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Bluesy, warm distortion/OD pedal & compressor. advice needed!


W1_Pro

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Hello folks,

I'm looking for a distortion pedal to do a nice warm bluesy drive sound. Any thoughts?

I've also been looking for a Cali compressor pedal. They seem to be quite expensive secondhand atm, so I was thinking of maybe a rack mounted DBX 160A. In fact for the same money that one of the secondhand Cali's is going for, I could buy a DBX 165, which is a lot of compressor.....Thoughts?

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In true Basschat tradition I will recommend something entirely different.  TC Spectradrive.  It is an eq, DI, compressor and drive unit all in one.  You can download different patches for the compressor and drive - I used 'clean boost' patch which gives a decent approximation of valve break up when balanced with the gain.  I play in a blues/rock trio and it is my 'on all the time, take it anywhere' sound.

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20 minutes ago, Paul S said:

In true Basschat tradition I will recommend something entirely different.  TC Spectradrive.  It is an eq, DI, compressor and drive unit all in one.  You can download different patches for the compressor and drive - I used 'clean boost' patch which gives a decent approximation of valve break up when balanced with the gain.  I play in a blues/rock trio and it is my 'on all the time, take it anywhere' sound.

I've got a Boss pedal that I use 'always on' to get a little bit of breakup into the tone. I need this OD for one specific song where I do a little riff at the top. Sounds nice ehough clean, but I just want to lift it a bit...

 

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46 minutes ago, W1_Pro said:

Hello folks,

I'm looking for a distortion pedal to do a nice warm bluesy drive sound. Any thoughts?

I've also been looking for a Cali compressor pedal. They seem to be quite expensive secondhand atm, so I was thinking of maybe a rack mounted DBX 160A. In fact for the same money that one of the secondhand Cali's is going for, I could buy a DBX 165, which is a lot of compressor.....Thoughts?

Way Huge Pork & Pickle or Pork Loin is the best I've used for this...the hot tubes side of the EHX Hot Wax is also great for this...

 

Cali76 wise... I took a punt on the DemonFX Call76 clone; and honestly, it's great!  I'd had a Cali76 previously but sold it on as it just felt like such an extravagant purchase.  I'm not sure how the Call76 would fare in a blind test, but it's close enough that I love what it does regardless, and for £55 delivered from https://www.affordaboard-pedals.co.uk/ you just can't complain.

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7 hours ago, W1_Pro said:

Hello folks,

I'm looking for a distortion pedal to do a nice warm bluesy drive sound. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

Shameless plug :D but this does the warm bluesy drive thing better than most pedals I've tried over the years.

 

 

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On 01/12/2023 at 15:20, Osiris said:

 

 

Shameless plug :D but this does the warm bluesy drive thing better than most pedals I've tried over the years.

 

 

I have one of these and it’s a cracking pedal. It’s a low gain unit which is very tweakanke to get it dialled in to suit. I’ve used a spark booster and would

place the BetaV as the love child of the of the original Beta, the Spark booster and EHX bass soul food. 

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Bearfoot bass overdrive or one of the many variants of it... Maybe the One Control Blackberry, which is probably the most available, or the Fuzzrocious Dark Driving.

 

I built my own from a kit and loved it... then modded it so extensively that it lost the magic. Need to go back to that one again as it was a very nice pedal...

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On 04/12/2023 at 20:54, krispn said:

I have one of these and it’s a cracking pedal. It’s a low gain unit which is very tweakanke to get it dialled in to suit. I’ve used a spark booster and would

place the BetaV as the love child of the of the original Beta, the Spark booster and EHX bass soul food. 

Yeah the SGFX Beta V is excellent. 
 

well voiced EQ section, a non abrasive drive. 
 

it’s very useful 

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On 01/12/2023 at 19:10, Paul S said:

 

Which is the same as the 'clean boost' patch on the Spectradrive, as it happens. :) 

Well, except, for what it is worth the Spark Booster is all analog, while the Spectradrive "Clean Boost" Toneprint is a digital emulation, and that the regular big version of the Spark Booster offers far more options for shaping your drive tone.

 

The "Clean Boost" Toneprint of the Spectradrive in other words is just a digital emulation of one setting of the Spark Booster.

 

Edited by Baloney Balderdash
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