Distortion/Overdrive/or Tube Screamer ??

Bob Miano · Post by **Bob Miano** » 25 Mar 2001 12:16 am

So what's your preference on steel for anyone that uses one of these (or something else)???
Looking for a "pedal type" effect and was wondering what you might be using.
Thanks for your input,
Bob

John Rickard · Post by **John Rickard** » 25 Mar 2001 1:31 am

Rat Pedal! Or anything with at least a Level (Volume), Distortion (Amount of), And most important! Tone control(s)!
JR
The RAT pedal is the one!!!!!!!!!

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Slide It On Over

[This message was edited by John Rickard on 25 March 2001 at 01:32 AM.]

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 25 Mar 2001 4:46 am

Like John, the Rat does it for me.

Chris

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from the oasis ....

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 25 Mar 2001 6:26 am

I use an old (70's) Electro Harmonix Big Muff. I have it on a bypass loop with a 6 band equaliser, so when I turn it on, I EQ just the distortion, not the basic steel sound. Let me tell you, it SCREAMS.

The advantage of having the effects boxes on bypass loops is that when you are not using the effect, it is completely out of the signal path. Consequently there is no bleed through or high frequency loss.

Bypass loops are very easy to make. I wrote an article for Scottys old "Seel Guitar Enquirer" newsletter with instructions on how to make them, but they contain an illustration and I don't know how to post pictures here.

If somebody who knows how to do that will write to me I'll send them the file so they can post it.

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 25 Mar 2001 6:32 am

Mike, the bypass is a great idea and I've nver heard a Big Muff utislied by a steel player live, but I know the effect pedal well, a friend of mine had one, it is a classic.
Have you ever heard of a band called Mudhoney, a late 1980s garage punk outfit.
Their 1988 debut mini-album 'Superfuzzbigmuff' was named after their favourite distortion pedals and rightly so.
Ionce saw a band and their bassist used the Big Muff the whole time, it was insane!

Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 25 Mar 2001 6:45 am

This is the first time I've seen Mudhoney mentioned on the forum - way to go Jason!

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 25 Mar 2001 8:51 am

Hey Bob...
I good buddy of mine raves about the
Fulltone "Fulldrive II". There's really
a TON of overdrive
& distortion units on the market these days.
You sorta hafta narrow it to whether you
want overdrive or distortion. They're
quite different. Overdrive is more like
the tone of a cranked up amp (at a
controllable volume) & distortion is more
like a fuzz tone (alot of sustain,
compression and sucked in midrange).

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<img src=http://jsganz.tripod.com/AngryMan.gif>
 "Turn up the dang steel!!!"

Scott Camara · Post by **Scott Camara** » 25 Mar 2001 9:39 am

Check out this link http://www.gbase.com/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=238241

Adam · Post by **Adam** » 25 Mar 2001 9:54 am

Woo Hoo! Mudhoney!One of my all-time favorite bands.I've seen them at least a dozen times.Some forumites might be interested to know about their collaboration with Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Lee G · Post by **Lee G** » 25 Mar 2001 12:47 pm

Bob -

I've only used this on guitar, but for really good distortion/overdrive you might want to try a Mesa Studio Pre Amp.

It's a 2-space rackmountable box with two stages of gain, 5-band EQ (with real sliders!) and bass, mid, and treble pots.

With footswitchs, you can A/B between rhythm and lead settings and/or kick the EQ in or out.

It also has an effects loop and stereo outs!

If you have a volume pedal hooked up BEFORE the Pre Amp, you can increase the overdrive as you increase the volume. Of course, this would work with any distortion box.

By the way, I grew up in good ol' Glen Rock!!!

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 25 Mar 2001 4:50 pm

IMHO the best distortion 'effect' is a great tube amp. I have a THD Univalve amp with so much gain that anybody who thinks they need to add an overdrive on top of it needs therapy.

For amps like fenders that need a little help for overdriven sounds I think the FullTone FullDrive 2 is pretty hard to beat. It is like a tube screamer, except that it also has a real bypass switch, it has a switch to disable the TS style compression, it doesn;t change the tone of your steel, and it also has a real distortion setting. These sound pretty good through a steel amp, but at best any pedal is going to be a reproduction of the real thing. All of this IMHO, of course.

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www.tyacktunes.com

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 26 Mar 2001 10:21 am

Get yourself a Rat pedal. You will never be sorry. It can be had for a good price and it sounds good.

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chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 26 Mar 2001 11:56 am

You may want to give a listen to the

Stamps Drive-O-Matic and Drive-O-Matic XL,

The D-O-M is the poor man's Dumble, the XL is like chaining them together and they're relatively inexpensive.

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 26 Mar 2001 11:31 pm

I've been through a lot of different overdrive/distortion units. Something that sounds great on 6 string electric may not fly on steel- The Full drive is great but pretty pricy- I've recently been using the little tiny orange OD-2 from Guyatone. Sounds fantastic, fat and sweet without harshness, around $80.

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Mark van Allen-"Blueground Undergrass" Pedal, Non-Pedal, Lap, and Dobro

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 26 Mar 2001 11:53 pm

Peavey used to make the Rock Master tube guitar pre-amp with clean, crunch and an ultra-crunch sections. It has four 12ax7s, eq and is single rack space. I found one in a pawn shop.[This message was edited by chas smith on 27 March 2001 at 12:04 AM.]

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 27 Mar 2001 8:47 am

I need to put my vote in for the Fulltone Fulldrive 2. I purchased this box about 2-3 months ago and all I have to say is it makes every instrument you have sing with sustain!

Marcus

Bob Miano · Post by **Bob Miano** » 8 Apr 2001 4:49 am

Thanks for all the responses.
I appreciate it.
.....................................
Bob
Bergenfield, New Jersey