OD's and Drivers

Ahmed Badreldin

Ahmed Badreldin

Inspired
I play in covers band from Duran to Chic to SRV to Oasis, Queen to Blues, so my headache is creating patches which are near to the song. I always research and google what amp was used so getting good at knowing EVH = Plex, Chic = Fender cleans etc.

My problem is going from example a blues SRV to SRV solo. I know he used a Tube Screamer which is the epic 80's pedal. But whenever I have a patch and want to boost gain and drive with sustain using any of the OD or Drives they all seem way to much. After tweaks and sifting through various choices my tones still sound either too clean or out and out metal! I know people will say turn down gain, but I have tried lowering Drive/Trim on amp and then adding OD. No good. TRied raising the gain on amp and lowering OD/Driver gain. No good.

My thoughts are that none of the OD or Drive pedals are of any use, but reading on here people use them to great effect.

Or do people just use another patch for solos altogther? You can see where I am going. A SRV solo tone is not the same as Sambora, EVH, Noel Gallagher. If only I could sort this out it would manage so much easier on stage. Even thinking of resorting to X/Y but think its over the top, than to click Drive and be in solo mode.

Gear is Fender Strat, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, Kramer Jersey Star so use a million variants of pickups.
 
Well I use for this kind of sound the Fender Brownface from Paco - i did some own tweaking with it and the TS808 OD and for me it sounds very good for SRV solo's. Here is an soundclip and if you like I can post the preset tomorrow when my Axe is again connected with the pc.......

 
Ahmed Badreldin said:
If only I could sort this out it would manage so much easier on stage. Even thinking of resorting to X/Y but think its over the top, than to click Drive and be in solo mode.
Click to expand...
Have you considered using scenes? If find this most useful in a live situation to prevent too much tap dancing when going to a solo. Most often my lead sound is not just hitting a drive pedal, but also tweaking delay and adding a volume boost. If you can't get the right sound with just a drive pedal (I agree that it is sometimes difficult depending on the sound you are looking for), you can use x/y amp block and tweak gain and levels and have that incorporated into the scene.
 
the drive blocks have been working good for me the last two or three firmwares, it's usually just finding the right type. In most cases the drive block settings are 0 to 1 for drive, tone up over 7, and level is 5 to 7 to both push the amp and set the loudness. Between picking dynamics and the guitar volume knob you can get a whole range of gain. I mostly use the face fuzz, ts9, zenmaster and the bbpre. My standard amp tone is low to no gain. Pretty clean.
 
I have a theory that most of the users rely on amp models for their distorted tones hence the drive blocks don't receive the love they deserve! I hope that with the fx8 the demand for better drive models will be significant to warrant some love.

Take the Big Muff model for example. I have several pedals Cornish, vintage EHX, Buffalo, SUF and there just isn't a setting on the PI Fuzz that gets close. But with tone match I'm able to get at least close.




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For drive and boost definitely try scenes, I love incorporating different gain settings on an amp within the same preset. You can take it a step further with the X/Y settings and even incorporate a different amp for your solo. Might be a game changer for you!
 
you also have to consider the amps you're pushing and where the MV is set. If you're running an amp with a hot MV and you hit it hard with a drive pedal, it's going to react a lot differently than a higher headroom amp.
 
Attach a Modifier to the Drive of the Amp, controlled by an expression pedal (set Min / Max). Works for me.
 
Many thanks for all replies, the MV one I am aware of but end up having a weak rhythm and screaming lead, its not the high gain o much thats pretty easy. It's the Fender breakup/blues/OD that I have most problems. Too clean..hit OD..chainsaw.

BUt I'm on it, cheers bros
 
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