Best OD pedal to use with 5E3?

[markammon1979]

Hi, I was wondering if any of you use overdrive pedals with the 5E3 to get overdrive tones at lower levels. I've been using a Boss SD1 which sounds ok but can be a little bright. I was looking at the new Boss 65 Deluxe and 59 Bassman pedals. Any good?

[bgood]

my Bad Monkey sounds really good with my Mission. I don't need it at high volume (guitar volume knob does that) but for getting a nice OD tone around the house - nice. The pedal is dirt cheap, works great and has a fairly wide range for EQ that actually works. Can be used as a clean boost too.

[Mandopicker]

Just my two cents...

I really like my Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. It has two main features... a clean boost knob and a Gain knob with the ability to mix between the two.

Keep in mind that it is not real heavy OD like a tube screamer, but it gives you plenty while still allowing you to hear the proper tone of the amp, and of your guitar.

Thanks for the chance to offer a suggestion.

Good luck.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Originally Posted by bgood

my Bad Monkey sounds really good with my Mission. I don't need it at high volume (guitar volume knob does that) but for getting a nice OD tone around the house - nice. The pedal is dirt cheap, works great and has a fairly wide range for EQ that actually works. Can be used as a clean boost too.

Yeah I like that one too... it also is great with a Princeton Reverb.

http://www.digitech.com/products/BadMonkey.htm

[acorkos]

i use a LPB1 clone in my mission 5e3 clone

[Nemesys]

I have a Bad Monkey, a TS9, and a Boss Blues Driver that I've used with my 5E3. My personal favorite is the Blues Driver, used as a clean boost (Gain and Tone controls all the way down, Volume around 3:00 or to taste) to push the preamp into overdrive -- it's more transparent than the Bad Monkey or TS9, both of which have a noticeable upper-midrange hump. My guitar (a Music Man Silhouette) has quite a lot of midrange itself, not to mention that the 5E3 is pretty midrange-heavy too, so the extra midrange in the pedals ends up being too much with that combination. I suspect that they would sound better with a Strat or Tele, or any guitar with less midrange, really.

[bgood]

Interesting. I find the hump is noticable with my Tele on the neck bucker but it's pretty easy to dial out - especially at high volume. My amp get's pretty bright when it's cranked up. I bet with a Les Paul it would be too much for sure.

I'm going to bring the Monkey out to the jam with me this Thurs and see how it does in a band setting. I'm getting good results just using the guitar volume for solos but I like to just stomp on and off rather than mess with the volume knob - seems easier to me.

[black_labb]

bgood
how are you dialing out the midrange hump with a single knob tonestack?

[Nemesys]

I'd be interested to know that as well. Maybe he has an EQ pedal in there or something...

[bgood]

I'm referring to the midrange thats specific and added by the OD box - not the amps inherent midrange. The Bad Monkey has a bass and treble control on it that actually works pretty good. When I back the bass all the way off and have the amp cranked on the bright channel - amp tone around 8-9. The sound with the pedal engaged doesnt seem as Tubescreamer middy at all - I don't know what the cut off frequency is on the BM bass control but to my ears it sounds less "humpish". This config with the Seth Lover on my tele is not that middy - with my bridge pup it's way to "in your face". At least to my ears. YMMV

[Nemesys]

Hmm. Going to have to try that...

[Jakeboy]

I like the natural OD that this circuit provides from 9-12....along with a 18 watt clone, you have the 2 best OD tones in the world IMO...That being said, I have some gigs where I can't dime those amps.
With my 5E3 I use the Tech 21 TRI-AC & dial in the 5E3 tone. It is an analog pedal that is wonderful! It can also double as a replacement amp if your tube amp goes down during a gig!

[macdillard]

with the 5E3? I built one for my Son a few years ago and he uses it with a 5 watt SE tube amp that we built. Sounds pretty good. He has not tried it with the 5E3 to my knowledge.

[AndreasA]

I find a ts-9/808 way too mid heavy to use with an amp that is already middy.

If I have to use a pedal to get that breakup tone, I always use a Barber/Clark Gainster. It is inexpensive, it is hands down the best tweedy-sounding OD I have ever tried and it is the OD that works the best with a 5E3 amp.

I am sure there are lots of other great ODs for a 5E3 out there however, I haven't tried anything that beats the Gainster. And I have stopped looking.