High-Gain Pedals

[gy1900s]

In my journey of trying to find a workable High-gain pedal I have come to conclude that they are
the hardest pedal to get to approximate an actual amp. Transparent ODs don't have to do as much
work. Edge of break up drives the same. Boosts just have to drive an amp/pedal a little more into
saturation and not fizz out. Light to medium drives just seem to be easier to pull off.

I am curious what your guys' experience has been. Find anything that gets close, or simply puts a smile
on your face and you never think, "Yup, sounds like a pedal?"

For the record I have had Bogner Red, Blue, Uberschall, Friedman BE (and BE-Deluxe) several times, Wampler
Slostortion and Triple Wreck, Revvs G3-4, Boss HM, Metal Zone, and MI Audio Megalith Delta (which was really
decent), Mesa Throttle Box EQ, Flux Five. All seem to get a little too transistory---if that makes sense.

I think I may need to check out Ola's CHUG pedal.

The best high gain tones with a pedal imo are your typical lower gain overdrive pedals into the front of a medium gain amp like a Marshall JCM 800 (yes, it's not a high gain amp) or a Vox AC-30 that's being pushed to the limit.


Personally, I don't use high gain tones too often and use low gain amps. For a high gain tone when needed, I use a TC electronics mojomojo to push a clean amp until just past breaking up, and then a Boss SD-1 pretty close to maxed out to get me to a high gain tone. This is with a stout humbucker in the bridge position. It's not as tight of a high gain tone as you get from a high gain amp, but it works well for looser high gain tones. It will get you that 90's alternative/grunge high gain tone more associated with bands like Weezer, Radio Head, Nirvana etc.

 

[EOengineer]

I love the Blue and have 3 of them. 2 Minis and the big box. One's always on
my board. I like to boost it with a TS/SD-style drive. Always go back to those.
Had the Red several times and Meh.... not tight enough for the chugs and a little
too compressed for my ears--as you lose those luscious dynamics and sensitivity
of the Blue.

I actually liked the Uberschall more for the high-gain thing.



Edit: Oh man. Just saw subsequent posts. Hope you dig it. Not trying to kill
someone's enthusiasm on a Saturday.

All good, my big box Blue isn’t going anywhere. I went after the red looking for big, compressed gain. I don’t think tight chugging was ever what they were aiming for anyway.

I guess I don’t really think of the amp as a tight chugging amp either.

 

[EOengineer]

The best high gain tones with a pedal imo are your typical lower gain overdrive pedals into the front of a medium gain amp like a Marshall JCM 800 (yes, it's not a high gain amp) or a Vox AC-30 that's being pushed to the limit.


Personally, I don't use high gain tones too often and use low gain amps. For a high gain tone when needed, I use a TC electronics mojomojo to push a clean amp until just past breaking up, and then a Boss SD-1 pretty close to maxed out to get me to a high gain tone. This is with a stout humbucker in the bridge position. It's not as tight of a high gain tone as you get from a high gain amp, but it works well for looser high gain tones. It will get you that 90's alternative/grunge high gain tone more associated with bands like Weezer, Radio Head, Nirvana etc.

Up until the last decade or so I’d agree with a lot of the sentiment here. I still frequently use boosts and ODs into non master volume Fenders and Marshalls because, like you, I love those types of tones.

These Bogner/Rev/BE-OD pedals have changed my understanding of what is possible with pedals. In particular, the big box ecstasy blue opened my eyes in use with a Deluxe Reverb. If Fender sold a Deluxe Reverb with a second channel that sounded like this Blue does through that amp, they wouldn’t be able to keep them in stock.

I’ll also add I think these types of pedals seem to sound best through completely clean amps.

 

[la szum]

All good, my big box Blue isn’t going anywhere. I went after the red looking for big, compressed gain. I don’t think tight chugging was ever what they were aiming for anyway.

I guess I don’t really think of the amp as a tight chugging amp either.

Big and compressed are, oftentimes, mutually exclusive tonal concepts to my ears. The
more compressed, then the thinner a pedal becomes, and the less it cuts and stands out.
Can make up for some of it with a stout power amp offering up a lot of ass to offset the
squeeze of super gained up preamp feel. Delicate balancing act there.

Look forward to your thoughts once you have it. Hope you dig it.

 

[JiveTurkey]

What sort of cleanup situation does it offer, if at all?

No real clean-up to speak of. At least with fairly high gain DiMarzio DActivators? Rolled back just a hair was actually not bad and I could see if you were trying to pull back just a bit before going full bore? Tonally speaking; the pedal is for the most part a standalone dirt pedal and not going to be the choice most make when they want dynamic or a sound that blends into the amp's native od/dirty character. Cranked up LOUD this second time and I love this damn thing

 

[gy1900s]

Up until the last decade or so I’d agree with a lot of the sentiment here. I still frequently use boosts and ODs into non master volume Fenders and Marshalls because, like you, I love those types of tones.

These Bogner/Rev/BE-OD pedals have changed my understanding of what is possible with pedals. In particular, the big box ecstasy blue opened my eyes in use with a Deluxe Reverb. If Fender sold a Deluxe Reverb with a second channel that sounded like this Blue does through that amp, they wouldn’t be able to keep them in stock.

I’ll also add I think these types of pedals seem to sound best through completely clean amps.

I had a guy try out for a punk band I was in many years ago that had a Sovtek Mig 100, where he would put this huge high gain mesa boogie pedal with a 12ax7 pre-amp valve inside it into the low gain channel. Thing basically sounded like a mark series mesa. The guy's tone was great, but after a few rehearsals it was apparent that he had a a very clingy girlfriend that called every 15 minutes crying on the phone asking him when he would be home. We'd all played in a band with a guy like that before by that point and didn't want to deal with the drama, so it was a no-go.

Anyways, I'm not sure if you can consider that a pedal though. At that point it's basically just a high gain preamp. Thing had more than one channel I believe too. Thing probably cost more than a Sovtek did at that time too.

 

[EOengineer]

Can confirm the Bogner Red is baller. Killer high gain tones.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Can confirm the Bogner Red is baller. Killer high gain tones.

Awesome! Glad to hear you like it. Maybe one day I'll hook back up with one.

 

[TwistedTape]

In my journey of trying to find a workable High-gain pedal I have come to conclude that they are
the hardest pedal to get to approximate an actual amp. Transparent ODs don't have to do as much
work. Edge of break up drives the same. Boosts just have to drive an amp/pedal a little more into
saturation and not fizz out. Light to medium drives just seem to be easier to pull off.

I am curious what your guys' experience has been. Find anything that gets close, or simply puts a smile
on your face and you never think, "Yup, sounds like a pedal?"

For the record I have had Bogner Red, Blue, Uberschall, Friedman BE (and BE-Deluxe) several times, Wampler
Slostortion and Triple Wreck, Revvs G3-4, Boss HM, Metal Zone, and MI Audio Megalith Delta (which was really
decent), Mesa Throttle Box EQ, Flux Five. All seem to get a little too transistory---if that makes sense.

I think I may need to check out Ola's CHUG pedal.

I use my HX Stomp a lot more these days, its just too convenient not to. I get my distortion from the amp sims then maybe blend in pedals. I hear a lot of people like the newer Empress Heavy Menace. There are so many that I cant keep track of them. There is also the one the UA put out the Anti? Not cheap though and if it breaks you are pretty much screwed because of how UA customer service works.

 

[James Freeman]

Edit:
Had a first play, they are both equally great at what they do.

 

[dk_ace]

I always found high gain pedals to be the ones that were hardest to get right. Here are the ones that did it for me one way or another.

MI Audio Tube Zone - way back in the day this was considered the best way to get a recto sound without a recto. It’s definitely in that vein, although the recto is the only thing that really nails recto… I remember the knobs being pretty tweaky and sensitive, but as a pedal that was trying to sound like a high gain amp this got closest for me. I think you’ll still hate it @la szum.

Rat2 - it’s just so damn fun. Does it really sound exactly like a great high gain amp? No. But it always put a smile on my face, sounded good in a mix, and was easy to quickly get a sound going with it.

Super fuzz - ok even further from an amp sound, but still a killer fun high gain tone.

Also might be interesting to try the precision drive into a medium gain pedal that you like if you can’t find a dedicated high gain pedal to your liking.

D

PS - DOD Grunge - I actually really enjoy this pedal - runs for cover…

 

[FuzzyAce]

I had a guy try out for a punk band I was in many years ago that had a Sovtek Mig 100, where he would put this huge high gain mesa boogie pedal with a 12ax7 pre-amp valve inside it into the low gain channel. Thing basically sounded like a mark series mesa. The guy's tone was great, but after a few rehearsals it was apparent that he had a a very clingy girlfriend that called every 15 minutes crying on the phone asking him when he would be home. We'd all played in a band with a guy like that before by that point and didn't want to deal with the drama, so it was a no-go.

Anyways, I'm not sure if you can consider that a pedal though. At that point it's basically just a high gain preamp. Thing had more than one channel I believe too. Thing probably cost more than a Sovtek did at that time too.

Sounds like you're referring to the V-twin pedal from Mesa. I used to have one too. Loved it as a clean boost mainly, the blues channel was nice, the high gain mode was more finicky to me and didn't use as much. Cool pedal though.

 

[FuzzyAce]

PS - DOD Grunge - I actually really enjoy this pedal - runs for cover…

I tried it one time, a friend's son was using it. It really wasn't that bad from what I recall. I've heard worse!

 

[dk_ace]

I tried it one time, a friend's son was using it. It really wasn't that bad from what I recall. I've heard worse!

A friend gave me one years ago, I always thought it was a fun pedal. I still pull it out every few years just to try it, and every time I enjoy it. I’ve never actually put it on a board though.

It sounds like a pedal doing a high gain amp emulation, so definitely not what he’s looking for here.

The high gain pedals I always enjoy most are the ones that just sound like an interesting pedal. The ones honestly trying to sound like big high gain amps are never that enjoyable to me. I think the reason for that is that the pedal into a clean amp is too limited by the amp. It’s often a smallish amp, maybe lower wattage, only one or two speakers, maybe open back, probably not the speakers you would use in the big amp, etc…. I think that’s just too much to overcome. My favorite high gain amps were favorites probably more for the experience than the actual tone. I never thought the recto was all that great when I put the cab in another room and miced it. Stand in front of that 412 and let it rip, on the other hand, was always a fun ride.

D

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

It says overdrive, but believe me...it can do WAY more. Especially in a lightly driven crunch channel, phew.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, but definitely worth looking at. A very unique, but not oddball, sound. Very shapeable and tweakable... especially this version. The key is the focus knob.

 

[gy1900s]

Sounds like you're referring to the V-twin pedal from Mesa. I used to have one too. Loved it as a clean boost mainly, the blues channel was nice, the high gain mode was more finicky to me and didn't use as much. Cool pedal though.

I think the guy with the Sovtek was probably using the blues channel or maybe even just a clean boost on that pedal. Those Mig 100 amps had a bit of break up even on the clean channel at high volume. His tone was not high gain. It sounded like Malcolm Young playing a Mark series Mesa in the shallow end or a cranked Fender. It was a very good American tone, that you only get from 6L6 power amp tubes, which is what those Mig 100 Sovtek amps had in them.

 

[Stratzrus]

I became aware of the MI Audio Megalith Delta when I saw a post by Jimi Hazel that he was selling his since he was getting a pedal custom built. I didn't buy Jimi's pedal because I don't buy gear that's been heavily gigged but I found a like new model used and picked it up. It's been my high gain pedal of choice ever since.

One of the things I love about it is the bass stays solid and tight when you turn the Bass knob past 12:00. It sounds remarkably like the lead channel of my Fryette Sig:X. Between the Contour knob and the EQ Shift switch there is a nice selection of voicings. Works for me.

https://miaudio.com/category/rd-lab/megalith-delta/

 

[James Freeman]

I'm figuring out how to make this comparison worth your time.
All I got is a shitty Microsoft USB webcam.