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Post by cheycaster on Nov 18, 2006 20:39:37 GMT -7
Are there any other pedals out there that you guys are aware of that you think are in the same ball park as the OCD tone wise to compare with?? Man , looking at all the "pedal" web site dealers out there, it's really confusing as there is soooo many to choose from. I have a BB and RC but I think the OCD has something else added into the mix.
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Post by (8^D) on Nov 20, 2006 13:42:01 GMT -7
Geesh, not one I've run across. OCD's a pretty unique pedal - most folks either love it or hate it. Has a lot of different tonal 'faces'.
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Post by Telemanic on Nov 20, 2006 18:14:43 GMT -7
Yeah everybody and their mother makes pedals now, and slaps the "boutique" label on em. It would be a full time job auditioning every one. The other side of the problem is that its such a subjective topic. Almost impossibly so, but we all still try. The OCD, .... i liked it, loved it, ... at first and then quickly became dis-enchanted with it. To my ears and not too techy brain, the OCD falls into the catagory of pedals that sound more like FET overdrive or distortion, as opposed to your typical clipping diode types ala TS9, etc. on and on and on. The FET sound to me is kind of more hi-fi ish in a weird way, and trades off some of that warmth and roundness for more headroom, ( band width ) openess and clarity. This could be good or bad depending on your desires. That being said, not that theyre "just like" an OCD, i feel that there are a couple i can mention that have that type of tone and feel, but do it actually BETTER than the OCD.
The Lovepedal COT 50, : less tweakable, but sounds like what the ocd was trying to get to. Very cool pedal, but especialy in a clean amp could sound a bit hi-fi, too bright, brittle, or even thin.
The Lovepedal Eternity: Lots of debate on this, like any pedal that recieves this much hype! More tweakable with gain, volume, and tone ( actually a treble + or - ) Awesome pedal in the right amp! But,... again to me has that FET type of sound. He has warmed this pedal up quite a bit compared to the COT, and i do like it lots for certain things. One of my faves in a fender amp at low volume, can get a great Robben Ford overdriven dumble sound. But as a bread and butter O/D on stage, i just dont know, depends on you and your rig, ....... just like about any recomendation!! Best luck!
So, if your likin the basic thing about the OCD, try either or both of these, i think theyre better while being in the same family tree.
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tuna
New Member
"Ain't Nothin to it"
Posts: 23
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Post by tuna on Nov 21, 2006 4:47:15 GMT -7
You may want to look at the Xoctic line. I have an OCD and think it is a great pedal with a Marshall type amp. I used it in front of a Marshall 1974X and it was very transparent and made the amp sound pushed.
I bought a Stang Ray and had to give up the Marshall to get it and the OCD did not sound very good with this amp. Fizzy is the word that comes to mind.
I already had the Xoctic RC Boost pedal, which is nice for really low gain and boost. So, I bought an Xoctic BB Preamp after hearing this pedal in front of my buddies MAZ 18 Jr. Really nice overdriven tone. I ended up also getting an AC pedal for lower gain.
Where the OCD has that kinda hard punch in the face (w/o gloves), the BB can get the same, but with gloves on.
The other nice thing about the Xoctic pedals are the very active bass and treble adjustment. The AC Booster definitely needs this as the pedal with flat eq darkens your tone to my ears. They really are nice in helping to shape your tone.
Love Pedals are cool too. I have the Love Pedal LOW and it is a low gain pedal. My only complaint about it that it darkens your tone, with no way to eq it. But it is a cool pedal for what it does.
Good luck with your search.
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Post by tjstrat on Nov 21, 2006 5:33:04 GMT -7
HAO Rust Driver has a major heavy OD thing going that cleans up as well as the OCD, and the Pharaoh Sweet Cheetah II is real close, IMHO, to the OCD, with a unique exploding Deluxe tone when you dime the gain.
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Post by dock66 on Nov 21, 2006 8:47:12 GMT -7
Other pedals to consider are Xotics AC,Xotics BB as mentioned above,Clark Gainster,Fulltone Drive 2 ,Durham Sex Drive,Visual Sound J&H,Zendrive,and many more,with these pedals the tone will vary depend on amps,guitars,cabs and players's touch.
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Post by tjstrat on Nov 21, 2006 9:39:55 GMT -7
Gainster is a GREAT pedal. I use it after my OCD for moderate gain stuff and to goose the OCD. The Gainster is what Dave should have done with the Direct Drive (a great pedal, but not in the Gainster's league...)
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Post by Lefty on Nov 21, 2006 11:36:06 GMT -7
Gainster is a GREAT pedal. I use it after my OCD for moderate gain stuff and to goose the OCD. The Gainster is what Dave should have done with the Direct Drive (a great pedal, but not in the Gainster's league...) Funny you mention the Gainster. I had an original big box version a while back and thought it sounded GREAT, but the footprint set me off. Then Barber came out with the small box version so I bought one, and thought it sounded NOTHING like the original big box I had. It had little to no gain (clipping) and was way too smooth, so David sent me another one to try out, same exact thing. I have another big box version on the way...(hopefully today) and I'll make some comparisons. I have several pics of the big box Gainsters (inside) including my original one I used to have, and there are several differences and tweaks between versions of the big box. I'm guessing Barber made a copy of the latest version for the small box. I'm considering building a clone and tweaking it to my tastes. More news as it happens.
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Post by tjstrat on Nov 21, 2006 11:57:59 GMT -7
I've heard that the old big box Gainster was a different animal, but I LIKED the new Gainster a lot. It's the most amp like pedal I've tried and that includes the Timmy and the Zendrive. Never got my hands on the big box model though...
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Post by dock66 on Nov 21, 2006 21:28:40 GMT -7
Clark Gainster pedals are now available again at various dealers.And the price is not bad either.
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Post by tjstrat on Nov 22, 2006 7:55:17 GMT -7
At $139.00 the Gainster is a total steal. It took me a couple gigs to "get" it, but after I did I heard the Zen Drive as stiff and dry, and the Timmy as just too hard to dial in right...
The Clark just sounds right... to me. The ZD and Timmy are great for most people, but I just didn't get 'em.
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Post by paddywhacker on Nov 22, 2006 8:13:24 GMT -7
...Het Chey..Patrick here...as you know i had an OCD...(got it repaired and and passed it along).....my main pedal now is the TC Jauernig Gristle King....it combines his Luxury Drive ( a great bosost pedal) and his DGTM which is the pedal that i think is OCD like but i prefer it....like the OCD it has plenty of versatility including the tone control which is important for me to dial in various guitars....i would say its smoother (less fizzy) than the OCD with a bit more tweakability....gain on tap is pretty comparable....i would reccomend the Gristle King because the two separate drives together are sweet together....pedalgeek sells em...very reasonable....
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Post by dock66 on Nov 22, 2006 9:07:54 GMT -7
With different stuff for what I am doing.....I like Clark Gaister just as much as my Xotics AC,RC,BB and my Fulltone OCD,FD2 .They all are set slightly different for various tone on the pedal boards.
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Post by Lefty on Nov 22, 2006 19:00:19 GMT -7
Hate to hijack the thread: Got the OG (original Gainster) today, mucho different "Gainier" than the Barber. I really wish I had them both at the same time to compare to make it a fair fight. But according to my aural memory, the OG wins.
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Post by stratdev on Nov 22, 2006 20:26:25 GMT -7
Wow...what a topic... got a few weeks? I'm a booster/OD fanatic...my pedal board has 8 boosters and/or OD's plus an AD-9 analog delay. Boosters come in many flavors... a good cascaded FET pedal like the Keeley Katana Boost can eliminate a lot of what is perceived as sterility. That said, another flavor I like is the old Mullard driven units like the Keeley Java Boost or Swart Atomic Booster...never totally clean, they have a subtle sound that just explodes in a Z-28 or Deluxe Reverb set on the verge of breakup. My newest boost is a MI Audio Boost 'N Buff...at the front end of the chain this is a nice warm boost tone coupled with an extraordinarily well designed buffer ensuring a nice strong signal makes it through a slew of TB pedals. The Z Vex Super Hard On is my specialty booster for a more aggresive Gibbons-esque sound. It also can yield a pretty convincing BB King tone with a Z-28 or DR. My favorite all around booster is a Timmy with the tone controls zeroed (they are cut controls). At unity gain (about 1 0'clock) the Timmy provides me with a very nice way to kick up my TIM as a pre-boost. I use the TIM's boost side when I go post OD boost. The milder the OD the better when pushing an on the verge amp... the TIM and Analog.Man King of Tone are my go to OD sounds. Run out of the TIM's loop are a Lovepedal Eternity and Zendrive punched up with a Katana as a preboost and a RC Booster as the post boost. I make this distinction between pre- and post- boosts because they sound (to me) very different. A pre-boost hits your OD with a big signal giving it a meaty signal. A post-boost takes an already overdriven sound and makes it bigger. I try to avoid what I call (for lack of a better term) "crayon" OD usage. This is where the dominant OD sound comes from the pedal, essentially smearing an OD crayon over your tone. The beauty of the KOT and TIM (I love both) is that they seem to use the on the verge amp breakup and sweeiten it. Particulary the KOT with the Z-28 and DR. Other hip boosts: an old TS-808 with the gain down and volume uo (the SRV usage); a Sparkle Drive, again gain down/vol up; Timmy as a boost- (someone in this thread has trouble with the eq methodology)- I'm the opposite...I like to start out wide open then cut what I don't like...I find Timmy and TIM extraordinarily easy to tweak. My mission to to achieve natural sounding tube overdrive in a band setting. My Z-28 and DR have wonderful natural OD; if I could live pedal free, I would. But in a band situation, a little goose here and there simply expands the palette. Finally, to address the original issue, there is a multitude of boosts now available. Straight FETs do seem a little sterile, but cascaded FETs are appealing to me. For a warmer feel, the Mullard OC44-based boosts come is several sub-styles revolving around whether or not a tone circuit is included. The old Dallas Rangemaster had no tone control; purists may cringe at the inclusion of EQ capabilities, but I like the flexibility! But like someone else said it all comes down to your amp, guitar, your touch, musical genre, etc. One man's boost is another man's OD
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Post by tjstrat on Nov 24, 2006 15:22:08 GMT -7
...Het Chey..Patrick here...as you know i had an OCD...(got it repaired and and passed it along).....my main pedal now is the TC Jauernig Gristle King....it combines his Luxury Drive ( a great bosost pedal) and his DGTM which is the pedal that i think is OCD like but i prefer it....like the OCD it has plenty of versatility including the tone control which is important for me to dial in various guitars....i would say its smoother (less fizzy) than the OCD with a bit more tweakability....gain on tap is pretty comparable....i would reccomend the Gristle King because the two separate drives together are sweet together....pedalgeek sells em...very reasonable.... I've got a Luxury Drive and a double DGTM, and these are both VERY cool. I don't know if the DDGTM is in production yet... I think it's a custom pedal, but I've seen at least one other reviewed at HC. I haven't experienced the Gristle King, but I have run the Luxury Drive and the DDGTM together and would recommend them highly. Tim Jauernig is a terrific customer service guy and his build quality rawks. The DGTM is definitely something to check out and the Gristle King has got to be up there. Attended a Greg Koch clinic a few months ago and heard it first hand, and yeah, it surely is worth a try.
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