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Topic: Put a little hair on it... |
Barry Anderson
From:
Nevada City, California, USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2020 12:40 pm |
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The Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker is, as advertised, a lot like "sticking an extra preamp tube in your amplifier for more overdrive."
https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/speaker-cranker
My number one complaint about most drive pedals is that they sound like the pedal. Or all the bottom end drops out. Not so with the cranker. Still sounds like your fundamental tone. Just with more hair.
Also, I'm a sucker for a one-knob device. |
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Steve Sycamore
From:
Sweden
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Peter Leavenworth
From:
Madbury, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2020 4:46 am put a little hair on it
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While I keep my PS clean I really like using the Sarno Earth Drive with a Jangle Box compressor on my old Supro 6-string lap steel in G tuning. Produces very adjustable breakup with nearly infinite sustain that keeps solos clear and searing. On hard rock tunes, using a three-string grip on 6-4-3 with muting, it sounds a lot like a regular guitar but for instrumental breaks - clearly not.
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2008 Zum D-10, 1996 Mullens PRP D-10, 1974 Emmons D-10, 1976 Emmons D-10, early 70s Emmons GS-10, Milkman Sideman head w/Telonics 15" speaker, 1966 Fender Super Reverb, 1970 Fender Dual Showman head, Wechter/Scheerhorn and Beard Dobros, 1962 Supro lap steels, Gibson 1939 RB-11 banjo, Gibson 1978 RB-250
banjo......and way too much more |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 16 Jan 2020 5:46 pm
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| Jon Light wrote: |
I'm digging this pedal at the front of the chain. I was looking for a compressor (which is what this is, first and foremost) that was small enough to shoehorn onto a packed board. And now I'm liking the grit that can be completely dialed out or can be added so that you barely even notice it until you realize that there's a bit of hair or sometimes a sub-octave following you. I've got other stuff on the board for when I want bigger impact but this is cooler than I expected.
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FYI, Musicians Friend has these today on Stupid Deal of the Hour for cheap ($69). I wound up with two of these on a similar deal and definitely find it useful for pedal steel, as well as guitar. I like the facts that it is a pretty good compressor with a true blend of wet and dry, it has a decent germanium distortion, and it's a half-pedal format so it does double duty in a small space on a real small pedal board. The regular price comes up on the main page, but if you put it in the cart, the stupid price is still good, probably works for a while this evening yet. |
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Chris Willingham
From:
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Posted 17 Jan 2020 3:16 pm
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Earth drive for me. Great on its own and really nice with a phaser too.
_________________
Fiddle, banjo and steel for Tennessee Jet, Blaine Bailey
2021 MSA Legend XL Signature S10 5X6 brown burst
Beard Josh Swift Sig, the purple one
Lap King Rodeo
p2p Bad Dawg 1x12, Quilter TT12 and a bunch of fiddles |
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Adam Tracksler
From:
Maine, USA
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Posted 17 Jan 2020 4:22 pm
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| I love the benson preamp pedal. It’s got an incredible sound, very organic, and the gain is beautiful. |
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Asa Brosius
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Posted 17 Jan 2020 4:23 pm
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| I've been through a bunch, and the keepers are the earth drive, jrocket blue note tour, and voodoo labs sparkle drive. The latter two have blend knobs, and although they work differently the idea is to blend the overdrive into the clean signal- I wish all pedals had that function. These are all in the transparent overdrive category- tomes are written about that category in 6 string guitar land- the idea being you like your amp sound and don't want to add 'character', (just a slightly overdriven tube quality without the volume required from a tube amp. All are capable of subtle to full on metal range, especially with high output pickups. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2020 9:46 am
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| You mentioned multi-fx units. I’ve been using a Boss GT10 for a thousand years now. The “Natural†overdrive selection in the unit does exactly what you are talking about. Very little tone coloration with just a touch of crunch at around 9 o’clock. The “fizz†can be dialed out with post eq. Also has a blend control to add as much direct signal as you want. |
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Thomas Stone
From:
San Francisco
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Posted 18 Jan 2020 4:30 pm
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| The thing that has always driven me crazy about overdrive pedals is that I can dial one in so it sounds perfect with single note lines, but then if I play a dyad or, still worse, a triad, it sounds like garbled trash. Never have found the solution to that, but I'm still searching... |
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Ronald Ballister
From:
New York, New York, USA
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Posted 4 Feb 2020 6:09 am
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
I like a little hair on everything. Sometimes it’s a Fuzz Face to thicken things up, not much gain, other times just enough to sound like my Twin being pushed hard. Even clean stuff for me usually has a little peachfuzz to give it some more character.
If you were to solo Lloyd Green’s or Buddy’s studio tracks, you’d hear a good amount of push. It’s what makes it cut through and growl. |
I've seen you a couple of times Mike (I live in New York City). This is a very interesting comment I've never thought about. I used to think Lloyd's and Buddy's tone was as clean as a whistle. |
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Tommy Shown
From:
Denham Springs, La.
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Posted 5 Feb 2020 1:27 pm
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| In my humble opinion, I really don't care for using distortion. Reverb and delay used? Yes but, in moderation. Distortion in my opinion ruins the tone and the sound of this beautiful instrument. |
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Steve Sycamore
From:
Sweden
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Posted 6 Feb 2020 1:24 am
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| Thomas Stone wrote: |
| The thing that has always driven me crazy about overdrive pedals is that I can dial one in so it sounds perfect with single note lines, but then if I play a dyad or, still worse, a triad, it sounds like garbled trash. Never have found the solution to that, but I'm still searching... |
That's the reason that hard rock and metal guitarists play primary chords with 4th's and 5th's as those intervals don't create intense dissonance when heavily distorted.
You should choose an overdrive that adds only odd harmonics to the signal. Even harmonics themselves are beautifully sweet but in such a circuit new overtones are created that are not harmonically related to the original signal. That's what generates the harsh noise and fizz.
The Wampler Dual Fusion overdrive might be a good choice. It is a bit more expensive but tends to give you nicer separation of chord tones. But probably the best thing about it is that it is very transparent and responsive to dynamics. It is actually 2 distortion effects in one box.
https://www.wamplerpedals.com/products/distortion-overdrive/tom-quayle-dual-fusion/ |
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Rene Brosseau
From:
Chatham,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 6 Feb 2020 5:26 pm try this
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Have you tried the Boss tone? volume knob way up & effects knob barely on...plus it's right on your guitar. Good luck!
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Franklin #130, Melobar Skreemer, Wechter Scheerhorn Resonator, Nashville 112, Boss DD 3 &/or Profex II |
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