Found my new favourite toanzzz

[dlew919]

I've never really had an 'always on' pedal, preferring to sprinkle my cleans with spice, rather than cover it in sauce...

But...

A blues driver with low gain - set at say 9 o'clock', into a Fender BJiii set pretty clean...

mmm HHMM....

I've been a long time user of the BD-2 and it's souped up cousin the BD2.1 but usually as an overdrive. Having it as a boost, particularly through Filtertrons, gives a nice rich 'edge of breakup' sound. And of course, it's reactive to how hard you pluck and strum, and also your manipulation of the volume knob. So a whole range of tones from clean, to dirty clean, to dirty, to ROAR... all by turning the gain pedal back and letting the whole circuit work...

 

[Pine Apple Slim]

Yea Ive played a ton of ODs and using a BD2 as you describe into a cleanish Fender is my favorite. Works great with all lower output pickups, Filtertrons, single coils, or classic PAFs.
I love to put a Nobles ODR1 after it w gain at 6-7 for the 2nd stage. Between the 2 you get 3 good tones. 1) the dynamic and cleanish BD2, 2)the Nobles by itself for a more compressed gainier tone, and 3) for a little more oomph, both together. If I need to cut through the band a little more, I might add a mid focused pedal like the Tumnus or Plumes at the end for a vol boost/mid punch. But I find that usually the BD2/Nobles combined with the vol knob on the guitar is plenty.

 

[stevo]

I've never really had an 'always on' pedal, preferring to sprinkle my cleans with spice, rather than cover it in sauce...

But...

A blues driver with low gain - set at say 9 o'clock', into a Fender BJiii set pretty clean...

mmm HHMM....

I've been a long time user of the BD-2 and it's souped up cousin the BD2.1 but usually as an overdrive. Having it as a boost, particularly through Filtertrons, gives a nice rich 'edge of breakup' sound. And of course, it's reactive to how hard you pluck and strum, and also your manipulation of the volume knob. So a whole range of tones from clean, to dirty clean, to dirty, to ROAR... all by turning the gain pedal back and letting the whole circuit work...

I think this is a very common theme for a lot of people. A lot of us live for those edge of breakup tones and I'm certainly one of them. This must by why boost pedals are so popular. And different amps react differently, so you seem to have found your sweet spot!

 

[BCRatRod73]

I've never really had an 'always on' pedal, preferring to sprinkle my cleans with spice, rather than cover it in sauce...

But...

A blues driver with low gain - set at say 9 o'clock', into a Fender BJiii set pretty clean...

mmm HHMM....

I've been a long time user of the BD-2 and it's souped up cousin the BD2.1 but usually as an overdrive. Having it as a boost, particularly through Filtertrons, gives a nice rich 'edge of breakup' sound. And of course, it's reactive to how hard you pluck and strum, and also your manipulation of the volume knob. So a whole range of tones from clean, to dirty clean, to dirty, to ROAR... all by turning the gain pedal back and letting the whole circuit work...

If you want to upgrade that pedal, and it’s not a surface mount pedal, you can try a mod kit like one from monte allums.
I did one of the mod kits for the Blues Driver - don’t remember which one - but it definitely took that pedal to the next level. If you use a soldering iron you can do the mods.
There are plenty of pedal mod kits out there but this is the one I used.

 

[BohemianLikeMe]

If you like a BD-2, I also suggest the Boss ODB-3/OD-3. A little less tubescreamery, but still sounds great into silver face Fenders. The ODB-3 is the same circuit just with a clean blend, which can be super useful sometimes.

 

[SAguitar]

You guys! I can't believe you're settling for such a lowball OD when there are all those hoity-toity boxes out there to blow your hard-earned wages on!
Seriously though, the Blues Driver has long been a staple of the industry and is never far from my left foot when I'm on a stage. And as any road dawg can tell you, on the slim chance that yours bails out at some point, it is very likely that you can quickly get a replacement at nearly any guitar shop that is nearby.

 

[dlew919]

You guys! I can't believe you're settling for such a lowball OD when there are all those hoity-toity boxes out there to blow your hard-earned wages on!
Seriously though, the Blues Driver has long been a staple of the industry and is never far from my left foot when I'm on a stage.

Well I was going to buy the wexelthurser 4000 (the number referring to the cost) but till they put a 7th knob on it it’s just lacking something

And as any road dawg can tell you, on the slim chance that yours bails out at some point, it is very likely that you can quickly get a replacement at nearly any guitar shop that is nearby.

In all seriousness, I knew a major shop in in Sydney was on its way out when they didn’t have any blues drivers.

 

[Emergence]

I play a variety of guitars including my 6118T Annie through a Mesa Boogie Express 5:25. My pedals are a BOSS EQ-200 that’s always on, even when it’s off, and a Fender Mirror Image Delay that I use in place of reverb. Toanzz? Tone is in the fingers. With my settings how I like them, breakup depends on how I pick or pluck and is actually very easy to control. Pedals don’t do what tubes do. You can buy a pedal to buy a tone you heard on a record but none of that is my tone. The tone I want is the tone of a low powered amp pushed, like back in the ‘50s and early ‘60s. I get that, plus the harmonic richness and adjustability of a modern amp using the 5 watt setting on my Boogie at a volume I can sing over without a mic.

Tone is in the fingers.