Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The Great Overdrive Conundrum

I'm back on the on-again/off-again search for a decent overdrive pedal. Something that doesn't bugger up the guitar's tone or dynamics but will shove the amp that extra bit harder for widdly-waggly moments without that awful tone-in-a-box great-in-the-woodshed, crap-in-public racket you can get from most distortion widgets. It certainly can be done (SRV and YJM certainly both use/d this approach), though sheer volume will always, I suspect, remain a significant contributor.

Current contenders are a Burford Sonic Ranger and an original Marshall Guv'nor. The Burford has a very clear edge here, it's like giving the axe a shot of adrenaline whilst the Marshall sounds like an effects pedal (if admittedly a good one). However, and here is the rub, the thing appears to be incredibly noisy. I may have to learn to live with this if I can't find something else that gives similar benefit with rather less noise.

I've been trying to find a YJM308 to try but these appear to be discontinued (I thought they'd only just come out, but I can tend to be somewhat behind the times where gear is concerned). If anyone knows where I can get one, please let me know... Next up therefore is a Boss SD-1 and possibly the Monte Allums mod for it. If that doesn't do the job then I guess I'll have to try a TS-9, which for some odd reason I'm rather trying to avoid. Anyone got any other suggestions?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Beer 'n' Rock 'n' Roll

Mister Savage, The Railway Tavern, Fishponds Road, Bristol, this coming Saturday (15th March). Kicks off around 20.30, I believe. Should be fun. Mention you saw this note if you turn up and your first beer's on me :)