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Real Overdrive!

P

Petary791

Feb 20, 2005
4,074
8
36
Michigan, USA
#1
In my quest for tasty overdrive, i've come up with a good idea. Would it be possible/feasible/intelligent to get an MXR Micro Amp and just crank it all the way to get real overdrive, or would it just be really loud and crappy? Thanks!

And an off topic question... is it better for an octave pedal to be in the beginning or end? Thanks. :help:
 
#6
before this gets derailed by talking about other overdrives...

u can use a micro amp to drive a preamp harder so THAT gets overdriven (only do this w/ tube preamps, SS does have a horrible sound)...but u cant use the micro amp as an overdrive pedal...its a clean gian boost, but that boost can be powerful enough to drive a warmed up preamp into some serious growl...
 
#8
Petary791 said:
Is that how Sir Timmy C does it?
Click to expand...

No

Whats the point, why would he have a clean boost on all the time when he can just turn the input up on his amp if that's his general tone.

Both Timmy C and Flea use the micro amp and its probably just to have a volume boost for solos or when ever they need to be noticed more.

Again I agree the Micro Amp can not be used for overdrive, unless u are overdriving a tube amp and if you intend to have this as your main sound on all the time you might as well just crank the input gain.

Go buy your self either

Fulltone Bass Drive
Dod 250
Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive
Sansamp
MXR Zakk Wylde Sig
Danelectro Daddy O

All of those pedals have nice overdrive tones. Some lose more bass than others but that tend to be respective of price.

Hope this helps
 
#9
Petary791 said:
Is that how Sir Timmy C does it?
Click to expand...

Prolly not...
He uses his homemade distortion box for his over the top distortion sound, and the natural drive in his SVT2 for the "normal" overdrive...the micro amp on his board is probably used in the "normal" overdrive path, but in conjunction w/ his compressor. He has his clean sound, his clean sound w/ amp2, his clean sound with amp 2 with added compression and gain (i believe thats where the micro amp and compressor come in), and clean sound with amp2 with compression and gain, and the distoriton amp rig...

I could be wrong tho...but Im pretty sure he doesnt use the micro amp to drive one of his amps reguarly, theres no need to
 
#10
Just my take on that Solid-State comment: Not all SS gear is created equal. The nasty odd-order harmonics from a clipping germanium transistor are completely different from the way a FET (field effect transistor) behaves. FET gear like a SansAmp sounds a lot more musical and sounds similar to a tube circuit.

For pure overdrive I like the SansAmp GT2 on the California (MESA) setting, tweaked to your desired degreee of OD, of course.
 
#12
fretlessrock said:
Just my take on that Solid-State comment: Not all SS gear is created equal. The nasty odd-order harmonics from a clipping germanium transistor are completely different from the way a FET (field effect transistor) behaves. FET gear like a SansAmp sounds a lot more musical and sounds similar to a tube circuit.

For pure overdrive I like the SansAmp GT2 on the California (MESA) setting, tweaked to your desired degreee of OD, of course.
Click to expand...
Of course, but they're designed differently from a standard volume pedal kind of thing. My Sansamp sounds great, but it's designed for overdrive, with a drive knob (for example). But just turning the volume up on a SS amp (or pre-amp) and pushing it to saturation doesn't sound good.

Solid state preamps (or effects) designed for overdrive can sound good, don't worry about that. A Sansamp would be a good choice, as would many that have been suggested earlier in this thread.
 
#16
I guess it might damage some pedals and not others, I think it's the same with onboard preamps.

I'd imagine imagine the Zakk Wylde sig distortion must be good for bass, he pretty much uses bass strings anyways, I've seen his signature set with a 70 gauge E string... I mean come on, that's almost as thick as the ultra light gauge E I had on my Traben a few weeks ago, which was 85.

Plus it sounds awesome on guitar too... So anybody actually use this pedal?
 
#17
I've tried the Micro Amp in front of my Ampeg SVP preamp, and it's basically the same as turning up the input gain knob, so unless you need to boost your input level mid-song, it's not really worthwhile. Sounds great if thats what you need though, a la Timmy C and Flea.
 
#19
The answer's easy.
Crank the gain on your head to the max.
If you like what you hear, the Micro-amp might be your answer BUT you will have to lower your master volume to compensate every time ou want to use the pedal.
The Bassdrive was meant to run in 18 V. That's how mine is.
 

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