Distortion/overdrive pedal for a telecaster?

[jspartz]

I am looking for a good sounding distortion/overdrive pedal to use with my telecaster. I picked up an Ibanez TS9DX but it was pretty weak with the single coil pickups. I am looking to use it with a Blues Jr on a clean setting. What do you use with a telecaster?

Thanks,

Jason

[maz]

what kind of sound are you looking for?

One of the best od pedals for teles is the Klon Centaur but it has a really hight price- >$300.

The Fulltone FullDrive II is a great pedal for single coil guitars. www.fulltone.com

Maybe a Rat?

[IronMaidenX]

ok...we can stop this thread now. j/k

Budda Phatman...got mine back in 1998 i think, never wanted anything since. They list for around 300-400.

Or if you want something really nasty try an old Ibanez SM-9 Super Metal Pedal from the 80s...the blue one with 5 knobs. You can find them used on ebay for around $100 or more.

I actually know someone who has a Blues Jr. amp like yours and he uses a BD-2 Blues Driver...sounds really good, not crazy distortion ...but still good.

Also...if you are using a Tele and expecting huge distortion...you might want to just change the bridge pickup to something like a Dimarzio Fast Track or Seymour Duncan Hotrails...that would make a huge difference and also cancel out the noise and hum a single coil makes, I've actually been meaning to do that to my own Tele...just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Rodgre]

I've been liking the Crowther Hot Cake, Menatone Foxy Brown and Xotic AC Booster on Teles through Fender amps lately. All boutique stuff, but not as expensive as the Klon.

Roger

[mingus2112]

I'll second the Fulldrive II. It's the single most used pedal in my whole collection. (and I have a LARGE collection. . .) It's the one I grab for first.

"This song needs a light bluesy tone." (i grab the fulldrive)

"This song is a really rockin overdrive type thing." (i grab the fulldrive)

"This song is really dirty and raunch" (i grab my fulltone '70s pedal. . .but then usually put it back and get the fulldrive!)

"This song needs some over the edge distortion" (I grab my fulltone ds1, but then usually go back to the fulldrive)

The thing with the fulldrive is that it's definately not a one trick pony. Far from it. A little on the pricey side if you're used to boss type effects ($140 on ebay i think?), but worth it's weight in gold.

Carl Marten makes some good overdrive pedals too. A tone freak (like me) friend of mine used to have one and he swore by it.

Just to bump this back to "general recording," I use a lot of overdrive/distortion pedals depending on the live situation. My DS1 sounds great live. . .as does the '70s pedal. But the Fulldrive is the only one that sounds consistantly good when put down on tape. Something about it that just records well. I end up tweaking it and using it in place of all the others.

Hope this helps!

-James

[mingus2112]

whoops!! forgot about the tele. . .

I got a kickin tele that sounds great through the pedal i mentioned above (fulldrive 2). it sounds weak through the ds1 and the ibanez ts7 in "hot mode" (like the ts9 turbo thing), but sounds HOT through this. . .it can go from weak weak weak to dripping wet gain and saturation.

Hope THIS helps
-James

[Jerry_Pbury]

Bad Bob Booster


http://www.rgwelectronics.com/badbob.html

[takeout]

Zvex Super Duper 2-in-1. More of a preamp than an overdrive, but it has a master volume, so you can really smack the hell out of an input stage.

[@?,*???&?]

Get the earsplitting sound of rock with the 'Reezafratzitz' by the Danish company Emma.

Goes from Class A to Class B sounding. The most versatile distortion pedal I've ever used. Not a bad sound in the box. 4 knobs and the unit sounds just fantastic.

You can order directly from-

www.f-p-e.com

[mikeyc]

I like the old Snarling Dogs Tweed E. Dog.

On my American Standard Tele, it gives a great brainsplitting twangy OD. And they're cheap as hell. I paid $39 new for mine.

[kayagum]

All of the above suggestions are great.

My additions:

VoodooLabs SparkleDrive- basically blends an 808 overdrive with a clean boost. More body, less fizz (pretty important for single coils)

SIB Varidrive- amazing pedal. The key is to switch out the 12AX7 for something with a lower gain (I use a 12AU7, but you can also use a 12AT7 or something similar).

[maz]

Or, if you want to put your FDII on a shelf and forget it ever existed, get a TIM pedal!

Not really though, the FDII is still a great pedal, but this TIM often replaces it for a lot of guys!

much threads about it at www.thegearpage.net and musictoyz forums. It's a custom made thing by a guy named Paul Cochrane in Nashville.

[logancircle]

Check out the first link in all these chains.... interesting

http://guitargeek.com/rigview/510/ (JG's Tele)
http://guitargeek.com/rigview/77/
http://guitargeek.com/rigview/610/

[ampguy]

I don't care much for the FD II, and if you didn't enjoy the DX9 much, the FD II won't improve much.

The '69 fulltone is nice, as is the MJM London Fuzz are among my favorites.

For a very compressed metal overdrive, the boss MT-2 is a lot of fun.

[awolski]

I will second the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. It can do anywhere from total clean boost to a nice fuzzy overdrive. It sounds great with my single-coil Strat and Fender Deville, you can get those velvety tones that sustain into feedback, which I love.

It doesn't seem to tone suck and claims to have a true bypass. I haven't noticed any tone suck when the pedal is off. When the pedal is on, I would characterize the overdrive tone as a little on the dark side, i.e. it's not a fuzz. It also doesn't have the cache of a cool boutique pedal but sounds great in my opinion.

Oh yeah, everything they say about the Fulldrive is true. But it doesn't have very much gain, not as much as the Sparkle Drive (but arguably sounds better).