The perfect "boost" for my Thunderverb 50 dirty sounds???

[dflipp]

Hi!

I would like you guys to help me find the right "boost pedal" to drive my Thundeverb 50 Head dirty sounds (Both A or B channels) to extra-gain/extra-fuzzy/extra-volume/extra-thickness/extra-whooomp for leads/solos and accenting certain parts of my "doom-is/stoner/sludgy" songs... I want to add extra-gain, power and heavy-ness to the stock TV50 tones...

I play almost only dirty sounds so this "boost" would preferably be optimized for distorted/overdriven sounds. If it adds "color" to the "Orange Sound", that's fine as long it also adds great character and personality.

Let me know which are my best options. I don't have the chance to try most of them in person, maybe a couple of them, so... Please let me know which are probably the right ones, and I'll take my research from there.

Let me know!

Thanks in advance.

Greetings,

Daniel

[Boy_Narf]

Tons of posts on here about that. Here are some of the favourites in no particular order:

MXR Micro Amp
TC Spark/Spark Mini
Xotic EP Booster

Xotic RC Booster: If you are looking for more of a clean boost with a touch of hair.
Pigtronix Class A Booster: Disgustingly clean. If you just want to slam the preamp with DB this would be a good choice.
Fulltone OCD: Lots of folks use this guy.
Tubescreamer: Gain on 0, level on 10! EQ to taste.

I don't have much experience boosting my Orange amps. I have more than enough gain to play modern metal without a boost. That said, the one time I tried boosting my RV100 I used a Xotic Bass BB Preamp. It added a bit more clarity, and tightened up the bottom. More of a TS style of boost though.

From all the stuff I've read over the years, I've learned that dirty Orange amps don't like gain in the front end. If you want to drive the dirty channel, I would suggest a clean boost. Do you have an EQ pedal or any sort of OD you can set clean and cranked to see how it sounds?

[Les Paul Lover]

I use both a zvex SHO clone, and a digitech Hardwire CM2 tube overdrive. (not with a thunderverb though)

The SHO is a great boost, it does get hairy maxed up, and is pretty transparent.

The digitech Hardwire CM2 tube overdrive is probably going to be more interesting for you.
It's essentially a tube screamer type circuit, but with a flat EQ instead of the mid hump of the classic tube screamer, and the CM2 has separate bass and treble control.
I use mine with extra bass to make it sound fuller and fatter. Works a treat like that.

They're not sold anymore, so you'd have to buy one 2nd hand on ebay..... And They have terrible resale value, so it'll be pretty cheap for you to score one.

[Ronnie Robinson]

The xotic EP booster is a great boost pedal which I use a lot with numerous Orange amps. On its basic setting if adds treble but which can be removed with the internal dip switches.

I think though based on your requirement s the full-time OCD would be better ..... Yes it's an OD pedal but works very well with Orange as a boost.

[pedecamp]

I use a Boss SD-1 set as a clean boost to boost treble on mine otherwise the amp is very muddy, but to boost gain and thicken the tone I use a Boss GE7 eq pedal. For volume boost I use the amp's onboard attenuator.

[scottlynn73]

I have a TV200, and having had the Rockerverb MK1, TH100, TV50 I can say that the Custom Audio/MXR MC-401 does great things to the dirt channel on these amps (not that they need much help!). It adds a certain clarity that I like to the clean as well, Shellac kinda vibes.

[apocalypsedude]

I've tried a lot of boosts with Orange amps, you can't go wrong with the TC Spark full size version, its relatively cheap too. With the gain almost all the way up, bass slightly boosted and the toggle switch on the mid boost setting, I can get Mastodon out of my Rocker 30 with the amp's gain around 1 o'clock which I would call early AC/DC. Only "coloring" I hear from the pedal is in a good way.

Another pedal to check out that's a bit off the beaten path is the Catalinbread Karma Suture, it'll really thicken up the tone without everything turning to mud, you still retain a lot of string clarity. Its like adding the thickness and feel of a Big Muff, without the mud. It'll add some compression and sustain if you want it to as well, but again, without being mushy.