Double boost/OD recommendations

McToot · August 2023

A mate of mine (who one of these days will join TFb no doubt) asked me for some recommendations. He's wanting to tidy up his pedalboard and is thinking about a dual o/d pedal rather than stacking two. He currently uses a Boss OD3 and a Freakish Blues Alpha Drive and is looking for a single pedal that has OD and boost function - or at least two flavours of drive.

He plays in a soul band and normally uses a Swart amp or Blues Cube and goes mainly clean but looks to push it into drive at times.

I'm clueless about this kind of thing so thought I would put it to the pedal lovers on here. Any recommendations??

guyinlyon · August 2023

How about two good mini-pedals? A Wampler Tumnus combined with a Keeley Katana Mini would be a good starting point. Then when (not if) he decides he'd like another combo he only has to change one at a time.

chrisj1602 · August 2023

If I had a board now with no drive pedals I’d personally try the Strymon Sunset, as it seems to have a lot of options.

There’s so many these days though… Does he have a budget and any particular sounds in mind?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · August 2023

Not sure on the guy's budget, but if he's looking to dabble in something cost effective then the Nux twin OD pedals look like cracking value.

There's the Queen of Tone, which is a Klone and a Bluesbreaker style OD on one pedal - https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/230105398387008--nux-queen-of-tone-dual-stacked-overdrive-pedal

And the Ace of Tone, which is a TS and a Bluesbreaker - https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/230621406899008--nux-ace-of-tone-dual-overdrive-pedal

You can change of the order of what comes first on both units, so they look super versatile.

Sporky · August 2023

Foxrox ZIM!

ICBM · August 2023

Boss JB-2 Angry Driver

ecc83 · August 2023

B'star HT-Dual or the much more compact LT-Dual.

Dave.

Flanging_Fred · August 2023

I’ve got a bunch of dual drives now, but from your description I recon a @ThorpyFX The Dane would be a good choice. High quality and readily available.

FWIW I’m currently using either a Paul Cochrane Tim (spendy and tricky to get hold of in the UK) or my latest squeeze, A Boss SD2, which is ace but I think the lead channel on that might be a bit vicious for the stated application.

Flanging_Fred · August 2023

You could check this out…

https://youtu.be/a-3rrJXkMxU?si=Q7dLGbcBWKAM3IXU

menamestom · August 2023

The Brownie Protein is nice, a light drive (BB) and a mid gain drive (ODR-1).

The drive can be used as a cleanish boost.

It's quite expensive, you could probably recreate cheaper, but it is a good pedal.

McToot · August 2023

chrisj1602 said:

If I had a board now with no drive pedals I’d personally try the Strymon Sunset, as it seems to have a lot of options.

There’s so many these days though… Does he have a budget and any particular sounds in mind?

Thanks for the replies so far folks.

I'm not sure about sound other than what I've already stated (funk/soul, occasionally boosted into low/mid gain grit). Budget shouldn't be an issue - he's got some very tasty guitars indeed and I don't think Swarts come cheap...

Thanks @Flanging_Fred ; - good vid and good shout on the Dane.

McToot · August 2023

Oh and David - if you do read this, why don't you sign up to the Fretboard. We're (mostly) a good bunch...

Winny_Pooh · August 2023

Very few things like an OD-3 aside from a BD-2
He may be better off sticking with those if he likes what he has.

The Truetone VSXO is a poor man's Browne Protein and sounds great if you like a TS & ODR-1

John_P · August 2023

Analogman King of tone and the kingtone duellist are both amazing pedals and I’ve loved using both of them and haven’t found another double pedal that can compete. Sacrilege to say so on here but I prefer those to any of the Kingsley pedals I’ve owned or tried.

gatheredinsong · August 2023

My immediate thought based on 'soul band' was the Cornerstone Gladio, although Cornerstone make 3 different double ods that are perhaps worth investigating, including one with a klon side.

The aforementioned Dane isn't a bad shout either, particularly if he wants something from a great and thoroughly decent UK company.

AntonHunter · August 2023

Here's a Dane for only £3.50 too...

https://raffall.com/343529/enter-raffle-to-win-pink-thorpy-fx-the-dane-hosted-by-james-holding

theatreanchor · August 2023

Surprised to see just one nod for the KoT, but I suppose they aren’t that easy to come by. I think it’s an excellent pedal for boosting without changing your core tone. Good options for levels of drive too.

timhulio · August 2023

Freakish Blues Alpha Drive

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english_bob · August 2023

Sporky said:

Foxrox ZIM!

Yep.

Nobody listens to us, Sporky.

Sassafras · August 2023

Your mate should add a Joyo Ultimate Drive alongside his Freakish Blues pedal.

hotpickups · August 2023

Check out the ThorpyFx Heavy Water. Amazing

ArchtopDave · August 2023

I've loved my ThorpyFx The Dane from the first day that it arrived. I have an early one that has Danish Pete's DNA inside it……well it is signed by him.

Ddigger · August 2023

ecc83 said:

B'star HT-Dual or the much more compact LT-Dual.

Dave.

I have the LT-Dual. I use the channels "the wrong way round", but that is apparently what quite a few folk do.

It has an interesting switching system which makes it useful. You can use either channel without the other engaged.

Queen of Tone looks good - I think I'll keep an eye out for a 2nd hand one.

pt22 · August 2023

ArchtopDave said:

I've loved my ThorpyFx The Dane from the first day that it arrived. I have an early one that has Danish Pete's DNA inside it……well it is signed by him.

Ditto me.

The Dane is a nest perfect pedal for me, and I’d recommend it wholeheartedly for this use case.

The boost is immense, and the OD is moderate until you add the boost and the small amp saturation factor. Magic.

Yorkie · August 2023

Ddigger said:

ecc83 said:

B'star HT-Dual or the much more compact LT-Dual.

Dave.

I have the LT-Dual. I use the channels "the wrong way round", but that is apparently what quite a few folk do.

I had it for a year. I used the right channel for rhythm and the left one for lead (wrong, I suppose) and found ‘British’ EQ on the left side of the ISF knob (wrong again?).

It wasn’t for me, but the pedal sounded much better than most other drive pedals I’ve had since. And it sounded deliciously broken on a dying battery; in fact, I have been designing circuits to bring back that broken sound, with hilarious results.

Ddigger · August 2023

Yep, I use ISF the wrong way as well.

Kebabkid · September 2023

My Sinvertek shown on here in the Classifieds will do that. Normall sized pedal with lots of gain options and another click will turn into a boost

McToot · September 2023

Thanks folks. He ignored me and pretty much everyone else and got a Strymon: the Sunset I think. I was really pushing him to get a Dane (so I could borrow it).

monquixote · September 2023

I'd stick with two pedals as I've never found any dual pedal I was 100% happy with.

However if that's the route you want to go then Box of Rock is compact and decent or Double Rock if you want two drives.

Given the current pedal is an OD-3 which is somewhat unique I'd go for the Angry Driver as @ICBM suggests. It's got the BD-2 which is the closest to an OD-3 and an Angry Charlie which is not far off an OCD (Which IIRC is what the Freakish Blues is a clone of)

cbilly22 · September 2023

Ddigger said:

Yep, I use ISF the wrong way as well.

No you don't, Blackstar label/market it wrong!

Always been massively confused by this. I had the dual and still own a Fly and the Debut 50R and both sound more British the wrong way round. About 10 or 11 o'clock or a bit before halfway is most marshally to my ears.

Anyway, apologies for the thread hijack.

Another vote for the Boss Angry Driver too. Just get a little remote switch to go with it and you're set for anything. Really regret moving mine on.

WeZ84 · September 2023

Hudson Broadcast - the dual footswitch version is very versatile.

If pedalboard space saving is required then the Boss Angry Driver.

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Double boost/OD recommendations

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