I'm looking at buying the Tech21 YYZ Geddy or the EBS Billy Sheehan Ultimate Signature Drive. Anyone ever compare the two pedals? I'm not set on trying to exactly copy the Geddy or Billy tone. Just looking for a good pedal along the lines of what these pedals do. Thank you.
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YYZ or Billy Sheehan pedal
- Thread starter Needenaneden
- Start date
I've owned both! They both sound great, but have different voices for sure.
The YYZ doesn't have a true clean channel, it has a processed clean that has a significant roll off on the high end, and the dirty channel is supposed to cover the upper register of your tone completely. It also has a bit of a baked in tone to the high end that is always there, you either like it or you don't.
The Sheehan Ultimate has a 100% clean channel, and then a separate drive channel you blend in. The YYZ has EQ, the Sheehan has the loop feature and a good usable compressor built in.
overall, the Sheehan pedal worked better for me, and that's what I still have. I use it as a super subtle drive with the drive knob at a near minimum level, and the drive channel only loud enough to change the character of the midrange on the clean channel ever so slightly. It's my favorite dirt sound since I first jumped into the whole pedal black hole all those years ago, right along with the Lomenzo Hyperdrive which is nearly the same circuit but has a much clunkier form factor. I digress, but that's my opinion on both boxes. Feel free to ask any questions if you want more detail
The YYZ doesn't have a true clean channel, it has a processed clean that has a significant roll off on the high end, and the dirty channel is supposed to cover the upper register of your tone completely. It also has a bit of a baked in tone to the high end that is always there, you either like it or you don't.
The Sheehan Ultimate has a 100% clean channel, and then a separate drive channel you blend in. The YYZ has EQ, the Sheehan has the loop feature and a good usable compressor built in.
overall, the Sheehan pedal worked better for me, and that's what I still have. I use it as a super subtle drive with the drive knob at a near minimum level, and the drive channel only loud enough to change the character of the midrange on the clean channel ever so slightly. It's my favorite dirt sound since I first jumped into the whole pedal black hole all those years ago, right along with the Lomenzo Hyperdrive which is nearly the same circuit but has a much clunkier form factor. I digress, but that's my opinion on both boxes. Feel free to ask any questions if you want more detail
Having owned both, I believe the Sheehan is the more 'pure' clean/dirt blend pedal - if that's what you are looking to learn from this thread.
Thanks for the responses. It sounds like the Sheehan is more what I'm looking for.
I've owned both! They both sound great, but have different voices for sure.
The YYZ doesn't have a true clean channel, it has a processed clean that has a significant roll off on the high end, and the dirty channel is supposed to cover the upper register of your tone completely. It also has a bit of a baked in tone to the high end that is always there, you either like it or you don't.
The Sheehan Ultimate has a 100% clean channel, and then a separate drive channel you blend in. The YYZ has EQ, the Sheehan has the loop feature and a good usable compressor built in.
overall, the Sheehan pedal worked better for me, and that's what I still have. I use it as a super subtle drive with the drive knob at a near minimum level, and the drive channel only loud enough to change the character of the midrange on the clean channel ever so slightly. It's my favorite dirt sound since I first jumped into the whole pedal black hole all those years ago, right along with the Lomenzo Hyperdrive which is nearly the same circuit but has a much clunkier form factor. I digress, but that's my opinion on both boxes. Feel free to ask any questions if you want more detail
Do you find the boost on the EBS usable? I was wondering about using it as a subtle drive, and am wondering if the boost could make it a subtle and moderate drive all in one.
I recently bought a YYZ, but don't really like how affected the clean side sound. I'm realizing i want a more pure drive pedal rather than a drive/preamp combo.
Yes you can use it like that. There is also an internal control to turn the boost higher.
Just got it yesterday, the Sheehan pedal is amazing! The compressor has good settings for my playstyle on "high", though I plan to keep using the EHX White Finger as well due to its great "transparent color" (adds "fatness" without altering your bass tone too much-it's really nice for my needs.) The drive really has that "Sheehan sound" in it naturally, though you can use it very subtly as needed.
Tech21 does great stuff, though. I used the SH-1 after the Sheehan pedal and it was truly amazing! Though in that case, the "bite" button can be too much. The cab emulation, however, works wonders with the Sheehan pedal. Big, deep, and defined tone.
Haven't used it much yet, but love the Ultimate Drive pedal for *sure*-a portable mini-rig of sorts.
Tech21 does great stuff, though. I used the SH-1 after the Sheehan pedal and it was truly amazing! Though in that case, the "bite" button can be too much. The cab emulation, however, works wonders with the Sheehan pedal. Big, deep, and defined tone.
Haven't used it much yet, but love the Ultimate Drive pedal for *sure*-a portable mini-rig of sorts.
I use the Tech 21 dUg pedal and the YYZ together as a preamp combination for my semi clean sound. I use the low and hi end of the dUg and the mids from the YYZ. The drives are set around 9/10 O'clock for a little harmonic overtone. My main overdrives are the Billy Sheehan and the Bearfoot Blueberry. They both sound excellent in their roles as low and mid gain pedals.
It should be noted that the EQ is only for the drive side. It has no effect on the clean tones and, as mentioned, only the lower end is clean. All of your top end must come from the drive section.
Hi, do you still use the Sheehan pedal? I plan to use it exactly the same way as you explained...
