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Post by mentalray on Apr 11, 2006 7:41:09 GMT -7
Hello! I´m playing a G&L ASAT Semi-Hollow (Tele) through a MAZ Jr. and want to find the best fitting of the three mentioned overdrive pedals. I need it for rock´n´roll and I want a overdrive sound which fitts well to the overdriven MAZ (Volume at ´2 o´clock). I tryed a OCD with the MAZ on stage but I was not realy satisfied yet. I missed some midds and the hights were pretty harsh. Because my guitar is a semi-hollow, I also had a big feedback problem. Maybe I should go on searching the sweet spot of the OCD. Anyway: which of these 3 pedals would you recommend? Thank you for your help!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2006 9:10:06 GMT -7
Out of the three you mentioned, the Frantone Brooklyn overdrive is my favourite that I have tried. I believe Eric 'Roscoe' Ambel from Steve Earle's band uses one with both of his Maz18Jrs NR. I think Eric called the Frantone the best overdrive he ever used.
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Post by mentalray on Apr 11, 2006 11:58:47 GMT -7
Thank you aruntang! Yes, I know that Eric Ambel is using it. I heared good and bad things about the pedal but after hearing Roscoe´s recordings I also came to the conclusion, that it seems to work pretty well with the MAZ... ;-)
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Post by bks on Apr 11, 2006 13:35:33 GMT -7
D. Hot Cake.
Sorry, I know it wasn't an option. I had an OCD and thought the same thing you're saying. I love the Hot Cake though. Maybe a little light on the highs for some folks, but hits the spot for me w/my Teles/Maz Jr. Does heavy crunch and a little edge really well.
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Post by mentalray on Apr 12, 2006 5:30:01 GMT -7
bks, if there are not so many hights; doesn´t that mean, that it cuts not so well through the mix? I had this problem, when I tryed the OCD in LP mode! I couldn´t believe it! I found a pretty cheap Frantone Brooklyn on Ebay and ordered it. Now I´m kind of curious...
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Post by Telemanic on Apr 12, 2006 10:07:58 GMT -7
Man, tough call. It's so subjective making O/D recomendations. An example is one person may Love a ts-9 based pedal, ( fulltone , blues devil, etc. ) while another hates that THING that they do. Doesnt mean its not a great pedal tho. I love my OCD, for what it does/doesnt do. But its not my blues devil either. The OCD is pretty colorless IMO, its like having an additional gain stage on your amp that just happens to be on the floor! pretty cool! My 65 vibrolux loves my blues devil or FD2. I guess in the end ive seen others praise a certain pedal that i tried, and hated So i think unfortunately until when and if theres ever some kind of standard protocol for evaluation, we all are stuck with the BUY and SELL routine until you find THE one. They are fun to talk about though!
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Post by bks on Apr 12, 2006 10:17:03 GMT -7
bks, if there are not so many hights; doesn´t that mean, that it cuts not so well through the mix? I didn't mean to imply there's no high end at all, just that it doesn't have the same shrillness I thought the OCD had. It's also worth noting that I'm playing guitars that start out with a lot of high end, I run the Cut on the Maz Jr. between 1:00 and 2:00, generally, and I'm not afraid of throwing a little compression in there, which can add a little edge. Full disclosure -- with humbuckers it does get pretty thick, well into that Billy Gibbons/Tush range, which is fun, but you're right, it's probably hard to keep out front in the mix...
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Post by mentalray on Apr 12, 2006 14:25:54 GMT -7
telemanic, I know; you are right. As I said, I own a OCD and it is sounding just phantastic -but I made the experience that it works perfectly when you are playing alone. But on stage with a whole band, it semms just to sound not fat enough. It´s pretty thin in the mix.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2006 14:35:09 GMT -7
Hi Mentalray, I actually tried the Frantone through a 62 vox ac-30 in Toronto. I thought it was great. I have owned an OCD and thought it was great for some things and not for others. I think of it more as a boost/drive pedal than an overdrive or distortion pedal. The Frantone reminded me in some ways of a Klon in its amplike responsiveness and touch sensitivity. The Blues Devil to me also feels like that. I wish I had the cash at the time, I liked the Frantone enough just to have one kicking around. Can't say that about a lot of other drive pedals I have had. Love the look with the Blue Bakelite knobs. ;D
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Post by mentalray on Apr 13, 2006 0:22:30 GMT -7
Hi aruntang; I got the same impression: the OCD works nicely when you use it as a boost (drive about 9 o´clock). In this case the amp also keeps its own character best. Maybe I will keep it on by board for this use. I was realy lucky: I catched a new Frantone on ebay for 100$! Now I´m waiting for the FedEx-man... Btw; I like the sound samples on your website!
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Post by Telemanic on Apr 14, 2006 13:55:50 GMT -7
Funny on our FD2's we all want a little Mid cut, yet on the OCD it could use a mid boost switch (FAT). ARE ya listening Mr. Fuller??? I think that would make the OCD perfect! I agree with a previous post that Live the ocd could use a little PHATNESS at times.
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Post by billyguitar on Apr 14, 2006 14:02:47 GMT -7
Funny how different guys hear different things in a pedal. I'm not putting anyone down so realx, just stating a different opinion. I tried the OCD when it came out and I have tried the FD2 also. I found them to both be very average at best. I'll need to try them again sometime. You guys can't be all wrong and I don't have golden ears I admit. As the say, YMMV!
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Post by mentalray on Apr 18, 2006 11:42:46 GMT -7
OK; I guess I found the answer to my question: today I recived my Frantone Brooklyn. I checked all three pedals side by side. The Frantone realy is (-for me-) BY FAR the best sounding overdrive. It has lots of low end and deeper midds. It also is good at hights; they do not sound as harsh as the OCD´s. The pedal realy has a lot of punch. So thank you Roscoe!
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Post by chilicat on May 2, 2006 19:28:03 GMT -7
I know there have been differing opinions on the OCD, but I love mine. I usally use it on the LP setting with the tone knob at about 10:30 or 11:00 and the gain at about 2:00. I love the sound. With the HP setting you have to back the tone way off to about 10:00. I just stacked it this weekend with a Zen drive. Man that was a nice combo. I use the OCD as a boost with just alittle grind and stepped on the Zen for a smoother more compressed drive. I even got some nice harmonic feed back wich is a rareity for my amp and volume levels (SRZ combo)
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Post by martymcfly on May 28, 2006 20:47:34 GMT -7
Just a quick note about the OCD's, as previously I would have agreed with some of the complaints about the brittle high end. I believe it was in the 4K serial number range that Mike Fuller changd over to a 500K volume pot, which made a significant improvement in the tone. I made mine retroactively updated, and like it much better! The OCD replaced my need for a FD2. I learned of the update through several discussions on the Gear Page forum.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2006 17:22:54 GMT -7
OK; I guess I found the answer to my question: today I recived my Frantone Brooklyn. I checked all three pedals side by side. The Frantone realy is (-for me-) BY FAR the best sounding overdrive. It has lots of low end and deeper midds. It also is good at hights; they do not sound as harsh as the OCD´s. The pedal realy has a lot of punch. So thank you Roscoe! Glad you ended up liking the Brooklyn Overdrive. As somebody else said these pedal prefferences are ultra subjective. I do find that the Brooklyn works really well with lower powered class A (MAZ 18/Z-28/Ghia) and pseudo class A amps (Pro Jr). The pedal has real bottom and it delivers boost even when you have a low watt amp already being driven pretty hard. Frantone also makes a handmade version of the Big Muff called "The Sweet" that is crazy good w low noise for a fuzz and a lot of bottom. Fran helped design the Big Muff reissue when she worked at Electro Harmonix. Steve had always used the Big Muff but got tired of them failing. I found "The Sweet" for him and he's really dug it.
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Post by mentalray on Jun 5, 2006 5:30:31 GMT -7
Roscoe; that sounds cool. do you use "The Sweet" live? I did not see it on the pic of your board on your website. By the way: Did you use any overdrive-pedals for your solo-parts on "put the hammer down" or did you just turn up your amps volume?
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