Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

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megatrav
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by megatrav » Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:15 pm

I would also really like to try out some Orange pedals, but no local stores ever seem to have them in stock.
I may have to order one on a whim...

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by Les Paul Lover » Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:57 pm

megatrav wrote:
Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:15 pm
I would also really like to try out some Orange pedals, but no local stores ever seem to have them in stock.
I may have to order one on a whim...
If I were you, I'd try to get the bax bangeetar 2nd hand on ebay.

That way, you get the genuine RV preamp pedal, and if you don't like it, you can sell it at near no loss.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
Past Orange: AD30TC Combo, TT, AD5


Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded, Vigier Expert Retro 54, Gibson SG 70s Tribute, Aria Pro II RS X80, G&L ASAT Special Tribute

megatrav
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by megatrav » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:46 pm

Les Paul Lover wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:57 pm
megatrav wrote:
Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:15 pm
I would also really like to try out some Orange pedals, but no local stores ever seem to have them in stock.
I may have to order one on a whim...
If I were you, I'd try to get the bax bangeetar 2nd hand on ebay.

That way, you get the genuine RV preamp pedal, and if you don't like it, you can sell it at near no loss.
I would, but as I posted, I have someone building a Rockerverb preamp from the schematic of the amp.
While the Bax is awesome, but I kind of doubt it will sound as good as a genuine preamp built off the the schematic of the actual amp circuit?

If it doesn't I will certainly consider that.

beninma
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by beninma » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:32 pm

I've played the Bax Bangeetar briefly in a demo thing but have never actually played a Rockerverb.. I would not have in a million years thought the Bax Bangeetar was supposed to be a "Orange amp in a box" thing, it's a different/unique thing AFAICT.

I do have a Rocker 15 and a Getaway driver... and I have used the Getaway driver with the Crush 35RT but have never played a Crush 60.

IME the Getaway Driver does sound incredibly accurate to an Orange amp.. it's one of the only overdrives I've used that "stacks" really well with an Orange as it's gain sounds so similar that it doesn't clash much even at higher gain levels on the pedal. I have it setup in my rig in a way that I can kick on the Getaway Driver and get the effect of having turned up the gain on the amp itself... almost as if there was a footswitchable gain increase + boost feature on the amp.

I'd also say the Getaway Driver's drive into a clean Crush 35RT perhaps sounds better than the Crush 35RT's gain channel, and the Crush 35RT gain channel + Getway Driver sounds perhaps better than the Crush 35RT alone too.

This is all very subjective though.. All these Orange amps are only subtly different depending on how you set them up.. and all pedals react differently to different amps.. I'd probably say it's more productive to think about how to just dial in the Crush 60 + any particular pedal so that you are happiest with it rather than thinking you need to make it sound as close to a Rockerverb as possible.

It might also be more productive to just save your money towards purchase of a Rockerverb if that's what you really want.. you can quickly spend/waste that money on pedals if you try and chase it with a Crush 60.. especially if you're going off and paying someone to go build you a custom pedal. The RV is a tube preamp + tube power amp... even if you had someone build you a pedal that had a tube preamp in it based on the RV it will still not sound perfect as the poweramp is different, it's quite a rabbit hole to fall down.

megatrav
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by megatrav » Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:13 pm

beninma wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:32 pm
I've played the Bax Bangeetar briefly in a demo thing but have never actually played a Rockerverb.. I would not have in a million years thought the Bax Bangeetar was supposed to be a "Orange amp in a box" thing, it's a different/unique thing AFAICT.

I do have a Rocker 15 and a Getaway driver... and I have used the Getaway driver with the Crush 35RT but have never played a Crush 60.

IME the Getaway Driver does sound incredibly accurate to an Orange amp.. it's one of the only overdrives I've used that "stacks" really well with an Orange as it's gain sounds so similar that it doesn't clash much even at higher gain levels on the pedal. I have it setup in my rig in a way that I can kick on the Getaway Driver and get the effect of having turned up the gain on the amp itself... almost as if there was a footswitchable gain increase + boost feature on the amp.

I'd also say the Getaway Driver's drive into a clean Crush 35RT perhaps sounds better than the Crush 35RT's gain channel, and the Crush 35RT gain channel + Getway Driver sounds perhaps better than the Crush 35RT alone too.

This is all very subjective though.. All these Orange amps are only subtly different depending on how you set them up.. and all pedals react differently to different amps.. I'd probably say it's more productive to think about how to just dial in the Crush 60 + any particular pedal so that you are happiest with it rather than thinking you need to make it sound as close to a Rockerverb as possible.

It might also be more productive to just save your money towards purchase of a Rockerverb if that's what you really want.. you can quickly spend/waste that money on pedals if you try and chase it with a Crush 60.. especially if you're going off and paying someone to go build you a custom pedal. The RV is a tube preamp + tube power amp... even if you had someone build you a pedal that had a tube preamp in it based on the RV it will still not sound perfect as the poweramp is different, it's quite a rabbit hole to fall down.

Thanks you very much for that in depth response.
I would love a Rockerverb, but to be honest, I can never justify spending that much money on amp, even if it is worth it.

The Getaway driver seems like a rational, affordable alternative for the current set up I have.

I know that using a preamp will it deliver the entire experience, but I would argue that most of the amp’s tone lives in the preamp.

I have considered the Rocker 15, but I’m not sure how much closer that would be since I’m not sure if it is based on the RV.

megatrav
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by megatrav » Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:14 pm

Also, the amp I am using is a Blackstar, not an Orange CR60

beninma
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by beninma » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:58 pm

While you're at it I might say ignore OD pedals for a while anyway since you bought a 2 channel tube amp that clearly is capable of decent driven sounds without pedals.

Just like Orange amps with 2 channels the best sound is probably from the amp. I think it's easy to get misled by all the drive pedal hysteria created by the bulk of guitarists who have tube amps playing single channel amps that can't be driven at reasonable volumes. (Most fenders...)

Get the footswitch for the Blackstar and set one channel up for your clean sound. Then set the other for the most driven sound you're going to use. Then when you want something slightly less driven you can just back the guitar volume off. Maybe your guitar has some issues with volume/tone when you roll back but those are cheaper to resolve than just about any drive pedal.

I personally feel like the drive pedal hysteria misled me.. and there is plenty of conversation here about drive pedals not working well with Oranges... which is just cause the drive pedals are intended to be used with clean or on the edge amps.. which negates the point of buying an amp like an Orange that has a killer driven sound without a pedal and without having to go to deafening volume levels.

Think about it based on how many times you've been told tube amps sound better cause of the way they distort.. and then you're told to set your tube amp so it doesn't distort and instead use a solid state pedal in front of it for distortion... or to use the solid state pedal but keep the gain down on it and crank the volume on it instead... getting you tube distortion. Might as well just adjust the amp instead.

adkguy07
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by adkguy07 » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:01 pm

beninma wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:58 pm
Think about it based on how many times you've been told tube amps sound better cause of the way they distort.. and then you're told to set your tube amp so it doesn't distort and instead use a solid state pedal in front of it for distortion... or to use the solid state pedal but keep the gain down on it and crank the volume on it instead... getting you tube distortion. Might as well just adjust the amp instead.
I agree here, but lots of Rock music these days is performed on the basis of the recordings we all love. Hence the need for an array of pedals. If you are a player trying to be somewhat of an original style who's trying to build their own tone, you may not want to,be drawn down that path of pedal accumulation. My own feeling is that I chose an Orange Dark Terror based on how the amp itself sounded to me and I did not have thoughts about which of my pedals (I own few) would help the
Dark Terror.

I just like the Orange tone with that chewy fuzzy gain going on with my Les Paul. I like the idea of just controlling the amp with just my guitar's volume knobs. It's not a case of disliking pedals in my tone formula, but really listening to, enjoying, and working with my amp's gain to express my musical thoughts.


adkguy07

afjungemann
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by afjungemann » Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:09 am

beninma wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:58 pm
While you're at it I might say ignore OD pedals for a while anyway since you bought a 2 channel tube amp that clearly is capable of decent driven sounds without pedals.

Just like Orange amps with 2 channels the best sound is probably from the amp. I think it's easy to get misled by all the drive pedal hysteria created by the bulk of guitarists who have tube amps playing single channel amps that can't be driven at reasonable volumes. (Most fenders...)

Get the footswitch for the Blackstar and set one channel up for your clean sound. Then set the other for the most driven sound you're going to use. Then when you want something slightly less driven you can just back the guitar volume off. Maybe your guitar has some issues with volume/tone when you roll back but those are cheaper to resolve than just about any drive pedal.

I personally feel like the drive pedal hysteria misled me.. and there is plenty of conversation here about drive pedals not working well with Oranges... which is just cause the drive pedals are intended to be used with clean or on the edge amps.. which negates the point of buying an amp like an Orange that has a killer driven sound without a pedal and without having to go to deafening volume levels.

Think about it based on how many times you've been told tube amps sound better cause of the way they distort.. and then you're told to set your tube amp so it doesn't distort and instead use a solid state pedal in front of it for distortion... or to use the solid state pedal but keep the gain down on it and crank the volume on it instead... getting you tube distortion. Might as well just adjust the amp instead.
A ton of truth in this. I don't buy into the pedal hysteria either. The amp sounds really great on its own. I think there are different uses but I want to play the amp, not the pedal. So many greats have gone guitar straight into amp, nothing else and they are the players so many people talk about. Not to say everyone has to strive for that exact sound but it just proves to me that pedals are for a different flavor, not a requirement. The RV works for me as an amp that doesn't need any pedals.

Also, yes, it is a lot of money to spend but buy once, cry once. Otherwise you can keep buying pedals at $150 a pop and see if something works out...
Rockerverb 100 MKIII
Rockerverb 50 MKIII combo
AD30TC combo
TH30c
Fender Bassman
Fender Princeton
gibson explorer custom
gibson es355
gibson es359
gibson sg custom
gibson les paul custom
gibson les paul standard
gibson les paul studio
gibson melody maker

megatrav
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by megatrav » Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:31 pm

I agree with the above post about pedals.
The main issue is that the Blackstar Artist is a very low gain drive amp.
It was designed for people who use a lot of pedals when they play.
Channel 2 does have Gain, but it doesn't get to rock gain levels. It sounds best when it is set to edge of break up or slight gain amount- Gain usually between 1-2 o'clock.

I have some overdrive pedals, but they still haven't gotten me where I really want the gain amount to be. That is why I am looking into this option.

megatrav
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Re: Overdrive/Distortion pedals that get close to a Rovkerverb

Post by megatrav » Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:58 pm

I wanted to update everyone..

I decided not to but the tube preamp. The guy who was making it posted clips.. it didn't sound that great or convincing..
So, I bought a Getaway Driver.
Its a great pedal. It has plenty of gain and I like the way it is voiced.
Its not a Rockerverb, but I like it a lot it is scratching my itch for Orange tones for now.

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