OR15H and pedal combinations

[tinman1]

I thought I'd share my 12 months experience using the awesome OR15H amp......specifically some pedal combinations I've tried that work and some that don't work so well.

In general, I've been pleasantly surprised to find that most of the pedals I've tried so far work reasonably well, some spectacularly well. This post is for anyone with an OR15 (or anyone thats thinking of getting one and is wondering about pedal compatability).

STAR PERFORMERS:

Ibanez TS808 reissue tubescreamer: This works fantastically well. I tend to have the amp set at 10 o'clock (light crunch) and use the pedal for partial gain type overdrive (pedal gain 8 o'clock, level 2 o'clock, tone 2 o'clock). Its perfect for SRV type tone with my strat. Stays focused and clear without getting muddy even with the pedal gain at maximum. With my humbucker guitar its a great solo boost without changing amp or pedal settings.

Lovepedal Silicon Fuzzmaster: The most recent addittion to my pedal collection. I've A/B'd it with a fuzz face mini (Hendrix version) and it is a clear winner. It manages to remain articulate even towards maximum fuzz. Nails Hendrix tone. The tone control is a blessing given that the OR15 is a reasonably dark amp. Its now the first pedal in my chain after a TC Electronic polytune.

TC Electronic Spark boost mini: I use this at the end of my effects loop as a pure volume boost. It does exactly that without adding gain. It's mainly for when I use the guitar volume knob to clean up my tone and the volume drops.

VERY GOOD - EXCELLENT

Boss Digital Delay DD3: Works great. Effects loop.

MXR Analog Chorus (new blue box version): Also works great and handles gain very well. I see Slash has started using it too. Effects loop.

TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb: Works great too. Necessary given no in-built reverb. Effects loop.

Dunlop Crybaby Wah Classic with Fassel: Don't use this much but a classic Wah tone when I hook it up at the front of my chain. I'm tempted to try the Bonamassa version. I had the Slash Wah previous to owning the Orange amp and it was a bit too focused on low frequencies when it came to Hendrix stuff. This one is the best I've tried so far.

GOOD BUT PROBABLY NOT PERMANENT FIXTURES

Xotic SL Drive: This is currently the last pedal in my signal chain before the amp. I use it to get a more Marshall Plexi type tone from the amp (amp settings as above for tubescreamer). It works well as a treble boost while maintaining more low end than the Tubescreamer. The main problem with this pedal is that it gets a bit fuzzy and "washes out" as the gain goes up. Basically, for me, gain on the pedal beyond 11 o'clock is virtually unusable due to fuzz artefact. Not ideal as the tones I'm looking for from this pedal are crisp, articulate high gain Marshall type tones.

Danelectro Cool cat Vibe: Works ok. The issues are more with the pedal itself than interaction with the amp- delay in effect onset after engaging the pedal is a problem. It does sound pretty good and is a cheap pedal.

BAD:

Proco Whiteface RAT Reissue: I really struggled to get good tones from this pedal with the OR15H. At medium to high gain/ fuzz levels it just washed out and lost all clarity and articulation. Very harsh. Nowhere near as articulate and tweakable (a silicon fuzz) as the Lovepedal Fuzzmaster.

Mesa Boogie Throttle Box distortion pedal: I had high hopes for this pedal which came with good reviews. Unfortunately it had the same problems as the RAT pedal above- washed out/ muddied up with the gain moderate to high. I wanted a "spitting bullets" Treadplate...this just farted out on me and got incredibly harsh.

Boss Metal Zone: Kept its articulation and low end tightness better than the RAT and Throttle Box and came closest to what I was looking for from a high gain distortion pedal out the three but unfortunately too digital/ non-organic sounding so I sold it on pretty quickly.

The common thread seems to be that higher gain distortion pedals don't fair as well with the OR15H for some reason. It could be related to the amps natural dark character.

I'm still looking for a great "Marshall in a box" type pedal that will convert the amp (when required) into more of a plexi type of thing. I've just ordered a Rockbox Brown Sugar pedal which will hopefully fit that description and nudge the SL Drive off my board. If that doesn't work I might have to concede that the OR15H just won't get close enough to high gain Plexi tones with a pedal (or try a Wampler plextortion.....).

Hope some of this is of vague interest to those interested in the OR15H.

[Man1ak]

Great thread, congrats! Have you tried any booster or compressor? I find that a clean boost can work miracles to take you from clean to crunch to overdrive or crunch to overdrive to distortion.

My (limited) experience so far with the OR15 (modded for a second clean channel) is that the Mooer Pure Boost is an excellent companion. Makes it thick and it has a wide range of boost. I have a Mooer Yellow Comp that I leave on all the time - great with cleans, just a bit perceptible with dirt.

I also have a Mooer Hustle Drive which is a distortion pedal with a wide range of tones. I love it with the amp clean (doesn't work as well with crunch or drive - at least to my ears). You can go from mild milky overdrive to screaming distortion.

In the FX I run an MXR 10-band EQ which is a wonderful machine - you get anything you want with it, absolutely amazing. Highly recommended to anyone wanting more - BTW it may be your ticket to Marshall tones. Then I have a Mooer Shimverb and a Mooer Re-echo. Love the Shimverb. The Re-echo is reasonably good, but I find it has too much attack, especially the echo modes. Very usable, but would have settled for a smoother repeat.

You notice the pattern here with the Mooer - the answer is very simple - cheap and small. To my ears they sound like very good quality.

[tinman1]

I use the spark boost mini in the loop as I mentioned but that's for volume only. Might try the Mooer boost you suggest before the amp then! Have considered an EQ pedal but running out of space on my pedaltrain jr!

[Bensnake]

Have you checked the MXR Wylde Overdrive out? Sort of Marshall-ish in tone. Lacks a little bit of bottom end but cuts through the mix very well. Never use mine though. Don't want to sound Marshall-ish no more.

[tinman1]

Have you checked the MXR Wylde Overdrive out? Sort of Marshall-ish in tone. Lacks a little bit of bottom end but cuts through the mix very well. Never use mine though. Don't want to sound Marshall-ish no more.

Not tried that one. If the Brown Sugar doesn't work out I'll give it a try, cheers.

[Ronnie Robinson]

The Fulltone OCD sounds good to me and I've used it with a variety of Orange Amps so that would be my recommendation

[tinman1]

The Fulltone OCD sounds good to me and I've used it with a variety of Orange Amps so that would be my recommendation

Used to have one (pre Orange amp days) and probably sold it on ebay too hastily when it didn't go that well with my setup at the time. I'll report back on the Brown Sugar. If it doesn't work out I'll mabye give the OCD a second look.

Heres a recent Brown Sugar demo btw: http://youtu.be/ZzlTy2soUCs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Probably sounds even better in this less over-produced demo from NAMM 2013: http://youtu.be/l6vmXfgO-y8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Krister]

I've found the OR15 to be very unkind to my pedals, but then again I've haven't had the longest time to figure it out yet.

Catalinbread SFT tend to be a bit too much for the or15 to handle at high volumes
TC Electronic Spark boost mini works great to beef up the preamp, but really shines in the fx loop as a pure volume boost
EHX Muff Overdrive is really muddy by itself but really thick fuzz paired with the boost mini
EHX Big muff sounds like crap. I have not gotten this to pair with the OR15 at all.

havent tried the OCD yet, but i hear great things about it.

[tinman1]

I've found the OR15 to be very unkind to my pedals, but then again I've haven't had the longest time to figure it out yet.

Catalinbread SFT tend to be a bit too much for the or15 to handle at high volumes
TC Electronic Spark boost mini works great to beef up the preamp, but really shines in the fx loop as a pure volume boost
EHX Muff Overdrive is really muddy by itself but really thick fuzz paired with the boost mini
EHX Big muff sounds like crap. I have not gotten this to pair with the OR15 at all.

havent tried the OCD yet, but i hear great things about it.

I've had exactly the same experience with the spark boost mini which I think will be a permanent fixture in the effects loop. Having a clean volume boost is really important for a single channel amp where you get cleans by rolling the guitar volume down....at the expense of volume.

If those are the only drive/ fuzz pedals you've tried with the OR15 I'd persevere. Haven't had great experiences with EHX pedals to date either but I wouldn't blame the amp for that!

Dissapointing re the SFT as I really liked the tone Pro Guitar Shop Demos got on an Aerosmith Toys in the Attic lesson on youtube with it.

The drive pedals I'd still be very keen to try out with the OR15H are

1) Rockbox Brown Sugar (in the mail)
2) Wampler Ecstasy / Euphoria....just not sure if it needs a clean Fender type amp in front of it
3) Keeley modded Blues Driver BD2 (I think its EQ curve might suit the OR15)
4) OCD
5) EHX SoulFood
6) Any octavia type pedal (ie Catalinbread Octapussy/ MXR Slash Octave Fuzz)

ps Krister I note you have a Fender Pro Junior......do the EHX fuzz pedals sound good through it clean?

[Krister]

The drive pedals I'd still be very keen to try out with the OR15H are

1) Rockbox Brown Sugar (in the mail)
2) Wampler Ecstasy / Euphoria....just not sure if it needs a clean Fender type amp in front of it
3) Keeley modded Blues Driver BD2 (I think its EQ curve might suit the OR15)
4) OCD
5) EHX SoulFood
6) Any octavia type pedal (ie Catalinbread Octapussy/ MXR Slash Octave Fuzz)

ps Krister I note you have a Fender Pro Junior......do the EHX fuzz pedals sound good through it clean?

I got the chance to try out both the OCD and the EHX soulfood and out of the two i really liked the soulfood. I use it mostly as a boost but with the tone knob way past 1 o'clock for a kind of treble boost. The OCD didnt really do it for me...

As for the pro junior, wonderful amp that takes every pedal i throw at it.

[Krister]

Have any of you gotten to try a rangemaster into the or15? im seriously considering buying one.

[mark.r76]

I think the Marshall in a box pedals you mentioned sound much better with a clean amp. They are intended as foundation overdrives. Or that's what the instructions for the catalinbread dirty little secret say. I used to use the dirty little secret if I turned up at a venue that I couldn't crank my amp, I'd set the amp clean and use the pedal instead of the dirt channels. Great sound at low volumes. I would just leave it on all the time though and use my guitars volume to get my clean tones.

Have you thought about the the xotic ac booster or bb preamp. They are fantastic pedals. I use the ac booster at the moment into my or15 and it works great. I also use the spark boost mini in the loop, but have been using an mxr 6 band eq instead to get a solo boost as I can just push the mids

[Desmosedici]

I keep searching out this thread, so I figure it could use a revival bump.

Hey, has anyone tried a Keeley Monterey with the OR15?

[johnnyblues]

Agreed on the Mini Spark. And may I add an EQ pedal in the efx loops really expands the amps capabilities.

[Exit13]

Nice to see this thread. Just ordered a OR15. Should be here Tuesday. I do own the Soul Food and at some point will plug it in, after messing with the OR for a long time though of course. Looking forward to getting it. I have a PPC212C as well as a old Peavey slant 212, I am looking forward to plugging into both.