Drive pedal comparison - thoughts?

Matt_McG

Trying to decide which of three drive pedals to keep, but I think I'm too close to the choices. I'll probably keep two of them, but don't need three similar pedals.

Riff - pedal A:



Riff - pedal B:



Riff - pedal C:



Noodle - pedal A



Noodle - pedal B



Noodle - pedal C




All three pedals were set fairly close to each other. No settings were changed between the riff and the aimless noodling, except for a switch to the neck pickup on the noodling.

Level matching isn't quite perfect.

FWIW, pedal A is maybe a bit tighter than the other two and lower gain, but has a bit more grit. Pedal C cleans up a bit better with volume roll off, and has a wider gain range. Pedal B has more flexible EQ.

Thoughts? 

stickyfiddle

They all sound the same apart from maybe a fraction more hair on C, which I don’t like.

Keep the one that looks coolest

Fez

Not much in it but I thought A & C were the best so keep them so long as they look cool. Are you going to do a big reveal as to what they are?

Matt_McG

A is a J Rockett Caliber 45
C is a Mad Professor Royal Blue

B is an Aion Andromeda clone pcb — assembled by me — based on the Nobels ODR-1 but with a bass control, also I switched one clipping diode for an asymmetric pair with an 1N914 and a Russian D9E.

What those clips conceal is that B and C can do a wider range of gain textures and EQ than A, but, to my ears, the core tone of A is more amp like, and with the gain rolled down a bit more can do something the other two cannot. But, B and c can get into smooth higher gain sounds.

I could have made the Mad Professor a bit less gainy and rolled the bass back and gotten it closer to A, I think. And B was recorded a bit quiet, which makes it sound less present than A.it is interesting how close they can be, though.

The financially best option, would be to sell A and C.

57Deluxe

C for the riff B for the Noodle

TateFX

C was the best one all of them for me.

John_A

B for me, but I think it's was just EQ's with a bit less top-end than the others.  Not a lot in it, and no-one's going to agree on which one is 'best'  keep the one you like the most

roberty

C for me all very similar though

Matt_McG

I guess they are similar because I was more or less trying to match them. All pedals have quite different sounds at the extremes of their EQ or gain ranges. But in the middle of the range, where I'm likely to be using them most of the time, they are similar.

EQ-wise, B and C produce pretty good sounds at all points on the EQ range, and can produce a lot of bass. 
A starts to get flubby with the bass maxed out (which is by design, it sounds very amp-like, like a JTM45, and not like some tight modern amp).

My own preference is probably C, yeah. If I only had to choose 1. Particularly as it cleans up a bit nicer with the guitar volume.

crunchman

Keep the one you made yourself, as you won't get as much for selling it.

hubobulous

Keep C. What you say about your playing style appears to make that the most suitable and its a great pedal

breezytele

C gets my vote

octatonic

I liked A the best.