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iamqman « Classic guitar tone Staple »
Published on 03/18/11 at 16:00Probably the most used stomp box overdrive on the planet. Anyone from small clubs to arenas have played this little green box. I have been using this pedal now for bout 6 years. It has remained on my pedal board since I got it in the mail.
I decided to pick one up that has been modified by Mike at Analogman effects. I got the silver mod which I guess adds more low end. He says most guys wouldn't be able to tell the difference and this mod is for the picky. I probably couldn't tell the difference in this and the brown mod that he offers. I have not matched this up against the regular mod but I really found a good box for what I am doing musically. I am able to get great warm and driving tone when slamming the front of my overdriven amp and also just giving a clean amp a little hair.
UTILIZATION
This pedal is very easy to use. It has three knobs consisting of Drive, Tone, and Level. There are several different variations when using this pedal. You can use it in front of a clean amp with the gain on high and it gives a nice smooth overdrive suitable for classic rock and pop. You can also lower the gain to almost nothing and the level up to slam the front of of a Marshall style amp that is already overdriven to give it a pissed off Marshall tone. You'll get a good 80's tone throwing this in front of a JCM800 with a clean boost to the TS9. Keep the tone around the middle and bring the level all the way up and the drive all the way to 9:00. It just screams 80's hair metal.
SOUND QUALITY
There have been so many clones and knock offs of this pedal. Some good and some not so good, but that just goes to show how important this pedal has become to modern music.
I ran this in various different configurations. My favorite was with a Strat into a Fender Hot Rod. I put a Line 6 DL4 in between and got some great smooth and rich tone with this combo. It was suitable for church playing and fit really well in the mix. Another favorite was using it in from of a Marshall JCM2000 on the clean channel. This pedal gave it enough drive to really give a nice Zeppelin tone or AC/DC type tones. I was very happy with this setting and pretty much kept it there when using it with this amp.
OVERALL OPINION
I would like to give it a perfect but the reissues need some tweaking to sound closer to the originals. I like the mod that I had done on it and it fits well with the sound I'm going for. It is probably my go to pedal when it comes to getting a little bit more hair on my tone. I also like the Boss Sd-1 and OD-2 for similar applications.
I would buy this pedal again if I ever lost it or it got stolen. I think I would go with the 808 version or the DX which I prefer just a little bit over the three knob TS9.
I would recommend this pedal to anyone who plays guitar. It is must own and I cannot live without it. I think the price is very fair for the pedal and with the mod at $160. Many other pedals start at that price and your paying for the boutique price rather than the functionality and economics.
I decided to pick one up that has been modified by Mike at Analogman effects. I got the silver mod which I guess adds more low end. He says most guys wouldn't be able to tell the difference and this mod is for the picky. I probably couldn't tell the difference in this and the brown mod that he offers. I have not matched this up against the regular mod but I really found a good box for what I am doing musically. I am able to get great warm and driving tone when slamming the front of my overdriven amp and also just giving a clean amp a little hair.
UTILIZATION
This pedal is very easy to use. It has three knobs consisting of Drive, Tone, and Level. There are several different variations when using this pedal. You can use it in front of a clean amp with the gain on high and it gives a nice smooth overdrive suitable for classic rock and pop. You can also lower the gain to almost nothing and the level up to slam the front of of a Marshall style amp that is already overdriven to give it a pissed off Marshall tone. You'll get a good 80's tone throwing this in front of a JCM800 with a clean boost to the TS9. Keep the tone around the middle and bring the level all the way up and the drive all the way to 9:00. It just screams 80's hair metal.
SOUND QUALITY
There have been so many clones and knock offs of this pedal. Some good and some not so good, but that just goes to show how important this pedal has become to modern music.
I ran this in various different configurations. My favorite was with a Strat into a Fender Hot Rod. I put a Line 6 DL4 in between and got some great smooth and rich tone with this combo. It was suitable for church playing and fit really well in the mix. Another favorite was using it in from of a Marshall JCM2000 on the clean channel. This pedal gave it enough drive to really give a nice Zeppelin tone or AC/DC type tones. I was very happy with this setting and pretty much kept it there when using it with this amp.
OVERALL OPINION
I would like to give it a perfect but the reissues need some tweaking to sound closer to the originals. I like the mod that I had done on it and it fits well with the sound I'm going for. It is probably my go to pedal when it comes to getting a little bit more hair on my tone. I also like the Boss Sd-1 and OD-2 for similar applications.
I would buy this pedal again if I ever lost it or it got stolen. I think I would go with the 808 version or the DX which I prefer just a little bit over the three knob TS9.
I would recommend this pedal to anyone who plays guitar. It is must own and I cannot live without it. I think the price is very fair for the pedal and with the mod at $160. Many other pedals start at that price and your paying for the boutique price rather than the functionality and economics.