Here's a purely selfish post:

I've got a Barber LTD (which I love) and a Rust Driver (which I want to replace).

What are your nominees for best medium (and occasionally high) gain overdrive? I really only have room on my board for a couple of overdrives (the LTD is kind of wide).

I use a three-amp setup--two solid state JC-120's in stereo, and a tube amp in the middle (currently a Soldano, but I'm buying a Z). The only pedal I use w/the tube amp is a clean boost, to get the amp's overdriven sound. So the OD I buy will be used into the Roland amps.

I'm looking at these, though I'm way open to suggestion:

Texas Two Step
Zinky True Grit
Mosferatu
TBIC
Dyna Red
COT
?

If you could only have two OD's and one of them was an LTD, what would you pick for the other?

Hmmm well probably the Mos or the Dyna, also consider the Barber Burn Unit.....

Wow 2 120s ?!?! Thats my kind of stereo....

What kind of music do you play, are you wanting something for crunchy rhythyms or singing leads or both??

Both, really. We play about 25% country, 25% new/alternative and 50% classic rock, so I'm looking for something that can cover AC/DC to Fuel.

I don't want the scooped "metal" sound, though. The JC-120's are so bright that they can be harsh with anything too sizzly. I like smooth and rich, ala Gibbons or May.

BTW, the three-amp setup is, for me, worth the extra lugging. My Parker Fly has a Fishman Piezo in it, and nothing compares to the sound of the magnetic pickups running through compression and delay into two JC-120's with the choruses on, and the clean acoustic sound coming back through my monitor.

Side note: DonneR, I painted a couple of pedals this weekend in your honor. If I get time today, I'll post photos.

Side Note: DonneR, your honor..or is that Your honor, DonneR

Good choices, Mongoose---here's my .02

NVN Dino Drive--sort of a "Distortion w/some fuzz characteristics", mine is getting a ton of use live.

Modded DS-1--Don't laugh, a good one (Analogman/Keely/Backstepper) is worth it's weight in gold.

SD-9 Sonic Distortion...

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Side Note: DonneR, your honor..or is that Your honor, DonneR

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Or is that "your on her"

The Barber DDSS might be a good choice and is not harsh at all.

YEah Id love to see them, Ive been able to do quite a bit of painting the last couple of weeks....big fun, very relaxing......

Yeah those Parker acoustic sounds are amazing, the last Bass gig I did the guitar player had that same setup and it was scary good, tho he ran thru the PA....

Yeah your gonna need something fairly hairless, I was going to say the Dyna with treble down since youll need some sing, but if your going to have compression already there the Mosferatu might be smoother , and the Burn Unit would match well with the LTD I think... tho if the Tube amp has a fair amount of mid chunk you might want something flatter to blend with it and let the tube amp do the singing and barking.....

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Originally posted by Williebudda:


SD-9 Sonic Distortion...

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Ibanez, or Maxon?

I have an LTD and a mini-Mosferatu, and it's a good combo. I set the LTD for light gain (duh) and the Mos for medium gain (duh) and stack them for high gain. If you want a medium/high gain rhythm pedal, then the Mos may not do it for you. I find it mainly useful as a lead pedal. For high gain rhythm work I use a Sansamp GT2.

DDSS..I love this pedal..I run mine through a Dr. Z...

Texas Two Step
Mosferatu
Dyna Red
COT
Barber DD SS, TP EQ or Burn Unit EQ
ZIM
Keeley modded Rat II or BD-2 Phat

The Pedalworx Tour Pro I used to have covered that ground nicely. It was the original "open" sounding TP before George started installing the toggle for compression selections. Nice smooth grind with a touch of clean signal in there.

tonebone classic

liquid Sunshine!

Liquid Sunshine into a SS amp??!! Seems to me that wouldn't work so well. It sounds great with my tube amps, but I bet it would be terrible in to a Jazz Chorus. In fact, I bet many of the pedals mentioned will sound horrible through a JC-120. How many designers take the SS amp into the equazion for a good sounding pedal?? I bet it's gotta be nearly none. Much of the pedals sound, is how it blends with the amp/tubes. With a SS amp, there isn't the same affect.

I honestly can't suggest any pedals, since everything I've tried has been through a tube amp. I think it would be unfair to tell you that pedal X is great, because it may not be a good match for your amps. If the LTD seems to work for you, maybe try some of Barber's other pedals?? I'd be interested in hearing what you do find though.

Head

i have to agree in part with Headshot. when i was using my solid state setup, i went through many, many pedals, and spoke with many builders who told me that their pedals really don't work too well, or at all, with solid state stuff.

the three that seemed best suited were the Sans Amp GT2 or Classic, the Bad Bob (though consider a boost, does a nice crunch at higher settings), and a Keeley (or other) modded Boss BD2 Blues Driver.

of those i went with the Bad Bob for boost and a "bit" of crunch, and the BD2 for crunch and overdrive. the modded BD2 worked especially well with the different solid state amps i tried, and was a pleasent surprise to say the least.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Headshot:
I bet many of the pedals mentioned will sound horrible through a JC-120. .

Now that I think about it, I have to agree with Head..a buddy of mine is probably one of the top 5 best guitar players in Ohio and he plays through a JC-120 and he uses Boss pedals..A DS-1,,2 DD-3's,,CE-5,,Rv-3 and Fulltone Clyde..His tone is very very good...Try a DS-1 or an OS-2..

No mention of the MJM Blues Devil?

Contact Headshot and get one of his modded DS-1's and call it a day. That is a great sounding pedal and a keeper for me. I think of all the peds mentioned, the modded DS-1 is likely to be one of the best performers into a solid state amp. Headshot's DS-1 pushed the Keeley modded DS-1 off my board - it has more tonal options.

To my ears, most med-hi gain overdrives sound pretty bad through SS amps, but a while ago I heard a guy play through a JC-120 with a Blackstone Mosfet overdrive with lots of gain. The tone was amazing, sounded like tubes to me, but there were none.