Good overdrive/distortion for your tweed style amps?

pickerg

Was going to post this on the Lazy J thread over in the amp forum but thought I'd start a new topic.  What overdrives and distortions do people recommend for tweed style amps?  Looking for just breaking up/bit of hair on the sound for rockabilly, country and blues to a bit more gain, for rock and solos (don't need super high gain though).

So far thinking of some sort of Klone, Wampler Pinnacle, Zendrive or possibly Mesa Flux drive (realise this is new).  Want something that is sensitive to finger/picking attack and cleans up nicely with the guitar volume.

So what have you had best results with your tweed twins, bassmans and Lazy Js?

Cheers.

 

frankus

Umble for me...

equalsql

I built myself a Xotic BB clone, and it is just superb in front of my tweed 57 Bandmaster clone. It works especially well with single coil pick-ups. The best sounding overdrive I have yet to find for fronting a Fendery tweed amp. May be worth checking out the original.

thewiddler

I'll get in there first and mention the forum favourite, Subdecay's Liquid Sunshine. Does everything you're asking for... EHX's Soul Food also good. I've currently got both on my board and they work well in tandem.

MattG

this is probably the least helpful suggestion ever but my valvesporker takes a tweed to just past break up instant clapton all the way up to steve stevens with just slight adjustment of the gain and volume controls....

although i imagine the lazy J cruiser would be perfect for it!

bandmaster188

when i had my j20, the pedal that worked best for me was a hughes & kettner tube factor. i know  i know, it shouldn't work but it did. from a little bit of edgy breakup through to balls out overdrive. they just seemed to get along very well!

monquixote

Has to be a Liquid Sunshine. 

The AC Boost is also nice and tweedy, or a Hot Cake might work.

noisepolluter

monquixote said:

Has to be a Liquid Sunshine. 

The AC Boost is also nice and tweedy, or a Hot Cake might work.

+1 for liquid sunshine. Dial it in once and it just sounds great with everything. 

The AC boost is smoother, more transparent, more tweakable, all those other words bandied about as being desirable with OD pedals, but the liquid sunshine just has *that* sound right off the bat. If I could only take one pedal it would be that one. The overall character of it, the balance of the mid and the mix of warmth and grit, just sounds more… I dunno… real? 

pickerg

Thanks for the replies, definitely looks like the Liquid Sunshine could be the one to try at the moment.

crunchman

A lot of pedals sound good with a Lazy J - it takes pedals very well.  I've currently got a homebrew  TS Type, an OCD clone and a GT500 on my board.  I don't really need all three but it's nice.    I tend to run the amp clean with a bit of hair on it so when I use the pedals I'm probably pushing the amp harder as well.  Don't know much about other Tweed types though.

Majorscale

Loving a Bearfoot Honeybee and a Timmy with my J20 right now. A Klon clone sounds good too as it can brighten your tones up if you find them too dark and tweedy...