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Topic: overdrive / distortion |
Karen Sarkisian
From:
Boston, MA, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2010 3:24 pm |
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what do people use for overdrive pedals ? especially with NV112 ?
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Emmons, Franklin, Mullen |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 1 Sep 2010 4:05 pm
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I do not suggest overdriving the input section of a NV 112. Solid-state preamps like this tend to get very harsh when pushed beyond their limits. All these Peaveys of this type design stay clean right up to the limit (which is what they are designed for, works great, and is what I want for clean pedal steel), but after that it's harsh bipolar transistor distortion.
If you want a tube-amp like distortion, perhaps something like a Duncan Twin Tube Classic pedal would suit you. I like mine - it even produces a reasonable overdrive tone into a solid-state amp like this. This unit uses subminiature tubes as used in hearing aids back when, and runs them at pretty high voltages to give a real tube response.
Another overdrive/distortion device I've tried and liked is the Hermidia Audio Zen Drive. It's completely solid-state, but sounds pretty good to me. I need to get myself on the waiting list for one - I was using a friend's for a recording. Another nice unit is the Fulltone FullDrive 2 (I have the older non-MOSFET version, although I think that's pretty good too). Each of these units has a certain level of distortion built into the device, but they're going for a classic overdrive type of sound, as opposed to a harsh, metallic distortion.
My stripped-down rig for pedal steel and guitar is steel into the NV 112 and guitar into a Pod 2 and then into the NV 112. But the Pod also works pretty well for overdriven steel if I stay conservative and don't pushing the gain too much.
There are a lot of threads on this - it depends largely on what kind of sound you're going for. |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 2 Sep 2010 9:11 am
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| There is no standard. With so many devices available it does depend on what sound you have in mind, as Dave mentioned. Can you give an example of a player or recording? David Lindley, Ben Harper, Robert Randolph, etc? |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 2 Sep 2010 10:17 am
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for a solid state amp, the seymour duncan twin tube classic.
for a tube amp the options are much broader. |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 2 Sep 2010 2:15 pm
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Boss Blues Driver works for me. 
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 3 Sep 2010 10:34 pm
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Whatever you use if you pay a newer steel with high impedance, high-output pickups it's highly recommended that you use an active, impedance-matching volume pedal, a matchbox, Steeldriver or some other impedance matcher/buffer.Many distortion units, especially ones based on 70's designs (MXR and others) will sound absolutely terrible - harsh, gritty, brittle - without one of the aforementioned devices. It's a common problem - a steel player who also plays 6-string tries a pedal in a store with a Strat, it sounds great, he gets home and plugs his steel int it and he wonders if the clerk pulled a switcheroo on him.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 3 Sep 2010 11:29 pm
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| Dave, I don't think there is a waiting list any more for the Zen Drive. At least there wasn't when I got mine a few months ago. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 4 Sep 2010 5:05 am
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What Sir Sliff says about lowering the steel's output is solid gold, here. And it goes for any effect that designed to work with common guitar-level outputs. Auto-wahs, triggered flangers etc. turn to quaking weaklings in the face of a George L 18K pickup... blat blat blat. Even a standard DynaComp can't take it, though the old DOD EQ's and compressors can.
I've had good luck with a few cheap oddball overdrives, like the Arion Stereo OD amd the DOD FX50B. Lately I'd been using a Digitech "Hot Stack" which is one of those $40 pedals that makes you wonder how anybody could EVER pay ten times that... so of course I'm on a wait list for a $400 Ethos TLE...
http://www.customtonesinc.com/
I just traded for a Fulldrive 2 Mosfet but haven't hooked it to the big rig yet. Avoid any Tube Screamer type, as they're all midrange. I think it's just the custom, and it may be possible to build a full range OD with that RC4558 chip. But a Rat-type OD has a wider frequency range and can therefore be re-EQ'd more minutely.
Equalization is important - both what you send to the pedal, and what happens to the signal afterwards. I got kinda obsessive about making a Duane-type tone, and it took a while. Basically, kill the highs before they hit the pedal. |
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Jay Ganz
From:
Out Behind The Barn
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