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Post by zman on Oct 30, 2005 6:15:03 GMT -7
Lefty,
I know from reading your reviews and viewing your pedalboard pictures that you tried many of the boutique pedals available. If you could only pick 2 pedals for the GHIA only to cover the ground from blues to southern rock... what would your FAVS be?
I have to play many cover tunes and need one pedal set for mellow songs and another pedal setup for harder driving songs.
Thanks and I look forward to your reply.
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Post by Lefty on Oct 30, 2005 7:15:46 GMT -7
Well, what have you been using? I've been in a "pedal" funk for a while now and my floor is pretty littered with many cool boxes.
-CS FD2 -Timmy -OCD -TS808 slightly modded for more gain and bass (may go to AM for Silver mod) -AC Booster -Dual Drive (currently on Scotty's Bench) -Keeley Blues Driver -AM DS-1 Pro -Klon Centaur -Fat Boost
But if I had only two to pick at this moment, and my eternal G.A.S. not in the picture, I would say the AM DS-1 Pro & Keeley BD-2 are a great combination. I set the DS-1 for a thick Marshally tone at rhythm level, and the BD-2 for leads (it has a more transparent tone). I'm about to find myself in a situation that requires the same tones that you seek. They go from Classic Rock to Blues to some Country.
You can find those two pedals pretty easily used for around 100 bucks or less.
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Post by zman on Oct 30, 2005 8:53:49 GMT -7
Well now switching to Z amps I sold many of my pedals because I purchased them for different style ampllifiers. The only recent pedal I picked up geared towards the Ghia was the OCD... and I do like it very much. I was amazed you selected two of the mass produced pedals.. noted that they are modded. I used to own the Keeley BD-2 and it worked absolutely wonderful.... the green TS9 was a different story. I was just curious what input you had to offer. I want to save some time and money without trying out a bunch of pedals again to find out what works wonders with the Ghia.
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Post by Lefty on Oct 30, 2005 9:13:58 GMT -7
Yea the OCD is cool, and sounds pretty good with the Ghia, but not so great with my Maz. I've been using my Maz 18 more, and I like to use pedals that sound great with multiple amps, and I've found those two sound great with my Ghia, Maz, and Z-28.
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Post by zman on Oct 30, 2005 10:13:09 GMT -7
I always wanted to try a VL Sparkle Drive and a Barber Direct Drive. Have you had any experience with either of them?
Thanks Lefty for the replies.
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Post by Lefty on Oct 30, 2005 11:37:25 GMT -7
Yea I've tried the VL Sparkle and the DD.
The Sparkle was kinda cool but not much more impressive than your ususal tube screamer. As for the DD, I've had a few of them actually. I had the 1st version then the 1st version with internal trims, then a SS DD, then a Blue SS DD. They are quite cool and worth looking into, but for me they always seem to have a bit of a "coating" to them that I did'nt like. The coating seems to be on all the Barber pedals I've had/tried. Good stuff but not for me.
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Post by zman on Oct 30, 2005 14:34:21 GMT -7
Lefty, how would you say the Fat Boost sounds with the Ghia? Is it more of just a volume boost or can you dial in some overdrive while keeping the amp volume the same? I know boosts make the tone fat but is there some ovderive built in the FB?
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Post by Lefty on Oct 30, 2005 15:15:08 GMT -7
Yup! A little bit, not bad sounding either!!
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Post by hollywood5150 on Oct 30, 2005 22:07:11 GMT -7
For a big overdrive/ distortion sound, the OCD is awesome with the Ghia. I am using a Xotic BB for the semi dirty sound, and it works great. I am also using the Xotic AC for in between, more of a heavy crunch sound when needed.
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Post by zman on Oct 31, 2005 10:56:04 GMT -7
Well im ready to purchase another pedal for my medium gain pedal. Im strongly considering the FD2 and placing it before my OCD.
Lefty do you like the way the FD2 interacts with the Ghia from the other pedals you tried... or would you put another in place FD2 on your board?
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Post by Admin on Oct 31, 2005 16:41:48 GMT -7
I'm always back and forth on the FD2, but I'll never sell it. The OCD is miles different from the FD2, it's not quite a step up in the gain chain with the same tone. You might try the new FD2 Anniversary version with the Mos switch. From what I've heard it's a little bit OCD and FD2.
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Post by zman on Nov 5, 2005 9:16:16 GMT -7
Because the Ghia is a little darker sounding amp (which I love)... I can understand why pedals that are a bit trebly would logically balance the natural tone of the Ghia out. If I recall correctly, the DS-1 was a little bright and is why it may work well with some darker sounding amps.
I would like to hear about a few pedals other than the DS-1 and BD-2 that I cant try locally and would like to throw them in the mix of usable gig pedals. You could say some are strictly boost to slight/overdrive pedals but I'm curious about them. I had a few of them before but not at the same time owning a Ghia.
I would like to find out if anyone did some a/b comparisons with the any of the pedals below and what they felt about them or what may have persuaded your interest. Also, with the darker tone of the Ghia, would a rangemaster clone sound really good or somewhat fizzy and weird?
HotCake TTS Blues Devil Fulltone FD2 Fulltone FB RC Booster Java Boost (or any treble rangemaster clone)
Thanks guys for the input and keep it coming!
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Post by stratdev on Nov 6, 2005 23:19:37 GMT -7
With my '64 Deluxe Reverb I used a Klon and a Barber LTD or Keeley Blues Driver, if I used anything at all. But with the Ghia, a really nice combination which gives ya great clean and dirty boosts is the combination of the AC Booster and the RC Booster. Those two cover a remarkable amount of turf. I thought my Klon was pretty transparent. Actually, I never heard anything really transparent until these two, partic. the RC Booster. I use the same two Xotic pedals with my Z-28. Works with all my guitars ('66 strat, Hist. '59 335, SG Junior) equally well, albeit at different settings. When ya dial in your sound, it's more like dialing in an amp, not a pedal. I play in a two guitar blues band and don't need tons of gain or distortion; just a natural sounding OD. The AC Booster cranked is as sweet an OD sound with my 335 as anything I've ever used. There is a good set of video samples on the Xotic site, but the one with Josh Smith really hit me. It is exactly the usage I've adopted with repeatable results. Alan Howe www.rollinandtumblin.com
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Post by G'OlPeachPhan on Nov 7, 2005 10:34:47 GMT -7
Try the Catalinbread Supercharged Overdrive (SCOD)... I'm finding after an hour of using it with my Ghia and a couple different guitars, that this is THE overdrive/distortion pedal I've been searching for to add a little "stompable" flexibility to my rig for the past several years...
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