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Kiwi

Drive pedals - save you a little time maybe

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Posted

Xotic AC Booster 

Not made any more.  Send it into a Fender amp and it'll give you thick articulate boost overdrive with a little something extra in the character which I haven't identified yet.  Just luscious.  Way better than a tube screamer and sounds magical with the ODR and Amptweaker below.

xotic_acbooster_front_1_800x.jpg?v=15759

 

Amptweaker Tight Rock

The original one, it does fabulous distortion.  Use whatever boost pedal you want to emphasise a different character.  It does plexi as well.  Super quiet and robust build.

PX230307401583002f.jpg?h=500%26maxwidth=

 

Nobels ODR

This took me by surprise but it's an audio oxymoron.  Really pleasant sounding overdrive while remaining articulate in the mids and presence frequencies.   Great as a boost pedal too.  Does everything well.

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Crowther Hot Cake

Utterly unique drive pedal that does fat and grungy sounding distortion which teeters on the edge of fuzz but never quite goes there.  It can be used as a boost as well.  The presence control really does mids and it can be tweaked to a very entertaining level of intensity.  It's the best drive pedal for a Vox AC30.   PRS is a fan (which is probably a good thing)

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Joyo JF14 American Sound

A copy of an old Tech 21 pedal.  Use the voice control to move between tweed and twin midrange.  The only criticism I have is the components are not as durable as they could be.  Slightly higher noise floor. Otherwise, warm, articular midrange distortion from a Fender amp, use it with the ODR1 or the AC Booster for different takes on that mid to late seventies Rivera modded Fender thing. 

DSC_0203-1000x1000w.JPG&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=d

 

Mosky Silver Horse

A little more versatile than the Goldern Horse if you are in the market for a Klon clone.  Also, if you don't want or can't find an AC Booster, this does something similar but to a lesser degree for the cost of peanuts second hand.  Slightly higher noise floor too but I use it as a boost pedal into the amptweaker for modded tones. 

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That's it, I don't need any more drive pedals.  

 

Oh wait, there is the MXR Rockman...

  • Like 1
Posted

Heh, I relate to your last comment. I think of myself as "not really an FX guy" now - I never use my fuzz, phaser or wah, but of course I'm keeping them in a box, "just in case" I ever end up "needing them".... The pedals I feel the need of now are simply: slapback echo, reverb (if not in the amp, though I'm increasingly thinking a standalone pedal is a better option anyhow), tremolo, a decent drive (instead of a two-channel amp) and *maybe* a clean boost. 

Inevitably, I have a whole bunch of drive pedals. I do have the Golden Horsey, though I'm toying with the idea of buying one of the model that has all the different variations in it for the board - as well as, inevitably, the Behringer Centaur Overdrive because I like its boldness in being so blunt about what it is. Oh.... and the Mosky pedal with all the different variations on the Tubescreamer in it as well. Then *maybe* a Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face, which I really only want because of the cool shape....

 



Amusingly, I found this selling on ebay: 

Essential Diodes - Boxed with Manual - Klon KTR Bill Finnegan New Centaur Siberi - Picture 2 of 16

 

It's a Klon Klone, made by the guy who designed and built the original Klons. Inevitably, it's about £450 a pop.... 

Posted

Oh.... and I also have a Joyo American Sound. Bought it originally thinking to use it as a headphone amp , but then bought a Harley Benton headphone amp to go with it. I also recently fell in with a Mooer Baby Bomb poweramp pedal. I'm thinking of putting together a couple of dedicated pedal boards, one for only the FX I want with an amp (drive/boost / trem / echo), and one as an "amp" board - reverb, American Sound, baby bomb. So I have the option of using either, or, or linking them together. (The next trick will be to find a case for storage. Been looking for that, but most of the options appear designed only to accommodate an integrated board or a proprietary one. Artec make a hardcase that comes with a traditional plywood board, but the board is too big for me I think (I'd have space for every pedal I own on it!). Still hunting for just a case... 


What I have in mind is using Harley Benton Mounties - these - 

Harley Benton Mounties

 

means permanent holes in the board, but plywood isn't expensive, and these are more secure than velcro, without having to stick velcro to my pedals. 

Posted
On 15/02/2025 at 22:40, EdwardMarlowe said:

I also recently fell in with a Mooer Baby Bomb poweramp pedal.

I bought a pair of Hotone Loudster Class D pedal amps a couple of months ago and was surprised how good they were.

 

On 15/02/2025 at 22:40, EdwardMarlowe said:

What I have in mind is using Harley Benton Mounties - these - 
Harley Benton Mounties

I found a set of these attached to the underside of the ODR and wondered what they were...!  Cheers.

  • Like 1
Posted
20 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I bought a pair of Hotone Loudster Class D pedal amps a couple of months ago and was surprised how good they were.

 

I found a set of these attached to the underside of the ODR and wondered what they were...!  Cheers.

It's impressive how pedal amps have come on. I've several times seen a couple of musicak acts who play a cabaret night I frequent using what I realised to be pedal amps; I'd never have known, but the speed of change between them and the acts before and after.... takes longer for the stage management to pick up after one of the burlesque girls. 

 

Those little feet seem a neat idea. Obviously won't work with every pedal without adaptation, but a much more elegant solution than velcro, which I've always avoided for my pedals. I've also considered a large foam sheet, same dize as the pedalboard, with holes cut for each pedal, but not sure that's workable. I like the idea of having them all screwed down in place. 

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