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Posts Tagged ‘effect pedals’

Gear Announcement: VOX Satriani Big Bad Wah

Posted in buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, pedals, vox, wah, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2009| 1 Comment »

Big Bad Wah by VOX and Joe Satriani

Big Bad Wah by VOX and Joe Satriani

Ever since I tried out the VOX Satchurator a few months ago, I’ve been waiting for the this wah pedal to arrive. If it is anything close to the quality of sound that the Satchurator produces, I know that this is going to be a great pedal. The pedal features two modes: Mode 1 is classic VOX wah; while Mode 2 features the ability to variably adjust the gain and voicing profiles of the wah to dial in a variety of tonal possibilities.

One thing I take note of when evaluating pedals is if I can reproduce the manufacturer’s or endorser’s claims about a particular feature. For instance, when Satch touted the “More” switch on the Satchurator, during my tests, I was expecting more volume when my amp was clean, and more balls when my tubes were saturated. The pedal definitely lived up to that claim.

With the Big Bad Wah, VOX states, “Designed to Joe Satriani’s custom specs is the design of the pedal pot itself, delivering a smooth, musical tone throughout the entire sweep of the pedal.” This is huge, because I’ve found in my evaluations of different kinds of wah pedals that when you back off the pedal, your output becomes a bit muddy, so you end up never fully backing off because the wah will just suck your tone. Or seemingly to protect against this, manufacturers will narrow the sweep range, so the wah becomes much less dramatic. I found this to be the case with Morley Steve Vai Bad Horsie, which was very musical throughout its sweep range, but overall, didn’t have that dramatic of a sweep as compared to others I tried. So I ended up just getting a Dunlop Cry Baby, and despite its shortcomings, I’ve come to love it.

But I’ve always loved Satch’s wah tone, not because I want to necessarily sound like him, but because it’s just a killer tone, and highly expressive. And as with the Satchurator, Joe was involved in every aspect of the design process, so the Big Bad Wah promises to be of the exacting standards for which Professor Satchifunkilus is known. Once the Big Bad Wah is available in stores, which should be soon, considering the announcement of its release was made at NAMM, you can be assured I’ll be running down to the local shop to try one out!

Some online retailers like Sweetwater, are doing pre-orders for $219. That’s not a bad price to pay, especially for a signature pedal. And I dig the fact that Joe really wanted all his signature pedals to be affordable and within the reach of a wide range of people. In any case, all this combined makes for me taking a serious look at the Big Bad Wah

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Gear Announcement: They’re Baaaack… that is, Way Huge…

Posted in buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, fuzz, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, pedals, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 13, 2009| 2 Comments »

Back in the early 1990’s, Jeorge Tripp started Way Huge and created a line of pedals starting with the “Fuzz Box” that for all intents and purposes started the whole boutique pedal movement. Later in the decade, he decided to go on to other stuff (I believe he went to Line 6). I didn’t play much electric guitar back then, but I do remember a couple of guys I knew who used to rave about Way Huge pedals. I had never heard of them, and as a primarily acoustic guitar player, didn’t really pay too much attention because distortion was not part of my tonal palette. That all changed when I started focusing on electric guitar a few years ago. I’d visit forums and lurk discussions about how people were paying hundreds (never saw any go for thousands, but apparently some did) for these rare pedals. I was amazed. These pedals must’ve been something special if they were in such high demand.

Then a few weeks ago, I had heard that Jeorge Tripp struck a deal with the Jim Dunlop company to resurrect Way Huge. I did a google search to see if I could find any info, and came up pretty empty-handed. Even the Way Huge site had no information – until I did another search about ten minutes ago, and saw that a search on “way huge” produced the result “Jim Dunlop – Way Huge” as a search result. Naturally, I had to click the link, despite the seemingly sexual undertones the link title might have implied.

To my everlasting surprise, the Way Huge site was completely transformed from the comic book-like line drawing theme into a real site, replete with Flash graphics! But to be clear, the fact that it’s Flash did not get me excited. It was the fact that it was a real site. You have to check it out!

Featured on the site are the three pedals Way Huge is offering right now: The Swollen Pickle Mk II, The Fat Sandwich, and the Pork Loin. The Swollen Pickle is a pure Fuzz machine, while the Fat Sandwich and Pork Loin are soft-clipping overdrive pedals. Each has a very unique voice. The sound samples really display the capabilities of each pedal, so I encourage you to check ’em out.

Personally, I’ve never been much of a fuzz guy, but I do love soft clipping pedals. So naturally, I gravitated toward the Fat Sandwich and Pork Loin pedals. Very nice sounds indeed!

Visit Way Huge at http://www.wayhuge.com

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Move over OCD, the Holy Fire is where it’s at for me now…

Posted in booster, buying gear, clean boost, Creation Audio Labs, distortion, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Holy Fire, inspiration, Mk.4.23, Music, musicians, overdrive, pedals, playing live, reason amps, SM25, Strat, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 11, 2009| 2 Comments »

Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion Pedal

Fulltone OCD Drive Pedal

What do you do when you have two kick-ass overdrive/distortion pedals and don’t know which one to choose because both pedals bring so much to the table? The obvious answer is to use both. But my problem in choosing is exacerbated by limited pedal real estate, so I have to make a choice.

Actually, the choice wasn’t too hard to make once I started playing with the Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire. While I love the OCD, the Holy Fire wins hands-down for its versatility and total transparency. While the OCD is somewhat transparent, it can get kind of muddy and a little choppy at high drive settings, whereas the Holy Fire’s distortion section reacts a lot like a power tube at high gain settings producing a compressed effect that just rocks the house!

I still love the sound that the OCD produces. It really brings out harmonics and overtones, and set in a “sweet spot” produces a nice sparkly distortion that really sounds great. But as of late I’ve been gravitating towards retaining the natural sound of my guitar and amp, so the added artifacts that the OCD adds aren’t really what I want right now.

On the other hand, the overdrive on the Holy Fire is totally unique, and nothing like I’ve ever witnessed in all my tests of overdrive pedals (and believe me, I’ve tested a lot). The overdrive has what Creation Audio Labs calls a “wave shaping” circuit that evenly distorts the entire bandwidth of the incoming signal as opposed to creating a mid-range hump, or scooping the EQ. It really is completely even. You don’t lose any lows or highs, which is common in overdrive pedals. And the circuit reacts to both volume and pick attack, providing more wave shaping as you hit the front-end of the pedal harder. Simply put, you retain all the natural tone of your guitar! It’s insane! And it’s so special, Creation Audio Labs is trying to patent it!

I gigged with the Holy Fire for the first time this evening at my weekly Church gig. Make no mistake, this may be a church service, but we regularly hit above 100db in our sets, so there is plenty of room to let our amps breath, and take advantage of the higher gain settings on our equipment. Tonight, I made sure to pick music that would allow me to use the Holy Fire throughout my set. Talk about being inspired! I used it with my Strat and a Reason SM25 amp. What a combo! I set the gain to just above unity with the clean channel (about 10am), the overdrive at about 2pm, and distortion at about 3pm (so the distortion section would compress – it does this at around 2pm). The breakup was so smooth and delicious, I wanted to keep it on all the time! Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that with some songs, but where I had the entire band playing all out, the Holy Fire just made my heart sing!

The Holy Fire also plays well with other pedals. My mainstay overdrive pedal is my trusty green machine, an Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer. That’s one pedal that will NEVER leave my board! But here’s the cool thing: Running the Tube Screamer in front of the Holy First was like nothing I’ve heard before. I did this with my OCD as well, essentially getting a combined tonal effect that the TS and OCD produce. But the Holy Fire maintained the tone the Tube Screamer produces! On the other hand, it smoothed out and thickened the distortion. The result was the expected mid-range hump from the Tube Screamer, but with super-creamy distortion, plus the TS tone, that was like candy to my ears. No extra coloration that I came to expect by running my TS into the OCD. It was like playing a fatter Tube Screamer!

Believe me, despite playing in a worship service, the way I was feeling with both those pedals running together made it seem I like I was flying with the angels! I’m not exaggerating! There is absolutely nothing compared to the feeling you get when you’re playing with wonderful tone. It inspires and emboldens you, and you take your playing to places you didn’t think possible.

That was the feeling I got when I first started playing with the OCD, and frankly, I didn’t think it could get much better. But the Holy Fire has changed everything.

On top of that, I was using another Creation Audio Labs pedal, the Mk.4.23 clean boost, yet another amazing product from those electronics wizards. I used the booster to give me just a slight gain boost for when I was doing solos, or was in the refrain section of a song when I needed just a bit more volume. It too is a totally transparent boost, adding ZERO artifacts to your signal, so all the time I spent dialing in my settings wouldn’t be lost when the Mk.4.23 was engaged.

I swear, I must sound like a twitterpated, googly-eyed schoolgirl! 🙂 But it’s been a long time that I’ve felt truly inspired, like everything was totally right with my world of tone. I’ve finally (at least for now), found total balance in my tone. The circle is complete…

At least until I get a bad case of GAS!!!

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Gear Find: Plush “The Verbrator”

Posted in buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, pedals, Tone, tubes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 9, 2009| 1 Comment »

Plush Verbrator

Plush Verbrator

I dig interesting pedals. in my search for a decent reverb, I came across the Plush Verberator that is a tube-driven effects loop and a 24-bit reverb in one pedal. I’m not too sure about the effects loop bit, but the reverb sounds really awesome. Here’s the product description from the Plush site:

The Verbrator® is a new multipurpose pedal which combines an all-tube effects loop with a studio grade reverb featuring a 32-Khz clock speed for full 16-K audio bandwidth. The Verbrator® is our most innovative pedal offering to date. It’s an effects loop, it’s a reverb, it’s both!

Unlike other “tube pedals,” the Verbrator® power supply features a unique regulated switching technology that takes the incoming 9 volts and converts it up to the optimal high voltage a tube really needs to operate best. In addition, a 6-volt DC regulator provides consistent clean DC power for the tube filament assuring lowest noise and consistent performance despite any changes to incoming line voltage.

The Verbrator® can be used as a pedal on a pedal board as a reverb pedal. It features a level control and decay control allowing you to have a short medium or long decay reverb algorithm. It can also be used as a tube buffer to convert an incoming high impedance signal to a low impedance for long cable runs or driving a pedal board. The recovery (gain) stage can be used to boost the level of a guitar or pedal board with a true tube audio stage. It provides a warm sweet utility gain stage with a multitude of uses.

The effects loop portion of the pedal features a unity gain cathode follower to work with any amp that has passive preamp output – power amp input patch jacks, and not a true active effects loop like Ceriatone, Dumble, Bludotone, Brown Note, some Marshall models and others. It has a send level control and high headroom. The return portion of the loop features a high impedance input (250-K) and a low output impedance with its own level control as well. The loop can be run in series or parallel modes, and features a level adjust switch for rack or pedal style effects.

9-volt DC adaptor provided, the Verbrator® features a unique “window” showing the tube. Like all Fuchs pedals, the Verbrator® features solid cast aluminum powder coated enclosure with heat cured silk screening, dual sided heavy circuit boards, premium switches and controls, and premium electronic parts throughout.

Like I said, I’m not too sure about the effects loop part of it, but the reverb really sounds good. Check out the video below:

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Gear Review: Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion Pedal

Posted in booster, buying gear, Creation Audio Labs, distortion, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Holy Fire, Music, overdrive, pedals, recording, Tone, tubes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2008| 2 Comments »

5 Tone Bones - Gear has stellar performance, value, and quality. This is definitely top of the class, best of breed, and it's a no-brainer to add this to your gear lineup!

Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion Pedal

Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion Pedal

 Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion


Summary: Overdrive and Distortion and tons of gain in one box that will NOT alter your tone. Has built-in wave shaping that responds to attack and input gain that simulates overdriving the front end of an amp.

Pros: Possible to achieve all sorts of clipping from swampy grind to searing distortion rife with harmonics, overtones and feedback, and it can do all this at ANY volume – freakin’ amazing!

Cons: Operationally, none. But its circuitry is so special that it requires a special 48V DC adapter – it will not run from a standard 9V or 18V power supply like Dunlop DC Brick. But for what it brings to the table, that’s a small price to pay.

Price: $195 direct

Knobs:

– “G” Gain
– “O” Overdrive – Soft clipping circuit – has built-in wave-shaping to react to input gain much like the front-end of a tube amp. Higher levels evoke increased wave-shaping ensuring even distortion throughout the EQ spectrum.
– “D” Distortion – Square wave form distortion
– Hi-cut (variable sweep hi-cut, fully open gives you all the tone, dialed back scales back the hi-freqs)

Tone Bone Rating: 5 This stuff is magic.

The guys at Creation Audio Labs must be wizards – or at least half wizard – because they’ve created what I consider to be the only overdrive/distortion pedal that does what it’s supposed to do, and doesn’t alter the tone of your amp! Mind you, there are times when you want that. For instance, to me, the classic overdriven mid-range hump of a Tube Screamer is an incomparable sound, and something I will always have on my board because I like the way it changes my tone. But in a lot of other circumstances, all I want is grind or all out distortion, and I don’t want my tone changed. That’s where the Holy Fire overdrive/distortion comes into play.

This is truly a magical pedal. Not only does it look awesome with that brushed metal exterior, and glowing red “Holy Fire” letters, it kicks the freakin’ pants off pretty much anything that’s out there that claims tone transparency in my opinion. And I don’t say this lightly. Remember, if you’re a regular reader of this column, I’ve got a real penchant for overdrive and distortion boxes – especially overdrive boxes. So when I say a pedal totally kicks ass, I mean it! You might not see too many reviews on them here, only because I only take the time to write about gear I love and would put in my chain. This is a pedal that will be taking up space on my board! And at $195 direct from Creation Audio Labs, this is a must-have box!

What’s so special about it? Actually, the question should be: What’s not to like? You get the best of both worlds here: Completely transparent overdrive or beautifully compressed distortion. Playing just with the overdrive and the distortion completely rolled off, you can get that classic, mildly crunchy, gritty grind to rip-roaring rattle that’ll make you think your amp’s bottles will shake off. Conversely with the overdrive turned all the way down and sweeping the Distortion knob, you can go from sweet and mild distortion, to heavily compressed gut-wrenching distortion replete with harmonics and overtones that’ll make you feel you’re getting scalped! But the best settings combine certain amounts of both. When you find your sweet spot, it’s epiphany time!

Imagine all this in one little stomp box! And the kicker is that your amp will still sound like your amp! Mind you, I didn’t read any reviews of this pedal before I got one for review. I didn’t want to taint my assessment of the pedal. The VERY first thing I noticed as I twiddled with the knobs is that my test amps never lost their voicing (I used three amps: An Aracom RoxBox combo, a Reason SM25, and my trusty Fender Hot Rod Deluxe). In all cases, the amp I was playing still sounded like my amp except it had grind and/or distortion. And no matter what output volume I had, the pedal operated the SAME WAY!!! So imagine the versatility this pedal brings to the table! I’m going to do a test later on with my Fender Champ 600, and see what wonders the Holy Fire will conjure when I lay down some tracks. It should be interesting as well as rewarding. So whether you’re on stage or in the studio. If you need breakup in your sound, this pedal will do it.

But wait there’s more!

On top of all I discussed, the pedal is sensitive to input gain, and has what’s called “wave shaping” that responds to higher input gain and acts like you’re overdriving the front-end of a tube amp. When you hit the pedal hard with either a booster or diming your guitar’s volume, or just picking hard, the pedal’s LED changes to a yellow color indicating that you’re overdriving the pedal. The magic behind this is that wave shaping evenly distorts the input signal across the EQ spectrum, so all your input tone is completely retained. The damn thing works too! It ain’t no marketing gimmick! So just as you’d expect when you do the same things with an amp, the Holy Fire will do it as well. Like I said, it’s magic.

I should make mention to a very cool effect that happens when you turn the distortion knob past 2 o’clock. The circuit actually starts compressing the signal, so you lose a little volume, but you get a very fat signal. In my opinion, that’s where the magic occurs with the distortion. After playing around with lots of combinations, I ended up just diming the distortion knob altogether, then just layering in varying amounts of overdrive and gain. Truly candy for the ears here, folks. With that, I’m going to post a couple of YouTube vids here so you can see and hear for yourself.

January 12, 2009

I’ve written a follow-up on this pedal. In a nutshell, I got my first chance gig with the Holy Fire this past weekend, and it was a true revelation. Talk about being on cloud nine while playing the guitar! Read the follow-up here.

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Gear Find: FH(fx) Algal Bloom Fuzz Pedal

Posted in buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, fuzz, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, pedals, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2008| 10 Comments »

Fuzz pedal? Me? GoofyDawg? I know, I know… I’m an overdrive and overdrive/distortion pedal kind of guy. I usually prefer soft clipping pedals that throw just a hint of clipping and lot of input gain at an amp to make the amp’s tubes saturate and overdrive. And up until this point, I haven’t even discussed any fuzz pedals. But after hearing some of the sound clips from the new Algal Bloom from FH(fx), I have to say that I’m now rethinking my predeliction for overdrive pedals only. But don’t let me do the talking. Check out the clips on the Fuzzhugger.com site!

This pedal looks awesome! And from what I could tell from the sound clips, it’s capable of producing some gnarly fuzz and, as the guys at Fuzzhugger.com say, “[the Algal Bloom’s] name is inspired by its tone – thick and destructive – but very alive.” From the sound clips, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description of the Algal Bloom.

It’s weird isn’t it? I’m normally not into that kind of sound, but it’s so ugly, it’s lovable! I had a little dog like that when I was growing up. It was a mix of Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, and Wire-haired Fox Terrier. Ugliest freakin’ dog you ever saw – like a little rat. But I loved that dog! He was smart and playful and so loving! Sorry, reminiscing… not that I could say that about the Algal Bloom, but there’s something about how it sounds that I just dig! Check it out!

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Gear Review: DigiTech Hardwire RV-7 Stereo Reverb

Posted in buying gear, DigiTech, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Hardwire, pedals, RV-7, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2008| 4 Comments »

Hardwire RV-7 Stereo Reverb

Hardwire RV-7 Stereo Reverb

Back in September of this year, DigiTech released a line of high-end pedals under the “Hardwire” brand. These are high-quality, true-bypass pedals, and I have to say that I’m very impressed. Traditionally, DigiTech hasn’t been known for really high-end pedals. They’re typically priced at the mid- to low-end, and have always had reasonable quality. Nothing to complain about, but definitely nothing to write home about either.

But with the new Hardwire line, they’ve completely stepped beyond the norm, and have created pedals that have the potential to compete with other high-end pedals. In addition to being true-bypass, the pedals operate with a higher operating voltage which gives them a lot of headroom, making them a lot less susceptible to clipping. The power conditioning within each unit also ensures a constant voltage; a boon when a battery is being used, so you don’t get performance loss as battery power runs down (though I wonder how that affects battery life…).

I’ve been so focused on off-name brands of pedals for awhile that I’ve essentially ignored what the big production houses have been creating. So I apologize for being a bit behind the curve with the timing of this review. But be that as it may, I’m glad I stumbled upon this particular pedal while I was testing the EH #1 Echo at my local Guitar Center.

After I was done testing the #1 Echo, which I really liked, by the way, I asked the helpful, and amazingly knowledgeable sales guy if he had any good reverbs in stock. GC doesn’t really carry much in the way of boutique pedals, so I wasn’t expecting much. But very much to my surprise, he pointed me to the new line of Hardwire pedals, with special emphasis on the RV-7 Stereo Reverb, explaining that Hardwire was a new brand from DigiTech. I raised my eyebrows at that…

Sensing that I wasn’t some schmuck, he didn’t try to do a selling job on me, and just simply said, “Dude, I think you’ll really like this pedal. I wasn’t expecting it to be THIS good. You gotta try it out.” So I did, and the first words that came out of my mouth were “Damn! That’s sweet!” The sales guys just grinned and said, “I told you. Surprising to come from DigiTech, huh?” That was putting it mildly, to say the least.

So what makes this pedal special? DigiTech licensed 7 reverb effects from Lexicon. I’ve worked with Lexicon reverbs for years, and they are top-notch. At my Church gig, we use a Lexicon rack for vocals, and I just DIG that unit. To have them in a pedal for my guitar is even better! Granted, it’s digital modeling, but this pedal really KICKS ASS! In all the voicings, the sound is consistent, and you can dial in as much attack and decay as you need. Attack is controlled via the Liveliness knob which is similar to a pre-delay. For those of you who aren’t familiar with pre-delay, it’s essentially a certain amount of time (usu. in milliseconds) that a reverb unit waits before it kicks in the reverb. It’s very useful to have this kind of control, because those units without it often suffer from being really wet and soupy. Pre-delay allows a certain amount of dry signal to go out first, then tail out with reverb. The net result is that you get much better note articulation.

My favorite setting was the Spring Reverb, though they all sounded dynamite! And with the fine-tuning you can dial in with the Liveliness and Decay knobs, you can get just the right reverb effect for your purposes. I had so much fun playing with this little box! I spent more time with it than the #1 Echo.

Let’s look at the RV-7 features (from the DigiTech web site):

  • Reverb Types
    • Room – Fast decaying reverb; great for a touch of ambience
    • Plate – Renowned studio reverb heard on classic recordings
    • Reverse – Reverb in reverse; gradually crescendos to full volume
    • Modulated – Lush, modulating, reverb ideal for chords
    • Gated – Unique reverb with abrupt decay; good for percussive playing
    • Hall – Large, encompassing reverb with warm decay
    • Spring – Classic “surf” reverb; great for Rockabilly too!
  • Tails On/Off Switch – When on, reverb tails are not cut off in bypass
  • True Bypass circuitry preserves your tone in bypass
  • Constant high-voltage operation for tonal quality and noise reduction
  • HardWire Pedals include the following stage accessories
    • Stomplock™ knob guards lock your tone in place and prevent tampering or accidental knob adjustments onstage
    • Green gaffer tape helps you locate the pedal in adverse stage lighting
    • Custom-cut Velcro® pads attach and lock your pedals to your pedalboard
The features in this pedal, plus the standard features included in all the Hardwire pedals are definitely worth a look. And you’ll actually be blown away by the price: $149.00. While higher than their $100 pedals, that’s not a lot more to ask for that much more quality and features!  And just for shits and giggles, here’s a video review by ProGuitarShops.com:
Finally, I realize that this review isn’t in the format of my regular reviews, and for that, I’m sorry. I just wanted to get this out. In any case, the DigiTech Hardwire RV-7 Stereo Reverb gets:
5 Tone Bones - Gear has stellar performance, value, and quality. This is definitely top of the class, best of breed, and it's a no-brainer to add this to your gear lineup!

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Review: Fulltone OCD

Posted in Effects, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, Guitars, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2007| 40 Comments »

Fulltone OCD Drive Pedal
There have only been a few times in all the years that I’ve been playing guitar that I’ve had an epiphany with a pedal, where after just playing a few notes, a light bulb would go off in my head, and I’d exclaim, “That’s the sound I’m after!” The Fulltone OCD did that to me this afternoon. I just love when that happens! Here are some of the features of this little beast:

  • First off, it has a true bypass switch, so when it’s off, it’s off, and you don’t have to remove the battery if you’ve got it plugged into a 9 volt power source.
  • Volume knob – speaks for itself. But here’s a real treat: The volume knob can give you up to 30dB of boost!!! Need a clean booster? Here it is, plus you can get that sexy, smooth distortion out of it as well. Special note for my friend IG over at igblog: Here’s your clean booster, and you get a freakin’ amazing distortion box to boot!!!
  • Tone knob – according to the manual (and I confirmed this as well), the tone knob only affects the high frequencies, but you can use it to sweeten up a lead or get a more squishy, punchier sound – very cool.
  • Drive knob – again self-explanatory. It’ll give you more or less distortion depending up on the position you set it to.
  • HP/LP switch. This is unique to this pedal. Set it to (H)igh (P)eak and you get glorious sounding bottom end and increased dynamic range, plus more distortion throughout various volume levels. Set it to LP, turn down the drive, and the pedal acts as a clean booster with the volume knob.

How it sounds…

  • Whether you’re in HP or LP mode, the thing that I noticed the most was the amount of sustain it added to the notes I was playing. One thing that can be a bit of a frustration for me when playing my Strat is when I bend a high note (above the 12th fret), there’s just not much sustain in the guitar itself (of course, unless I crank my amp). But the OCD adds a lot of sustain with hardly any tonal interference (that makes your sound really muddy).
  • As far as distortion is concerned, the OCD will not muddy your tone – especially at lower volumes, and you get all the juicy, complex harmonics that you get out of a cranked amp. With the OCD, your tonal clarity is retained, even with heavy distortion, AND you get those overtones and harmonics – EVEN AT BEDROOM LEVELS!!! Think of the OCD’s distortion as an extension and enhancement of your tone. It’s very much in character with a box like the Ibanez TS-808, another overdrive box that I have that I love for its transparency.
  • With the OCD, you also get the touch sensitivity you’d expect out of a cranked amp. That’s yet another amazing thing about the OCD, it’s sensitive as all get-out even at lower volumes.
  • I haven’t confirmed this, but from other reviews I’ve read, and from the dude that sold me the pedal (I trust him mightily), the more voltage you run through the OCD, the better it sounds. I only have a 9 volt power supply, but it’ll take up 18 volts, though I’ve read that 12 volts is probably the best.

In a nutshell, if you’re looking for a distortion box that will make your good tone sound even better, this box is for you. That said, before Mike Fuller released this box, there was A LOT of hype surrounding it. Once it was released, a lot of players were disappointed, thinking that this would be the be-all, end-all of distortion boxes. It’s not. It has a different character; actually, a VERY unique character, that will endear it to some, and ward off others, especially those who are expecting a real low-end oomph. The OCD has that, but that’s not its strength. As I mentioned, it’s a tone enhancer, that will break up your signal as much or as little as you want. It won’t pour on oodles of low-end, especially if your setup is on the thin side.

An important note: The OCD works best with a single channel Class A amp, or on the clean channel of a multiple gain stage amp. It does not sound good when used in the drive channel, which already breaks up your tone. That said, if you do use it with a drive channel, either let it do the driving, and turn your amp’s boost down, or turn down the OCD’s distortion, and pump up the volume knob on the box. Otherwise you’ll get a very rough (read: ugly) distortion. A lot of folks have complained about this pedal clipping too much with their amps. Most likely, they’ve tried to use it in the way I described above.

Comparisons? Well, I’m never one to say this box is better than this box, unless the tonal quality is perceptibly that much better. The closest box I can think of to compare the OCD to off the top of my head would be the box I mentioned above: The TS-808 Tube Screamer. But where the Tube Screamer is more of a midrange booster, and it produces a much more crunchy tone, the OCD has much smoother distortion characteristics, and has way more inherent sustain than the Tube Screamer. Which one is better? Neither. For me, they both have their uses, though I’ll have to admit that the Tube Screamer will most likely be my go-to box for crunchy rhythms, and the OCD will be used for leads and more funky rhythm parts played high on the neck.

Sometimes, it’s just in the stars…
I stayed home from work today to take care of my toddler who has an ear infection. He’s been cranky all day with a fever, and of course, the incessant annoyance of the inner ear infection. So to calm him down, and help him take a nap, I took him for a drive. I wasn’t actually intending to go to my local guitar gear shop but I ended up exiting the freeway on the street that the shop was on, and just happened to drive in the direction of the shop (I really wasn’t meaning to go there, dammit! 🙂 ) Anyway, as I was driving, I noticed the “Guitar Showcase” sign, and turned into the parking lot. I figured I could browse around in the nice, air-conditioned space, which would be great for my little boy with a fever. So I put the baby in the stroller and entered the store.

Once I entered the store, I noticed that Peter, who sold me my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe was working behind the counter, so I struck up a conversation with him. He’s a touring musician, so I asked him how the gigging was going, and we swapped stories. Then it occurred to me to ask him about a good drive/distortion pedal that I could use in conjunction with my TS-808 (which he also sold me and also plays through). He said, “Man, here it is: The Fulltone OCD. This’ll do the job for you. You can use it as a clean boost, but you’ll get the sweetest, creamiest distortion you’ve ever heard. Other pedals, can sometimes make your tone turn muddy, but this will break up your signal and retain your clarity.” Peter knows what I play through, and the guitars that I have, so he knows how important my tone is. With that, I replied, “You know, I wasn’t banking on buying any gear today, but based on what you’re saying, I’ve got to try this pedal out.”

So Peter hooked me up to a Hot Rod Deluxe. I played one simple phrase: An ascending minor scale in E. Actually it was more like 4 notes with a bend and vibrato at the end, and my jaw just dropped!!! I couldn’t believe the sexy tones that came out of this little box! It was like the sea had parted and the way was made clear! Then Peter twiddled the knobs a bit, then told me to play some funky rhythm line, and it’s like the song just came to life! I swear, within a minute of playing through the OCD, I just turned to Peter and said, “Sold. I’m gonna play a bit more, but you can start writing up the order. I’m not leavin’ the store without one.” So, I am now the proud owner of a Fulltone OCD.

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