Good distortion pedal for Hot Rod Deluxe?

[bigteets922]

I recently got a hot rod deluxe and I'm now looking to get a good distortion pedal to go along with it. I would probably be using it along with the distortion on the amp to push it harder for lead stuff and stuff that I want really distorted. I have heard people mention the Fulltone OCD and I really like the idea of true bypass. I want something that doesn't sound too metal like a lot of modern pedals seem to sound. I have a MIM strat that I play through it. I play music along the lines of Hendrix, RHCP, but I also want to be able to get as distorted as Black Keys and Dinosaur Jr. Any Suggestions?

[gvonbaren]

Lovepedal Kalamazo

[bigteets922]

that pedal seems like a beauty. is it really as special as people are saying it is?

[tommy_asakawa]

Lovepedals & Fulltone are both amazing - if you have deep-pockets:

Pete Cornish pedals

[iziphonics]

Tonee T-Over will match your needs perfectly!! Very very punchy sound. Much better than Fulltone IMO. It's an amazing box made by Lukasz of Amtec. He's on GS, so you can PM him directly.
Check out this: YouTube - TONEE T.Over Booster Overdrive Distortion pedal

[Scott Whigham]

Originally Posted by tommy_asakawa

Lovepedals & Fulltone are both amazing - if you have deep-pockets:

Pete Cornish pedals

lol - the guy's got a MIM strat and you're suggesting he mortage three houses?

(and OP - I'm not in any way trying to make fun of you for your choice of instrument. I hope that comment doesn't come across as crass or anything - those Pete Cornish pedals are the bee's legs but they cost a ton).

My advice, OP, would be to go for pedals that you can (a) buy used easily, and (b) resell quickly. The chance is low that you will find The Perfect Pedal on your first time. I'd suggest you pick something, buy it, try it, sell it, pick something else, buy it, sell it, etc. Check out The Gear Page too for pedal info.

[Ron Vogel]

I have tried a bunch, and sometimes you realize what you wanted was several pedals ago...lol

That being said, amp distortion, and Big Muff Pi's are what do it for me.

[Donnie L.]

I don't know but if you're a electric guitar player who plays any rock, pop or blues and don't have a tubescreamer of any kind - I gotta wonder?

[Ron Vogel]

Originally Posted by Donnie L.

I don't know but if you're a electric guitar player who plays any rock, pop or blues and don't have a tubescreamer of any kind - I gotta wonder?

I have a special modded Crybaby that I juice my tubes with if that counts?

One of my first pedals was an original tubescreamer I bought new back in the early 80's...it was OK, just didn't get the appeal. I used to covet the ProCo Rat's a few of my buddies had back then.

[drbob1]

Please don't use the distortion on that amp: not a great sound unless you get Omega to mod it, just get a couple of pedals.

1. Tubescreamer: Fender amps have flubby bass and sucked mids out of the box. It makes them sound great clean and cut like no ones business, but pushed hard they tend to sound loose. A tubescreamer, with the mid boost and bass cut it has, is perfect. There're a million version out there (and I'd argue the Rat is pretty similar with a bit more bass), you just have to find the one that works for you. My suggestions would be to get the full boat BYOC kit and make one with all the options. Sounds great and you learn something. The best sounding "Fender Boost" pedal is the Klon, but it's unobtanium right now.

2. Fuzz: a Fuzz Face or a Mk II Tonebender clone, has to played INTO the TS or else the amp has to be cranked, but it's a great and useful tone.

3. Distortion Pedal: just get a Timmy from Paul Cochrane. Great EQ, sounds wonderful, cheap and you're supporting a great guy working at home. Don't buy used, the prices are pumped up because Paul's a bit behind...

That's it to start. Then keep your eyes open at music stores and pick up any bargains you can...

[appleburger]

OCD!!! i have a hot rod deville that i absolutely HATE the overdrive channel of. the OCD gave me exactly what i wanted. my favorite thing about it is that its quite dynamic in its response and reacts to how hard you play, like an overdriven tube amp should. with the same settings i can range from clean to crunch just by the way i play. most other overdrive pedals i've used don't have this quality. of course i haven't used the deville or the OCD since i wised up and bought an old silverface champ, THATS the overdrive sound you want!

dinosaur jr. is straight up fuzz. you can get a pretty distorted tone with the OCD and maybe also using the OD channel of your deluxe but it still won't sound like dinosaur jr. thats a very characteristic sound that would take another pedal (or 5) to nail.

[Raider]

The Suhr Riot Distortion pedal is superb.
I also agree the basic Ibanez Tube Screamer works with Fenders best.
Buy two, run em both set to taste and you're good.

[nedorama]

Bandmember has one of these (it was better than the broken Hartke combo) and an OCD does make it bark nicely.

Agree never, ever use the distortion on this amp.

Timmy Pedal - agree that it's great as well. You can buy them from dealers without the markup still, it just means being on a waiting list. Mine was $150 from a dealer here in Southern CA.

Standard Tubescreamer - I'd say no. Modded Tubescreamer from Keeley or Analogman - yes.

Better yet, sell the HRD and get a Deluxe Reverb Reissue. Will play with many more pedals, and you'll get a true Fender clean sound with real reverb, and have less headaches in maintenance/breakage.

[FFTT]

Before you blow a few hundred on pedals, I would upgrade the speaker
and have a tech go over all the solder traces and check the switches,
preemptively.

Try an Eminence C Rex and run the amp on about 7

[Lenzo]

Another suggestion if you can go for it is to replace the pickups in that strat...I had a MIM strat that I wanted to experiment on...always thought the pickups were just awful...replaced them with Lindy Fralins and I was right...those pickups suck big time. Added a new neck and shielded the electronics cavity and it's a totally different sounding and playing guitar.
I also have a Hot Rod DeVille...a couple of years old...had that rebuilt with a new transformer, tubes and some capacitors and other components. The guy who did the mod said that the parts Fender used in this amp were pretty crappy. I think they were mostly Chinese parts he replaced. Anyway, the amp sounded much better after the fact.
L.

[darkhorse]

Seriously, OCD, became an issue for me. I had a v3 a while back and liked the darker tone it had for some Trower type tones. I traded it off, missed it, and thought I'd get another. Now they are v4, and really no matter how I try to use this, it just does not work for me. The v4 is different, brighter, more middy, and less lows. Ruined the pedal for me. I've tried the voltage increase, tried using it more as a clean boost. And yet there are so many other pedals that are cheaper which ring my bell moreso than the OCD. Miker Fuller (Fulltone) does not have one on his personal board, that spoke a lot to me.

The "tone" knob on Fulltone's and a lot of other ODs is just a treble rolloff. I liked the OCD with the gain down to be more of a driver. For a lot less money you can get other pedals which I think hit the spot much better. There are a lot of BARBER pedals that just rule. Look them up. For $100 you can get a Hardwire OD which is far better than you might expect and it actually has tone controls. If you just want to push the tubes a little, try one of the new EP Boosters by Xiotic for like $100, really sweet pedals. For less than $100 Visual Sound makes a great TS type OD and they have one of the best buffer circuits made. I had that Route 66 pedal with the compressor and oh how I wish I would have kept it, big mistake trading in for other stuff and a new OCD. That puppy had a really good SRV tone. It was a 3 knobby TS type OD but had additional bass boost and sounded better to me. The Compressor side and the option of disengauging the tone control (or treb rolloff) which was cool although the way compressors magnify noise sometimes the rolloff was the right way to go.

I am sick of 3 knob ODs w that blasted treble rolloff knob. That is not a tone control! I have a StellarTone tonecontrol in my main strat that is a complex high pass filter, that is what I take out highs w when the need arises.

A lot of players love the OCD. I tried very hard to use this pedal because of the hype. I have not have much luck. I am opting for one of the EP Boosters and a Cool Drive from Barber. I am still wondering why Fuller does not have one on his personal board?

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by tommy_asakawa

Lovepedals & Fulltone are both amazing - if you have deep-pockets:

Pete Cornish pedals

So many pedals one can go mad w the versitility. If you do not know about BARBER that guy Dave is the King of ODs!!! Avg about $150-170. Killer pedals with as many as 4 trim pots inside to tweak your tone and response, major coolness.

Speaking of mad, that pic you have of Spector is a hoot. And it's a wig! So crazzzzyyyy that guy. One of the wierdest things I have seen since the Jackson Family. I was still reeling over the issue of Micheal Jackson dying, being 5'10" and weighting 110lbs, AND, no body hair (anywhere!) with white paper skin......UNTIL...I was watching his father on Larry King, how could Michael have gotten so wierd??? Close up, Joe Jackson's eyebrows and mustache are tattooed fake hair!! Check it out. It's strange world.

[Pasta4lnch]

I really dig the t-rex mudhoney . . .

[Ron Vogel]

Originally Posted by appleburger

i wised up and bought an old silverface champ, THATS the overdrive sound you want!

Amp and a fuzz pedal is all you need along with a Tele...get just about ANY tone you want if you work it.

Another happy SF Champ owner here

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Ron Vogel

Amp and a fuzz pedal is all you need along with a Tele...get just about ANY tone you want if you work it.

Another happy SF Champ owner here

I do not get spending a couple grand on a tiny single speaker amp. I had to wait so many years to get my first half stack. Now on to my 3rd one, I love the things. I love the 4x12 cab. At one point I was running a stereo 2 4x12 cab rig w rack gear. I enjoy having my music room these days and not having to haul anything. I like the watts. It's not about loud just headroom and frequency range. Little amps always sound so midrange to me w no real bottom or deep quality of tone. I can hear the difference on recordings. Trower starting using small Cornells on the last several CDs and you can really tell it. He recently had Cornell make a 100 watt head for him. There are still a lot of long time players who will not try and record with small amps as they have the same view I do. I personally would probably not go smaller than a Vox 30 twin. I prefer 50s and 100 watters.

Two schools of thought I know, whatever floats your boat. I get the tone from the little watt amps, Layla was cut through a small old champ. Yet is there versitility w them? Jeff Beck was trying to use a bunch of little amps on his last CD and the Les Paul tribute, sorry but the tone was not so good and sure was not up to Beck's usual amazing tones. I've had some small amps and single speaker amps and I lived for the day to get my 1st twin and then my 1st half stack. I've been listening to GMD on youtube for some time w his many, many reviews of pedals, a great many through a Dr.Z single speaker. An expensive amp but you can really hear the midrangey tone on all the vids and the difference when he opts for a Marshall or a bigger cab on some boxes, there is a difference.

I am not into recording these days but I cut my teeth w my brother teaching me sound engineering tips as he ran sound. He used to tell me "it was simple sound physics, it takes watts to push low frequency and almost nothing to power a high end tweeter". He also turned me onto frequency analyzing systems and rooms using pink noise and a spectrum analyzer and the limitations of judging by your ears. Got to have 12" speakers. Some 10s are workable but prefer the larger. Again, simple sound physics a larger speaker can reproduce lower frequency, smaller, higher. Sure you can rig a bass guitar system w 10s for more punch and attack transient but it's a higher voiced bass tone. One reason the old Fender Bassman was always a better guitar amp than a bass amp.

Do any of you home recording guys pink noise your rooms or systems? I would love to get back into recording but, man, the expense these days with the new tech. I can barely keep up on my guitar rig.

[nickdodson]

I've been playing a MIM Strat through a HRD for almost 15 years now. First off, it does have a classic Fender clean tone, contrary to what another poster said. It may not have an exact "blackface" or "silverface" tone but it still sounds like a high end Fender. I've tried out lots of different distortion/overdrive/fuzz pedals with it, and honestly it really depends on the exact sound you're looking for. I can't speak for the boutique pedals out there cause, really, who has the money to waste on those unless you have a record deal? But I can say that my favourites that I've personally used were a Vintage ProCo Rat (what I normally use), standard Ibanez Tube Screamer and an original Big Muff PI. If I'm recording I've been known to use anything and everything I can get my hands on to get the sound I want, including standard Boss DS-1, SD-1 and even the occasional Metal Zone pedals, Fuzz Face, DOD Supra Distortion...like I said, anything I can get my hands on. But my number 1 go to is always the Rat, and every show I've ever played with that combo of guitar, amp and pedal I've gotten at least 1 or 2 comments on how great my tone was. You don't have to worry about modding pedals or your guitar or the amp or replacing the speaker or using a specific brand of tubes. If you really wanna know what pedal you want, take YOUR amp and YOUR guitar to a music shop that sells a lot of pedals and ask if you can try a bunch of em out. You're never gonna know what to use to get the sound you want unless you start experimenting.

[Fisticuffs]

Just drive the hell out of the amp's pre with a boost pedal like the G&L Double Barrel or a Zvex or maybe a Seymour Duncan Boost.

[darkhorse]

overdrives or clean boost, if you want a high gain pedal use a clean channel

Just about anything would work depends on the voice and character of the OD you like.
Best one I know of for the money"
Hardwire Overdrive $100 (cleans up and gains up rather well, has the awesome feature of a bass and a treb control, Hardwire's are very underrated pedals, quality build and tones, the voltage is stepped up inside for more headroom, they also make 2 other gain pedals both killer.)
Xiotic Ep Booster $100 (clean boost, sweet booster circuit from the old EchoPlex unit used by many from Pagey to Eric Johnson as a great clean boost)
Vox ICE 9 $130 (does not get all the way clean but a great db OD on a tube front end)
OCD $140-160 (I modifed my v4 OCD by removing the fizzy gain germanium diode in the last stage, now is a jewel of a pedal, still gains up quite a bit but much more tube sounding. Only thing I do not like is the single knob "tone" control, but it works decent enough 9;00-12:00, removing the real gainy diode makes this a much better pedal.)
Ibanez Tube King TK999OD white box overdrive model now only $125 real tube, high current OD, sweet pedal, also high gain red model $150 TK999HT burns really well, boxes step up the 12v 400ma suppy to a 100v internally, use the power supply recommended.

Barber models range from clean OD to really gainy depends on what you like also internal trim pots and some have push pull circuit on the tone control for more options. Range $150 or $170

Wampler and Lovepedal are like $200 1st class stuff although Barber I think rules the OD tones.

A million others out there, like Hermida Zen Drive, Catlinbread, Timmy, etc., etc., etc. I've never had a "bad" OD so anything is workable.

[Ron Vogel]

[QUOTE=darkhorse;6374243]I do not get spending a couple grand on a tiny single speaker amp. /QUOTE]

IDK...my Champ only cost $200?

[Benlittlejohn]

Originally Posted by gvonbaren

Lovepedal Kalamazo

recorded a guy with one in a session yesterday...

great great great pedal.

[DAS19]

Tube screamer

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Gearslutz.com App

[McDingus]

Originally Posted by tommy_asakawa

if you have deep-pockets:

Pete Cornish pedals

That made me laugh...

The guy said he had a MIM strat and you recommend a pedal that would cost at least twice as much as his guitar...

[swine666]

I like the Maxon OD808 and the Proco Rat. You'll get some great tones from these two alone. I do, with my Tele into my Blues Deluxe Reissue.

[hotrod_owner]

I have a hotrod deluxe II and I use a Blackstar Dist X - a pedal with a tube in it. This pedal also has an ISF sweep control which allows you to go from mesa to marshall type overdrives. It has EQ onboard and can go from a mild overdrive to the most brutal of distortion. I cant recommend it enough and it is not expensive compared to many pedals out there. If you need more flexibility theres the DistX Dual which will give you 2 channels of overdrive/distortion.

I bought my DistX for £60 2nd hand off the Gumtree website and its been a great addition to my set up, they cost about twice this amount brand new.
Blackstar claims it will turn a mild mannered classic amp into a fire breathing monster..!! I have to say that they are not joking. I love this pedal to bits and the tone is pure tube all the way and was made for the clean channel on the Hot Rod - it really loves this pedal. I am not a huge fan of the distortion on the Hot Rod but it is very useable for blues stuff. This pedal gives me a 3rd channel when I want to rip up some solos.

[litepipe]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

Seriously, OCD, became an issue for me. I had a v3 a while back and liked the darker tone it had for some Trower type tones. I traded it off, missed it, and thought I'd get another.

It's you Darkhorse that's always yapping about Wampler pedals, right? Well it stuck in my head and I just ordered the slo distortion. You're a very bad man, hahaha. Needed something modern sounding.

Do you have that one? I use an OCD but only on really low settings. I've had a hard time finding a pedal that does high gain metal or modern rock. Demo's sounded great.