December 12, 2009

Best Overdrive Pedal

What is the best overdrive pedal? Not an easy answer, since the number of good overdrive pedals available these days is mind boggling.

I have started a top overdrive list here, and I am trying to stick to pedals that deliver overdrive more than distortion, although many pedals cover both territories. It's also sometimes difficult to distinguish between overdrive and distortion. I have written about the difference between overdrive and distortion on this site, and you may want to check it out.

My personal favorite overdrive is the Maxon OD-9. It features a chip that creates ultra-smooth dynamic overdrive. The Drive and Level controls tweak the intensity and volume Hi Boost/Hi Cut tone controls adjust brightness. It is also True bypass, and it comes with a 3-year warranty. It is simply a smooth and rich sounding overdrive pedal, built to last a life time as well.

Some other good overdrive choices in my opinion are The CTO2 - Cool Cat Transparent Overdrive2 - low gain pedal with lots of dynamics. The Digitech Bad Monkey has been around for quite some time now, and it's inexpensive and quite versatile. I still like it and use it regularly. The eq on it is very handy!

Best Overdrives - the LIST

Here is a starting point for checking out some great overdrive pedals. Some may cover both distortion as well as overdrive tones, so keep that in mind. Feel free to add your comments if you think I missed some! Note: The order of the pedals listed has nothing to do with how good I think they sound, so a higher number does not mean it sounds worse than a pedal listed with a lower number. Only YOU can decide which you think sounds best.

  1. Maxon OD-9
  2. Way Huge Pork Loin
  3. LovePedal Eternity Fuse
  4. Lovepedal Amp 50
  5. Menatone Red Snapper
  6. Danelectro Transparent Overdrive
  7. Danelectro Drive
  8. Hermida Zendrive
  9. Radial Tonebone Classic Tube Distortion Pedal
  10. Hermida Mosferatu
  11. Analogman TS-9/808
  12. Keeley TS-9/808
  13. Maxon 808
  14. Ibanez TS9
  15. Ibanez TS808
  16. BYOC TS808
  17. Analogman TS-9
  18. Analogman TS-808
  19. Analogman King of Tone
  20. Electro-Harmonix XO Germanium OD Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal
  21. T-Rex T-Rex Twin Boost Overdrive
  22. Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor Overdrive Pedal
  23. Krank Krankshaft Overdrive Pedal
  24. DOD 250
  25. Boss OD-3 OverDrive Pedal
  26. Carl Martin PlexiTone
  27. Plush Noxious Overdrive
  28. Fulltone GT-500
  29. Radial Bones R800-7110 Texas Overdrive
  30. Lovepedal Purple Plexi
  31. XOTIC BB Preamp
  32. TREX Alberta
  33. Digitech Hardwire Tube Overdrive
  34. Timmy
  35. Tim
  36. Delta Labs Tube Driver
  37. MI Audio Blues Pro
  38. Klon Centaur
  39. Fulltone OCD
  40. Barber LTD
  41. Damage Control Womanizer
  42. Visual Sound Jekyll and Hide
  43. Reverend Drivetrain 2
  44. Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive
  45. Keeley TS9DX FLEXI-4X2
  46. Boss Blues Driver
  47. Keeley BD-2
  48. Radial Tonebone Hot British
  49. Blackstar HT-DUAL
  50. Blackstone Mofset Overdrive
  51. Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor
  52. Banzai Cold Fusion
  53. Crowther Audio Hotcake
  54. Digitech Bad Monkey
  55. DigiTech Screamin Blues
  56. Vox Cooltron Big Ben
  57. Boss FBM-1 Fender Bassman
  58. Behringer VT999

Have a look at the list of best wah pedals too.

Musician's Friend has most of these pedals

Have a look at the selection from Musician's Friend.

By Robert Renman - www.dolphinstreet.com

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Posted by Robert Renman on December 12, 2009
All contents © Copyright 2001 - 2021 Robert Renman

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