jjkrause84 Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 Well, it's not for everyone. I love the dynamics, myself, and haven't found another pedal that is as responsive.
koula901 Posted May 25, 2011 Author Posted May 25, 2011 OCD arrived. Plugged in. Struck big chord. Didnt like it. Tweaked. meh, what ever. I like the OCD gain low with single coils but already have stomps that do that better. Its definitely just another stomp amongst many. It works but.... On the upside, a workmate who on a whim and without any research ordered a couple of pedals. I bought them home put them in line with others and like them. Suhr Riot and Shiba is what I should have gotten to start with. They both work well with the amp and cab I was setting up the pedal board for. They sound more natural and less fizzy than the DLS, OCD and Zendrive through this amp. Have yet to try them through the Lone Star and others. Selling the OCD, DLS and Zendrive to fund the suhr's. Suhr Riot seems to be getting a lot of good press lately.
DetroitBlues Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 I believe there is no subsitute for natural overdrive from the guitar directly plugged into the amp. I know I'd hate to be tap dancing on a pedalboard while I'm playing a song.... Way to much to do on stage, like play guitar!
tulk1 Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 Selling the OCD, DLS and Zendrive to fund the suhr's. I love my Suhr Shiba Drive. It works great to fatten up single coils. And works just as well with humbuckers. It's my main "lead" OD pedal. Sorry to hear the OCD didn't work out, after all you went thru to get it.
JeffB Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 I believe there is no subsitute for natural overdrive from the guitar directly plugged into the amp. I know I'd hate to be tap dancing on a pedalboard while I'm playing a song.... Way to much to do on stage, like play guitar! Part of the problem for me with the stomps is I have amps that already have great sounding and feeling overdrives. They are my reference points. The other part of the problem is the stomps that I might want to try are not available locally or are at stupid prices. So I have to try and make an assessment based on reviews from people Ive never met and have never heard play. I am unable to distinguish one stomp from another on youtube. I just cant hear certain aspects Im listening for. Others seem to be able to, I cant. I even made my own stomp demo and put it on youtube so I could listen to it back while playing the gear in my room at the same time. The differences were really obvious but didnt really help me become better at listening to youtube clips of gear. The fender amp I am building the board for is just a straight out clean amp. There is no gain on the channel I use until you gt really really loud. Pedals that work well on early break up amps tend to sound quite flat and artificial on this amp so it is a real trial and era thing. In my room right now I have 25 OD dist stomps not including the various digital modelling stuff They all fall far short of any of the more pure amp od's. But that is not the point. I cant remember what is.
JeffB Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 I love my Suhr Shiba Drive. It works great to fatten up single coils. And works just as well with humbuckers. It's my main "lead" OD pedal. Sorry to hear the OCD didn't work out, after all you went thru to get it. its all good. I got a free bottle opener and stickers with the OCD. I will use the bottle opener. It is nifty. It does what I want a bottle opener to do. The Shiba is a cool od pedal. Just testing it against the bb pre right now to make sure theres not too much overlap in gain and tone.
DetroitBlues Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 Part of the problem for me with the stomps is I have amps that already have great sounding and feeling overdrives. They are my reference points. The other part of the problem is the stomps that I might want to try are not available locally or are at stupid prices. So I have to try and make an assessment based on reviews from people Ive never met and have never heard play. I am unable to distinguish one stomp from another on youtube. I just cant hear certain aspects Im listening for. Others seem to be able to, I cant. I even made my own stomp demo and put it on youtube so I could listen to it back while playing the gear in my room at the same time. The differences were really obvious but didnt really help me become better at listening to youtube clips of gear. The fender amp I am building the board for is just a straight out clean amp. There is no gain on the channel I use until you gt really really loud. Pedals that work well on early break up amps tend to sound quite flat and artificial on this amp so it is a real trial and era thing. In my room right now I have 25 OD dist stomps not including the various digital modelling stuff They all fall far short of any of the more pure amp od's. But that is not the point. I cant remember what is. It really is a never ending quest for sure...
Trouble Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 The other part of the problem is the stomps that I might want to try are not available locally or are at stupid prices. Damn are you in Louisiana too? Sorry to hear the OCD didn't work out for you, but at least you know what you want. On the upside, I'm thinking as hard as it was for you to get the OCD you could probably sell all those pedals locally for a HUGE profit.
JeffB Posted May 26, 2011 Posted May 26, 2011 I played my 5 blues licks and did the E,G,A,G chord thing continuously for a while tonight while making adjustments to the OCD's control's and found a setting that I thought was pretty cool. Ran it on 12v. Not exactly what I bought it for but pretty nice anyway. Enough to make me think I will use it at some stage. Like the Zendrive. I can hear the quality of both but my understanding of what I read about each was way off. Strat sounded great and H150 pretty rock. Just a great low gain rhythm sound. Tempted to say quite JTMish.
koula901 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Posted May 26, 2011 FLAVOR OF THE MINUTE: ; ) Here's what I want now:
koula901 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Posted May 26, 2011 this company, Freekish Blues, has some damn nice pedals, their octafuzz sounds really cool, too.
DetroitBlues Posted May 26, 2011 Posted May 26, 2011 this company, Freekish Blues, has some damn nice pedals, their octafuzz sounds really cool, too. One of my favorite guitarists has a signature pedal from them....the Davy Knowles Chubb Up Ocatafuzz which I think is becoming one of my fav effects... But for the price, I think I'll go with a Visual Sound AngryFuzz.
koula901 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Posted May 26, 2011 I just pulled the trigger on the Alpha Drive. Yeah! Will get it in about a month. Have you ever checked out his M22 Rock Crusher - man, that's one helluva distortion pedal.
tulk1 Posted May 26, 2011 Posted May 26, 2011 I just pulled the trigger on the Alpha Drive. Yeah! Will get it in about a month. Have you ever checked out his M22 Rock Crusher - man, that's one helluva distortion pedal. I liked the tones on the Alpha Drive in the vids.
SouthpawGuy Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 Check out this thread on TDPRI about the Alpha drive ... http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stomp-box/278906-freekish-blues-alpha-drive-gut-shots.html this in particular caught my attention ... Quote: Originally Posted by Twangasaurus View Post I thought the alpha drive was supposed to be some sort of dumble thing. If by dumble you mean a $30 Joyo OCD clone, then yes, it is definitely dumble thing. From what I've seen at freestompboxes, it looks like the builder buys the actual Joyo unit, repaints the enclosure, and crudely changes a few components and - PRESTO! - a $168 pedal is born. It doesn't even look like the soldering skills are up to snuff based on the scorch marks and cold solder joints. and this .... Well I bought an Alpha Drive and now I feel soiled. It does sound good. But I have several pedals that sound good. But I thought I was buying a pedal produced in a collaboration between Thaddeus Hogarth and Freekish Blues. All the evidence seems to point to the reality that Freekish takes Joyo Ultimate ODs which sell retail for only $30, and then mods the boards in his shop in the USA, slaps a sticker on the housing, and ships them for $168. I read Freekish's response in TGP and it seems like doublespeak to me. I've always thought that I was above the hype and a big part of my decision to buy was based on Hogarth's endorsement. I'm pretty much done with ordering pedals from guys in their basements who claim to have stumbled onto the Lost Scrolls from the Tone Gods of Sunken Lemuria. I'm sticking to bona fide manufacturers like Diamond, Fulltone, etc. Doesn't sound too good, pun (not) intended.
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