Question:
Does an OD/Disortion pedal work by creating its own distortion or does it work by overdriving the preamp of the guitar amp into distortion. The reason I ask is because I am looking for something to put in front of my Zoom A2 for some slight overdrive to go with the tube amp emulation. Anyone else use light OD/distortion with their acoustic?
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I think it creates it's own, because you can run it direct into, say, a computer, and it will distort the signal.
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It really varies from pedal to pedal. Alot of overdrive pedals do some level of clipping, but they can be set up to do a minimal amount of their own gain clipping and alot of gain boosting which will OD the amp. This was how I had the J-side of my Jekyll and Hyde (the TS clone side) set up to barely saturate the clean channel of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
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Any suggestions on what pedal would work best for some mild distortion in front of my multi-effects unit? Budget would be under $50 used.
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Originally Posted by presbystrat Any suggestions on what pedal would work best for some mild distortion in front of my multi-effects unit? Budget would be under $50 used. something simple like a BOSS SD-1 or Digitech Bad Monkey might fit the bill perfectly.
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Originally Posted by thesteve something simple like a BOSS SD-1 or Digitech Bad Monkey might fit the bill perfectly. Seconded - on the Bad Monkey anyway, I think it has a fuller tone than the Boss and I know it works well in front of processors as I've run mine in front of my old DOD processor, but haven't tried it in front of my xtl
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Third for the BM. Great natural tube sounding overdrive. Retains the guitar's tone really well.
BTW, I'm selling one. Check the link in my sig
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4th on the Bad Monkey. They are getting great reviews, even from guys who use "boutique" OD pedals. I have one; IMO its a great pedal and only $40. For transparent tone, set its treble control all or most of the way up, and the bass control about 3/4 up. With the bass and treble set in the middle, it has the mid-heavy tone like a Tubescreamer, in case you like that.
As far as your question how do they work, I believe that most OD pedals do both - create their own distortion and also boost the signal. The gain control (may be called something else) at low settings should be a fairly clean signal, the level/boost control (or whatever its called) controls the amount of boost that will overdrive the amp. For example, the Bad Monkey with the gain set at 0, the level control set high, will act like a clean boost. With the level control set for no boost, and the gain set up high, it just adds its own distortion and does not drive your amp harder.
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Originally Posted by Major Tom As far as your question how do they work, I believe that most OD pedals do both - create their own distortion and also boost the signal. The gain control (may be called something else) at low settings should be a fairly clean signal, the level/boost control (or whatever its called) controls the amount of boost that will overdrive the amp. For example, the Bad Monkey with the gain set at 0, the level control set high, will act like a clean boost. With the level control set for no boost, and the gain set up high, it just adds its own distortion and does not drive your amp harder.
Ah, good explanation. Thank you.
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Another vote for the Bad Monkey. Great pedal. Tried it in front of my GNX3000 and it works wonderfully!
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A true Overdrive pedal will simply amplify the clean guitar signal and drive the front end of the amp harder. However, most "Overdrive" pedals use a pair of back to back diodes in the feedback loop of the amplifier IC to create a type of soft clipping (TS-808 and all clones). Some people like this, I don't. It's got all the draw backs of solid state clipping (harsh harmonics, too compressed) without any of the benefits (not harsh enough, not sputtery enough, not buzzy enough)...
I'd probably third (looks like 6th actually) the Bad Monkey here. Same pedal as the DOD Juice Box, which has an even better reputation as a "cheap TS-808 replacement". I've been thinking about picking one up.
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Originally Posted by Griffon A true Overdrive pedal will simply amplify the clean guitar signal and drive the front end of the amp harder. However, most "Overdrive" pedals use a pair of back to back diodes in the feedback loop of the amplifier IC to create a type of soft clipping (TS-808 and all clones). Some people like this, I don't. It's got all the draw backs of solid state clipping (harsh harmonics, too compressed) without any of the benefits (not harsh enough, not sputtery enough, not buzzy enough)...
I'd probably third (looks like 6th actually) the Bad Monkey here. Same pedal as the DOD Juice Box, which has an even better reputation as a "cheap TS-808 replacement". I've been thinking about picking one up.
Not to be disagreeable but the Juice box and Bad Monkey are actually different. Similar circuits but not identical. The bad monkey is more similar to a tubescreamer with a gyrator circuit on the end to control low frequencies.

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Originally Posted by Indyguitarist Not to be disagreeable but the Juice box and Bad Monkey are actually different. Similar circuits but not identical. The bad monkey is more similar to a tubescreamer with a gyrator circuit on the end to control low frequencies.
ah, I've never looked at the schems, I guess I just always assumed that they were the same. I'm guessing you've had experience with both, which do you prefer?
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Originally Posted by Griffon ah, I've never looked at the schems, I guess I just always assumed that they were the same. I'm guessing you've had experience with both, which do you prefer?
I actually prefer the bad monkey -- there is a really simple mod that makes it even better.
bw
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Thank you for the recommendations and explanations. I think I am going to go with the Bad Monkey. It seems to have good reviews on Harmoney Central. I was going to buy used but they go for the same used on Ebay w/shipping as they do new at Sweetwater and Sameday which give free shipping. They must be good if they hold their value so well.