Not distortion pedals. Not fuzz pedals. Just overdrive.

[Edge_Orchestra]

Name Your Overdrive...

Outside of pedals that The Edge uses - or has used, what Overdrive pedals do you own/have/love -- For U2 use and otherwise?

Not distortion pedals. Not fuzz pedals. Just overdrive.

For me? The Lovepedal OD11 is one that I have fallen in love.

Lovepedal OD 11 Overdrive
The Lovepedal OD 11 pushes your sound into its own unique sweet spot with perfectly transparent overdrive that highlights the organic-sounding, rich harmonics created in the interplay between your guitar and your amp. Separate Bass and Treble controls let you dial in your ideal balance of low-end presence and high-end definition, while the Drive control gives you touch-sensitive gain and the Level control gives you a range of output from a clean boost to a sonic force of nature.

Lovepedal OD11 - Single Coils - YouTube

As with all Lovepedal effects, the OD 11 is wired for true bypass and is made in the USA with the highest quality components. The OD 11 sounds fantastic with either a standard 9v battery or a DC converter, but you will find the optional 18 volt operation delivers substantially greater headroom and volume with an even brighter, stronger tone.

Lovepedal OD 11 Overdrive Features:
Bass, Treble, Level and Drive Controls
2.375" (6.03 cm) x 4.375" (11.11 cm) x 1.875" (4.76 cm)
Made in the USA
Standard 9-18vDC or Battery Operation


The thing is warm, gritty, expressive, response to the dynamics of your picking... pretty much everything that most want in an overdrive pedal.

I thin that one could get a variety of Edge tones with this. And great for a lot of other music as well.

So it you are looking a great all around OD, one that is versatile, one that is Tubescreamer-like (but more) AND more affordable than many other boutique pedals...

HERE ME NOW - BELIEVE ME LATER. It will be the best $99 you ever spent.

 

[the tourist]

DMB Stellar Drive. It's the best drive pedal I've ever played through. Fantastic tone and extremely versatile with the clean knob. You can have all drive tone, a mixture of drive and clean boost, or just clean boost depending upon what you're going for. Absolutely fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABphGdXNRsc

This is the first drive pedal I've gotten that I haven't been disappointed in within a week (looking at the Fulldrive 2 Mosfet, Germanium 4 Big Muff, Boss OD2, Boss Blues Driver, TS9, etc.).

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Boss OD-2 is a great pedal. I prefer the OD-2r (even though I never use the 'remote' jack. The OD2-r is a bit 'hotter' than the OD-2.

The Boss SD-1 is great in the all-around/Tubescreamer type OD sounding pedal.

The Boss Blues Driver is a winner. It, like the Lovepedal OD11, is responsive to the dynamics of your picking. I know Edge has one. I've seen it in studio photos. But I don't recall ever seeing it in the touring rig. (Not that, THAT should dissuade you - It's a great pedal)

Have you tried the Voodoo Lab 'Sparkle Drive'? It's another great but under-rated OD.

The Stellar Drive seems cool. It's seems more than a 'basic' TS-9 style OD. (Not a bad thing). I'll have to find one and play around a bit with it. What is the price range?

Price range and the Pro Guitar Shop demo sold me on the Lovepedal OD11. It's hardly a 'budget' pedal but it is a great affordable OD.

DMB Stellar Drive. It's the best drive pedal I've ever played through. Fantastic tone and extremely versatile with the clean knob. You can have all drive tone, a mixture of drive and clean boost, or just clean boost depending upon what you're going for. Absolutely fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABphGdXNRsc

This is the first drive pedal I've gotten that I haven't been disappointed in within a week (looking at the Fulldrive 2 Mosfet, Germanium 4 Big Muff, Boss OD2, Boss Blues Driver, TS9, etc.).

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Catalinbread RAH is another one that I like. I haven't gotten my own - yet but it is high on the list of pedal purchases.

The Catalinbread RAH was built specifically to nail Jimmy Page's gigantic guitar tone from Led Zeppelin's legendary 1970 performance at Royal Albert Hall. At the time, in contrast to the Marshalls that he eventually came to be associated with, Page was using Hiwatt heads on stage, modified for a bit of extra gain. The resultant sound, as captured in the Royal Albert Hall concert DVD, is enormous, and the dynamic range from these high-headroom amplifiers is nearly symphonic. With the Catalinbread RAH overdrive pedal, our good friends at Catalinbread have managed to squeeze the distinctive "Jimmy Page Hiwatt" tone into a compact stompbox. Starting with their WIIO pedal as the foundation, and combining some elements of the Dirty Little Secret, Catalinbread delivers a unique overdrive pedal that will reward the player who appreciates articulation, real dynamics, and a very amp-like response. The Catalinbread RAH is an ideal foundation overdrive pedal; just set-and-forget, using your fingers and your guitar's volume knob to bring forth a spectrum of organic, blooming guitar tones.

Catalinbread RAH - YouTube


Catalinbread makes a few other great pedals.

This is another pedal that is high up on the buy list.

Catalinbread WIIO
Hearkening back to the 70 's, the Catalinbread WIIO delivers all the classic, dynamic overdrive that British amps from that era are famous for. The Catalinbread WIIO is a monstrous gain pedal that even at the highest gain settings responds to picking dynamics and cleans up with the power of the pick attack and volume knob. At full gain settings, the volume knob will clean up to a nice rhythm crunch that, when picked lightly, will clean up totally for a 3-setting tone just by using the volume knob and pick. Frequency response is huge, if your amp can deliver, so can the Catalinbread WIIO. Each and every note and nuance comes through and when the Gain is maxed the breakup is raw and in your face on the attack with a clean finish and a nice midrange bark that cuts through the mix like butter. The Catalinbread WIIO is built to be interactive, the EQ controls and the Gain control act together to change the feel and add grit to the signal. When searching for just the right pedal, most guitarists look for one that interacts with them and the guitar, not one that just clips. The Catalinbread WIIO is that perfect interaction with player and instrument that most guitarists desire, providing a platform for expression that is second to none in overdrive pedals.

Catalinbread WIIO Features:
True Bypass
Interactive EQ and Gain Controls
-9vdc Operation

Catalinbread WIIO
Be the first to review this product

Description
Sheer raw power. Dynamics that feel like a roundhouse kick to the chest. Incredibly responsive clean up with the flick of the wrist. This is the WIIO.

The WIIO is an overdrive inspired by the powerfully unforgiving British amps from the ‘70s. Its all right there at your fingertips - your picking attack determines how much gain is delivered to the speakers. There is none of the typical compression found in most other overdrives to hide behind or to soften the blow - this is brass knuckle to the jaw type sonic impact we‘re talking here - you literally feel as though you plugged straight into the power section.



Like the amps, the WIIO has a wide freq spread so if your amp can deliver you’ll be rewarded with crisp clear highs and a very full tight low end. Lower gain settings are very clean and linear - you can hear every pick stroke and fingerprint, and the headroom allows for some very rich sounds when using modulation pedals. As you crank up the Gain the breakup is aggressive, powerful, punchy, and immediate then it decays quickly to a full clean sound. The midrange bark particular to the amps on which we based the WIIO is right there too as you crank it up. This pedal cuts like a broadsword so no need to fear being lost in the fray. It respects the integrity of your pickups, and loves being slammed with other overdrives or your favorite fuzz too.


The EQ controls on the WIIO are interactive with the Gain knob - increasing the Treble will not only give you more highs but also more grit to the gain. Likewise, increasing the Bass control will not only deliver more lows but will also alter the feel and attack. Plenty of output to smack your amp into submission as well.

The whole point of the WIIO experience is the dynamic interaction between you and the pedal. It reacts immediately to your picking hand, so cleans are easily attainable just by lightening up your attack. Conversely, you can get to the raging power chord stuff just by hitting the guitar harder. Running the WIIO at full gain will give you pushed transformer-style saturation for leads as well, so in reality you can have three levels of gain available just by using your wrist and your guitar’s volume control. It was designed to be intuitive with a minimum of tweaking, freeing you to follow your inspiration to wherever it takes you.

The WIIO won’t be for everybody and we‘re cool with that - hell, Nic has the real deal 100w full stack with eight Fanes and many of us in Teh Bunker cower and lose continence when its at full bore. Its unique sonic structure is very unforgiving and due to the responsiveness allows EVERYTHING you put into it to come through. But as the players who have had the experience of playing the amps know, there are great rewards to be had once you’re able to grab hold of the reins and attempt to ride the mighty beast

As this is to harken back to the Hi-Watt's that Pete Townshend used, could be useful for U2 stuff like "Beautiful Day" and "All Because of You".

 

[the tourist]

Boss OD-2 is a great pedal. I prefer the OD-2r (even though I never use the 'remote' jack. The OD2-r is a bit 'hotter' than the OD-2.

The Boss SD-1 is great in the all-around/Tubescreamer type OD sounding pedal.

The Boss Blues Driver is a winner. It, like the Lovepedal OD11, is responsive to the dynamics of your picking. I know Edge has one. I've seen it in studio photos. But I don't recall ever seeing it in the touring rig. (Not that, THAT should dissuade you - It's a great pedal)

Have you tried the Voodoo Lab 'Sparkle Drive'? It's another great but under-rated OD.

The Stellar Drive seems cool. It's seems more than a 'basic' TS-9 style OD. (Not a bad thing). I'll have to find one and play around a bit with it. What is the price range?

Price range and the Pro Guitar Shop demo sold me on the Lovepedal OD11. It's hardly a 'budget' pedal but it is a great affordable OD.

I should preface this by saying I honestly don't care what gear The Edge uses. I care about what the gear that I physically own sounds like. And I've owned some of the same pedals The Edge has and have found ones that I like the sound of better than the ones he owns.

To each their own. The only Boss pedal that has lasted in my rig for long is the tuner. Everything else just seems a little off to me. And yes, I had a Sparkle Drive for awhile. It was alright, but obviously didn't grab be enough to keep. It had weird noise issues in the place where my band practiced, probably due to fluorescent lights and old wiring in the home, despite me actually knowing how to correctly power pedals and having shielded cables. Also the actual drive tone on it wasn't quite what I wanted. I'd be interested in checking out the new modded Sparkle Drive though.

I got my DMB Stellar Drive for $149 shipped from prymaxevintage.com, but I had a $25 off coupon.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Boss pedals are good basics. They are like a Nissan or Toyota. They can do the job but nothing too 'out there'.

That said, you mention the Boss tuner. Good enough pedal but I recommend you try the TC Electronics Poly-tune. Other than a Peterson Strobo-Stomp, the Polytune is probably the best tuner on the market.

 

[the tourist]

I'm kinda meh on spending money on a tuner. It's not really fun. And I already have enough not-fun guitar gear I'm looking down the barrel of spending on (cables, pedal boots, strings, new tuning heads for one of my Teles, mandolin strings, etc). I'll keep to my plan for pedal purchasing. Maybe once I've got the pedals I want (Strymon Mobius, Strymon Flint, SolidGold Surf Rider, ZVex Fuzz Factory, Jangle Box JB2), I'll go for a new tuner.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

I'm kinda meh on spending money on a tuner. It's not really fun. And I already have enough not-fun guitar gear I'm looking down the barrel of spending on (cables, pedal boots, strings, new tuning heads for one of my Teles, mandolin strings, etc). I'll keep to my plan for pedal purchasing. Maybe once I've got the pedals I want (Strymon Mobius, Strymon Flint, SolidGold Surf Rider, ZVex Fuzz Factory, Jangle Box JB2), I'll go for a new tuner.

If you are playing at home only, I suppose any tuner is fine.

But how many tuners have a polytune function?

Just saying... if one is playing in front of people, a good tuner is a great idea.

 

[the tourist]

I don't just play at home. My guitars don't really go out of tune ever anyway unless I've got new strings. In which case I work them at home til they don't go out of tune.

 

[the tourist]

This is something I'm probably going to pick up sometime in the next few months:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzbb_vuoXZY

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

This is something I'm probably going to pick up sometime in the next few months:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzbb_vuoXZY

Very nice for a Marshall-like sound. Catalinbread makes great pedals.