Overdrive pedal - small shops, boutique

[TrentB]

COG effects Knightfall or Mini 66 from the UK, Crazy Tube Circuits Planet B or Locomotive from Greece.
Agree on the MBD-1 as well.

 

[gregouille23]

Just got myself a Rodenberg GAS 808B. Awesome pedal, made in Germany and not very expensive (you can find it for 120e new). I has 2 modes, one that I use for OD and the other one, activated by a flick of a switch, gives you 3x more gain to take you to distortion territory. The OD mode sounds great by itself but boy does it stack well with a distortion pedal to give you a richer, fuller saturated sound

Sounds great at home and great in a band mix. I highly recommend it.

Cheers

 

[RissKippery]

Raygun FX! I have the soda bass drive and it’s great. Affordable, versatile, sounds good. They’re also based in the UK.

 

[KB5]

Not boutique at all but the EH Nano Battalion does everything I could want in a mosfet OD pedal and only costs $100. I bought it after trying side by side with several Darkglass pedals last week. Really just beginning to see the full potential of it. It goes from subtle grit to melt your face off saturation. The ability to move the eq position around makes for some extreme flexiblity. I made this video at lunchtime real quick yesterday so please excuse the bobble in the middle. This clip has the eq in the input stage. See pic for settings.

 

[cnltb]

redsun fx+
musiciansounddesign; I use their Silverstone OD and it is fantastic!!
Fairfield circuitry is another favourite of mine.

 

[Maxfenderbass]

Damnation Audio MBD-1

THIS

 

[jthisdell]

I use a DG Vintage Microtubes as an always on drive with a Southampton Fifth Gear

 

[BklynKen]

That pedal is ssssooooooo good. Their Locomotive is good too, IMO not as good as the Planet B though.

Third recommendation for this. I have one and it's wonderful.

 

[RickyT]

Smallsound/Bigsound make some great OD & Fuzz pedals.

Definitely small and boutique, I had to wait a few extra weeks for my Team Awesome! Fuzz Machine because the owner/builder was on tour.

Well worth the wait.

 

[johnpaulbass]

Raygun FX! I have the soda bass drive and it’s great. Affordable, versatile, sounds good. They’re also based in the UK.

I really really dig that pedal.. WOW

 

[johnpaulbass]

So far for what I've read those came along (mostly):

1. Damnation Audio MBD-1
2. Crazube Circuits Planet B
3. COG effects Knightfall

but I really do dig the Raygun FX one...

So cool to discover new things

 

[minddrain]

I have been searching for more pedal options. I have been using Sweetwater for a lot of my gear until I came across things that they didn’t carry. Google likes to return “popular” results. After looking at the same brands over and over again and trying different query string I found this;

Invalid Link Removed

 

[johnpaulbass]

Came across this one..


nice

 

[socialleper]

Dunwich Amps maked an OCD based pedal called the Olde Dirty Bass (ODB) and a TS variant called the Bass Overdriver.
He has some distortions too.

 

[SerratedBass]

+1 for Cog Knightfall. Would love to try the Damnation Audio too though, always reading good things about it

 

[220_Hz]

I ordered a Fuzzrocious Cat Demon, it's an OCD style drive and a Rat style distortion in the same enclosure with diode mods and clipping controls on the rat side. Sounds pretty great on bass in my experience, I generally keep the gain low

 

[johnpaulbass]

Dunwich Amps maked an OCD based pedal called the Olde Dirty Bass (ODB) and a TS variant called the Bass Overdriver.
He has some distortions too.

Like it a lot!

 

[40Hz]

The two I like best are the Southampton Fifth Gear V2 (from Canada) and the Lounsberry Rupert (US). Both are as boutique as they come and sound great.

Note: these are both what I think of as mild to moderate ODs. But that’s the OD sound I prefer.

 

[johnpaulbass]

The two I like best are the Southampton Fifth Gear V2 (from Canada) and the Lounsberry Rupert (US). Both are as boutique as they come and sound great.

Note: these are both what I think of as mild to moderate ODs. But that’s the OD sound I prefer.

I do too... I'm actually looking for a GROWL more than a modern hi gain distortion... something to add some grit and flavour... and not to bring a house down

 

[40Hz]

I do too... I'm actually looking for a GROWL more than a modern hi gain distortion... something to add some grit and flavour... and not to bring a house down

Of the two the Fifth Gear could be a better choice overall if that’s the case. I’ll confess I’m not super big on dirt for the most part. I favor a pretty clean tone overall. But there’s times when I want a little hair and a hint of growl. But still “floomy” with a touch of cream if that makes any sense. More along the lines of a 70s era cranked Acoustic Control or Ampeg amp - except without the ear damaging levels. And the Fifth Gear gives me a lot that without being too overwhelming.

The Rupert was mainly designed to push the front of a tube head so says the maker. And it does that quite well. Into the front of my little B-15N it’s a complete monster. Petite dimed V4B anyone? But that said it’s a bit of a single tone and vibe. It works well with my über-clean solid-state head. But I like the Southampton Fifth Gear (which is texturally much more versatile IMO) far better with that amp.

This is a good demo of what you can expect using one with a bass. I tend to go for a setting that gives me something similar in sound to what he’s getting around the 1:50 mark.



Southampton is a small company. Very personable, easy to deal with, and polite in that unique Canadian way the rest of the world would do well to emulate. The owners are TB members and very responsive to questions. Their pedals get a lot of love at TB. And for good reason.