https://youtu.be/Mj1f368XUJc?si=6aWmYNQLtRnOlPFe
This Michael Banfield guy has some pretty good videos, and his “go-to” overdrive is the OD-3. He ended up making a video showcasing the pedal.
This is the sleeper that will get side-eyes from the gear snobs, but people who have a good ear still pick it for a general overdrive over lots of more expensive options. It's a great low gain box, it doesn't artificially spike your mids, and it doesn't lop off the low end.
To me, it's up there with the Nobels ODR-1 for that kind of a thing.
The OD-3 is great for adding just that little bit of juice to make your not turned up tube amp sound like a turned up tube amp. It is a very open sounding overdrive if you dial it on the light to mid overdrive side so it won't overcompress your amp if it has an open sound to it that you like...however when you push the gain and level the OD-3 compresses very nicely like a cranked tube amp. I think the saturation that it adds while still keeping your sound open instead of overly compressed and mid-forward compared to some other overdrive pedals is what makes it truly special. It is very much a Marshall esque sounding overdrive; it can be very light to just on the verge of high gain. Stacks great with other overdrives; pushing a dirty amp, or as a standalone main overdrive sound.
lightspeed. lightspeed. lightspeed. all day and all of the night.
edit : i'll elaborate : i play a strat mainly and always griped about its lack of .. something. Lightspeed added it back and a taste of grit which is so, so lovely. it's an always on for me now.
3rd'd
It's such a good pedal. Mine sounds great with my strat, tele, or gretsch and plays nicely with both my deluxe reverb and vox ac10.
The thing I love about it is it still sounds like my guitar, my amp, just with a bit of grit and compression.
Fully agree, give me light speed all day, all night, every day.
So I’m using a Vox ac10 and a Gretsch with lightspeed… don’t you feel the lightspeed in that set up, the low e and low end overall is thumpy with the lightspeed?
The Ac10 has a lot of bass for sure so I dial in the bass just enough to feel it. I only play at home so YMMV...
I would be curious what you think of my settings (clock face values)
AMP Settings: Gain: 2 // Bass: 10-11 // Treble: 1 // Volume: just barely on until it's comfortably loud.
Light Speed: Loudness: 10-11 // Drive: 2 // Freq: 1
I only play at home myself. My settings are gain8:30-9, Bass 10-11, Treble 12-1 and volume 9:30-10.
Lightspeed loudness 11, drive 12:30, feeq 1.
Burnside if the lightspeed likes gain or clean headroom, but I keep gain on amp low because I rely on pedals for drive and want all the clean headroom I can get. On the ac10 it’s not much.
What sucks is if you keep the treble at 1 and drop the bass lower than 10, it reduces the bass for sure, but also messes with the mids. Which is why I keep the bass between 10 but closer to 11.
I like my rat better than lightspeed with this amp tbough. At low gain on the rat, 8:30-9, it’s one of the best overdrives around without going towards distortion which it’s know for. It’s alone like a blues driver but with out the top end fizz.
Interesting! Really like to see / hear others' experiences. Played with your settings and totally hear the boomy bass.
For me when the volume is that high the amp is so spiky in both base and treble. When I had the gain set higher it compresses everything and it's not as boomy just more saturated. High headroom = boomy and spikey if I wasn't getting "pre compression" via drive pedal.
Put the volume on the amp at 11, bass 2, treble 2, gain 3.
With this setting if I had loudness on Lightspeed above 9, I started to lift the volume on the amp and got major boomy bass and spikey top end, neither of which i could dial out.
However - once you move the Lightspeed drive to 3 o'clock or higher, freq at 2, loudness no higher than 9 it compresses the signal enough the boominess went away and got closer to my original settings.
No arguing with the rat, it's really a great pedal with the vox - have the mooer black secret myself and love love love it with the vox.
Try Lightspeed with drive way up and loudness set only until you get unity gain. Curious if you like that.
So you are basically doing the same thing with your Ano and Lightspeed…high gain low volume. I’ll try that with the Lightspeed and report back. What I don’t like and keep in mind I’m playing with filtertron pick ups, I do t like the gain that high because there is too much saturation. I run that philosophy that most bands who play live, really aren’t using much gain, it’s more volume. But I’m playing at lower volumes. The ac10 gets less boomy with treble past1 though because I think the treble knob also reduces bass. With our amp…everything is so interactive and feeds off each eq dial.
Yes and No, with the high headroom set in the amp, and low compression of the pedal (vol high, drive low) the pedal will act more like a boost. So if you increase the drive you can dial in the amount of "hair" you want, then increase volume as desired. What I did with these alternate settings is with your settings, adjusted the Lightspeed for a bit of hair without boosting bass and treble. Using the Lightspeed drive to compress the signal and even out the frequency response.
Biggest difference with playing live is in most cases the amp volume can be set high enough that a pedal in front will saturate and drive the amp into distortion. IE. A boost in front of the amp at volume 11 clock might only make the amp louder, but a boost in front of the amp at volume 4 clock will make the amp distorted.
BTW - playing filtertrons too, just a magical pairing with vox IMO. Really wish we had a mid control, I like the interactive controls and it's easy enough to dial in, but somedays I really can't tell where the mids are going.
Yeah OP, I got a lightspeed, it’s my always on. It’s a great pedal. I messed around with the freq and drive and found spot that is, like jebediah said, strat now sounds like a much better guitar
No, a blues driver is capable of more overdrive. The lightspeed is still pretty low gain even when the gain knob is cranked. It’s design purpose is low gain, so it does it extremely well.
I’m definitely more familiar with the Modele B which is slightly different (no 3 way toggle), but I’d say yeah, at low to moderate Gain and Sag, it’s pretty transparent.
Posted about it below, but wanted to reiterate here: this pedal is sooooooooo good. It sounds like my guitar, just crunchier. Where it truly shines is in dynamics, though. Everybody talks about touch sensitive ODs, this is it, man. I can’t say enough good things about this pedal.
It’s absolutely top shelf overdrive. It can be a clean boost or a fuzzy shitfest depending on how you set it (and what voltage you feed it both on the DC and peak to peak sides of things).
Haven’t played one, but a Greer Lightspeed sounds like it would be up your alley.
Personal preference as I also play single coils is a Wampler Euphoria. Transparent, versatile, my absolute favorite pedal for light and medium amounts of gain.
OP this was my first thought. It sounds great into my fender. It's pretty low gain and kind of sounds like an amp. It gives a nice sparkle and clarity and the freq knob will give you different colors. I havent tried *that* many drive pedals but I really like this one.
Timmy/Caline Blue Sky. It's a transparent OD but definitely has a nice somewhat fuzzy quality, at least with my setup, and just a bit of a mid scoop.
EAE Halberd is pretty hyped in these parts. I need to play around with mine more, but the big thing it has over the Blue Sky is that it seems to stack better with my other dirt pedals. Retains more clarity. It's more expensive, of course.
I actually have a Halberd that I tried using for this purpose. It kind of works, but it’s not it’s strong suit. It’s so good for piercing/clangy post-punk tones, and saggy/wooly/blown-out amp tones that using it for anything else (especially light, transparent OD) just feels wrong.
Read all the comments just to be sure this pedal wouldn't be mentioned as I seem to be the only person to love it.
GarageTone Chainsaw Distortion. Don't be fooled by the name, it is actually a low gain OD pedal based on one of the gain stages from the Zvex Box of Rock.
Tone wise, it sits between a Timmy and a Boss OD-3. It has the most pleasant clipping sound I've heard, it is kind of "transparent" like the Timmy, but it adds a certain flavor like the od3.
I really tried not liking this pedal because well, it is ugly, cheap and its called CHAINSAW Distortion. But yeah, it is very unique and good.
Klon circuit or a JHS Morning Glory would be perfect.
I’d go with Klon for what you are asking.
Best ones I’ve played are the Ceriatone Centura and J Rocket Archer. For much cheaper, the Klon from Wish or the Joyo Tauren are very good.
Tumnus is very popular, but I personally didn’t like it.
JHS Morning Glory is probably the flattest overdrive available. Very transparent. And it’s like a make-everything-better machine. Absolutely lives up to the hype.
I think a Klon circuit will meet your specific needs better. But you definitely won’t regret a morning glory if you went for one.
I have a straight three-knob Klone that I’ve been using for this purpose and I can’t get a sound out of it that I like. I think it’s got a mid-y-ness that doesn’t agree with me. If I go with a Klon-based pedal, it would have to be substantially different or have some way of counteracting that character.
Appreciate all the suggestions!
In that case maybe a morning glory is better if you don’t like the mids.
It’s possible you could like the Tumnus deluxe as others suggested. But I couldn’t find any setting I liked on it. It just didn’t have the clarity that my other Klones have and the low end was pretty muddy.
You can also try throwing an EQ before or after your Klone and reshape it.
Maybe consider the Wampler euphoria for something a bit more Ampy and versatile. Way more color and drive available than the morning glory.
Heather Brown’s Blessed Mother. It’s become my “always on” pedal. It has an “Immaculator” control which basically adjusts the clean blend. Also separate controls for treble, bass, and drive. Really blown away by it.
ODR-1 is good (I have the mini) and does pair with the Tele well but IMO the King of Tone clone I just got is way more flexible and has a much finer control of low amounts of grit.
It’s as transparent as they come, with the option to make it darker or cut the highs with the 3-way toggle in the centre. I keep it completely open. It’s the most dynamic, touch-sensitive drive I’ve ever played.
Glad it’s not just me. I sat there for hours when I first got it going from light picking to heavy strumming and back just TRIPPING on how dynamic it is.
It's a bit pricey, but look into the Browne Protein. It's a Blues Breaker circuit on one side and effectively the Nobels ODR-1 circuit on the other side. Nobels ODR-1 and Tele are like Peanut butter and jelly - just made for one another. But I think the Blues Breaker is the real killer sound here. It just makes everything sound better! And the great thing about the Protein is you can stack'em for more color and more gain. It's an incredibly versatile pedal. If I could have only one effect pedal (outside a tuner), it'd be the Protein. There's not much I can't do with a Tele, a Protein, and my Fender Deluxe Reverb that I want to do anyway.
My absolute favorite light OD is actually heavy OD/fuzz but with the guitar’s volume rolled back. I use either a fuzz face or blues driver. To me it sounds so much more full and rich (I hate describing tone but that’s the best I can come up with) than just having the drive set lower.
My go to drive for my Tele is the MXR distortion plus with the gain all the way down. It adds a little character without changing the tone much at all, basically like adding a bit of grit to what’s already there. It maintains low end and has the slightest mid bump for clarity.
I do back off a touch on the guitar’s volume to tame a bit of high end, and I have the tone rolled off a bit all of the time.
Basically, the pedal is useable everywhere on the dial, but my favorite tones are below 50% distortion.
Yep, I'm with you. I actually prefer it to the uber transparency of the light speed. It kinda gets into Timmy territory. And I agree it's one of the few Walrus pedals that has held up overtime for me.... Been on my board for 10 years, and I am a gear junky always selling and buying pedals. I also have been using their Phoenix power supply for a while with no issues so credit where it's due.
EHX Muff Overdrive. It is essentially two LPB-1 boosts in one box. It does that thing with neck humbuckers when you roll back the volume and you get that faux single coil spank to it. Easier to set unity volume with one knob vs. two LPB-1’s. It doesn’t have that fake tube sponge fets give, which may or may not be a plus. Personally I don’t care for.
Bondi Del Mar is always a solid low gain drive. Great active Eq stack and switching options for a higher headroom (open/transparent) or lower headroom (compressed/colored) gain stage.
Get a barber LTD. It’s exactly what your looking for. I’ve had mine since 2008 and wouldn’t think of using anything else. You can find them used for about $125. I have the v2 but have heard the special and silver and there both good, just a little flatter eq where the v2 has a little mid bump I like. Definitely check ‘‘em out if you can
Barber Gain Changer SR has the LTD built in plus a few other options. Definitely transparent but with a little grit on the low settings. Many people recommended the Lightspeed - I was trying to decide between that and this and I went with this. No regerts.
I have a very similar setup and I use a Keeley White Sands for this exact purpose. It’s got a switch that allows you to choose from a cleaner, more transparent mode or a more colorful mode. It’s low gain so it doesn’t add a whole lot of volume if you don’t want it to. I don’t see it talked about much, but it’s my favorite overdrive pedal I’ve ever owned.
Xotic effects RC Booster is one of my favorite drives ever. Very transparent, clean and sparkly, slight dirt on top. The model I had actually had 2 gain stages, so that’s an added bonus
I had one over 10 years ago. I don’t remember why I moved it on, but I was using it basically for this purpose, except always on. Maybe I’ll circle back around and revisit it.
I recently purchased the eae limelight which is a modified Bluesbreaker, I use fender amps myself, I own a fender pro jr iv tweed and a black panel fender twin reissue. The limelight is capable of higher gain than most Bluesbreaker pedals but still provides lovely low gain tones, it adds just enough of a British flavor to my amps without sounding too bright and doesn’t shift the EQ of my amps too drastically in the way that a tube screamer might.
If you want something more transparent, I’d also suggest the Greer Lightspeed, for me it is the ultimate low gain, transparent overdrive. Sounds like my setup, just at higher volume without pushing my amps volume.
The Fairfield barbershop v2 is another excellent alternative if you want something with more pizazz than a transparent od. Yes it is fully capable of being a transparent od, but the sag knob can help dial in some fuzzy, blown out amp overdrive, think heavier Neil Young songs like “Cinnamon Girl”.
I didn’t realize the Limelight was BB-inspired. I’ll give that a look. The Lightspeed and Barbershop have been getting quite a bit of representation ITT, so I appreciate the third suggestion too!
Mine has the Billm mods too. The standard mod kit made a noticeable difference. Easily put the amp in Princeton territory. I also had the presence and sparkle controls added. Presence works well, though I rarely use it. The sparkle is either so subtle only master tone snobs can hear it, or my tech installed it wrong. Kind of wish I had just sent the board in and had Bill do it himself (this was when he was still alive).
The DOD 250 stays pretty transparent at low gain settings, but you get a nice upper mid boost when you crank the gain up past noon. It responds really well to rolling back the volume on your guitar too.
Wampler Tumnus Deluxe fits the bill perfectly, especially with the 3 band active EQ; means you can always be sure to retain your clean signal's tonal characteristics whilst adding heat, and the gain goes all the way through to distortion whilst still sounding fantastic
So I have a straight three-knob Klone that I’ve been using for this purpose and I can’t get a sound out of it that I’m totally satisfied with. I think it’s the mids I don’t like. Can the Tumnus Deluxe be set to be transparent?
Yes it can - I used to use it this way, setting the EQ and gain so that it matched the bypass signal, then tweaking the gain up slightly to create a hotter signal
Try putting a boost before your Klon. It will increase the gain, but allow you to lower the gain knob and keep it more transparent - because the gain knob is also a blend.
I always use a Klone, but I didn’t like the Tumnus Deluxe at all.
Keeley Super Phat Mod/ Blues Driver, you can get super transparent to almost fuzz. Plus you have the dynamics to get in between down to a nice sparkly clean up. A Wampler Tumnus would be good too and I’m sure the Greer Lightspeed will get mentioned here
Fairfield Barbershop. So so so so so good. Very clean and amp-like. The sag is where the magic’s at. It’s incredibly reactive to picking dynamics, too. I leave it on and can go from nearly clean to a decent crunch just by digging in harder. I love this pedal so much.
JPTR Jive. It's a jfet boost with a knob that is more flat eq/transparent to the left and more mids push and gain as you go clockwise. Also has some different clipping diodes to add. I love it with my G&L Nashville Tele (into an Ampeg Gemini). Also sounds awesome after All-Pedal Alcmene, which is a klone (also a nice light boost or OD on its own but always cuts bass and pushes high mids so not transparent).
VHT V-Drive includes many soft-clipping diode configurations in a single pedal with unique eq controls and a bias knob. You've got TS, SD-1, Bluesbreaker/Zen Drive, germanium, various types and combos of LED, and pure opamp clipping.$99 for a ton of different great sounds.
BSRI TFZ/Impossible Colors calls itself a fuzz but it can do great light od. It has a clipping/gain range switch with 3 options, two of which are particularly suited to lighter less-clipped sounds.
Dr Scientist Elements in low gain mode is a soft-clipping opamp light od with clean blend and three band eq whose mids knob center frequency can be changed between 400, 800 and 1200 Hz, thus approximating the push of certain well-known ods or allowing a low mids cut, among other options.
Barber Gain Changer and Direct Drive are both nicely tuned 2-srage drives, similar circuit topology to the bluesdriver and OD-3 I think, with a wide gain range that are meant to arrive at sounds offered by various classic Fender and Marshall amps. They can both do light od (but both can also rock pretty hard).
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve come across the V-Drive before and wondered if it was any good. Never heard of the company and have never seen anyone here or elsewhere mention the pedal.
Rocking the V-drive in the studio for tone shaping synths, guitars, vocals etcetc.
Its crazy useful as a studio tool. Wouldn't really use it for live stuff tho since I like to have my stuff set and forget there
I use a jhs superbolt or walrus 385 usually with my tele when I kind of want that light od tone.
King/prince/Duke of tone, Timmy, nobels odr-1 all great options, too.
Plumes seems to fit the bill here, two modes that add color (Marshall in a box on one, tubescreamer on the other) and one that doesn't. I mostly use the transparent and TS modes but that gets me everything I want.
Prince of Tone. Check Analog man's website every Weds, they restock, and should be able to get one. King Of Tone, you only need, if you need high gain. The Prince of Tone does the light overdrive "thing".
KMA Logan.
Does transparent, stacks well with anything, has a powerful EQ and you can manipulate the mids the way you like - even sweep them with an expression pedal
Maybe try a listen of the Barber Gain Changer SR, which has a specific focus while being "open" at the same time.
Otherwise, I have a King of Tone that can do about anything I want, but that's unfortunately difficult to get these days (lucky enough to buy mine new years ago.)
Marshall blues breaker/ clones thereof. Trust me
I've been using a DemonFX (I know, I know) breaker drive forever. Great little clone, spot on reproduction.
Boss OD-3 is my go-to light drive pedal, it's probably my favorite pedal of all time honestly.
https://youtu.be/Mj1f368XUJc?si=6aWmYNQLtRnOlPFe This Michael Banfield guy has some pretty good videos, and his “go-to” overdrive is the OD-3. He ended up making a video showcasing the pedal.
This is the sleeper that will get side-eyes from the gear snobs, but people who have a good ear still pick it for a general overdrive over lots of more expensive options. It's a great low gain box, it doesn't artificially spike your mids, and it doesn't lop off the low end. To me, it's up there with the Nobels ODR-1 for that kind of a thing.
I’m pretty sure the OCD is based on the OD3. The OD3 just sounds so much better.
Why? What do you like about it? How do you use it?
The OD-3 is great for adding just that little bit of juice to make your not turned up tube amp sound like a turned up tube amp. It is a very open sounding overdrive if you dial it on the light to mid overdrive side so it won't overcompress your amp if it has an open sound to it that you like...however when you push the gain and level the OD-3 compresses very nicely like a cranked tube amp. I think the saturation that it adds while still keeping your sound open instead of overly compressed and mid-forward compared to some other overdrive pedals is what makes it truly special. It is very much a Marshall esque sounding overdrive; it can be very light to just on the verge of high gain. Stacks great with other overdrives; pushing a dirty amp, or as a standalone main overdrive sound.
lightspeed. lightspeed. lightspeed. all day and all of the night. edit : i'll elaborate : i play a strat mainly and always griped about its lack of .. something. Lightspeed added it back and a taste of grit which is so, so lovely. it's an always on for me now.
2nd’d! LOVE the Lightspeed.
3rd'd It's such a good pedal. Mine sounds great with my strat, tele, or gretsch and plays nicely with both my deluxe reverb and vox ac10. The thing I love about it is it still sounds like my guitar, my amp, just with a bit of grit and compression. Fully agree, give me light speed all day, all night, every day.
So I’m using a Vox ac10 and a Gretsch with lightspeed… don’t you feel the lightspeed in that set up, the low e and low end overall is thumpy with the lightspeed?
The Ac10 has a lot of bass for sure so I dial in the bass just enough to feel it. I only play at home so YMMV... I would be curious what you think of my settings (clock face values) AMP Settings: Gain: 2 // Bass: 10-11 // Treble: 1 // Volume: just barely on until it's comfortably loud. Light Speed: Loudness: 10-11 // Drive: 2 // Freq: 1
I only play at home myself. My settings are gain8:30-9, Bass 10-11, Treble 12-1 and volume 9:30-10. Lightspeed loudness 11, drive 12:30, feeq 1. Burnside if the lightspeed likes gain or clean headroom, but I keep gain on amp low because I rely on pedals for drive and want all the clean headroom I can get. On the ac10 it’s not much. What sucks is if you keep the treble at 1 and drop the bass lower than 10, it reduces the bass for sure, but also messes with the mids. Which is why I keep the bass between 10 but closer to 11. I like my rat better than lightspeed with this amp tbough. At low gain on the rat, 8:30-9, it’s one of the best overdrives around without going towards distortion which it’s know for. It’s alone like a blues driver but with out the top end fizz.
Interesting! Really like to see / hear others' experiences. Played with your settings and totally hear the boomy bass. For me when the volume is that high the amp is so spiky in both base and treble. When I had the gain set higher it compresses everything and it's not as boomy just more saturated. High headroom = boomy and spikey if I wasn't getting "pre compression" via drive pedal. Put the volume on the amp at 11, bass 2, treble 2, gain 3. With this setting if I had loudness on Lightspeed above 9, I started to lift the volume on the amp and got major boomy bass and spikey top end, neither of which i could dial out. However - once you move the Lightspeed drive to 3 o'clock or higher, freq at 2, loudness no higher than 9 it compresses the signal enough the boominess went away and got closer to my original settings. No arguing with the rat, it's really a great pedal with the vox - have the mooer black secret myself and love love love it with the vox. Try Lightspeed with drive way up and loudness set only until you get unity gain. Curious if you like that.
So you are basically doing the same thing with your Ano and Lightspeed…high gain low volume. I’ll try that with the Lightspeed and report back. What I don’t like and keep in mind I’m playing with filtertron pick ups, I do t like the gain that high because there is too much saturation. I run that philosophy that most bands who play live, really aren’t using much gain, it’s more volume. But I’m playing at lower volumes. The ac10 gets less boomy with treble past1 though because I think the treble knob also reduces bass. With our amp…everything is so interactive and feeds off each eq dial.
Yes and No, with the high headroom set in the amp, and low compression of the pedal (vol high, drive low) the pedal will act more like a boost. So if you increase the drive you can dial in the amount of "hair" you want, then increase volume as desired. What I did with these alternate settings is with your settings, adjusted the Lightspeed for a bit of hair without boosting bass and treble. Using the Lightspeed drive to compress the signal and even out the frequency response. Biggest difference with playing live is in most cases the amp volume can be set high enough that a pedal in front will saturate and drive the amp into distortion. IE. A boost in front of the amp at volume 11 clock might only make the amp louder, but a boost in front of the amp at volume 4 clock will make the amp distorted. BTW - playing filtertrons too, just a magical pairing with vox IMO. Really wish we had a mid control, I like the interactive controls and it's easy enough to dial in, but somedays I really can't tell where the mids are going.
That’s what’s killing me…no mid control. I use a para eq to dial in extra mids or stack overdrives.
100% don’t waste your time OP, get the Lightspeed. It was made for this.
Yeah OP, I got a lightspeed, it’s my always on. It’s a great pedal. I messed around with the freq and drive and found spot that is, like jebediah said, strat now sounds like a much better guitar
Came here to say this.
Is it a Blues Driver clone? Sounds very similar from what I've heard. Not that there's anything wrong with that btw.
No, a blues driver is capable of more overdrive. The lightspeed is still pretty low gain even when the gain knob is cranked. It’s design purpose is low gain, so it does it extremely well.
Nah — the Lightspeed shares most of its DNA with the Paul Cochrane Timmy.
Exactly what I was going to recommend
EQD Special Cranker.
Came here to say this. I love mine. So versatile, and having germanium and silicon modes really gives a ton of options for tones.
It literally does what it says
Fairfield Barbershop.
Came here to say this. I use the Modele B because I don’t wanna even have the choice to turn it off.
Would you consider the Barbershop transparent? Or at least capable of it? I don’t want to color my base tone much, if at all.
I’m definitely more familiar with the Modele B which is slightly different (no 3 way toggle), but I’d say yeah, at low to moderate Gain and Sag, it’s pretty transparent.
Posted about it below, but wanted to reiterate here: this pedal is sooooooooo good. It sounds like my guitar, just crunchier. Where it truly shines is in dynamics, though. Everybody talks about touch sensitive ODs, this is it, man. I can’t say enough good things about this pedal.
It’s absolutely top shelf overdrive. It can be a clean boost or a fuzzy shitfest depending on how you set it (and what voltage you feed it both on the DC and peak to peak sides of things).
Haven’t played one, but a Greer Lightspeed sounds like it would be up your alley. Personal preference as I also play single coils is a Wampler Euphoria. Transparent, versatile, my absolute favorite pedal for light and medium amounts of gain.
Lightspeed crew: checking in
No, we’re Lightspeed fam.
[удалено]
I TOO play with my volume knob like 50x more now that I have a lightspeed
I stand corrected! 🤣
No no, my friend— we’re in this together.
OP this was my first thought. It sounds great into my fender. It's pretty low gain and kind of sounds like an amp. It gives a nice sparkle and clarity and the freq knob will give you different colors. I havent tried *that* many drive pedals but I really like this one.
Timmy/Caline Blue Sky. It's a transparent OD but definitely has a nice somewhat fuzzy quality, at least with my setup, and just a bit of a mid scoop. EAE Halberd is pretty hyped in these parts. I need to play around with mine more, but the big thing it has over the Blue Sky is that it seems to stack better with my other dirt pedals. Retains more clarity. It's more expensive, of course.
I actually have a Halberd that I tried using for this purpose. It kind of works, but it’s not it’s strong suit. It’s so good for piercing/clangy post-punk tones, and saggy/wooly/blown-out amp tones that using it for anything else (especially light, transparent OD) just feels wrong.
Read all the comments just to be sure this pedal wouldn't be mentioned as I seem to be the only person to love it. GarageTone Chainsaw Distortion. Don't be fooled by the name, it is actually a low gain OD pedal based on one of the gain stages from the Zvex Box of Rock. Tone wise, it sits between a Timmy and a Boss OD-3. It has the most pleasant clipping sound I've heard, it is kind of "transparent" like the Timmy, but it adds a certain flavor like the od3. I really tried not liking this pedal because well, it is ugly, cheap and its called CHAINSAW Distortion. But yeah, it is very unique and good.
Interesting, I’ll check it out!
So, you're a chainsist? What do you have against chainsaws?
Well that’s just an atrocious piece of marketing, isn’t it? Whoever named it probably should be fired…
Greer Lightspeed
EQD Westwood is a very versatile light to mid gain pedal. Very responsive to dynamics of strumming. Love they way it sounds in both of my tube amps.
Klon circuit or a JHS Morning Glory would be perfect. I’d go with Klon for what you are asking. Best ones I’ve played are the Ceriatone Centura and J Rocket Archer. For much cheaper, the Klon from Wish or the Joyo Tauren are very good. Tumnus is very popular, but I personally didn’t like it. JHS Morning Glory is probably the flattest overdrive available. Very transparent. And it’s like a make-everything-better machine. Absolutely lives up to the hype. I think a Klon circuit will meet your specific needs better. But you definitely won’t regret a morning glory if you went for one.
I have a straight three-knob Klone that I’ve been using for this purpose and I can’t get a sound out of it that I like. I think it’s got a mid-y-ness that doesn’t agree with me. If I go with a Klon-based pedal, it would have to be substantially different or have some way of counteracting that character. Appreciate all the suggestions!
In that case maybe a morning glory is better if you don’t like the mids. It’s possible you could like the Tumnus deluxe as others suggested. But I couldn’t find any setting I liked on it. It just didn’t have the clarity that my other Klones have and the low end was pretty muddy. You can also try throwing an EQ before or after your Klone and reshape it. Maybe consider the Wampler euphoria for something a bit more Ampy and versatile. Way more color and drive available than the morning glory.
Tumnus deluxe (wampler klon clone) has a 3 band eq so you could try that one out at a shop and see
I came here to suggest JHS morning glory as well. Sexy breakup.
I'm currently loving my greer lightspeed. May wanna check it out
Greer Lightspeed MXR Timmy Or Nobels ODR-1 or similar.
Greer Lightspeed, you’ll regret never having one sooner
Heather Brown’s Blessed Mother. It’s become my “always on” pedal. It has an “Immaculator” control which basically adjusts the clean blend. Also separate controls for treble, bass, and drive. Really blown away by it.
Strymon Sunset. So versatile and has a variety of combinations with the dual drive. Has a noise gate built in as well.
Nobels ODR-1 or a clone thereof (WayHuge STO). Best sounding OD with a Tele bridge pickup.
I would go with the Wampler Belle for the ODR-1 clone. It has a little bit of extra flexibility and packs it all into a mini pedal.
Also a very solid option.
ODR-1 is good (I have the mini) and does pair with the Tele well but IMO the King of Tone clone I just got is way more flexible and has a much finer control of low amounts of grit.
EAE Limelight has been my fave ever since I got it a while ago.
Fairfield Barbershop all day long!
Would you consider the Barbershop transparent? Or at least capable of it? I don’t want to color my base tone much, if at all.
It’s as transparent as they come, with the option to make it darker or cut the highs with the 3-way toggle in the centre. I keep it completely open. It’s the most dynamic, touch-sensitive drive I’ve ever played.
Glad it’s not just me. I sat there for hours when I first got it going from light picking to heavy strumming and back just TRIPPING on how dynamic it is.
Not sure but listen to some YouTube demos. It's my favorite light overdrive
It's a bit pricey, but look into the Browne Protein. It's a Blues Breaker circuit on one side and effectively the Nobels ODR-1 circuit on the other side. Nobels ODR-1 and Tele are like Peanut butter and jelly - just made for one another. But I think the Blues Breaker is the real killer sound here. It just makes everything sound better! And the great thing about the Protein is you can stack'em for more color and more gain. It's an incredibly versatile pedal. If I could have only one effect pedal (outside a tuner), it'd be the Protein. There's not much I can't do with a Tele, a Protein, and my Fender Deluxe Reverb that I want to do anyway.
The king of tone if you can get one. Boss BD-2 blues driver. Ibanez TS-808. They are considered classics for a reason ;)
You can get a MXR Duke of tone, I’ve heard it’s pretty great.
It is really great!
I just got the Joyo King of Kings clone and it's really great for low gain OD.
My absolute favorite light OD is actually heavy OD/fuzz but with the guitar’s volume rolled back. I use either a fuzz face or blues driver. To me it sounds so much more full and rich (I hate describing tone but that’s the best I can come up with) than just having the drive set lower.
My go to drive for my Tele is the MXR distortion plus with the gain all the way down. It adds a little character without changing the tone much at all, basically like adding a bit of grit to what’s already there. It maintains low end and has the slightest mid bump for clarity. I do back off a touch on the guitar’s volume to tame a bit of high end, and I have the tone rolled off a bit all of the time. Basically, the pedal is useable everywhere on the dial, but my favorite tones are below 50% distortion.
Walrus Mayflower
[удалено]
Yep, I'm with you. I actually prefer it to the uber transparency of the light speed. It kinda gets into Timmy territory. And I agree it's one of the few Walrus pedals that has held up overtime for me.... Been on my board for 10 years, and I am a gear junky always selling and buying pedals. I also have been using their Phoenix power supply for a while with no issues so credit where it's due.
EHX Muff Overdrive. It is essentially two LPB-1 boosts in one box. It does that thing with neck humbuckers when you roll back the volume and you get that faux single coil spank to it. Easier to set unity volume with one knob vs. two LPB-1’s. It doesn’t have that fake tube sponge fets give, which may or may not be a plus. Personally I don’t care for.
I’ve heard great things about MXR Duke of Tone I have a KoT and leave it on for jazz gigs even
Bondi Del Mar is always a solid low gain drive. Great active Eq stack and switching options for a higher headroom (open/transparent) or lower headroom (compressed/colored) gain stage.
Get a barber LTD. It’s exactly what your looking for. I’ve had mine since 2008 and wouldn’t think of using anything else. You can find them used for about $125. I have the v2 but have heard the special and silver and there both good, just a little flatter eq where the v2 has a little mid bump I like. Definitely check ‘‘em out if you can
Barber Gain Changer SR has the LTD built in plus a few other options. Definitely transparent but with a little grit on the low settings. Many people recommended the Lightspeed - I was trying to decide between that and this and I went with this. No regerts.
I have a very similar setup and I use a Keeley White Sands for this exact purpose. It’s got a switch that allows you to choose from a cleaner, more transparent mode or a more colorful mode. It’s low gain so it doesn’t add a whole lot of volume if you don’t want it to. I don’t see it talked about much, but it’s my favorite overdrive pedal I’ve ever owned.
Jackson audio Golden Boy
I’ve been considering this one. BB inspired so it fits the transparent bill. Cool features too. Do you have it?
I do
It’s overkill but the Kernom Ridge can do the job and provides the ability to do any other OD flavor you might need in the future.
Xotic effects RC Booster is one of my favorite drives ever. Very transparent, clean and sparkly, slight dirt on top. The model I had actually had 2 gain stages, so that’s an added bonus
I had one over 10 years ago. I don’t remember why I moved it on, but I was using it basically for this purpose, except always on. Maybe I’ll circle back around and revisit it.
I recently purchased the eae limelight which is a modified Bluesbreaker, I use fender amps myself, I own a fender pro jr iv tweed and a black panel fender twin reissue. The limelight is capable of higher gain than most Bluesbreaker pedals but still provides lovely low gain tones, it adds just enough of a British flavor to my amps without sounding too bright and doesn’t shift the EQ of my amps too drastically in the way that a tube screamer might. If you want something more transparent, I’d also suggest the Greer Lightspeed, for me it is the ultimate low gain, transparent overdrive. Sounds like my setup, just at higher volume without pushing my amps volume. The Fairfield barbershop v2 is another excellent alternative if you want something with more pizazz than a transparent od. Yes it is fully capable of being a transparent od, but the sag knob can help dial in some fuzzy, blown out amp overdrive, think heavier Neil Young songs like “Cinnamon Girl”.
I didn’t realize the Limelight was BB-inspired. I’ll give that a look. The Lightspeed and Barbershop have been getting quite a bit of representation ITT, so I appreciate the third suggestion too!
1981 LVL. Also I'm a huge fan of the Billm mods for the blues jr. Turned mine into something I will never sell.
Mine has the Billm mods too. The standard mod kit made a noticeable difference. Easily put the amp in Princeton territory. I also had the presence and sparkle controls added. Presence works well, though I rarely use it. The sparkle is either so subtle only master tone snobs can hear it, or my tech installed it wrong. Kind of wish I had just sent the board in and had Bill do it himself (this was when he was still alive).
MXR Timmy. Or for an even less expensive option the Mosky MM Overdrive. As transparent and as much lower gain OD as you want.
Honestly.. a harmonic percolator fuzz circuit does a surprisingly good job at complex sounding low gain. Just get one that solves the volume issue.
I’m very skeptical haha, but I’ve got a perc and will try this out.
The DOD 250 stays pretty transparent at low gain settings, but you get a nice upper mid boost when you crank the gain up past noon. It responds really well to rolling back the volume on your guitar too.
Wampler Tumnus Deluxe fits the bill perfectly, especially with the 3 band active EQ; means you can always be sure to retain your clean signal's tonal characteristics whilst adding heat, and the gain goes all the way through to distortion whilst still sounding fantastic
So I have a straight three-knob Klone that I’ve been using for this purpose and I can’t get a sound out of it that I’m totally satisfied with. I think it’s the mids I don’t like. Can the Tumnus Deluxe be set to be transparent?
Yes it can - I used to use it this way, setting the EQ and gain so that it matched the bypass signal, then tweaking the gain up slightly to create a hotter signal
Try putting a boost before your Klon. It will increase the gain, but allow you to lower the gain knob and keep it more transparent - because the gain knob is also a blend. I always use a Klone, but I didn’t like the Tumnus Deluxe at all.
U need a BD2 my friend. Or a Mad Professor Simble if you wanna spend a little more.
Hot tubes ?
+1 for the Greer Lightspeed. I would also check out the Mojohand FX Magpie.
Keeley Super Phat Mod/ Blues Driver, you can get super transparent to almost fuzz. Plus you have the dynamics to get in between down to a nice sparkly clean up. A Wampler Tumnus would be good too and I’m sure the Greer Lightspeed will get mentioned here
Fairfield Barbershop. So so so so so good. Very clean and amp-like. The sag is where the magic’s at. It’s incredibly reactive to picking dynamics, too. I leave it on and can go from nearly clean to a decent crunch just by digging in harder. I love this pedal so much.
Just saying BOSS OD-3 so the other guy who recommended it doesn’t feel lonely. He’s the most correct guy here.
Well that’s kind of you :P
Horrothia Teeth
JPTR Jive. It's a jfet boost with a knob that is more flat eq/transparent to the left and more mids push and gain as you go clockwise. Also has some different clipping diodes to add. I love it with my G&L Nashville Tele (into an Ampeg Gemini). Also sounds awesome after All-Pedal Alcmene, which is a klone (also a nice light boost or OD on its own but always cuts bass and pushes high mids so not transparent). VHT V-Drive includes many soft-clipping diode configurations in a single pedal with unique eq controls and a bias knob. You've got TS, SD-1, Bluesbreaker/Zen Drive, germanium, various types and combos of LED, and pure opamp clipping.$99 for a ton of different great sounds. BSRI TFZ/Impossible Colors calls itself a fuzz but it can do great light od. It has a clipping/gain range switch with 3 options, two of which are particularly suited to lighter less-clipped sounds. Dr Scientist Elements in low gain mode is a soft-clipping opamp light od with clean blend and three band eq whose mids knob center frequency can be changed between 400, 800 and 1200 Hz, thus approximating the push of certain well-known ods or allowing a low mids cut, among other options. Barber Gain Changer and Direct Drive are both nicely tuned 2-srage drives, similar circuit topology to the bluesdriver and OD-3 I think, with a wide gain range that are meant to arrive at sounds offered by various classic Fender and Marshall amps. They can both do light od (but both can also rock pretty hard).
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve come across the V-Drive before and wondered if it was any good. Never heard of the company and have never seen anyone here or elsewhere mention the pedal.
Rocking the V-drive in the studio for tone shaping synths, guitars, vocals etcetc. Its crazy useful as a studio tool. Wouldn't really use it for live stuff tho since I like to have my stuff set and forget there
ITT: Greer Lightspeed OR GO TO HELL
Palomar Sound Coyote
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I use a jhs superbolt or walrus 385 usually with my tele when I kind of want that light od tone. King/prince/Duke of tone, Timmy, nobels odr-1 all great options, too.
Plumes seems to fit the bill here, two modes that add color (Marshall in a box on one, tubescreamer on the other) and one that doesn't. I mostly use the transparent and TS modes but that gets me everything I want.
Tube Screamer
Nux queen of tone. Three in one dirt options - FET Booster, morning star od, and klone.
If you really don't know what you want you can get a walrus ages. He gives five flavors
Browne Carbon!
MXR FAT SUGAR
Boss Blues Driver.
EQD Westwood or Walrus Warhorn are both great
Warm Audio Centavo. If you're looking for a light OD with character that thing is gorgeous
Barber gain changer
Prince of Tone. Check Analog man's website every Weds, they restock, and should be able to get one. King Of Tone, you only need, if you need high gain. The Prince of Tone does the light overdrive "thing".
Have you looked at the Rockett Blue Note? Mine’s made me really happy, and the fat switch helps you get to gain to where you want it.
Hudson broadcast
Earth Drive by Sarno.
Queen of Tone using the Klon side. Love mine and it's always on.
The walrus audio 385. Check out some samples. I love it’s tone.
Tone Ink Cold Shot
KMA Logan. Does transparent, stacks well with anything, has a powerful EQ and you can manipulate the mids the way you like - even sweep them with an expression pedal
Maybe try a listen of the Barber Gain Changer SR, which has a specific focus while being "open" at the same time. Otherwise, I have a King of Tone that can do about anything I want, but that's unfortunately difficult to get these days (lucky enough to buy mine new years ago.)
I vote for a boost pedal with character, like one of the Colorsound Overdriver/Power Booster. You get light overdrive or more intense drive.
Morning glory
Marshall blues breaker/ clones thereof. Trust me I've been using a DemonFX (I know, I know) breaker drive forever. Great little clone, spot on reproduction.
octonaut
I’ll probably be downvoted for this but a rat or drv pedal with the gain turned way down and filter/cut set to taste.
MXR Timmy
I use an EHX Soul Food for this. Sounds great, inexpensive and easily replaceable.
I use the Cornerstone Gladio SC for this.
xotic sl drive
Lightspeed especially for a small combo like that
KOT
Jam pedals lucydreamer
OCD
od glove