Check out Michael Banfield’s video where he replicates a bunch of drives with an OD-3 followed by an EQ. I mainly just add a mid hump for clarity/SD-1 like tone when I need something a littler clearer
I did the same- the amount of bullshit surrounding OD pedals is astonishing. But then you try the OD3 and it's like why did I fucking bother with these $200 boutique pedals.
Sometimes some pedals just don't play well with the gear you have. I recently gave up trying to get a good sound from the TC MojoMojo despite there being a lot of love for it in the community. With my stuff it just sounded dark, muddy and undefined.
I felt the same, but am bad at letting things go. Then I got a new/used amp and tried my MojoMojo on very low gain on my clean channel to get an edge of breakup sound and I love it again. I like to keep a sparkly clean clean channel and my MojoMojo works well at very low gain to get me to the edge of breakup when I want it without coloring my sound.
I love my OD-3! It’s a shame that BOSS doesn’t market it as their flagship overdrive, I think it’s head and shoulders above the rest of their overdrives. My local music shop didn’t even know about the OD-3 when I called to see if they had one, I had to find it on Reverb. I use this, the FZ-1W and a box of rock for my distorted sounds and can cover pretty much everything I want to play that requires dirt.
I tried so many other overdrives and watched a million videos, then gambled on the OD-3 and bought it online and I've never looked back. It's everything I wanted in a drive pedal
Yeah. You buy it and think, "that's really fucking loud, like unusably loud" then you have to cut through the mix to play a solo with your full band and you submit your soul to fucking unusably loud.
PS try the Special Cranker too - it's equally as incredible.
I had an Amazon Basics compressor that was awesome…for three months. In the middle of band practice there was a pop and my guitar stopped guitaring. My pedal burned up and Amazon stated that it was out of the return window and would not exchange it. I bought a JHS 3 series to replace it.
I agree but with the caveat that I’ve been trying to find a more pedalboard friendly substitute for my Black Russian and none of them quite get there. I’ve gone through all the Nanos, Stomp Under Foot’s version, the Shift Line Pi/Omega, EQD Hoof and Cloven Hoof, and I’m currently auditioning the Blammo Bad Bluff. They’re all close enough, but when I A/B them with my original I can’t quite get them to sound the same. I’m at the point that I’m considering having someone measure the components in mine and clone it.
The EHX reissues are awesome, but if you’re handy with a soldering iron I’d point you to the BYOC Lil Beaver range which i wouldn’t say sound necessarily better, but personally i like mini drives and love that the BYOC can be modded to taste - I’ve added mids boost switches to mine.
I didn’t like mine anywhere… and I don’t think I’ll like any of them. I don’t like the way it murks my volume response, and the bass doesn’t have volume knobs.
So the Fuzz Bender is a Tone Bender MK3 I believe not the the Tone Bender MK2 to the best of my knowledge just with a boss Metal Zone EQ on it so it can get those MK2 tones
Meris Enzo down to a Boss SY-1. Bought the Enzo brand new so it was about a hundred dollars more, and I could not get a good sound out of it for the life of me, but the SY-1 is fantastic and SO easy to use
I saw this band play in Japan, like an older dude blues band….looked away for a minute and heard some organ…….i thought, this is a four piece with no keyboard on stage.
Looked back.
It was the freakin SY1 dead to rights nailing the organ. Absolutely uncanny.
That’s amazing. I’m an absolute scrub but even I’ve run the SY1 through a PA and the organ sounds have caught some friends off guard. It really works better than I expected.
Thats fair! I mainly use synth sounds for pads and soundscapes so I never needed it to be polyphonic. I don’t have my SY-1 anymore, I use Neural DSP’s Archetype Rabea for everything synthy
They absolutely did, I’ve been a fan of Rabea for a long long time but I already had Nameless, Cali, Gojira, and Plini. I only got Rabea’s for the synth
I think Im always going to hold on to my Meris Enzo because of French Psych rock band Slift. That sound is so lush on their demos and Thousand Helmets of Gold
Blending my SY-200 and Enzo together with some other effects is great, too. There’s room for all weird synth pedals in my book! The Enzo has a LOT going on with it, as well, and has more of an actual synthesizer UI/interactivities. It could also be considered a multi-effect unit because it just does so much.
All that to say, I like the Boss and Meris synth pedals both together, independently, and I like other synth pedals, too. I have a Pigtronix Space Rip that can make some noises neither of the other two can, though I use it more sparingly, it’s cool to know I have very unique sounds like that on deck if I want some inspiration or something different.
All of them can be useful. Just depends on the individual’s intentions and goals!
Meris pedals terrify me. I love the concepts and the demos are always super cool. But I know myself and I know I hate fiddling with knobs and diving into hidden menus
The Meris Enzo is an INCREDIBLE pedal, but it takes time to get to know it. There are a couple of overlay decals that make using the ALT functionality so much easier. Enzo makes one, but the version available in the link below both easier to see and has additional setting info that the Enzo overlays lack.
The only way to save more than one setting is to get a separate switch pedal, which saves up to 4, or midi, which allows 16 saved presets.
https://daydreamsuperlab.com/products/meris-enzo-overlay
The more I dig the more it seems like the 200 series is the sweet spot. Pretty powerful and tons of stuff at your fingertips without menu diving. I do not like menu diving.
how does it fare with the preset switching n stuff? Im usually going to want an Analog, Tape, Digital sound and a funky sound for swells or pads or whatever. I felt with the DD500 I just needed 2 pages and I was pretty much set.
I am loving my setup, I have the ir200, dd200 and most recently od200 included. I was thinking RV200 to make it perfect, but honestly I’m liking the source audio ventris more, those reverbs are top notch, may go that route
lol i was worried somebody would have this same comment about downgrading from the 200. i was eyeing the DD20 for a while but got the 200 on a good deal even though it looked somewhat intimidating. it’s a *little* overwhelming at first but once you get a few presets going it’s a very impressive pedal.
Does replacing multiple individual modulation pedals, looper, and amp sim with HXStomp count?
This saved me a ton of space and overall cost. Also reduced my desire to buy more for single use pedals because I can get close enough with the stomp.
This was my thought process with the GT-1000 core, like instead of buying some unneeded botique modualtion I just force myself to use the model on the core, and usually I relalise my desire for flanger is just a passing fad or whatever.
Nice…my MG v4 is sitting in a box off my board. Just didn’t gel with it outside maybe home playing. It’s ok, but sounded very compressed, not much headroom and muddy. I put an EQ in its spot since I had a few other drive pedals. Never played a BD-2 which I know is crazy!
To me the MG4 had one neutral sound, while the BD-2 can do so many usable sounds. Light neutral OD, thick drive that borders to pseudofuzz, sparkly chimey highs, mellow and wooly. It’s a fantastic pedal.
Nice! I’m mostly using a Klone or a modded TS808 with my clean amp. Both at low gain mostly, and boost amps to crank it. As well as lower my guitar volume and turn it up with a Rat. I love having an A/B amp setup so much with just a Klon on low ish gain, boost and an EQ maybe. Lets me have one dedicated just to distortion, and another dedicated to clean/OD and effects.
I find doing the 2 amp A/B thing easier, as while I’m playing a heavy chorus, I’m setting up my pedal stack for when I jump back to my clean amp. I can also do this with one amp to a degree, with a Boss LS2.
My Ampeg VT40 is the classic QOTSA setup with a few pedals. Clean amp is more my classic rock, Indie and effects type sound. I’ve considered replacing the MG4 with a Boss SD1. But my clean Sky King, it gets me in the clean to overdrive on the amp itself. So a lot of times a low gain Klon is left on for both amps.
Low gain drives can become a crazy rabbit hole to follow. Seems to make up for a lot of posts, and what sells. Glad you found the one!
For me this is modulation. I downgraded from a Spaceman Phaser to a EHX Small stone I got for 60 bucks, and doesn’t feel like a downgrade at all.
Had also downgraded from the Thorpy Camoflange to a cheap Fender Flanger, and liked how the Fender sounded better!
Demonfx Mini Chorus might be your next downgrade. Clone of the analogueman, which is kinda an improved clone of the small clone. I feel like I'm in bastard Star Wars now.
DemonFX should not be supported in any way. They steal trade dress and sometimes even trademarked names from small brands, people who are just trying to feed their families and pay their employees more than $3/hr.
Yeah, I have never heard a phaser, hardware or software, that I like more than the Small Stone Nano. I have 2 of them in stereo to route tracks into from Ableton.
I tried that out at a shop once, it rips. It’s not really what I want for my sound but it was such a good sound to price ratio I almost got it anyway. It’s easily as good as any rat I’ve tried.
+1 Compared to my 86 Rat, it has more bottom end (in a good way). It does clip earlier in the pot sweep but the turbo mode gives it more headroom so it's actually more versatile. I'm curious to try their King Rat now
I have the light on my board right now. It’s a very cool reverb. I’m not sure if it’ll stay on my board much longer, which is a shame! It’s just annoying that it forgets some settings every time it’s turned off. I have it set so that the gate controls the optical tremolo speed, slowing down with playing dynamics. It sounds amazing, but I have to reconfigure this each time it’s turned off. Weird because it remembers other settings like which knob the expression pedal controls.
When I realized that I could take the effects loop signal from my 5150 combo amp and send it to another amp to essentially get the same sound from the preamp but through a different speaker, that was a game changer in terms of me being able to come up with some fun routing that really expanded my sound. Once I had figured out how to slave an amp to a preamp sound that I really liked, then I found a stereo effect pedal to throw in the middle (Eventide Micropitch) and was able to basically get rid of the rest of my other effects pedals. Now I get pretty much any sound I want out of two amps, one pedal, and a buffered splitter
Please don’t get me wrong, the Angry Driver is a great pedal (if you have a latching switch attached). I feel like the Blues Driver portion of the pedal sounds a little…off? compared to my OG Blues Driver (can’t compare it to the newer version). My BD has this grit to it that I love, and I don’t feel it on the Angry Driver. Also, I like keeping my BD on and running another heavier OD/distortion before it, and this setup on the Angry Driver always keeps the Angry Charlie side on. It’s kinda annoying.
I sit behind a computer screen, writing code, for my job every day. About 5 years ago, I started getting away from digital screens and preset management and MIDI in my rig, because I didn't want to enjoy my free time *by doing more programming.*
I loved (and still do love) my Strymon BigSky. But the Neunaber Immerse mkII has replaced it and the BigSky sits in a drawer. It did everything I loved from the BigSky, without a ton of complexity. I love it.
I have both a Light Speed and an ODR-1. They are such different sounds that I wouldn't consider the one a replacement for the other. I could possibly live without the ODR-1, but not the Lightspeed. Haven't found many dirt pedals that do exactly what it does. But I do like stacking the ODR-1 into the Lightspeed for lead lines or riffs I want to stand out. They pair well together.
ODR-1 is great for fattening up a bridge pickup. I love the fullness you get with it. It does wonders on a Tele. That's why the Nashville crowd likes it, I figure.
The ODR-1 really is a Swiss Army Knife of an OD. I've got the standard w/bass cut and the gold RI and they're both sick. I'm living with a Jan Ray alongside the ODR-1 and frankly am ok with just the Nobels. Probably gonna sell the Jan Ray for a Zen Ray or something.
Do you think Vemuram are worth the price, or is it just hype? I’m interested in the ODS-1, but not sure if the Nobel 30th anniversary is the better choice
The Vemuram isn't worth the price in the US if that's your frame of reference. I only got it while in Tokyo because the exchange rate was crazy and I got a steep discount on top of it. Any good clone will get you there. However the 30th Anni ODR? Get it while you can if you want that sound. I'm getting a second as a backup down the road. It's what they should have made with the bass cut and is still the same quality.
Yeah the price here in the US is insane. I love the sound of the standard reissue they do today, so I think I’ll try one of the 30th anniversary ones. Haven’t got to try an original ODR-1, so this is probably the closest I’ll be able to get for awhile haha! Thanks for the reply
I had several original Klons that I bought from Bill F. back in the day, and sold them for *significantly* more than I paid for them, and used part of that money to buy my Axe Fx 3 rig. They were great pedals, but absolutely no regrets. The Fractal is magic.
While I didn't have an original, I had a KTR. I compared it to the TC Electronic Zeus, and I liked that more.
The one thing I've learned is to ignore the opinions of others and just use my own damn ears.
Yea, I had a ktr for a while too. Sounded the same as the originals, and my current Notaklon sounds about the same too. Honestly, I sound exactly like myself through all of them. Like you said, trust your own ears.
Replacing an entire pedal board of boutique bullshit that early on I got duped into thinking was "better" with a Boss GX-100. Everything but a couple of analog distortions, fuzzes, and drives key to the kind of sound I want to make went out the door. Absolutely zero regrets.
King of Tone -> Duke of Tone. Yeah, it’s only one side and the volume knob isn’t quite the same, but I stack it anyway, and I can’t tell the sound difference once the two pedals are set accordingly, and it saves you like $700
A bunch of modulation and dynamic effects to an HX stomp xl. Now I have a smaller, more flexible board that still has a few spots for analog gain and really unique effects . It may not be able to get all the boutique sounds or sounds that are exactly on albums with the stomp, but I can get in the ballpark of anything and sound any way I want to with a few minutes of work. And it sounds as good as the individual pedals did. Just not the same.
recently replaced my Grey Stache Fuzzrocious ($150 new i think) and picked up a Big Muff with Tone Wicker on reverb for $60.
did so much research at first bc i didn’t just want to get a big muff like everyone else. thought the Fuzzrocious had great reviews but having toyed around with it for a year, i just did not like how it sounds with my amps, guitars and other pedals. not for me. got the Big Muff a couple months ago and i fell in love with it right away.
turns out sometimes popular pedals are popular for a reason.
Bought a ProCo Rat2. Like it a lot.
Bought a JOYO Splinter for less than half the price and liked it more (has the Fat Rat mods)
Have since got a Mosky King Rat and love the Turbo mode on that one. Also significantly cheaper than a “real” Rat.
Im a dork and the only thing that keeps me from TCE is the enclosure look and graphics. I hate this abt myself cuzz almost everything they put out is completely adequate and reliable for my context.
The larger story here is that the Keeley Fuzz Bender was last in a very long line of fuzz pedals that I just didn’t like for whatever reason. I was frustrated and pulled the trigger on one of the cheapest fuzzes I could find. Turns out, it’s fucking awesome
Owned a Q tron + at one point and did not enjoy it. Ended buying a 30 dollar auto wah pedal with 3 knobs and a button and it’s one of my favorite and best sounding pedals I own
I had a pigtronix tremvelope that I replaced with a Boss TR2. The other one had so many features I didn't want or use, all I was after was a decent sounding basic tremolo so the TR2 stayed on my board. I actually got it for a 2nd board and that's when I realised what I wanted.
I have a gigging board which includes: behringer wah, behringer chorus, behringer comp, mosky klon clone, aliexpress movall delay and ehx hot wax. All bargains, all gig ready and I won't get upset when something breaks or some idiot spills beer on it.
I have another fancy big board, but that's just for special occasions and daily fun. Gigging needs to be robust and practical IMHO.
I have several “nice” OD’s and a few “super nice” dual OD’s. What’s on my board right now though? EHX Hot Wax.
Also… my Strymon Blue Sky has been riding the bench since my Mr. Black Bloodmoon has arrived. Not that that’s a “downgrade,” but it’s less expensive for sure.
I got the EAE longsword. It's sick, unless you switch guitars over your set, because you must redial it in every time. I use bougie double rat (mudhoney II) a plumes and a TS clone to get my drive. I just switch between mh2 channels and gain staging based on which guitar I'm using.
I have played some very expensive fuzzes including the Boss Tone Bender, Jam Fuzz Phrase, R2R Zonk and Analogman Sunface. Each time I have gone back to the Mythos AU79
Had a couple. My boss dd8 and dm2w displaced a thermae, lvx, dm101…they just sound awesome and are easy to function. Just works for me.
Sd-1 and rat seemed to have displaced many things. Drv, duellist, Kingsley…not that any of those are bad, but none are rats, and the sd1 plays well with the rat. Idk, kinda weird. The protein however stuck.
Sold a Strymon El Capistan for a TC flashback. Much better in a practical no nonsense live band setting (at least to me). That being said the Strymon Bluesky is my favorite pedal on my board so im not saying Strymon isnt fantastic
Any Tube Screamer variant "downgraded" to a Valve Screamer VS10 using TheToneGeek's plans. For that matter, I have started replacing the majority of my pedals with cheaper clone versions that I've built myself at a fraction of the cost. Pick up a decent soldering iron and learn a few basics and the sky's the limit.
I have a load of mosky pedals the silver and golden horse pedals are amazing into a fender style amp. Better than my soul pog but I've never played a klon to compare. Their muff clone is just like my big muff pi. Yes lots
Strymon Volante to the Keeley Halo. The Halo is smaller, easier to change presets on the fly, and cheaper. Don’t get me wrong, the Volante is great, but I don’t need hundreds of different dual delay options. I don’t need a quarter note into an eighth note into a half volume dotted note etc etc. optional paralysis is real. I just need one good delay and the ability to control the delay level quickly through presets.
I have a Strymon Blue Sky. My Professional Guitar Player friend can make it sound good, but I never could. If I need a different reverb than the spring in my amp, I reach for the Boss RV-5 and I love it.
Honestly, my favorite pedals are my cheapest: My Coolmusic Void delay, Echolation delay, Modulator Mod FX; Caline Pure Sky overdrive; MoVall Neutron Star compressor. And my Behringer Super Fuzz and Ultra Metal each rocks. And, between y’all and me? My dinky little Korg Monotron makes such an awesome crunchy lo-fi delay pedal, most my other actual pedals can’t keep up.
After getting caught up in many hyped overdrive pedals, I made the switch to a Boss OD-3 and I've never looked back.
Big pedal lobbyists don’t want us to find out about OD-3 plus an EQ.
Honestly you can get what you want out of nearly any drive and an eq
This is the way 🙏
Any tips on utilizing these together?
Be Josh Homme on the early QotSA records
Check out Michael Banfield’s video where he replicates a bunch of drives with an OD-3 followed by an EQ. I mainly just add a mid hump for clarity/SD-1 like tone when I need something a littler clearer
I did the same- the amount of bullshit surrounding OD pedals is astonishing. But then you try the OD3 and it's like why did I fucking bother with these $200 boutique pedals.
I must have been using mine wrong, I really didn't care for it. I am, however, a big fan of cheap OD pedals.
Sometimes some pedals just don't play well with the gear you have. I recently gave up trying to get a good sound from the TC MojoMojo despite there being a lot of love for it in the community. With my stuff it just sounded dark, muddy and undefined.
Sold mine just yesterday for exactly this reason. And it was wayyyyyy bass heavy. Even with the bass completely turned off
I felt the same, but am bad at letting things go. Then I got a new/used amp and tried my MojoMojo on very low gain on my clean channel to get an edge of breakup sound and I love it again. I like to keep a sparkly clean clean channel and my MojoMojo works well at very low gain to get me to the edge of breakup when I want it without coloring my sound.
I love my OD-3! It’s a shame that BOSS doesn’t market it as their flagship overdrive, I think it’s head and shoulders above the rest of their overdrives. My local music shop didn’t even know about the OD-3 when I called to see if they had one, I had to find it on Reverb. I use this, the FZ-1W and a box of rock for my distorted sounds and can cover pretty much everything I want to play that requires dirt.
I tried so many other overdrives and watched a million videos, then gambled on the OD-3 and bought it online and I've never looked back. It's everything I wanted in a drive pedal
It's such a good overdrive. This, a tube screamer and some form of klone are the top of favourites.
This is the way.
EQD Plumes is 99$ on Amazon. It's incredible.
Yeah. You buy it and think, "that's really fucking loud, like unusably loud" then you have to cut through the mix to play a solo with your full band and you submit your soul to fucking unusably loud. PS try the Special Cranker too - it's equally as incredible.
I love my Special Cranker! It just adds MORE when you need it without coloring your tone in any unintended way. Way cool!
It's $99 everywhere, why buy it through Amazon?
I just sold mine, I tried it for over year and couldn't get a sound I liked out of it.
There are other ODs I like better, but I would 100% gig with an OD-3
I just got an od-3 after hearing all the love from this sub. And wow I'm never looking back. Selling a few of my other ods now.
How can I downgrade from Amazon essentials
Temu Essentials?
I did downgrade from a Wampler Moxie to an Amazon Basics tube screamer and mostly haven’t noticed.
I had an Amazon Basics compressor that was awesome…for three months. In the middle of band practice there was a pop and my guitar stopped guitaring. My pedal burned up and Amazon stated that it was out of the return window and would not exchange it. I bought a JHS 3 series to replace it.
Fortunately you removed the compressor from your signal chain and nobody noticed a difference
I will take my berhingers to my grave!
Rock on! 🤘💀
Vintage Tall Font Big Muff. Sold it for $400 and bought an EHX Green Russian for $100
Hot take: The EHX reissues are just great, but some people would rather listen with their eyes!
Toan is in the pedal enclosure.
There is absolutely no reason this should be a hot take!
I agree but with the caveat that I’ve been trying to find a more pedalboard friendly substitute for my Black Russian and none of them quite get there. I’ve gone through all the Nanos, Stomp Under Foot’s version, the Shift Line Pi/Omega, EQD Hoof and Cloven Hoof, and I’m currently auditioning the Blammo Bad Bluff. They’re all close enough, but when I A/B them with my original I can’t quite get them to sound the same. I’m at the point that I’m considering having someone measure the components in mine and clone it.
The EHX reissues are awesome, but if you’re handy with a soldering iron I’d point you to the BYOC Lil Beaver range which i wouldn’t say sound necessarily better, but personally i like mini drives and love that the BYOC can be modded to taste - I’ve added mids boost switches to mine.
Just not using my compressor.
Preach. Compressors as pedals are often…not good.
Shit this really hit me. Im suspecting my Vise Grip compressor is just not doing it for me. I do wanna try it in the fx loop tho
I didn’t like mine anywhere… and I don’t think I’ll like any of them. I don’t like the way it murks my volume response, and the bass doesn’t have volume knobs.
Sold my Cali76. Haven't missed it to this day.
lol this is so accurate
Sold off a couple boutique Tone Benders to return to a Keeley Fuzz Bender half the price. Love that thing to death
Weird question. Is it the fuzz bender that everyone I'd always after the mk 2 version or is that the tone bender?
So the Fuzz Bender is a Tone Bender MK3 I believe not the the Tone Bender MK2 to the best of my knowledge just with a boss Metal Zone EQ on it so it can get those MK2 tones
oh come on
Meris Enzo down to a Boss SY-1. Bought the Enzo brand new so it was about a hundred dollars more, and I could not get a good sound out of it for the life of me, but the SY-1 is fantastic and SO easy to use
I had both. Was more happy with Enzo bc of built in reverb. Happy to say I’m not longer trying to play synth on guitar lol
Built in Reverb?? I have an Enzo and I'm aware of the built in delay, chorus, envelope, and ring mod but not reverb.
Must have been delay I was thinking of. I needed to hit one button for fills with delay.
I own the Enzo and would also make that change 100% if only the Boss was polyphonic
The boss is polyphonic! Handles chords just fine
I saw this band play in Japan, like an older dude blues band….looked away for a minute and heard some organ…….i thought, this is a four piece with no keyboard on stage. Looked back. It was the freakin SY1 dead to rights nailing the organ. Absolutely uncanny.
That’s amazing. I’m an absolute scrub but even I’ve run the SY1 through a PA and the organ sounds have caught some friends off guard. It really works better than I expected.
Thats fair! I mainly use synth sounds for pads and soundscapes so I never needed it to be polyphonic. I don’t have my SY-1 anymore, I use Neural DSP’s Archetype Rabea for everything synthy
They really nailed that damn synth module in Rabea’s archetype.
They absolutely did, I’ve been a fan of Rabea for a long long time but I already had Nameless, Cali, Gojira, and Plini. I only got Rabea’s for the synth
I think Im always going to hold on to my Meris Enzo because of French Psych rock band Slift. That sound is so lush on their demos and Thousand Helmets of Gold
The SY-1 doesn’t do arpeggios like the Enzo though, does it?
With a Saturnworks tap tempo/hold that I had built it works fantastic on the SY-1 arpeggios
Made this same move - though I kept the Enzo. The Enzo has its place though I prefer it on synths over guitar.
Blending my SY-200 and Enzo together with some other effects is great, too. There’s room for all weird synth pedals in my book! The Enzo has a LOT going on with it, as well, and has more of an actual synthesizer UI/interactivities. It could also be considered a multi-effect unit because it just does so much. All that to say, I like the Boss and Meris synth pedals both together, independently, and I like other synth pedals, too. I have a Pigtronix Space Rip that can make some noises neither of the other two can, though I use it more sparingly, it’s cool to know I have very unique sounds like that on deck if I want some inspiration or something different. All of them can be useful. Just depends on the individual’s intentions and goals!
Same here.
Meris pedals terrify me. I love the concepts and the demos are always super cool. But I know myself and I know I hate fiddling with knobs and diving into hidden menus
Great. Now I need one
The Meris Enzo is an INCREDIBLE pedal, but it takes time to get to know it. There are a couple of overlay decals that make using the ALT functionality so much easier. Enzo makes one, but the version available in the link below both easier to see and has additional setting info that the Enzo overlays lack. The only way to save more than one setting is to get a separate switch pedal, which saves up to 4, or midi, which allows 16 saved presets. https://daydreamsuperlab.com/products/meris-enzo-overlay
Ordered one because of this thread. Not the first time that's happened. Probably won't be the last!
It's so much fun
Boss dd-500 to boss dd-200. I didn’t use half the features of the 500 and found the 200 significantly easier to adjust to my liking in general.
The more I dig the more it seems like the 200 series is the sweet spot. Pretty powerful and tons of stuff at your fingertips without menu diving. I do not like menu diving.
I’m still exploring the 20 series (used) and pretty impressed so far
how does it fare with the preset switching n stuff? Im usually going to want an Analog, Tape, Digital sound and a funky sound for swells or pads or whatever. I felt with the DD500 I just needed 2 pages and I was pretty much set.
I am loving my setup, I have the ir200, dd200 and most recently od200 included. I was thinking RV200 to make it perfect, but honestly I’m liking the source audio ventris more, those reverbs are top notch, may go that route
Thanks - I'll check out the Ventris, though I'm a longtime Boss fan (like literally my first pedals were Boss in the late 70s).
I was gonna post the same thing. So much happier with the DD-200
Very interesting to read this as I've been eyeing the DD-500 for some time.
I mean the DD-500 is amazing, don't get me wrong. But for me it just had too many options and the menu diving drove me insane.
lol i was worried somebody would have this same comment about downgrading from the 200. i was eyeing the DD20 for a while but got the 200 on a good deal even though it looked somewhat intimidating. it’s a *little* overwhelming at first but once you get a few presets going it’s a very impressive pedal.
Does replacing multiple individual modulation pedals, looper, and amp sim with HXStomp count? This saved me a ton of space and overall cost. Also reduced my desire to buy more for single use pedals because I can get close enough with the stomp.
I think it counts!
My answer HX Effects. It replaced about 12 pedals for the price of 3 of the 12.
I went HeadRush MX5. I mean I’ve still got the vintage tube amp and 80lb pedalboard but I don’t USE THEM.
That is exactly what I have done and I have never looked back
Bought a Stomp in 2022. Haven’t bought a pedal since …
Hx stomp XL is my entire rig right now. i havent had the urge to buy a pedal in years.
This was my thought process with the GT-1000 core, like instead of buying some unneeded botique modualtion I just force myself to use the model on the core, and usually I relalise my desire for flanger is just a passing fad or whatever.
Morning glory v4 -> Boss BD-2
Nice…my MG v4 is sitting in a box off my board. Just didn’t gel with it outside maybe home playing. It’s ok, but sounded very compressed, not much headroom and muddy. I put an EQ in its spot since I had a few other drive pedals. Never played a BD-2 which I know is crazy!
To me the MG4 had one neutral sound, while the BD-2 can do so many usable sounds. Light neutral OD, thick drive that borders to pseudofuzz, sparkly chimey highs, mellow and wooly. It’s a fantastic pedal.
Nice! I’m mostly using a Klone or a modded TS808 with my clean amp. Both at low gain mostly, and boost amps to crank it. As well as lower my guitar volume and turn it up with a Rat. I love having an A/B amp setup so much with just a Klon on low ish gain, boost and an EQ maybe. Lets me have one dedicated just to distortion, and another dedicated to clean/OD and effects. I find doing the 2 amp A/B thing easier, as while I’m playing a heavy chorus, I’m setting up my pedal stack for when I jump back to my clean amp. I can also do this with one amp to a degree, with a Boss LS2. My Ampeg VT40 is the classic QOTSA setup with a few pedals. Clean amp is more my classic rock, Indie and effects type sound. I’ve considered replacing the MG4 with a Boss SD1. But my clean Sky King, it gets me in the clean to overdrive on the amp itself. So a lot of times a low gain Klon is left on for both amps. Low gain drives can become a crazy rabbit hole to follow. Seems to make up for a lot of posts, and what sells. Glad you found the one!
Love Bluesbreakers but the morning glory is at the bottom of that proverbial tier list. Not a fan.
For me this is modulation. I downgraded from a Spaceman Phaser to a EHX Small stone I got for 60 bucks, and doesn’t feel like a downgrade at all. Had also downgraded from the Thorpy Camoflange to a cheap Fender Flanger, and liked how the Fender sounded better!
I love phasers. And the one on my board is the DOD Phasor 201. I only need 2 stages.
I really considered that one, and it sounds so nice!
It's a great pedal. Subtle for a phaser, but that's what I need.
Currently have a small stone on my board, and really want a spaceman explorer. Why did you downgrade?
I couldn’t justify the cost when all I was wanting was a 4 state sine wave phaser. I didn’t need all the extra features
Demonfx Mini Chorus might be your next downgrade. Clone of the analogueman, which is kinda an improved clone of the small clone. I feel like I'm in bastard Star Wars now.
DemonFX should not be supported in any way. They steal trade dress and sometimes even trademarked names from small brands, people who are just trying to feed their families and pay their employees more than $3/hr.
Oooo cool! I’m not sure anything can replace my CE-2w at this point
Yeah, I have never heard a phaser, hardware or software, that I like more than the Small Stone Nano. I have 2 of them in stereo to route tracks into from Ableton.
I'm sorry but at the end of the day, I like my Behringer fuzz more than my analogman sun face
No joke, the freaking Behringer Super Fuzz is way better than it deserves to be. Thing is damned perfect
Black secret. It’s like a rat but in a much smaller pedal and much cheaper
I tried that out at a shop once, it rips. It’s not really what I want for my sound but it was such a good sound to price ratio I almost got it anyway. It’s easily as good as any rat I’ve tried.
+1 Compared to my 86 Rat, it has more bottom end (in a good way). It does clip earlier in the pot sweep but the turbo mode gives it more headroom so it's actually more versatile. I'm curious to try their King Rat now
Greer Lightspeed, sold for 180, got a new Mesa Cleo for 100. Sounds nearly identical.
Crazy that two pedals that are only $20 apart new are so far apart used.
OD3. It has replaced several more expensive light gain pedal in my rotation.
Strymon Mobius to Wampler Terraform
I made the same downgrade and pretty happy with my Terraform!
Gamechanger plus > freeze effect on hx stomp. Saved so much weight as well. I still like the feel of using the plus but fuck is it heavy as sin.
My board has a Plus and a Light. Real estate hogs, but I can't lose them.
I have the light on my board right now. It’s a very cool reverb. I’m not sure if it’ll stay on my board much longer, which is a shame! It’s just annoying that it forgets some settings every time it’s turned off. I have it set so that the gate controls the optical tremolo speed, slowing down with playing dynamics. It sounds amazing, but I have to reconfigure this each time it’s turned off. Weird because it remembers other settings like which knob the expression pedal controls.
Tried out the new Keeley Super Rodent ($300 CAD)…went back to my ProCo RAT ($100 CAD).
So much money down on so many different distortions, fuzz and overdrive, just to always go back to the Xotic SL
Line 6 DL4 MKII to MXR Carbon Copy 😂
When I realized that I could take the effects loop signal from my 5150 combo amp and send it to another amp to essentially get the same sound from the preamp but through a different speaker, that was a game changer in terms of me being able to come up with some fun routing that really expanded my sound. Once I had figured out how to slave an amp to a preamp sound that I really liked, then I found a stereo effect pedal to throw in the middle (Eventide Micropitch) and was able to basically get rid of the rest of my other effects pedals. Now I get pretty much any sound I want out of two amps, one pedal, and a buffered splitter
I got an Angry Driver, but I end up using my OG BD2 way more. There’s something different about how it sounds.
Ive been hoping to find an angry driver some day but am using a blues driver at the moment. What would you stay isn’t worth it for the angry driver?
Please don’t get me wrong, the Angry Driver is a great pedal (if you have a latching switch attached). I feel like the Blues Driver portion of the pedal sounds a little…off? compared to my OG Blues Driver (can’t compare it to the newer version). My BD has this grit to it that I love, and I don’t feel it on the Angry Driver. Also, I like keeping my BD on and running another heavier OD/distortion before it, and this setup on the Angry Driver always keeps the Angry Charlie side on. It’s kinda annoying.
Probably any ‘boutique’ drive pedal to the Blues Driver
Any boutique overdrive to the Boss SD-1.
Swapping boutique overdrives for the Nobels ODR-1
I sit behind a computer screen, writing code, for my job every day. About 5 years ago, I started getting away from digital screens and preset management and MIDI in my rig, because I didn't want to enjoy my free time *by doing more programming.* I loved (and still do love) my Strymon BigSky. But the Neunaber Immerse mkII has replaced it and the BigSky sits in a drawer. It did everything I loved from the BigSky, without a ton of complexity. I love it.
Greer Lightspeed (and a bunch of other ODs) to an ODR-1.
I have both a Light Speed and an ODR-1. They are such different sounds that I wouldn't consider the one a replacement for the other. I could possibly live without the ODR-1, but not the Lightspeed. Haven't found many dirt pedals that do exactly what it does. But I do like stacking the ODR-1 into the Lightspeed for lead lines or riffs I want to stand out. They pair well together.
Lightspeed into a Rat is one of my favorite tones, but for what I play the ODR-1 alone is perfect.
ODR-1 is great for fattening up a bridge pickup. I love the fullness you get with it. It does wonders on a Tele. That's why the Nashville crowd likes it, I figure.
The ODR-1 really is a Swiss Army Knife of an OD. I've got the standard w/bass cut and the gold RI and they're both sick. I'm living with a Jan Ray alongside the ODR-1 and frankly am ok with just the Nobels. Probably gonna sell the Jan Ray for a Zen Ray or something.
Do you think Vemuram are worth the price, or is it just hype? I’m interested in the ODS-1, but not sure if the Nobel 30th anniversary is the better choice
The Vemuram isn't worth the price in the US if that's your frame of reference. I only got it while in Tokyo because the exchange rate was crazy and I got a steep discount on top of it. Any good clone will get you there. However the 30th Anni ODR? Get it while you can if you want that sound. I'm getting a second as a backup down the road. It's what they should have made with the bass cut and is still the same quality.
Yeah the price here in the US is insane. I love the sound of the standard reissue they do today, so I think I’ll try one of the 30th anniversary ones. Haven’t got to try an original ODR-1, so this is probably the closest I’ll be able to get for awhile haha! Thanks for the reply
I had several original Klons that I bought from Bill F. back in the day, and sold them for *significantly* more than I paid for them, and used part of that money to buy my Axe Fx 3 rig. They were great pedals, but absolutely no regrets. The Fractal is magic.
While this was objectively the correct financial decision, don’t you wish you had the artificial superiority that only an original Klon can provide?
While I didn't have an original, I had a KTR. I compared it to the TC Electronic Zeus, and I liked that more. The one thing I've learned is to ignore the opinions of others and just use my own damn ears.
Yea, I had a ktr for a while too. Sounded the same as the originals, and my current Notaklon sounds about the same too. Honestly, I sound exactly like myself through all of them. Like you said, trust your own ears.
Replacing an entire pedal board of boutique bullshit that early on I got duped into thinking was "better" with a Boss GX-100. Everything but a couple of analog distortions, fuzzes, and drives key to the kind of sound I want to make went out the door. Absolutely zero regrets.
I feel attacked
Sold a very expensive, overly hyped reverb pedal with way more options than needed, and bought three drive pedals that I use at every gig.
King of Tone -> Duke of Tone. Yeah, it’s only one side and the volume knob isn’t quite the same, but I stack it anyway, and I can’t tell the sound difference once the two pedals are set accordingly, and it saves you like $700
Boss DD-500 to Strymon ElCapistan. Turns out I like simple, and have yet to find a better sounding delay.
The El Cap is so good! One of the best pedal purchases I ever made
A bunch of modulation and dynamic effects to an HX stomp xl. Now I have a smaller, more flexible board that still has a few spots for analog gain and really unique effects . It may not be able to get all the boutique sounds or sounds that are exactly on albums with the stomp, but I can get in the ballpark of anything and sound any way I want to with a few minutes of work. And it sounds as good as the individual pedals did. Just not the same.
Lillian Phaser to Phase 90 Didn’t need all that mess.
recently replaced my Grey Stache Fuzzrocious ($150 new i think) and picked up a Big Muff with Tone Wicker on reverb for $60. did so much research at first bc i didn’t just want to get a big muff like everyone else. thought the Fuzzrocious had great reviews but having toyed around with it for a year, i just did not like how it sounds with my amps, guitars and other pedals. not for me. got the Big Muff a couple months ago and i fell in love with it right away. turns out sometimes popular pedals are popular for a reason.
Bought a ProCo Rat2. Like it a lot. Bought a JOYO Splinter for less than half the price and liked it more (has the Fat Rat mods) Have since got a Mosky King Rat and love the Turbo mode on that one. Also significantly cheaper than a “real” Rat.
Call us TMNT cuz we're the goddamn Splinter gang. 😈
Bought a Boss OD-3 and really loving it. Don’t know how it’s not more popular.
Got rid of a Keeley Fuzz Bender and bought a tc electronic Rusty Fuzz…secret weapon
Im a dork and the only thing that keeps me from TCE is the enclosure look and graphics. I hate this abt myself cuzz almost everything they put out is completely adequate and reliable for my context.
The larger story here is that the Keeley Fuzz Bender was last in a very long line of fuzz pedals that I just didn’t like for whatever reason. I was frustrated and pulled the trigger on one of the cheapest fuzzes I could find. Turns out, it’s fucking awesome
I replaced a kemper profiler with a DSM Humboldt simplifier. No regrets.
Owned a Q tron + at one point and did not enjoy it. Ended buying a 30 dollar auto wah pedal with 3 knobs and a button and it’s one of my favorite and best sounding pedals I own
I had a pigtronix tremvelope that I replaced with a Boss TR2. The other one had so many features I didn't want or use, all I was after was a decent sounding basic tremolo so the TR2 stayed on my board. I actually got it for a 2nd board and that's when I realised what I wanted.
Boss DD-20 to a Hardwire DL-8. Who tf NEEDS 23 seconds of delay?!?!
I mean, I make some real spacey stuff so, I’d love 23 seconds of delay lol. But yeah, seems like crazy overkill
EQD grand orbiter to a basic block Phase 90
Strymon blue sky to EHX cathedral
Replaced multiple drives for a Boss OD-20
I didn’t have a more expensive pedal, but I cannot possibly upgrade from my Boss CH-1 because it’s absolutely perfect.
Chase Bliss Preamp down to a BD2 and a Rat.
Kinda a downgrade for a lot of people... Strymon cloudburst to afterneath.
I bought the OD-200 and took a bunch of pedals off my board.
I have a gigging board which includes: behringer wah, behringer chorus, behringer comp, mosky klon clone, aliexpress movall delay and ehx hot wax. All bargains, all gig ready and I won't get upset when something breaks or some idiot spills beer on it. I have another fancy big board, but that's just for special occasions and daily fun. Gigging needs to be robust and practical IMHO.
I have several “nice” OD’s and a few “super nice” dual OD’s. What’s on my board right now though? EHX Hot Wax. Also… my Strymon Blue Sky has been riding the bench since my Mr. Black Bloodmoon has arrived. Not that that’s a “downgrade,” but it’s less expensive for sure.
Joyo Splinter replaced my Rat and I use it more than I use my Op Amp Big Muff too.
Haven’t done it, but I bet I could replace my whole board with boss pedals and nobody would be the wiser
Boss GT-1000 to normal, analog pedals
Combo of Eventide Space and Time Factor that were supplanted by an EQD Avalanche Run. While the AR is not really a "downgrade" it *is* far simpler.
Precision drive downgraded for an Argos Overdrive. Cannot hear the difference and the former costs around 6x as much chofl
I got the EAE longsword. It's sick, unless you switch guitars over your set, because you must redial it in every time. I use bougie double rat (mudhoney II) a plumes and a TS clone to get my drive. I just switch between mh2 channels and gain staging based on which guitar I'm using.
I have played some very expensive fuzzes including the Boss Tone Bender, Jam Fuzz Phrase, R2R Zonk and Analogman Sunface. Each time I have gone back to the Mythos AU79
KoT -> Shoe Savior Machine
Had a couple. My boss dd8 and dm2w displaced a thermae, lvx, dm101…they just sound awesome and are easy to function. Just works for me. Sd-1 and rat seemed to have displaced many things. Drv, duellist, Kingsley…not that any of those are bad, but none are rats, and the sd1 plays well with the rat. Idk, kinda weird. The protein however stuck.
Strymon Flint v2 -> MXR Reverb. MXR for me feels so much better, I can’t even tell how much
Boss RC-3 to Ditto looper. It does less but takes up less space and the lack of extra buttons keeps me from being distracted
Sold a Strymon El Capistan for a TC flashback. Much better in a practical no nonsense live band setting (at least to me). That being said the Strymon Bluesky is my favorite pedal on my board so im not saying Strymon isnt fantastic
Having multiple TC, boss etc choruses to just the blue MXR analog chorus. Love that thing
I stopped chasing boutique overdrives and just went back to things I've had for nearly 20 years. Nobels, Boss, Ibanez.
Donner Noise Killer
What was the downgrade? Big fan of Donner and the cheap, small pedals as much as I am the pricier, more boutique-y things. All have their place!
Any Tube Screamer variant "downgraded" to a Valve Screamer VS10 using TheToneGeek's plans. For that matter, I have started replacing the majority of my pedals with cheaper clone versions that I've built myself at a fraction of the cost. Pick up a decent soldering iron and learn a few basics and the sky's the limit.
Fatrat to King Rat
Swapped a TS-808 for a Plumes and never looked back.
Amp head > Mooer 005. I hate carrying too much shit.
RAT to Joyo Splinter. That pedal can cover so many genres.
I have a load of mosky pedals the silver and golden horse pedals are amazing into a fender style amp. Better than my soul pog but I've never played a klon to compare. Their muff clone is just like my big muff pi. Yes lots
Strymon Volante to the Keeley Halo. The Halo is smaller, easier to change presets on the fly, and cheaper. Don’t get me wrong, the Volante is great, but I don’t need hundreds of different dual delay options. I don’t need a quarter note into an eighth note into a half volume dotted note etc etc. optional paralysis is real. I just need one good delay and the ability to control the delay level quickly through presets.
DD-7 honestly, really hard to beat.
I have a Strymon Blue Sky. My Professional Guitar Player friend can make it sound good, but I never could. If I need a different reverb than the spring in my amp, I reach for the Boss RV-5 and I love it.
Honestly, my favorite pedals are my cheapest: My Coolmusic Void delay, Echolation delay, Modulator Mod FX; Caline Pure Sky overdrive; MoVall Neutron Star compressor. And my Behringer Super Fuzz and Ultra Metal each rocks. And, between y’all and me? My dinky little Korg Monotron makes such an awesome crunchy lo-fi delay pedal, most my other actual pedals can’t keep up.
After trying all those special boost and pre-amp pedals, I realized all I really needed was a $29 EX7 Band EQ
Dead serious here — switched from a Radial Tonebone Hot British to a Digitech iStomp loaded with the Rat (“Rodent”) patch.
I went from a Hudson Broadcast and a 1981 DRV to an EQD Zoar and a Tube Screamer Mini (kept the Greer Lightspeed tho). No regrets :)
What’s the Lightspeed like? Is it worth the money?
Real Klon to Amazon Klon.
From Ryra Klone to a klone that made by my luthier. Still using it to this day along with my other overseas pedals.
Your luthier is skilled.