Put a little hair on it...

[Dom Franco]

I have my Jazz, Western Swing, and Hawaiian Steel Guitar sounds all dialed in, and I'm very happy with my various amps and speakers, But when it comes to playing some rock and country rock tunes I know my tone is just too "Clean"

What pedal/effects do you guys use to get a little overdrive or slight tube warmth without too much breakup?

I have tried many pedals and multi-effects units, but they all seem to get too much distortion even at the lowest drive settings.

Thanks
Dom

[Steve Lipsey]

After many years - and pedals - I like the Earth Drive, really sounds organic, like a pushed tube amp, and even more, the Zendrive, which is a Dumble-Like pedal that Dumble owners use when they can't bring their amps with them...it is a violin-like pure sustain with the gain at about 10 o'clock,, not a grungy overdrive...I was trying to emulate Ben Harper's tone on his signature Dumble Amp and Asher Ben Harper model (one of which which I was playing at the time, now switched to Clinesmith Frypan and Oahu Diana).

[Gene Tani]

I like the TC spark clean boosters, both 4 knob and the (cheap) 1 knob versions but recently I've had a couple TC footswitches go bad and not respond to deoxit. So that's one pedal I would get extended warranty on. Supposedly if the logo has the baseball in it, that's one of the recent Behringer output.

[Garry Vanderlinde]

I have tried many pedals and multi-effects units, but they all seem to get too much distortion even at the lowest drive settings.

Have you tried the Maxon OD-9? It's an overdrive not a distortion. Sort of old school, true bypass. Rock ON!

[Steve Lipsey]

Yeah, I sometimes use the TC Spark booster also, but now all my steels have volume controls, and I sometimes have a volume pedal in the chain, so no need...

[Bob Watson]

Check out a Tone City Bad Horse overdrive pedal. Its a clone of the infamous Klon overdrive pedal from the 1990's. It is the only overdrive pedal I've ever owned that I will play thirds on. You can use it as a boost pedal when you have the Gain down, and it will get a mild distortion sound when the Gain is all the way up. I use it with the Gain anywhere from 10 O'clock to perhaps 2 O'clock to get a Bluesy sound from my steel guitar. It is a very transparent sounding overdrive pedal, meaning that it keeps the integral sound of the amp you are using. I like it on regular 6 string guitar too. They are also very reasonably priced! https://www.riffcityguitaroutlet.com/pr ... nkQAvD_BwE

[Jack Hanson]

Have you considered using two separate amps and an A-B-Y switch? Using your regular amp and a small tube amp dimed, such as a Champ, Musicmaster Bass or something on that order? Works for me.

[Noah Miller]

You may want to check out the Xotic RC Boost. The current version has an extra boost for more clipping, but with the boost switched off you can get down to really low clipping levels.

[Dom Franco]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am looking forward to trying out several of these in the next few weeks.

I love taking my 13 string lap steel into music stores to try out new gear. It gets a lot of attention and many compliments from sales people and customers.

I am looking for something that goes from completely clean and transparent (no effect) to a mildly overdriven warmth during solos.

[Frank James Pracher]

One of my favorites is one I built that's based on the Way Huge Red Llama... Mine is modded slightly but the stock circuit works well. Keep the gain all the way down or just opened up a bit... adds some dirt but you can still play complex chords. Works great for adding a bit of warmth and grit to solid state amps..
Another to try if you can is the Electro Harmonix Hot Tubes.. I had an original but it was reissued awhile back. Similar to the Red Llama..

[Peter Jacobs]

Hey, Dom - I usually rely on amp gain for some edge of breakup tone, but I also use a Timmy pedal for some extra oomph in that department. It is known for being transparent, making it a great clean boost with tone knobs (bass-treble) when the gain knob is down. The gain is not over the top, but sounds great in the rock and blues stuff I do with my band, or even solo.

Otherwise, something with more mids can give you a great rock sound -- a TS9 (might have too much midrange for you), a Klon-inspired drive, or the Barber Gain Changer could do the trick. Might be hard to find some of these at your local Guitar Center, though (except the TS9, of course).

[Mike Neer]

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.

[Roman Sonnleitner]

The Barber LTD and Gain Changer are really good at edge of breakup tones; for a slightly darker, "older" sounding tone, the TC MojoMojo also works well.
My favorite pedal for getting that pushed amp tone right between clean and dirty, I love the "Saturation" side of the Strymon Deco, it's better at that than any dedicated overdrive I ever tried, but it might be a bit pricey if you're only getting it as an OD pedal (it IS the best slapback echo I ever tried, too, though - so if you also need slapback along with OD, this pedal is perfect!)

[Brad Bechtel]

Moved to Electronics.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

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.

[Tom Gorr]

Good suggestion Jon.. gonna check one of those out for myself.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

Be aware that as a compressor, it is something of a tone darkener. Kills some highs. It could use a tone control to add back some of the sparkle. But then it wouldn't be a micro unit which is why I got it in the first place. If/when that is an issue for me, like when I want pure country steel, I just turn it off. There are better compressors for 'always on' signal conditioning.

[Charley Paul]

Check out the Strymon Deco. It’s got two buttons.....the foot switch on the right can be used to get everything from chorus sounds, to a slap back echo, to a delay line. The right side simulates the saturation of a reel to reel tape deck. In my experience this saturation makes the absolute perfect overdrive for steel...warm, thick, but still present and articulate.

[Nic Neufeld]

I don't usually put a lot of "hair" on my tone especially when I'm playing a lot of chordal stuff (think Barney Isaacs vs Santo Farina). Tubey warmth welcome of course, but the more notes ringing out in harmony, the more clarity I want.

Just for grins though the other day, using PodFarm amp sim software like I use for recordings, I made a rig I called my "Megan Lovell" patch, basically a TubeScreamer and analog echo into a Fender Deluxe, just to try myself out at playing in rock and blues styles. It works nicely for that (I have to get my brain back into rock mode though) but really only good for single notes, maybe fifths. Playing a 9th chord, haha, no way. So as long as I adjust my playing to work in that style, yeah, a bit of gain is welcome.

For my nonvirtual rig, what I'd likely do is use my '99 Fulltone Bass Drive, basically an "extra low end" version of his flagship Full Drive that I bought back in the day for my four string rickenbacker. I've used it a lot for my six string guitars too, and I'm sure it would do fine with the steels...just a nice, mellow overdrive without too much colouration of tone, and having the two stages available is nice.

[John Macy]

I love the NutraDrive that Sage Benado makes. Another under the radar unit is the Nobles Natural Overdrive, perfect for what you are looking for. I work with a lot of session guys and see this one often. I always have one with me .

[Dom Franco]

All these choices are confirming what I suspected.

There are just too many overdrive/boost pedals out there!

It would take a lifetime to try them all out...

[Bob Hoffnar]

Earth drive works for me in the situation you are describing.

[Paddy Long]

I use my Sarno Earth Drive quite a bit -- mostly because it doesn't break up too much ...and also the Benado Nutradrive in my PF Steel dream is pretty cool too - quite creamy without breaking up too much -- so what your playing is a bit more defined !
I run both of them before the VP !

[Mike Bacciarini]

I use an Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini that I built into my lap steel. Even dialled down all the way, it's more than "a little hair" or warmth, but for my purposes it's perfect.

[Charlie Thompson]

+1 Earth Drive