hey,
i'm thinking about going for an overdrive, and i was curious what your preferences would be. which would you choose of the following:
klon centaur,
menatone red snapper, or
mjm blues devil?
based on price, i'd go with the blues devil, but i'd like some input on this. thanks!

Three words...... MJM BLUES DEVIL

I haven’t used any of those pedals, but if you can be more specific regarding what you’re looking for (and your price range) I might give you some other suggestions.
Either way, you’ll get some good advice here.

Justin, I played a lot of different overdrives 'til now. My favourite right now is the Fulldrive 2. If you're on a budget (and I don't think so, since you consider the Kon) give the original Marshall Bluesbreaker (the black one) a try. Sound great, especially through Fender and Mesa Boogie amps. Sounds very similar to the Fulldrive and in my ears better than an original Tube Screamer (too much mids for me). The Klon is in my opinion way overpriced. I tried it in a shop along with the Fulldrive and the Red Snapper. While the Red Snapper is maybe the best "Non TS808 - TS 808", the Klon was nice for clean boost, but not so good with the gain up. I went for the Fulldrive (very natural sounding).

If you dig the TS808, you can't go wrong with the Blues Devil. My Fulldrive 2 sounds too compressed compared to the Blues Devil...and if you dig that SRV sound this one will really get you closer to that tone and is a lot cheaper than everything else.

thanks for the replies- i should have been more specific, i know. i didn't like the fulldrive when i tried it- it sounds too compressed for me. i'm the kind of guy who wants to do it right, so the price isn't that big of an issue, but i want something that's natural sounding and warm. i'm a blues player, and i play through fender amps- mainly a vibrolux and a two-tone.

Another vote for the Blues Devil! It works excellent on any amp. You can compare this to a glassy tone as one guy mentioned somewhere.

Hi,I and several other players I know have the Maxon OD808 reissue.I compared it to a Klon since I know two people that own one.The Maxon actually sounded similar but better in ways.I recently ran my Marshall 50watt plexi wide open with the OD808 and I got a very close Band Of Gypsys tone.I also clicked the pedal off and I noticed no signal loss.This pedal sounds like you are just cranking the amp,and has great sustain as well.

I vote for the Blues Devil it's a very non compressed transparent OD and Michael is great to deal with.

Not in your mentioned one, but still my favorite when it comes to overdrive, especially for blues.

Vox valvetone

Discontinued, but worth looking for, it's true bypass, and it doesn't eat battery. Tho it can also be powered if you use a power supply. It's been compared to the Klon, the TS, FD2, and a few others, check teh reviews at harmonycentral on it.

why is it that people either swear by klons or absolutely hate them and say they're overhyped trash? and the same thing goes for bill finnegan- people either say he's the greatest or say he has the world's biggest attitude problem. i can find little to no info on menatone shtuff, and i can find only good feedback for the blues devil. hmmm... looks like i might be narrowing in on a decision. but i'm still curious...

I understand the Blues Devil is great for the SRV sound, but I haven’t played with one.
Since you don’t like the Fulldrive because it sounds compressed I guess you can also eliminate the Reverend Drivetrain. Although no one has mentioned it, it is a great overdrive, but does sound a bit compressed. I really like it, but this is all very subjective.
Before you narrow it down, here are more options :
H&K Tube Factor
SIB Varidrive
Blue Balls (although it sounds a bit dark with my setup, and I have to put the tone almost all the way up)
Even though you mention that money is not an issue, there are some good cheap overdrives (Nobels, Boss SD-1).

I would suggest checking out the Blackstone.... It is extremely natural and dynamic with no tone coloration!!!

www.mindspring.com/~j.blackstone/

Justin, since you don't liked the Fulldrive (it's too compressed even in the uncompressed mode?), you won't even like the Red Snapper, since they both are variations of the Tube Screamer - idea. The Bluesbreaker from Marshall I mentioned is similar to a TS-style box, but has a little less distortion and is less compressed, plus it is great for volume-boost (a lot maor than a TS...).

Another one to consider is the Siegmund micro-tube. Does amazing things from subltle boost to overdrive to distortion when really pushed, can make a little clean amp sound like a big strong growler. I use it all the time since I got it two months ago (partly based on toyz raves) and will never part with it.

thanks, nani68 (and everyone else, too)- yeah, i didn't like the sound files on the red snapper either. i guess i was going on hype or something. i don't know exactly what it was about the fulldrive- i just couldn't get into it. and i'm absolutely fanatical about fulltone pedals, but i didn't dig the fulldrive. thanks for all the advice!

quote:

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Originally posted by rickbob:
Another one to consider is the Siegmund micro-tube. Does amazing things from subltle boost to overdrive to distortion when really pushed, can make a little clean amp sound like a big strong growler. I use it all the time since I got it two months ago (partly based on toyz raves) and will never part with it.

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rickbob, how much gain can you get out of the siegmund? I've been toying between that and an SIB varidrive, and can't try either locally. Other reveiews have said the siegmund can't do much gain, but the sound clip seem to have quite a bit.

I have the blues devil and use it to just beef up my rythmn as if my amps are going to 11 or 15 even. It is really great for leads obviously as well but I use a MJM Foxey Fuzz for that. It's really great to just give your natural guitar/amp tone that extra shove without any added compression or tone colouring. This has a little bit more gain as well as an 808

QyeTyme i'd say the Siegmund emphasizes warmth and clarity over real high gain. It is a very strong and singing gain/overdrive and it can push hard ie the 30-50 dB boost. I've not played other tube boost or tube distortion boxes but it is a great one. For super high gain in a tube pedal i'd imagine one would need one of those two-tube boxes that cost even more just like a cascading gain stage amp with many preamp tubes. Toyz commented actually how the Siegmund is really built like an amp, btw. Great overdrive, great crunch, very sweet gain all very huge and transparent too is my overall description...