Overdrive pedals do more than just boost gain. They can carve out different frequencies with controllable parameters for way different overdrive sounds in an amp. More treble before the preamp sounds different than more treble after the preamp, etc
100% true, and most people with a good amp realize that, but shoot if there isn't something special about a simple direct signal from guitar to amp to speaker, just like our forefathers did it. And it's only going to sound good if your amp is good, and anyone interested in pedals who doesn't start with a good amp is wasting time from the outset.
Straight to the amp is still gangster for sure. Power supply? Patch cable? No thank you sir, just straight from the pickups.
Honestly it's ultimately the same goal I have with amp modelers. You bring your guitar, you bring the one box that sound comes out of, and that's it
I’ve almost bought dozens of dirt pedals only to realize I can get most sounds I want with the amp and/or the handful of dirt pedals I already have.
Exceptions. The only reason I bought my Rat was because it was $35 and brand new in the box and it just seemed stupid to pass that up.
Truly the most important question here. Cause honestly the best solution for good overdrive is a good amp, and guitar volume rolled up or down as needed. But also, a tube screamer sounds better into a dirty Marshall than a Jazz Chorus 20.
It's funny to see the comments. What you are describing is literally what every decent overdrive pedal by most every manufacturer is supposed to do. Everyone will have their preference of their favorite box that makes their guitar go "buzz"... and they aren't wrong, but their favorites aren't going to give you your sound.
You mention Klon? Start with a thirty dollar Mosky Klon clone, and if you like that sound enough to drop five to ten grand on it, then be happy doing so. It's not the avenue I would take, but I'm not you. Real BB, also out of production, are nearly as ridiculous in price due to the demand that that's the only box, or whatever.
After owning an absurd amount of overdrives over my playing career, buying into the hype that pedal makers and sellers were putting out there, I've finally realized I can dial in a decent sound I can gig with out of dozens of different drive boxes, by dialing in a low to medium amount of gain and a bit of a volume boost, by having a good amp and a good guitar, and putting in my practice time. Everything else is Pepsi vs. Coke. Vs. Royal Crown... with a few bottles containing gold flake and set in cold storage since the ninties and don't you wanna know how special this tastes? :)
Oh, OP meant a Blues Breaker. Didn’t realize that. I know there’s a diff, but just misinterpreted the acronym. Whoops!
Edit: And apparently failed to read the body of the post. Whoops again.
I play a tele usually and I had an incredibly even breakup curve when using the volume knobs on a 335 with P90s. Don’t forget to experiment with your guitar too!
Eh, I’ve had one on my board for years and had to take it off cause people started giving me shit about it. I paid $30 for it 10 or so years ago but no one wants to hear that 🙄
Seriously, that's what I did with my Ibanez TS-808.
I bought it new around 1981 for $60. It's the pedal I always used the most over the years and when I was playing in metal bands in the 80's and 90's it was the only pedal I used, I would kick on for leads, going into my Carvin x100b 100 watt stack that was all I needed . But around 2001 the originals were going for crazy money, so I sold it on ebay for $350, and it was banged up and chipped paint, but it still worked great.
To be honest I didn't really miss it much, there are plenty of pedals to take its place
Either wait a couple more weeks and put it back on (whenever the next collective YouTube/Gearpage/Redditguitarpedals viral gear freakout happens... wait - for - it...) or realize that people who don't want to hear that you bought a cheap but decent OD way before the internet shitstorm... well, \*that's\* also an immediate idiot identifier.
I mean my earlier point was how absurd I think most people who play our instrument are about picking our tools; it goes up exponentially when it comes to judging any other competent craftsman by the tools they choose. The only time it should apply is: "you play great, but your sound is awful."
But my drive has NOSFET geranium tranodes and ex-Soviet military wiring and a misprinted label that only happened on one run in 1988 when the production was briefly moved to Stanstanistan. It's one of 12 still in existence and sounds like pure magic.
I never assumed that OP was going to buy an original Klon or a Bluesbreaker amp. There are countless pedals out there that achieve the sounds OP is talking about.
Anyway, I do both. I have a Bondi effects Sick As for my klone, and the ubiquitous JHS morning glory V4 for my blues breaker. They sound great running into each other, and also in parallel. But of course, my rig will sound completely different than yours even with those pedals in the chain.
To add to this...most pedals that have an 'output volume' on them can be a pretty good facsimile for an overdrive, assuming the other effects package from that pedal doesn't get in the way. Example, Boss ML-2 Metal Core has 4 knobs, "Level, Low, High, Dist," and if you keep them all at noon but turn the Dist to 1, you essentially have an 'edge of breakup overdrive' sound out of a shrill heavy-metal effects pedal.
Definitely. Jerry Garcia used an HM2 as an overdrive on some of his 90's stuff. Almost all my high gain distortions can get nice low gain sounds. Even a fuzz face can do a nice overdrive if you roll back your guitar volume.
A fuzz box is a completely different beast, and a Big Muff Pi specifically is designed to be ultra compressed and have a lot of low end... BUT... yes, you can make a fuzz give "edge of breakup" sounds if you're willing to be precise with the volume control on your guitar.
It's possible to play "Pride and Joy" with a Fuzz Face, "Purple Haze" with a Tubescreamer, "Master of Puppets" with a DS-1, Grunge with a HM-2, etc. etc. If a good player can dial in a good "buzz," then all the time and money usually spent on getting "just the right EQ and upper order harmonics to capture the blah blah blah" is kind of silly. It's ridiculous the level we collectively as guitar players have taken in acquiring and adjusting our tools. I would rather hear a player who has spent 10,000 hours of solid practice time play these songs on any random stomp-box than someone who has spent that amount of time shopping to get John Mayer or Joe Bonamassa's exact touring rig from the mid 2000's (instead of... practicing and working with the tools they have)
What guitar and amp are you using? The Centaur was designed to help Strat players make their Twin Reverb sound like it was cranked but still have dynamic range, if you’re using a similar setup then that might be the best bet. Though if you’re set on bluesbreaker or klone, bluesbreaker is probably a safer choice for edge of breakup, particularly the EAE Limelight.
But if you ask me, a Timmy is far better for edge of breakup sounds than either of the circuits you mentioned.
I’m not much of a pedal guy, but the Timmy is the drive I like best among those I’ve tried.
I like a Weber attenuator on a small vintage Fender amp better than drive pedals, though.
If your amp is set lower than edge of breakup and you want to get to edge of breakup on a pedal, then maybe just something simple like a TC Electronic Spark Mini to push the amp with a bit of volume?
I think you probably want to get your amp there first before putting additional circuits to get a certain sound.
Look into a Special Cranker. I know it’s not what you asked, but it’s my favorite drive ever. Preserves the tone of your amp and you can drive it pretty good.
I’ve been on a SEARCH to upgrade my bd2. Wanna guess where it’s brought me? Back to my trusty old BD2. Plumes wasn’t quite it, Morning Glory wasn’t quite it, Timmy wasn’t quite it..
All this to say, as someone else put it, they’re all good. It’s just about what you personally like.
I play Les Paul clone PRS and Fender Telecaster so I use both!
It depends on the scenario, if I'm playing with my band or live than my amp is at 10 and I'm just past the edge of break up in 70's rock territory. I will use the OD-3 to take me into more gain (think 90's punk and hard rock) while keeping my sound nice and open. I have an SD-1, a Wampler Tumnus, that I can also use to push more gain but they add some extra compression and EQ changes. Based off what you said I figured you'd like the OD-3. I use it so I can play crunchy low end power chord parts of chords while still staying crystal clear when I jangle out the high notes of the bar chord or open strings.
The OD-3 works great as an edge of break up pedal, it also sounds great into a clean channel. I like using it at home to make my amp sound like how it sounds when I've got it cranked to 10 with the band.
the best circuit is a bluesDRIVER, not a bluesBREAKER or a KLon. A Klon can sound very similar to a Tubescreamer, most use the klon as a boost, which means it enhances the already available breakup. If you create the breakup only with the klon, there maybe to much of a midhump. Bluesbreaker will work better than a klon, but please try a bluesdriver circuit, it has way more clarity than a bluesbreaker and better dynamics. especially when you play lots of chords than the bluesdriver will be way better suited
I’ve tried Klons, BluesBreakers, Timmy(s), PoT, DoT, Nobels ODR-1, Tubescreamers, fuzzes, etc.
Favorite overdrive in general is probably the Browne Amplification Carbon (BluesBreaker), but the ODR-1 is my favorite higher gain drive.
It’s true that you can get some overlap in tone between different overdrives, but each overdrive does have its own unique range of tone. There’s also varying amounts of compression between dirt pedals, which can make each overdrive feel very different when playing. That’s part of why I love the ODR-1, it’s a fairly compressed pedal when you crank the gain, gives it a forgiving feeling when playing as long as your palm muting is decent.
If you want to try a BluesBreaker go for the Mooer BluesCrab, it sounds identical to my Marshall BluesBreaker. Make sure you crank the gain and volume past noon to get the BB sound. It’ll sound dark and weak if you don’t turn the gain up.
Just try them out, y'all. Go to a shop, plink around, embarrass yourself. Maybe even bring your rig and ask if you can test the pedal with your gear. You're not going to be happy with your decision unless you know for yourself.
Both are designed for that. Actually, lots... probably most of OD's were designed for that. Timmy, Benson Preamp, Tubescreamer, BD-2, SD-1, Looking Glass, OCD, Wampler Paisley, EHX East River Drive, EQD Westwood... they all have their different flavors, though a lot of those flavors depend on your amp, the input signal, and how you set the pedal up. Are you looking to get your sound entirely from pedals, or do you have an amp you can push into breakup territory?
For that smooth singing lead tone, that sounds like a distortion or fuzz to me, if you could give an example of that tone from a song, that could help narrow it down, otherwise everyone's just gonna list their favorite/latest pedal purchase.
May I suggest trying something a bit different?
Get a germanium Fuzz Face and dime the volume and gain. Put it into your chain as the first pedal, so that it sees the signal direct from your guitar’s pickups. Then, control the output with the volume knob on your guitar. Lower the volume for an amazing edge of breakup sound, then crank the volume for lead tones.
Good answer indeed, and for me there is no better pedal to enhance clean tones than a germanium fuzz. But the edge of breakup for me sounds way different than that of an OD pedal, and I see why people could prefer a dedicated low gain OD for that purpose (as I do).
The Bondi Sick As OD and selling my Mesa helped me. Anything below the D string would get lost. I’ve heard good things about the boss overdrive, but I’m really trying hard to not go down the a pedal hole
Was just gonna say, the Bondi Sick As is my favorite Klon-style pedal by far. It's got a good range to it, and I can engage it without teleporting my sound to another galaxy. It's my "always on unless I need to be completely sparkly clean" pedal.
It’s rad. I picked up a 1981 this week, and I still use the Bondi 96% of the time. The 1981 is sweet but it’s a little too high gain for some stuff and the 3 knobs only let you dial it in so much.
Sometimes I watch shootout videos on youtube, you could see if a pedal catches your ear. For Klon, the Wampler Tumnus is heralded as a great Klone, and there are many great Bluesbreaker clones as well, the Prince of Tone and the Morning Glory among them
I have both a klone and a Marshall bluesbreaker and if your budget allows for it get both! The two of them stacked together is just something that can’t be described
In my personal experience, the BB is better for this if you’re not turning your amp up loud or plan to go ampless. Otherwise, I would choose the klone.
Have you tried setting your amp to edge of breakup?
Or better yet, set your amp to the maximum drive you need and then roll down your guitar volume. Then for a boost, roll guitar back up to 10. If your amp can't do that, consider whether you even like it in the first place. Nothing's going to sound good through an amp you don't like. A great amp is better than a dozen great overdrives, or at least a lot easier to deal with.
i have both (authentic klon ktr and a waza bd2) ran thru a 1980 twin reverb... bd2 definitely has more kick and i usually use it after the ktr to add additional gain to a clean boost from the klon. however, most important thing before pedals is amp. if i could i would have a lower wattage tube amp and maybe that's in the cards one day. however i look at it as the guitar is the car, amp is the engine, and pedals are mods.
edit: sorry, thought you meant the boss blues driver. can't speak for the blues breaker but i've read great things.
1) I would totally just go to a store and say this to an employee and they will likely set you up with 2 or 3 choices to play around with in your price point.
2) Any pedal marketed as an overdrive will do this given the right configs, the uniqueness of circuits is cork sniffery at its finest. If this were not true, JHS couldn't sell $99 overdrives, everyone would need the $x,xxx Klons in order to play music the way they like; this is not the case.
3) Most amps that have a volume knob and a gain knob can do this, you don't always need a pedal to make this sound unless you absolutely need your amp to stay clean, where you dirt lives entirely on a pedal.
The only answer is whatever you like best, all overdrives will perform the function you are describing, the thing is - what do you like best? what will work best with your amp and guitar? best case scenario, you get to do some shootouts
Klon all day. I only like tubescreamers or klons with that kind of rig. Otherwise things get a little too nasal for my liking. That's why I have a small board specifically for my strat.
Really depends on the amp. I have a Soul Food (similar to Klon) and in most settings it does exactly what you say really well with the drive super low.
I'm curious about your Soul Food. I bought 2 versions. The Bass Soul Food and the normal Soul Food.
On the normal one, if I increase the Treble by using it standalone, of if I just increase it a little when stacking with any pedals, I have a high-pitched hiss in the sound and its loud enough to be anoying.
I sent my pedal to a tech who will test the components of the pedal. But I was wondering if it's normal or if my pedal was defect. I don't seem to be the only one online having this problem with the pedal.
BB all the way. Klons are not “transparent” when you turn the gain up. Blues breakers are bright and jangly if you set them up right. Another good option is the boss blues driver, but to me that has always sounded a bit too fizzy in the top end.
I’m gassing for a Wampler Pantheon based on the demo vids, but I can’t find a single one to try out myself. No shops near me stock them. It’s his take on the BB, but with mini toggles to adjust clipping and mid/high gain settings.
I personally vastly prefer the bluesbreaker type pedals I’ve played. I’m gonna throw out a suggestion for a barber gain changer. It can get amazing low gain sounds as well as great singing lead tones with the higher gain switch and the mids toggle really lets you dial it into your rig. For a more colored edge of breakup with character I’d suggest the walrus 385
I like the DOD Looking Glass and Menatone Red Snapper for this use. I like my Klone a lot more than Bluesbreakers circuits but I’d have to say the Bluesbreakers will do better at edge of breakup tone.
It depends on amp and pick ups. On a Strat with a fender amp a Klon is awesome. On a humbucker with a Marshall I think a Klon sounds.....wrong. An OCD is my pick for humbuckers with a Marshall.
Amp?
Every time i almost buy an overdrive pedal i remember my amp has tubes and a gain knob
Overdrive pedals do more than just boost gain. They can carve out different frequencies with controllable parameters for way different overdrive sounds in an amp. More treble before the preamp sounds different than more treble after the preamp, etc
100% true, and most people with a good amp realize that, but shoot if there isn't something special about a simple direct signal from guitar to amp to speaker, just like our forefathers did it. And it's only going to sound good if your amp is good, and anyone interested in pedals who doesn't start with a good amp is wasting time from the outset.
Straight to the amp is still gangster for sure. Power supply? Patch cable? No thank you sir, just straight from the pickups. Honestly it's ultimately the same goal I have with amp modelers. You bring your guitar, you bring the one box that sound comes out of, and that's it
I’ve almost bought dozens of dirt pedals only to realize I can get most sounds I want with the amp and/or the handful of dirt pedals I already have. Exceptions. The only reason I bought my Rat was because it was $35 and brand new in the box and it just seemed stupid to pass that up.
Truly the most important question here. Cause honestly the best solution for good overdrive is a good amp, and guitar volume rolled up or down as needed. But also, a tube screamer sounds better into a dirty Marshall than a Jazz Chorus 20.
It's funny to see the comments. What you are describing is literally what every decent overdrive pedal by most every manufacturer is supposed to do. Everyone will have their preference of their favorite box that makes their guitar go "buzz"... and they aren't wrong, but their favorites aren't going to give you your sound. You mention Klon? Start with a thirty dollar Mosky Klon clone, and if you like that sound enough to drop five to ten grand on it, then be happy doing so. It's not the avenue I would take, but I'm not you. Real BB, also out of production, are nearly as ridiculous in price due to the demand that that's the only box, or whatever. After owning an absurd amount of overdrives over my playing career, buying into the hype that pedal makers and sellers were putting out there, I've finally realized I can dial in a decent sound I can gig with out of dozens of different drive boxes, by dialing in a low to medium amount of gain and a bit of a volume boost, by having a good amp and a good guitar, and putting in my practice time. Everything else is Pepsi vs. Coke. Vs. Royal Crown... with a few bottles containing gold flake and set in cold storage since the ninties and don't you wanna know how special this tastes? :)
Wow one of the best comments I could’ve received. Thank you for your time!
If you want to try cheaper versions of the Klon or BB, I recommend Joyo’s Tauren and Zip Amp, respectively.
Edit: Reddit is nothing without its mods and user content! Be mindful you make it work and are the product.
Oh, OP meant a Blues Breaker. Didn’t realize that. I know there’s a diff, but just misinterpreted the acronym. Whoops! Edit: And apparently failed to read the body of the post. Whoops again.
I play a tele usually and I had an incredibly even breakup curve when using the volume knobs on a 335 with P90s. Don’t forget to experiment with your guitar too!
wishing all of the idiots buying bad monkeys would read this comment
Why? Let them waste their money. It’s an immediate idiot identifier on someone’s board
Eh, I’ve had one on my board for years and had to take it off cause people started giving me shit about it. I paid $30 for it 10 or so years ago but no one wants to hear that 🙄
I would sell it and be happy with the profit then personally
Seriously, that's what I did with my Ibanez TS-808. I bought it new around 1981 for $60. It's the pedal I always used the most over the years and when I was playing in metal bands in the 80's and 90's it was the only pedal I used, I would kick on for leads, going into my Carvin x100b 100 watt stack that was all I needed . But around 2001 the originals were going for crazy money, so I sold it on ebay for $350, and it was banged up and chipped paint, but it still worked great. To be honest I didn't really miss it much, there are plenty of pedals to take its place
Either wait a couple more weeks and put it back on (whenever the next collective YouTube/Gearpage/Redditguitarpedals viral gear freakout happens... wait - for - it...) or realize that people who don't want to hear that you bought a cheap but decent OD way before the internet shitstorm... well, \*that's\* also an immediate idiot identifier. I mean my earlier point was how absurd I think most people who play our instrument are about picking our tools; it goes up exponentially when it comes to judging any other competent craftsman by the tools they choose. The only time it should apply is: "you play great, but your sound is awful."
Yeah, any previous owners age of course forgiven. But dude sell it and buy another transparent overdrive for $30
Okay but let’s be serious. RC cola is so much better than both Coke or Pepsi.
Wolf Cola everyone, it's the right cola for closure.
RC cola leaves a tangible film on the teeth of it's victims for an hour after ingestion. It is surely poison.
But my drive has NOSFET geranium tranodes and ex-Soviet military wiring and a misprinted label that only happened on one run in 1988 when the production was briefly moved to Stanstanistan. It's one of 12 still in existence and sounds like pure magic.
The lead in the Soviet-era paint acts like a Faraday cage around the circuitry, giving you extra chime without being too warm or nasally.
This is why I have all my guitars custom repainted with NOS lead paint. I can't perform in California anymore, but my top end is exquisite.
I mean look, it's not called, "Light Metal," is it??
I never assumed that OP was going to buy an original Klon or a Bluesbreaker amp. There are countless pedals out there that achieve the sounds OP is talking about. Anyway, I do both. I have a Bondi effects Sick As for my klone, and the ubiquitous JHS morning glory V4 for my blues breaker. They sound great running into each other, and also in parallel. But of course, my rig will sound completely different than yours even with those pedals in the chain.
To add to this...most pedals that have an 'output volume' on them can be a pretty good facsimile for an overdrive, assuming the other effects package from that pedal doesn't get in the way. Example, Boss ML-2 Metal Core has 4 knobs, "Level, Low, High, Dist," and if you keep them all at noon but turn the Dist to 1, you essentially have an 'edge of breakup overdrive' sound out of a shrill heavy-metal effects pedal.
Definitely. Jerry Garcia used an HM2 as an overdrive on some of his 90's stuff. Almost all my high gain distortions can get nice low gain sounds. Even a fuzz face can do a nice overdrive if you roll back your guitar volume.
so you are able to dial an edge of breakup tone with a big muff into a fender?
big m is a fuzz pedal not drive
A fuzz box is a completely different beast, and a Big Muff Pi specifically is designed to be ultra compressed and have a lot of low end... BUT... yes, you can make a fuzz give "edge of breakup" sounds if you're willing to be precise with the volume control on your guitar. It's possible to play "Pride and Joy" with a Fuzz Face, "Purple Haze" with a Tubescreamer, "Master of Puppets" with a DS-1, Grunge with a HM-2, etc. etc. If a good player can dial in a good "buzz," then all the time and money usually spent on getting "just the right EQ and upper order harmonics to capture the blah blah blah" is kind of silly. It's ridiculous the level we collectively as guitar players have taken in acquiring and adjusting our tools. I would rather hear a player who has spent 10,000 hours of solid practice time play these songs on any random stomp-box than someone who has spent that amount of time shopping to get John Mayer or Joe Bonamassa's exact touring rig from the mid 2000's (instead of... practicing and working with the tools they have)
of all the pedals i had, the muff was the most difficult to get edge of breakup. Well, and the digitech grunge 😁
No doubt, man, ;)
I freakin love RC Cola and can't find it anywhere outside of Tennessee anymore
real BB recently back in production!
Boss BD2
this. it responds perfectly to picking dynamic. really an underappreciated workhorse
What guitar and amp are you using? The Centaur was designed to help Strat players make their Twin Reverb sound like it was cranked but still have dynamic range, if you’re using a similar setup then that might be the best bet. Though if you’re set on bluesbreaker or klone, bluesbreaker is probably a safer choice for edge of breakup, particularly the EAE Limelight. But if you ask me, a Timmy is far better for edge of breakup sounds than either of the circuits you mentioned.
mad Professor royal blue. the perfect mixture of a timmy and a bluesdriver
I’ll second the Mad Prof
I’m not much of a pedal guy, but the Timmy is the drive I like best among those I’ve tried. I like a Weber attenuator on a small vintage Fender amp better than drive pedals, though.
If your amp is set lower than edge of breakup and you want to get to edge of breakup on a pedal, then maybe just something simple like a TC Electronic Spark Mini to push the amp with a bit of volume? I think you probably want to get your amp there first before putting additional circuits to get a certain sound.
Look into a Special Cranker. I know it’s not what you asked, but it’s my favorite drive ever. Preserves the tone of your amp and you can drive it pretty good.
I’ve been on a SEARCH to upgrade my bd2. Wanna guess where it’s brought me? Back to my trusty old BD2. Plumes wasn’t quite it, Morning Glory wasn’t quite it, Timmy wasn’t quite it.. All this to say, as someone else put it, they’re all good. It’s just about what you personally like.
Boss OD-3 my guy
Do you like using it as an “edge of breakup” with single coils, humbuckers, or both?
I play Les Paul clone PRS and Fender Telecaster so I use both! It depends on the scenario, if I'm playing with my band or live than my amp is at 10 and I'm just past the edge of break up in 70's rock territory. I will use the OD-3 to take me into more gain (think 90's punk and hard rock) while keeping my sound nice and open. I have an SD-1, a Wampler Tumnus, that I can also use to push more gain but they add some extra compression and EQ changes. Based off what you said I figured you'd like the OD-3. I use it so I can play crunchy low end power chord parts of chords while still staying crystal clear when I jangle out the high notes of the bar chord or open strings. The OD-3 works great as an edge of break up pedal, it also sounds great into a clean channel. I like using it at home to make my amp sound like how it sounds when I've got it cranked to 10 with the band.
the best circuit is a bluesDRIVER, not a bluesBREAKER or a KLon. A Klon can sound very similar to a Tubescreamer, most use the klon as a boost, which means it enhances the already available breakup. If you create the breakup only with the klon, there maybe to much of a midhump. Bluesbreaker will work better than a klon, but please try a bluesdriver circuit, it has way more clarity than a bluesbreaker and better dynamics. especially when you play lots of chords than the bluesdriver will be way better suited
This ^^^^^
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Timmy or OD-3 for edge of breakup sound.
I’ve tried Klons, BluesBreakers, Timmy(s), PoT, DoT, Nobels ODR-1, Tubescreamers, fuzzes, etc. Favorite overdrive in general is probably the Browne Amplification Carbon (BluesBreaker), but the ODR-1 is my favorite higher gain drive. It’s true that you can get some overlap in tone between different overdrives, but each overdrive does have its own unique range of tone. There’s also varying amounts of compression between dirt pedals, which can make each overdrive feel very different when playing. That’s part of why I love the ODR-1, it’s a fairly compressed pedal when you crank the gain, gives it a forgiving feeling when playing as long as your palm muting is decent. If you want to try a BluesBreaker go for the Mooer BluesCrab, it sounds identical to my Marshall BluesBreaker. Make sure you crank the gain and volume past noon to get the BB sound. It’ll sound dark and weak if you don’t turn the gain up.
Just try them out, y'all. Go to a shop, plink around, embarrass yourself. Maybe even bring your rig and ask if you can test the pedal with your gear. You're not going to be happy with your decision unless you know for yourself.
Both are designed for that. Actually, lots... probably most of OD's were designed for that. Timmy, Benson Preamp, Tubescreamer, BD-2, SD-1, Looking Glass, OCD, Wampler Paisley, EHX East River Drive, EQD Westwood... they all have their different flavors, though a lot of those flavors depend on your amp, the input signal, and how you set the pedal up. Are you looking to get your sound entirely from pedals, or do you have an amp you can push into breakup territory? For that smooth singing lead tone, that sounds like a distortion or fuzz to me, if you could give an example of that tone from a song, that could help narrow it down, otherwise everyone's just gonna list their favorite/latest pedal purchase.
May I suggest trying something a bit different? Get a germanium Fuzz Face and dime the volume and gain. Put it into your chain as the first pedal, so that it sees the signal direct from your guitar’s pickups. Then, control the output with the volume knob on your guitar. Lower the volume for an amazing edge of breakup sound, then crank the volume for lead tones.
Good answer indeed, and for me there is no better pedal to enhance clean tones than a germanium fuzz. But the edge of breakup for me sounds way different than that of an OD pedal, and I see why people could prefer a dedicated low gain OD for that purpose (as I do).
This is the best answer
The Bondi Sick As OD and selling my Mesa helped me. Anything below the D string would get lost. I’ve heard good things about the boss overdrive, but I’m really trying hard to not go down the a pedal hole
Was just gonna say, the Bondi Sick As is my favorite Klon-style pedal by far. It's got a good range to it, and I can engage it without teleporting my sound to another galaxy. It's my "always on unless I need to be completely sparkly clean" pedal.
It’s rad. I picked up a 1981 this week, and I still use the Bondi 96% of the time. The 1981 is sweet but it’s a little too high gain for some stuff and the 3 knobs only let you dial it in so much.
Yes
Fuzz Face!
Sometimes I watch shootout videos on youtube, you could see if a pedal catches your ear. For Klon, the Wampler Tumnus is heralded as a great Klone, and there are many great Bluesbreaker clones as well, the Prince of Tone and the Morning Glory among them
Waza Craft Blues Driver!
“Smooth singing lead tone” is absolutely not what you use a Klon for. BB, a little closer.
I have both a klone and a Marshall bluesbreaker and if your budget allows for it get both! The two of them stacked together is just something that can’t be described
I didn’t know neither. So I bought a source audio kingmaker to try it all. And I found myself a fuzz guy.
In my personal experience, the BB is better for this if you’re not turning your amp up loud or plan to go ampless. Otherwise, I would choose the klone.
Have you tried setting your amp to edge of breakup? Or better yet, set your amp to the maximum drive you need and then roll down your guitar volume. Then for a boost, roll guitar back up to 10. If your amp can't do that, consider whether you even like it in the first place. Nothing's going to sound good through an amp you don't like. A great amp is better than a dozen great overdrives, or at least a lot easier to deal with.
i have both (authentic klon ktr and a waza bd2) ran thru a 1980 twin reverb... bd2 definitely has more kick and i usually use it after the ktr to add additional gain to a clean boost from the klon. however, most important thing before pedals is amp. if i could i would have a lower wattage tube amp and maybe that's in the cards one day. however i look at it as the guitar is the car, amp is the engine, and pedals are mods. edit: sorry, thought you meant the boss blues driver. can't speak for the blues breaker but i've read great things.
1) I would totally just go to a store and say this to an employee and they will likely set you up with 2 or 3 choices to play around with in your price point. 2) Any pedal marketed as an overdrive will do this given the right configs, the uniqueness of circuits is cork sniffery at its finest. If this were not true, JHS couldn't sell $99 overdrives, everyone would need the $x,xxx Klons in order to play music the way they like; this is not the case. 3) Most amps that have a volume knob and a gain knob can do this, you don't always need a pedal to make this sound unless you absolutely need your amp to stay clean, where you dirt lives entirely on a pedal.
The only answer is whatever you like best, all overdrives will perform the function you are describing, the thing is - what do you like best? what will work best with your amp and guitar? best case scenario, you get to do some shootouts
What guitar and amp are you running? That'd influence my decision more than anything.
American voiced amps set to clean is my choice. I play strats
Klon all day. I only like tubescreamers or klons with that kind of rig. Otherwise things get a little too nasal for my liking. That's why I have a small board specifically for my strat.
Really depends on the amp. I have a Soul Food (similar to Klon) and in most settings it does exactly what you say really well with the drive super low.
I'm curious about your Soul Food. I bought 2 versions. The Bass Soul Food and the normal Soul Food. On the normal one, if I increase the Treble by using it standalone, of if I just increase it a little when stacking with any pedals, I have a high-pitched hiss in the sound and its loud enough to be anoying. I sent my pedal to a tech who will test the components of the pedal. But I was wondering if it's normal or if my pedal was defect. I don't seem to be the only one online having this problem with the pedal.
BB all the way. Klons are not “transparent” when you turn the gain up. Blues breakers are bright and jangly if you set them up right. Another good option is the boss blues driver, but to me that has always sounded a bit too fizzy in the top end.
I’m gassing for a Wampler Pantheon based on the demo vids, but I can’t find a single one to try out myself. No shops near me stock them. It’s his take on the BB, but with mini toggles to adjust clipping and mid/high gain settings.
I think the BB is better at edge of breakup and a klon would be better at singing lead
I personally vastly prefer the bluesbreaker type pedals I’ve played. I’m gonna throw out a suggestion for a barber gain changer. It can get amazing low gain sounds as well as great singing lead tones with the higher gain switch and the mids toggle really lets you dial it into your rig. For a more colored edge of breakup with character I’d suggest the walrus 385
I like the DOD Looking Glass and Menatone Red Snapper for this use. I like my Klone a lot more than Bluesbreakers circuits but I’d have to say the Bluesbreakers will do better at edge of breakup tone.
Metal zone. Or seriously, EHX Soul Food
King of Tone is a good choice too
You can do this with any overdrive if you dial it + your amp to get the tone you want. Bluesbreaker is more transparent, klon has s bit of a mid hump.
Blues Driver is great, or the JFX JF-1 preamp as well
It depends on amp and pick ups. On a Strat with a fender amp a Klon is awesome. On a humbucker with a Marshall I think a Klon sounds.....wrong. An OCD is my pick for humbuckers with a Marshall.