Xotic BB vs Fulltone OCD as gain boost into dirty channel

[mj6thbuif]

I've been looking at a boost for the dirty channel on my Orange TH30 and have narrowed it down to Xotic BB and Fulltone OCD. I am after more of a gain boost rather than a volume boost. The last thing I want is something that will make my dirty channel sound thinner.  On paper, it seems both pedals are made to emphasize low end and thickness. Does anyone have any first hand experience with both pedals into their cranked Orange?

[Jondog]

I had a BB for awhile. I think it's a great pedal, but it is more tube screamerish and will add more mids to the tone which isn't a bad thing if that's what you need, still sounds great and cuts well. I preferred the RC Booster, didn't change the sound of the amps original tone. I thought it suited my Rocker 30 well. Right now I'm hooked on the Way Huge Saucy Box. One of my favorites. Another pedal I found great with Orange is the JHS Superbolt. I did a side by side recording on here once and it was difficult to tell the difference between the sound of the Superbolt run into the Natural channel and the Dirty Channel on the Rocker.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Ive used a couple of OCDs with a variety of Orange amps for years ......they really work well and are my 'go to' OD pedal for use with Orange. I like the HP setting especially at 18 Volts. They will get you what you want.....and these pedals are one of the few ODs recommended on the Orange Amp blog.

http://orangeampsblog.com/?p=394

[Bensnake]

Ive used a couple of OCDs with a variety of Orange amps for years ......they really work well and are my 'go to' OD pedal for use with Orange. I like the HP setting especially at 18 Volts. They will get you what you want.....and these pedals are one of the few ODs recommended on the Orange Amp blog.

http://orangeampsblog.com/?p=394

+ 1. I use the OCD with my AD30, TT and DD. Works really well.

[ryandilello5]

I use an OCD with my Orange cr120. It's a sweet pedal especially at 18 volts, highly recommend.

[mj6thbuif]

I use an OCD with my Orange cr120. It's a sweet pedal especially at 18 volts, highly recommend.

Curious, do you use your OCD into an already overdrive channel or clean channel? Also, what does 18v do vs 9v? My power supply only does 9v.

[Jondog]

I use an OCD with my Orange cr120. It's a sweet pedal especially at 18 volts, highly recommend.

Curious, do you use your OCD into an already overdrive channel or clean channel? Also, what does 18v do vs 9v? My power supply only does 9v.

18v usually gives the pedal more headroom and makes it a bit more open (less compressed). Caveat: Only run 18 volts into pedals designed to handle it.

[ryandilello5]

I use the OCD to boost the dirty channel. I set the gain at 12:00 and I use the HP setting with the drive all the way down and the volume up for a boost. Pushes the front end of the amp and gets a beautiful tone for leads and dirtier songs. It tightens up the fuzzier orange gain and sounds so good with single coils. Think Stevie Ray Vaughan. Clear but sustainy.

It does work beautifully with the clean channel as well... I prefer the LP setting as it adds less "color" to the sound. You can get a nice pushed clean tone similar to Hendrix or Rory Gallagher.

And people will explain the LP/HP switch in a few different ways, but just know this:
LP: More American drive, better with clean channel
HP: More British with its added treble and tube screamer-ish tone, works better with some filth to work off of

[pedecamp]

I've been looking at a boost for the dirty channel on my Orange TH30 and have narrowed it down to Xotic BB and Fulltone OCD. I am after more of a gain boost rather than a volume boost. The last thing I want is something that will make my dirty channel sound thinner.  On paper, it seems both pedals are made to emphasize low end and thickness. Does anyone have any first hand experience with both pedals into their cranked Orange?

Have you tried boosting with an EQ pedal? That's the best way to not color your sound IMO. I like the Boss GE7 and use it with all my amps.

[mj6thbuif]

Ive used a couple of OCDs with a variety of Orange amps for years ......they really work well and are my 'go to' OD pedal for use with Orange. I like the HP setting especially at 18 Volts. They will get you what you want.....and these pedals are one of the few ODs recommended on the Orange Amp blog.

http://orangeampsblog.com/?p=394

I have heard the low end of the OCD is not very musical - almost muddy and too bassy. Would you disagree with that claim? Does that improve using 18v instead of 9v? My power supply only supports 9v for power. What would you say are the improvements when going to 18v?

[Boy_Narf]

Tons of experience the the Bass BB, none with the guitar version. The BB adds a pile of midrange. Actually overdrives my bass amp nicely If you are going for it, I would strongly suggested the version that has a mid control (BB Preamp MB). That being said, when I did a shoot out of pedals to "tighten/focus my gain sound", the Bass BB was the leader by a long shot. Seems like the mids of my R30 were pushed to the extreme, so the pedal just tightened things up. That being said, for lower gain stuff, it might push our already middy amps a bit too far into honky territory. If you just need a volume and touch of gain boost, perhaps check out the RC booster. Fairly transparent, and doesn't have that mid punch. More of a "presence booster". I also used the Wampler Ecasty for a few years and it has been my favourite so far. At the time I was going for pure transparency and it's lack of a mid control eventually kicked it off my board. It was a wicked sounding pedal though. Very very dynamic, and 97% transparent (if you are into that kind of thing).

[mj6thbuif]

Between this forum and TPG, I have made one obvious observation: Orange users tend to like the OCD, while non-Orange users prefer the Xotic BB. Wonder why that is. While I realize the OCD seemingly works very well with Orange amps, I can't get over the fact that TPG is convinced the BB has a much better low end than the OCD. And believe me, I really want to like OCD better. It is cheaper and I see it more on people's pedalboards. Has anyone here actually AB'd the two into their dirty channel? So undecided. On top of that, I have read that the Catalinbread Naga Viper may also serve my purpose. If only GC had all three pedals and it was easy for me to just haul my guitar/head/cab over.

[mj6thbuif]

I use the OCD to boost the dirty channel. I set the gain at 12:00 and I use the HP setting with the drive all the way down and the volume up for a boost. Pushes the front end of the amp and gets a beautiful tone for leads and dirtier songs. It tightens up the fuzzier orange gain and sounds so good with single coils. Think Stevie Ray Vaughan. Clear but sustainy.

It does work beautifully with the clean channel as well... I prefer the LP setting as it adds less "color" to the sound. You can get a nice pushed clean tone similar to Hendrix or Rory Gallagher.

And people will explain the LP/HP switch in a few different ways, but just know this:
LP: More American drive, better with clean channel
HP: More British with its added treble and tube screamer-ish tone, works better with some filth to work off of

Just when I start to lean toward the BB, I go and see a review like this. Especially the part about the OCD's ability to tighten up the fuzzier Orange gain. Thank you.

[mj6thbuif]

Tons of experience the the Bass BB, none with the guitar version. The BB adds a pile of midrange. Actually overdrives my bass amp nicely If you are going for it, I would strongly suggested the version that has a mid control (BB Preamp MB). That being said, when I did a shoot out of pedals to "tighten/focus my gain sound", the Bass BB was the leader by a long shot. Seems like the mids of my R30 were pushed to the extreme, so the pedal just tightened things up. That being said, for lower gain stuff, it might push our already middy amps a bit too far into honky territory. If you just need a volume and touch of gain boost, perhaps check out the RC booster. Fairly transparent, and doesn't have that mid punch. More of a "presence booster". I also used the Wampler Ecasty for a few years and it has been my favourite so far. At the time I was going for pure transparency and it's lack of a mid control eventually kicked it off my board. It was a wicked sounding pedal though. Very very dynamic, and 97% transparent (if you are into that kind of thing).

I'm so divided at this point, that I may just get both, AB them, then hock the weaker pedal. It is starting to sound like the BB may be more middy than I want, but I really like its ability to tighten my gain tone - not that the OCD cannot - as well as the 2-band EQ. I can maybe compensate for the added mids by turning up my shape knob toward the scooped side of things just to even things out.

[Tisca]

I have clones of both pedals. Cheap enough to get both without trying beforehand.