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Hey Pedal Geeks!

J T

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Oct 20, 2005
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10,501
Hey Ed!
I see you already ordered a pedal, and there are some fantastic recommendations here, but here's what I found in the push it a bit further category.

I put the Blackstone MOSFET in front of everything just after my guitar and it gives it hat extra definition for lack of a better word. It interacts with the pickups and is not a buzzy sound, but gives it more oomph. Pull up or Push down the guitar volume and there it is. You control it from the guitar.

You said you use a trademark 60, well I had it here in front of my FlyRig and into a Powerengine 60. It sounds great. Too bad I cant upload audio here.

OJLpiCZ.jpg
 

Sol

Active member
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Oct 26, 2001
Messages
775
Thanks for the opinion!.. I wanna be clear that Im NOT looking to play the amp clean and use this pedal to simulate a driving amp... the amp will be already driving and the pedal will just add some grit... you still think that this one would be good for that purpose?
Like the poster above I love the Blackstone Mosfet Overdrive, it is one of the finest drive pedals available and I recommend it without reservation. However., Jon Blackstone designed this pedal to work its magic in front of a clean amp, and this maybe a stumbling block for EdA given his requirements.
 
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Sol

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Oct 26, 2001
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775
Earlier I mentioned the Way Huge Red Llama, I use it on my board when I simply want more output and grit without the inevitable colouration in the midrange frequencies that comes with the majority of pedals.

Whilst this is perhaps my best recommendation, it may be worth you looking at the Crowther Hotcake if you haven't already ruled it out. It can be set without colouration, and while increasing gain will come with added midrange (Its so hard to avoid this) its 'presance' pot works more like the tone control on my old Vox ac30, sweeping though a wide frequency range. This is the pedal Im currently using alongside the Way Huge Red Llama on my board.

This combo alows me to use two drive pedals in front of vintage Marshall and Vox amps whilst minimising the tendancy of pedals to dominate the tonal characteristics of the very amps I want to showcase.
Apologies for the long post
 

Ed A

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Jul 16, 2001
Messages
4,679
UPDATE: Again, many thanks for all the suggestions here... I am willing to keep buying pedals if need be.... the Earthquaker Speaker Cranker (suggested on the other forum I think) while being a great pedal did not do what I need.... it added thickness and some great sounding drive while keeping the original tone fairly intact, but it did NOT add grit.... I think its because its pretty much amplifying whats already there... and the Tech 21 as mentioned before has smooth gain... which is why Speaker Cranker and the Klon and the early issue Boss super overdrive and the early issue Bluesbreaker pedals all didnt work for me... basically just overdriving the already clean and smooth signal... on the other hand I dont want to add an obvious fuzz to it either which goes too far in the other direction... And I know some will say, try another amp... I have and have had so many great amps, but this is what Im using for gigging now for a whole bunch of reasons and it really works well for my needs and Im just looking for slight enhancement....

So I will keep looking through your recommendations here and give something else a shot. Many thanks!
 

Sol

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Oct 26, 2001
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775
Perhaps we haven't understood the term 'grit' as you intended ?
 

LHakim

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Jul 15, 2001
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Seriously Ed, try a Dallas Rangemaster type treble booster, preferably w/germanium transistor, and hi, mid & full range options.
 

Ed A

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Jul 16, 2001
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Seriously Ed, try a Dallas Rangemaster type treble booster, preferably w/germanium transistor, and hi, mid & full range options.
I had one years ago.... I dont wanna add treble, but yeah will look into it
 

Ed A

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Jul 16, 2001
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Perhaps we haven't understood the term 'grit' as you intended ?
its a subtle thing im looking to do... will try to post a soundfile of what Im talking about
 

Ed A

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Jul 16, 2001
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I was asked what I meant by grit.... Maybe this soundfile will help.... its a comparison between my Tech 21 and my early '80s handwired Deluxe II... I am admittedly being overly obsessed with fine tuning, but if you listen to the first half , the Tech 21, you will of course hear some grit and grind when playing chords but by around the 23 second mark when soloing on the neck it sounds great but almost too smooth and refined.... the second half of the recording you will hear more grit and edge from the all tube Deluxe II... disregard the difference in treble just listen to smoothness.... the Deluxe is a great tone but not loud enough for gigging...

the pedals Ive tried with the Tech 21 so far have added gain and thickness and harmonics but the tone remains just as smooth... but I dont wanna go too far in the other direction by adding a fuzz which will give a ton of grit but will alter the pure tone of the guitar and amp too much...

just to be clear I have an early '69 100w plexi and a '69 G12H30 55hz 4x12 cab... that tone is pure heaven but I have not found it yet in a manageable 1x12 combo.... last year I tried 18w marshall, 20w Marshall, Origin Marshall, and older JTM30 and I also bought and kept a Friedman PT20.... thats a great amp, but it still sounds like EL84s.... the Tech 21 believe it or not gives me a tone I love except for that little bit of too perfect sounding... im 64 with a bad back and four shoulder surgeries and I need lightweight and versatile with sounding great at any volume and the Tech 21 gives me that...

I have on the way another recommendation from you guys, a Way Huge Overrated Special, that may not do it... but interested in trying it....
 

Nick-O

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Aug 12, 2015
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223
jEhQXYL.jpg


I think something like this with an original NOS EP-3 chip in it...I am no pedal builder, but I know for a fact it is in here...happy to send it to you to try if these other pedals aren't right.

HllApAx.jpg
 

Ed A

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Jul 16, 2001
Messages
4,679
jEhQXYL.jpg


I think something like this with an original NOS EP-3 chip in it...I am no pedal builder, but I know for a fact it is in here...happy to send it to you to try if these other pedals aren't right.

HllApAx.jpg
Thats nice of you to offer.... I had a Secret Preamp.... ended up selling it... but it was for use with another amp.... think a buddy has one, may try it again... thanks
 

Sol

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Oct 26, 2001
Messages
775
I love boosters. I have more boosters than any other pedal type because they all do something the others dont. Some compliment Marshall, others Vox or Fender.
Treble boosters add grit but alter eq, a Boss GE-7 can counter this, but is also an incredible, versatile boost in its own right.

My D*A*M Red Rooster and Catalinbread Nager Viper are the most versatile imho and accompanied with any 7 band eq like the Boss GE-7 are capable of shaping tone to fit the situation. Having just listened to your post above, and the great YouTube posts I wanted to mention this particular option.
 
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Stephens

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Dec 30, 2001
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438
Ed- curious on what the Way Huge Overrated Special does for you. There’s a lot of voicings in that pedal. I would also agree with Sol’s recommendation on the Way Huge Red Llama as another great option that will add some grit. Happy hunting! 😎👍
 

Sol

Active member
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Oct 26, 2001
Messages
775
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. The first pedal I ever bought was a used Ibanez 10 series 7 band eq. I used it to lift the clean volume of the Marshall and Orange 4x12 half stack I was using back then, and found that the settings that worked for clean playing worked equally well for the driven tones.

As we know,.travel of the sliders go from: - 15 to +15 with "0" as the neutral mid point between the two. With everything set to '0' my basic starting point was to raise both 200 & 400hz to + 5 these frequencies give body and definition to single notes and chords, both clean and overdriven. (The 800hz frequency, Tom Sholz anyone? needs to be covered in another thread)

So with 200 and 400 hz raised +5 the next two for max cut and 'grit' would be 3.2k and 6.4k raised by the same +5
A Tech 21 set with a touch of dirt, should sound pretty good being boosted with the settings Ive suggested . If the 6.4k is a touch too much high end, then the 1.6k and 3.2k should hit the spot..

While these settings have worked well for my personal applications, I understand that they are just that, and are offered here for critical consideration.
 
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Ed A

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Jul 16, 2001
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3ED3E0C6-75A0-466F-ACC1-59AB5966085A.jpeg
So this is what I settled on with the pedals and thanks to all that gave opinions! I am selling the four in the back and keeping the three in the front. The early Chase secret preamp, the Mythos Klon, and the Tech 21 blonde. None of these pedals really add extra grit which was my initial desire. But they sound great in their own right and I especially love the Secret preamp which will stay on all the time. It definitely makes the solid state Tech 21 sound a bit warmer and grainy and more tube like. The Klon is cool it has its advantages and disadvantages. The real surprise is the Tech 21 blonde. 95% of players use it as a direct into PA or recording or with a clean amp. But it can be used as a stomp box with an already driving amp which is how I’m using it and with the character knob and other controls it is very versatile and sounds great! The four pedals in the back all sounded great but were not exactly what I was looking for… By the way I will be putting them up on reverb as well as the Echoplex and will beat anybody else’s price so if anybody’s interested you can PM me… Thanks again for the pedal advice it’s much appreciated!
 
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