I get why people like OD pedals

Gear & Tools Talk šŸ”Š Amplification & Effects
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I tried a Klone-type OD pedal (Sugar Drive) in a store and enjoyed it.

The amp was set up fairly clean when I played rhythm parts of songs I like, then I stepped on the OD with both the gain and volume around 1ā€™o clock. It sounded awesome to me.

I understand why people like OD pedals now.

I was surprised because I used the klone-type pedal unconventionally. A sales person at the store said people usually turn off the gain on these, but I got quite some gain from it and enjoyed playing it.

The tone knob had been replaced with an ugly, small, white one and I got the pedal for 45$.

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Looks like you found a sweet spot for you! and for a good price ^^.
Knobs are easy to replace :smiley:

Usually thatā€™s the point where you still have a good definition but the character of the OD starts to grease up the tone.

That with a little reverb is my go-to thing for electric tones where I sing over.

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Theyā€™re a lot of fun! I have a Klone pedal, tooā€”a really cheap one I got on Amazonā€”as well as a Boss BD2 Blues Driver. I use the BD2 as a clean boost, like what your salesperson described. For me it shapes my tone a bit and adds just a little bit of dirt that I think sounds good so I leave it on pretty much all the time. Then the Klone adds more overdrive when I want it. Itā€™s a lot of fun to play with them alone or in combination.

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Allrightā€¦ i feel a gas attack coming upā€¦ :laughing:

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My friend has a nobels ODR Mini v2 which he is willing to part with if I exchange my Klone with him. I am gonna try it out at his place on the weekend.

He said he prefers the Klone because he plays in a band, and the circuit ā€œcuts through the mix well,ā€ whereas his Nobels v2 is a ā€œsubtle OD intended for bedroom and recording usage but not for gigging unless paired with an EQ.ā€

He told me even if I will like the Nobels, ā€œyou will end up getting a klone or a tubescreamer clone if and when you start playing live more often.ā€

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So I visited my friend and checked out some OD pedals he had.

I exchanged my Klone clone for an EHX Crayon. Just fell in love with it. The footswitch is stiff on this one though.

I have decided to practice more and not buy any pedals or amp for the next few months.

Thank you for encouraging me.

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^^
This for the win! Iā€™m thinking tone is in the fingers. :wink:
imho.

How many are ya up to? Pedals, and amps?

Glad yer happy with yer new OD pedal. Have a lot of fun with it.

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Pedals so far: TU-2> EHX Crayon > RC-1

Amps: 1 solid state amp

If I consistently practice upto Xmas, I have decided to reward myself by buying either

  1. A small tube amp (1 to 5 Watts) OR

  2. A Squier Telecaster OR

  3. RV-6/ CE-5/ DD-8 pedal for adding some ā€œspiceā€

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Yep. My amp can get plenty dirty on its own, but I like to play with clean tones a lot and only add a little crunch here and there. That kind of thing is definitely what the pedal is for.

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This sounds like a good motivator to me.
You do have a little room to grow perhaps. (Thatā€™s coming from someone who has 4 amps, 4 1/2 guitars, and 2 pedals. yeah, I got more pedals, but they are not in use)
And your list looks like a great place to grow too.
Myself, Iā€™d concentrate on item one for sure.
Having a good amp, that sounds good all by itself, is a great way to motivate your desire to play. Least it worked that way for me. Consider that a amp is ā€˜whatā€™ your hearing. A great, expensive guitar, played through a crummy amp, will sound like a crummy amp. A low dollar guitar will sound steller played into a great amp. Just food for thought for your Christmas present. :wink:
Personally, Iā€™d bump up the 1-5W to 15W + or -. But thatā€™s me. 15W will be too loud, but there are ways to control the vol. Like vol. controls on amps and/or guitars. Or even some pedals have vol. control. :wink:
Yer gonna have to tame the volume on a 1-5W tube amp too. So might as well have a little extra for when ya feel like really getting down!

Seems like ya got a great plan to me.
Have fun playing with your new pedals between now and Christmas. :wink: You have much to look forward to.

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Thank you.

My specific plans will be

  1. Either buying a Squier Classic Vibe Tele OR
  2. Boss CE-5/ RV-6/ DD-8 to add some spice OR
  3. Buying a tube amp which wonā€™t require biasing before installing tubes in the future.

While I know and would prefer buying a tube amp to a guitar or a pedal, I saw my friend replacing tubes in his amp. He told me he does that every year. He has a small collection of them, and also some electronic equipment, so that he could ā€œbiasā€ the tubes before installing them. It seemed like a fairly difficult technical procedure.

I love tube amps but I am scared of my amp falling and the internal glass tubes getting damaged when I travel using public transportation. My solid state amp had fallen once from a bus accidentally as I was off-boarding it, but there was not much damage to it at all.

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Playing with tone is good. Carry on.

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imho, unless your playing your tube amp all the time, it may not need to have tubes replaced once a year.
Two of my amps are tube amps. One I got new, one used.
The used one is now 4 or 5 years old. I replaced the tubes when I got it. Itā€™s one of the ones that is self biasing. So pretty easy to just R&R them. Plus, thereā€™s only 2 tubes so didnā€™t break my bank account. Them tubes are still in use 4-5 years later.
The other amp is 3 years old. I got that one new. Iā€™ve not replaced the tubes in it. It sounds fine and performs as I think it should.
I have considered, and may take both to the shop for inspection though. As I am aware that tube amps do require periodic service. Bad part for me is, the shop is 50 miles out.

Since Iā€™ve never bias my one amp, I donā€™t know, but I thought ya biased tubes after they were installed in the amp. Each tube is slightly different so ya need to set the bias after ea. tube replacement. I could be wrong of course.

I think ya need to know where to check voltage at inside the amp. If ya know that, it donā€™t look so hard to do, if ya know how to do it and have the proper tools. And, what not to touch while the amp is live. Thereā€™s 420vdc round abouts when a tube amp is in operation. Touch the wrong thing when itā€™s live, and ya die. So ya need to be aware of whatā€™s happening so as not to hurt yourself. I donā€™t know enough so feel itā€™d be best for me to spend money and have a electronic specialist do the work safely, and properly.

Thatā€™d be a good consideration. I donā€™t think tube amps like to be dropped.
Solid state are much more robust it seems. One of my solid state amps has a dented corner. No idea how it happened, but it musta took a pretty good hit to dent the corner of it.
I did have to service that amp, but it had nothing to do with the damage to the cab. It had a broken pot that I personally broke trying to get the knob off of it. My error.

There are some pretty good sounding solid state amps out there imho. Iā€™d surely consider them roland jc amps. Or, Iā€™m more than satisfied with my peavey transtube bandits. They outright sound good to me. Not as good as the tube amps, but pretty darn close. Close enough that I play them all the time.
fwiw. I rotate through my amps. Today I play this one, tomorrow, that one. I think solid state has itā€™s place for short play periods too. If Iā€™m likely to play for 5-15min or the likes. Iā€™ll use a solid state amp so as to not be turning on and off a tube amp.

Anyways, yaā€™ve got time. Itā€™s on your side. Use this time to do much research as to where ya wanna go. Amp, guitar, pedals. I did the same as your doing. I spent many months doing research in where I wanted to go, before spending any of my dough. fwiw, I also didnā€™t land where I thought I would have. This was after I played some different gear at the music store and experienced them. Ya may wanna head off to your local music store and give some gear your thinking about a try, see if it really is what your wanting to acquire. Ya may end up in a different place than you think you will. I did. :wink:

Have fun in your adventure! Turn up the OD pedal. :slight_smile:

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I donā€™t know about biasing or whether my friend did it before or after installing tubes. Just saw him do it.

Yup, I have noted everyoneā€™s suggestions. Thanks a lot.