Robben Ford Discussion

SixStringSoul · Member Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 12

I am in search of the best <$100 overdrive/distortion pedal to achieve a warm dynamic overdrive tone (more Robben/Larry than Yngwie/Eddie, or more Californian than British).

I primarily play my Strat through a solid state, 200W/15" speaker, steel guitar amp (Fender Steel King) - mostly veeery clean sounds with some delay, and I do use a single tube ART preamp in front of the amp. I like the Steel King because it is very clean and very loud, and the tube preamp adds a nice dimension - the sound I am going for is in the clean Bill Frisell/Steve Khan/Pat Metheny zone.

Occasionally, I am called upon to play with overdrive. I have a recent RAT II pedal that has a nice fat tone, but is not very dynamic and also doesn't really clean up well as I try to back off the guitar volume. Naturally, I love the warm and dynamic tone of Robben and Larry Carlton, but I am not really up for buying a separate tube amp or an expensive pedal, because this sound is not "my thing", if you know what I mean, it's just a sound I need in my toolbox - I was further encouraged in this view (cheap!!) by Robben himself (via his DVD "Playing the Blues") where he says near the end not to worry so much about having expensive gear and just play and get the best sound you can with your head and your hands - my interpretation, not his exact words.

So, if anyone knows of a pedal that does a good (not great) job of getting a nice warm and dynamic overdrive tone, please let me know.

Thanks!
Max

Bluelobster · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:59 am Post subject: OD

Hi Max , on this board try a look on older threads with these keywords :
-Zendrive
-Banzai fireball (don't remember exact name).

In my own way of trying to emulate "that tone" i find useful to use an hollow or semi hollow body with nice humbuckers .

Actually i'm using the zendrive over a 50 W Hiwatt, this amp have a lot of crunch and is very hand dynamics sensitive so with the Zen drive i can get into "the zone" for leads.
But it's a very versatile toy u can leave it on and back off volume with pot ,it works .
_________________
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=147748

tonemaster2_11 · Member Joined: 07 Dec 2003 Posts: 37

Six String - Modify your Rat II using the Ruetz mod at www.diyguitaramp.com

IMH You'll never want for anything else. It'll do exactly what you want it to and if you do the "trim pot" version of the mod it becomes even more valuable as you can tweak it to your tastes.
I have two of these modified Rats and an amplifier which has a good clean to slightly overdriven tone. With the mod the Rats become very transparent so I can take the tone I already have and simply add some "hair" on it.
All the money some have spent of D-clones, Fireballs and Zendrives is frightening. They'd freak if they heard what I can do with my amp and a RAT pedal.
Trust me, for YEARS I thought there must be something better but there has been a long line of expensive overdrives I have exiled to eBay because they couldn't stand up to my Ruetz Rats.
Give it a try. It won't cost you anything and you can always put it back the way it was.

Bluelobster · Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:59 pm Post subject: Tubeless

guys i heard about a new sheriff in town ......... Watch out Zenzen. Very Happy

_________________
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=147748

DaveH · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:25 am Post subject:

You're bad! Laughing

Bluelobster · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:11 pm Post subject: Overdrive

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, when it comes to Overdrive , i can afford Overteasing..... Nahhhhhhhh just my french way to adjust Groucho Marx humor.
This being said , during my short life on the WorldWideWeb (though i'm not that addicted to forums) from 2YK till now , i've never witnessed any inter forum wars , to quote that from my beloved J the Z (proud owner of the palm tree Baker with the famous orange leather case , no less, even Robben didn't have one in 2003,no pu intended). So what was i at ??????

Oh well , the nasty teaser is Jconstant in this case, he didn't let breath the guy on the other forum. The thread went nuked . How not cool , i brilliantly threw some thoughts ........ Razz

. But hey that was alot of fun. Fighting for an overdrive to get that "elusive" tone that can get u right in " the zone", makes u play like you're always "on", andmakes your 300 bucks amp he can stand along with a 5000 Bucks amp ( that is the price i think Mr Dumble will charge me for my special Bluelobster Nirvana Drive ), then Daved is full of shit, then we learn " that guy " were in robben house , then a lot of people felt ripped oof with their Zendrive, then there is a major nervous breakdown on the stompbox market , Zen go back to 1929 & figure it all out.............................OMG
Edited :SORRY WERE OUT , WRONG THREAD , <an one mod made the chage for me ?
_________________
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=147748

DaveH · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:08 pm Post subject:

Way to go! Laughing

JohnnyZ · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject:

Well, I did need the BDR (tm) for a bit, I must admit... Laughing

And, Blobby fyi, I wish, but I no longer have the palm tree Baker. It's been a little over one year since I graciously sold it to someone who owns a Mexican Cantina in SoCal. Sadly, it's the first and only piece of anything musical that I ever sold, and it was because of a financial crisis...

Since then, when finances allowed, I was able to purchase a new Rickenbacker 620 in JetGlo, a sweet guit, and an Ibanez Les Paul clone in black, and it's a beauty too. Gotta play better though! Laughing

tonemaster2_11 · Member Joined: 07 Dec 2003 Posts: 37

Six String - Did you try the mod??

CJ · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 11:52 am Post subject:

For years I used the humble Boss Super Overdrive and was very happy with it. Some good tones if used subtly.

ZenOvertone · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject:

Interesting that you mention the Boss SD1 - I've a few of them that I bought cheap on Ebay (don't pay more than £20) modded to the Monte Allums spec by myself with higher quality capacitors and chip sockets fitted and think I get very close to the ZD and Gain Stage Red tones (I have both of these too) using an LM833 chip (I've tried all the other Low Noise Op Amps too, TL072, 4558 and all variants, NE5532 - all of these can be bought from Maplin Electronics but the LM833's I had to order from the USA).

This article from MI Audio mentions the LM833 too...

http://www.miaudio.com/Blue%20Boy%20Deluxe%20Overdrive%20Owners%20Manual.pdf

SixStringSoul · Member Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 12

tonemaster2_11 · Member Joined: 07 Dec 2003 Posts: 37

Six String - Glad to hear you tried the mod! I KNEW you'd dig it and look at all the money you saved!
With the clip mod that you did I feel you lose just a little sizzle on the high strings. If you also come to this conclusion don't despair, just replace the resistor you clipped out with a little 1K (or .5K) trim pot. You can use the trim pot to dial in a value somewhere between the original 47ohm resistor and zero (resistor clipped out). My experience is that the pedal really comes to life somewhere just below the original 47 ohm value. I get everything from very convincing mildly overdiriven tones all the way up to Landreth and Ford territory with no loss of bass response and a VERY amplike feel. It takes a while to dial in but well worth the time invested and you end up with a very versatile overdrive pedal.
Taking the pedal apart is a little tedious but once the trim pot is in place it is accessable through the battery door (unless you have the housing with the built in battery cavity which I usually just tear out) so you can tweak to your heart's content and then just "set it and forget it".
Good luck! - tm

Tele295 · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:38 am Post subject: Re: Best Cheap Pedal

Tele295 · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject:

Hey now that's fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait to try it with my cranked Vibrolux
_________________
You got a motor like a brand new car....