happy when I put it into my current setup.

I want a natural, organic sounding Overdrive with tone shaping capabilities.
And I'd much prefer if it was something boutique level, from a small builder instead of something mass produced in the far east. I prefer it if my money goes to a small business within the musical scene.

Get an SVT.

 

[DonaldR]

@OP: That's what my Ampeg Scrambler is doing. You can go with less drive and more blend, or the opposite with more drive and less blend.

 

[SLO Surfer]

5th Gear

I am looking for an overdrive pedal. What I need is more in the region of low gain drive to add a bit of sizzle for hard bluesy grind. In a typical set list, I'll have it running in one song for the major part and for the end bit of another song, so it's not that I use it all the time, or even often.

Currently I own a couple of dirt pedals, to give you an idea.

Tech 21 Sansamp PBDDI: Sounds okay and could cover my needs, but it's too big. I don't need three foot switches.

Sushi Box FX Smoke Signal: Same. It's big and has vast power requirements as well as two footswitches. It is close to perfect in terms of sound, but overkill for my application.

Fuzzrocious Egg Sack: Here's a simple pedal. It does Boost/Drive/Distortion and the Drive works okay, but I'd prefer it a touch darker and there are no tone shaping options.

Sushi Box FX Fluffy Kitten: It's simply too much of a distortion for what I'm looking for.

OBNE Haunt Fuzz: Well, it's a Fuzz. Super versatile and all, but it simply does not add a bit of drive.

EH Big Muff. The standard one in the big enclosure. It's a big muff. 'muff said.

None of the above makes me really happy when I put it into my current setup.

I want a natural, organic sounding Overdrive with tone shaping capabilities.
And I'd much prefer if it was something boutique level, from a small builder instead of something mass produced in the far east. I prefer it if my money goes to a small business within the musical scene.

 

[Wherestheone]

Another vote for the Fairfield Barbershop

 

[packhowitzer]

They don't get much more special than this one IMO:

 

[Bassman Spiff]

Another shout for the Southampton 5th Gear v2 for low gain texture! Love it!

 

[willsellout]

My favorite low gain overdrive is the Reinier Gasoline OD. It checks a lot of your boxes but it is Hard to find. I’ll never sell mine.

 

[Doug4321]

I think this sort of question gets asked a lot, regarding milder or natural overdrive. I just asked….in another thread.
Usual/current/popular suspects seem to be Bass Soul Food, Vintage Microtubes, Genzler 4 on the floor. AFAIK.

I have always played clean except for a fuzz box special effect kinda thing for certain bits, so don’t have the answer.

 

[NorthTexasBass]

The Two Notes Le Bass has the most natural tube breakup and mild OD I have heard. I run it in cold fusion with just enough OD to sweeten it up a bit.

 

[HolmeBass]

CAL Grizzly gets a lot of praise around here for that natural organic overdrive sound. A mid scoop if want it, and treble/lpf knob to make it dark as needed.

This is what I am using and it sounds great for this application.

 

[cnltb]

I've had it for years now and still very much like the Barbershop.
I get really good and interesting OD tones from 4 eyes as well.
Another one I like is Silverstone from Musiciansounddesign.

 

[Bisounourse]

Well, yes. I know that. But I like to look at all the pedals and see if anything clicks.
You see, I'd probably be fine with a Boss ODB-X. But I'd much rather have a boutique, handmade one.

Also in EU: Jam Pedals Lucydreamer Bass; large range of drive to be found and you can have the enclosure painted to your own likings.
LucyDreamer Bass - JAM pedals

 

[el murdoque]

Add a boost pedal to get your UA to grind.

Or one of my favorite obscure over drives.
Invalid Link Removed

I've thought long and hard about this, but just I can't get the levels right without getting it overly complicated.
I have a Cali76 comp just before the UA that stops just on the sweet spot. If I wedge a booster between those two, my volume will jump a fair bit, which will be too loud in the end. Another option would be a second UA, but it seems that no one is willing to part with it and I missed out on the order window for January.

 

[el murdoque]

I think this sort of question gets asked a lot, regarding milder or natural overdrive. I just asked….in another thread.
Usual/current/popular suspects seem to be Bass Soul Food, Vintage Microtubes, Genzler 4 on the floor. AFAIK.

I have always played clean except for a fuzz box special effect kinda thing for certain bits, so don’t have the answer.

The question varies a bit and so do the overdrive pedals. There's a heap of them out there. That's why there almost never is just one right answer.

That's why I asked about handmade small business boutique pedals, but as it was already noted, after a few posts, people usually just list their favorite pedals.

Which is fine. I look at all of them and listen to demos.

To be honest, there are a few pedals listed here that totally fit the bill - I just want to see if there's one where I go 'dang, I want that' upon first gaze.

My Shortlist so far:

The Blessed Mother Of God: Oh my G. That is a beauty of a pedal. That is the thing of love at first sight I was talking about. But there's nothing to be found about bass. I sent them a mail.

The Jam Pedals Lucydreamer: I went on their website and clicked the video with the guy with the Dingwall and the broken headphones. Broken headphones you ask? Well, his sound is absolute trash and hurts my ears, yet he goes on and tells me how great it sounds - only possible conclusion: One of us has a broken setup. I'm listening though studio monitors that are fine, so his headphones must be broken.
Luckily I had the patience of clicking on the video with the funny talking German. That bearded beanie (I assume there's a guy hiding behind) is really killing it and there are many sounds I totally like.
Great sounding pedal. Maybe looking a bit boring, but still right up my alley.

The Fairfield Barbershop:
I can't tell you why I've never owned one of these. They always come up when someone asks for overdrive and describes a sound I like. I've even have a saved search on my local craigslist for Fairfield. I like the name and I also can live with the negation of exterior design. Yet somehow, I've seen some barbershops going past me at less than 150 bucks and I've never pulled the trigger. I don't know. It just feels like it should be the right pedal but isn't. It's just a gut feeling.

Southhampton Fifth Gear:
This also gets a lot of praise whenever a low gain OD for bass is mentioned. Since I'm not a car person, I don't really dig the whole theme of the pedal, but I guess I could do with it. It's hard to come by, though.

 

[cnltb]

Also in EU: Jam Pedals Lucydreamer Bass; large range of drive to be found and you can have the enclosure painted to your own likings.
LucyDreamer Bass - JAM pedals

Do they sell them unpainted too?

 

[bearhart74]

Find an EBS Valve drive not made in China

 

[el murdoque]

Find an EBS Valve drive not made in China

Are there Swedish ones ?

The Valve Drive has that insane AC 12V requirement which is not very pedalboard friendly. My Cioks DC7 can offer 9, 12, 15 and 18 volt and quite some current, but DC only.

 

[bearhart74]

Are there Swedish ones ?

The Valve Drive has that insane AC 12V requirement which is not very pedalboard friendly. My Cioks DC7 can offer 9, 12, 15 and 18 volt and quite some current, but DC only.

Are there Swedish ones ?

The Valve Drive has that insane AC 12V requirement which is not very pedalboard friendly. My Cioks DC7 can offer 9, 12, 15 and 18 volt and quite some current, but DC only.

I was thinking that was the case but now i'm not too sure. Ive got two (both say made in china) and one is a newer model that seems cheap compared to an old one that is my primary.

 

[msb]

I was just looking for something similar , and decided on the Genzler 4 On the Floor . It should arrive Christmas Eve !

Four drive levels , and it seems pretty straightforward … it also has high and low pass filters .

 

[el murdoque]

Take a look at The Blessed Mother from Heather Brown. It’s exactly what you described with EQ and a clean blend. The blend is what makes it c’ool.

Did you own/play one of those?
Heather told me the bass and treble controls are cut only (passive) and that you can prevent low end loss with the clean blend, but I'd like to know if the drive section also drives lower notes and if it's possible to dial in a 'fat' sound.