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battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:46 pm
by BadMonkey
which is you favourite cheaper/budget tube-screamer alternative, why?

what is the quality like?

which orange amp do you run it through?

any thing you recommend steering clear of, why?

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:48 pm
by Le Chat Noir
All Tubescreamers and their clones sound rubbish with modern Orange amps IMO. The amps and the pedal share a similar mid boost that don't sit well together.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:52 pm
by Thinline_slim
Le Chat Noir wrote:All Tubescreamers and their clones sound rubbish with modern Orange amps IMO. The amps and the pedal share a similar mid boost that don't sit well together.
+1

I have a really nice boutique TS clone that only collects dust now that I don't have a Fender amp. Sounds like absolute garbage through either of my Oranges.

The only dirt pedal I've kept has been the Hardwire Valve Distortion. Sound great through some amps and good through the Oranges.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:09 pm
by BadMonkey
well i meant cheaper overdrives like the BM and stuff like that :lol:

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:23 pm
by savage8190
MXR Distortion 3...dont know that its meant to be tubescreamerish, but it sounds exactly like a Maxon OD-9 I had except with more gain on tap and less than half the price.

Now enough with the Bad Monkey!

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:10 pm
by Bathamsbeer
Soda ????? :lol:

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:02 pm
by Dave666
savage8190 wrote:MXR Distortion 3...dont know that its meant to be tubescreamerish, but it sounds exactly like a Maxon OD-9 I had except with more gain on tap and less than half the price.

Now enough with the Bad Monkey!
I have a MXR Distortion III and a Maxon OD-808, those 2 sound not similar at all, but I love them both. Only in front of my JCM800's... My Orange doesn't need a boost.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:25 pm
by savage8190
Dave666 wrote:
savage8190 wrote:MXR Distortion 3...dont know that its meant to be tubescreamerish, but it sounds exactly like a Maxon OD-9 I had except with more gain on tap and less than half the price.

Now enough with the Bad Monkey!
I have a MXR Distortion III and a Maxon OD-808, those 2 sound not similar at all, but I love them both. Only in front of my JCM800's... My Orange doesn't need a boost.
Have you played them both through an the Orange? The Orange kind of gives its own character to everything...but anyway, I guess I should say you can get a similar sound out of the distortion 3, but yes, overall it is very different. I found that I could exactly duplicate my favorite setting on the OD9 with the Distortion 3...but thats not to say that they are the same on all levels.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:07 pm
by Randy Bass
Bathamsbeer wrote:Soda ????? :lol:
:lol:

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:16 pm
by Dave666
savage8190 wrote:
Dave666 wrote:
savage8190 wrote:MXR Distortion 3...dont know that its meant to be tubescreamerish, but it sounds exactly like a Maxon OD-9 I had except with more gain on tap and less than half the price.

Now enough with the Bad Monkey!
I have a MXR Distortion III and a Maxon OD-808, those 2 sound not similar at all, but I love them both. Only in front of my JCM800's... My Orange doesn't need a boost.
Have you played them both through an the Orange? The Orange kind of gives its own character to everything...but anyway, I guess I should say you can get a similar sound out of the distortion 3, but yes, overall it is very different. I found that I could exactly duplicate my favorite setting on the OD9 with the Distortion 3...but thats not to say that they are the same on all levels.
You're right on the Orange, but what I meant is my Orange sounds good without a boost, Marshalls need a boost to tighten things up IMO. Yep, they are very different pedals and with a little tweaking maybe you can make them sound alike, but I think that the Maxon is a more versatile pedal, there's more going on with that toneknob IMO.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:54 pm
by Powderman
Le Chat Noir wrote:All Tubescreamers and their clones sound rubbish with modern Orange amps IMO. The amps and the pedal share a similar mid boost that don't sit well together.
this.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:29 pm
by Bensen
This sounds really great with my AD5:
http://asselton.de/overdrive.html

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:46 am
by Van Cleef
to the O.P


how long have you been on the digitech payroll?

and what is the hourly rate for a low-level viral marketeer these days?

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:47 am
by indianDYsummer
"Tubescreamer alternative" is the stupidest possible way to refer to overdrive pedals.

Re: battle of the cheaper tube screamer alternatives

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:55 am
by OU818
Just buy a Blackstar HISTX or whatever they are called.