Dirt pedals for OR15?

[MyAudioDNA]

I have an OR15 on the way and plan on running it at about AC/DC levels of gain for my base tone. What I want is one drive pedal to give me a slight gain boost and push the tone out front in the mix, and a second drive pedal to take the tone from my AC/DCish base gain level into Van Halen and Satriani territory. Do any of you OR15 users out there have any recommendations? I was thinking maybe a TS or variant thereof for the first pedal, but I don't really know what I'm looking for in the second pedal. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[indianDYsummer]

I don't see any reason why you would need a drive pedal to get your "base tone" with the OR15. It has plenty of gain on tap for either setting you are mentioning. I think you would need 1 boost or OD for solos, or potentially 1 pedal to cut the level from your lead tone to your base tone, if using the volume knob is no option.

Personally, I would try out some type of transparent boost like a Zvex SHO with the OR15 to see if you can get your lead tone with that. I have an OR15 and I think that pedal sounds good for that purpose. It adds a bit of compression and top end clarity, as well as significant gain.

[MyAudioDNA]

I don't see any reason why you would need a drive pedal to get your "base tone" with the OR15. It has plenty of gain on tap for either setting you are mentioning. I think you would need 1 boost or OD for solos, or potentially 1 pedal to cut the level from your lead tone to your base tone, if using the volume knob is no option.

Personally, I would try out some type of transparent boost like a Zvex SHO with the OR15 to see if you can get your lead tone with that. I have an OR15 and I think that pedal sounds good for that purpose. It adds a bit of compression and top end clarity, as well as significant gain.

I'm not sure you understood what I meant, I'm not looking for a pedal to get my base tone, that's what the amp is for, haha, I'm looking for 1 pedal as a solo boost to slightly boost gain and volume and push me out front in the mix, and a second pedal to take my base tone and add a bunch of gain to it.

[ragincajun1919]

I use the MXR GT-OD in front of my OR15 for the slight volume/gain boost for leads. For the other stuff, I just dial in my amp to the sound I want with my guitar volume set around 7, then when I want more gain, roll up to 10 and bam...more gain. Easiest way to do it IMO.

I have never used my guitar's volume and tone controls as much as I have since I went Orange.

[MyAudioDNA]

I use the MXR GT-OD in front of my OR15 for the slight volume/gain boost for leads. For the other stuff, I just dial in my amp to the sound I want with my guitar volume set around 7, then when I want more gain, roll up to 10 and bam...more gain. Easiest way to do it IMO.

I have never used my guitar's volume and tone controls as much as I have since I went Orange.

This is a great start, I hadn't even considered this pedal! Thanks!

Anyone else have any recommendations?

[JAMMAN798]

Yikes! I will warn you that the OR15 is extremely voiced in the mid range and has a very "punchy" sound which will cut through any mix.... Not to mention that although it is 15 watts, it will cause your ears to ring if you get anywhere near 50% volume. If you want an AC/DC tone, then that means very little gain (AC/DC tone is just an overdriven clean channel on an amp). The OR15 would probably give you this with 25% or less gain.

I'm a big fan of 1 channel amps because I find the tone is much more pure. Because of this I'm used to using the volume control on my guitar for picking, rhythm and leads. I've tried setting the OR15 gain control on 25% which gives a very classic rock tone, and then using a Fulltone OCD pedal within 50% drive to boost for lead. It works, but I do find it removes a bit of the "punchiness" of the amp, so I prefer just placing the guitar volume between 6 and 8, and going to 10 for leads.

[MyAudioDNA]

Yikes! I will warn you that the OR15 is extremely voiced in the mid range and has a very "punchy" sound which will cut through any mix.... Not to mention that although it is 15 watts, it will cause your ears to ring if you get anywhere near 50% volume. If you want an AC/DC tone, then that means very little gain (AC/DC tone is just an overdriven clean channel on an amp). The OR15 would probably give you this with 25% or less gain.

I'm a big fan of 1 channel amps because I find the tone is much more pure. Because of this I'm used to using the volume control on my guitar for picking, rhythm and leads. I've tried setting the OR15 gain control on 25% which gives a very classic rock tone, and then using a Fulltone OCD pedal within 50% drive to boost for lead. It works, but I do find it removes a bit of the "punchiness" of the amp, so I prefer just placing the guitar volume between 6 and 8, and going to 10 for leads.

Thanks! I will definitely give riding the volume knob a shot. Is it really possibly to go from Satriani lead down to AC/DC rhythm with just the volume knob though

[Butcher Quinn]

Really like the xotic ep booster through my or15 to boost solos with a bit of added treble clarity to cut through

[ragincajun1919]

Thanks! I will definitely give riding the volume knob a shot. Is it really possibly to go from Satriani lead down to AC/DC rhythm with just the volume knob though

Yes.

[megalithic]

I don't have any experience with it, but what about a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde?

[indianDYsummer]

I don't see any reason why you would need a drive pedal to get your "base tone" with the OR15. It has plenty of gain on tap for either setting you are mentioning. I think you would need 1 boost or OD for solos, or potentially 1 pedal to cut the level from your lead tone to your base tone, if using the volume knob is no option.

Personally, I would try out some type of transparent boost like a Zvex SHO with the OR15 to see if you can get your lead tone with that. I have an OR15 and I think that pedal sounds good for that purpose. It adds a bit of compression and top end clarity, as well as significant gain.

I'm not sure you understood what I meant, I'm not looking for a pedal to get my base tone, that's what the amp is for, haha, I'm looking for 1 pedal as a solo boost to slightly boost gain and volume and push me out front in the mix, and a second pedal to take my base tone and add a bunch of gain to it.

Ok, I would then get 2 transparent boosts and put one in the loop (volume boost).

[MyAudioDNA]

Thanks! I will definitely give riding the volume knob a shot. Is it really possibly to go from Satriani lead down to AC/DC rhythm with just the volume knob though

Yes.

Haha, fair enough! I'm really liking the idea of not having any drive pedals. That way theoretically I could just show up with my guitar and amp if I wanted to, which is awesome. Now I don't know what the heck to put on my pedalboard though lol, if I don't need drives, I guess a delay, a volume boost, a couple of mod pedals and a wah? Any advice on a good analog chorus pedal to get rush sounds?

[ragincajun1919]

My "inside" rig is just the OR15 and a PPC112. No pedals or anything. I just roll back my neck volume for clean and set my bridge pickup around 7 for rhythms and then max it out for leads. My coil tapped les Paul and P90 equipped SG work the best with my tele in a close third. EMG equipped guitars won't do it nearly as well.

[tinman1]

Hi

This is an interesting post as controlling the "gain stage" of the OR15H is something I'm a bit concerned about as I consider purchasing one. In fact, I've just posted a similar thread on this forum before finding this one...

My issue playing a set of covers is that I need to go from clean to Classic rock levels of gain mid set (or even mid song)- I realise this can be done by walking back to the amp and adjusting the knobs! However I want to use the amps own OD rather than a floor pedal OD for most stuff.

Do these amps (set around 30% gain for AC/DC and Led Zep) sound good clean with the guitar volume rolled back?? I'm looking for Hendrix Little Wing and SRV Lenny type cleans (with added univibe type effects in the loop). Not expecting miracles but a a good approximation using the guitar volume alone would be great as I cant really afford two amps at once. What do the OR15 owners think?

I'd be using an American strat which tends to respond well to volume knob tweaking and a Les Paul Studio which doesnt respond so well to volume knob roll back with my current kit.

[fiveightandten]

Thanks! I will definitely give riding the volume knob a shot. Is it really possibly to go from Satriani lead down to AC/DC rhythm with just the volume knob though

You can go through the entire gain range of any amp with just the volume knob. Another way to do this is with a volume pedal. For years, I used to just use an Ernie Ball volume pedal with a minimum volume added to it. But any volume pedal will do. The minimum volume makes things easier.

An amp has to be cranked to respond properly to volume knob riding. Pre-amp saturation doesn't respond well to it. But cranking the amp up and working the power tubes as well...that's the ticket to this working.

These days, I just ride the volume knob. I do have a Seymour Duncan pickup booster to push certain amps over what they are capable of with just the guitar signal. That may be something to consider. It's 100% clean, and has stupid amounts of clean boost. Get the older version that starts at 3dB of boost. The 6dB minimum boost version offers less flexibility.

FYI, when the owner's manual says make it the first thing in your signal path, they mean it. It doesn't sound good placed after other pedals.

-Nick