OVERDRIVE- THE CHANNEL OVERDRIVE...potent pedals

complete...but watch for updates

THE CHANNEL OVERDRIVE

THIS STUFF IS NOT CHEAP...but keep in mind it is intended to replace a preamp channel in an amp.

...one of these thru any amp could be argued to sound better then most amps that will cost you over a thousand dollars.

 HAVE WE BEEN HERE BEFORE?

YES!

The first amps only had one channel and when the early pedals that distorted the signal...the treble boosters and Fuzz arrived they became in affect a second channel. The amp manufacturers saw this and accommodated their next generation amp with a second channel.

Since then the pedals and amp makers have played leap frog...with the new pedals...and have  up things until now we have amps with as many as 4 channels!

SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? I KNOW THIS!!!

To answer this it is time to talk about the generational system. In short ...new music made by new young players who learnt by listening to and copying the gear used by the last generation. The very cool listen to and picked up on the players that their heroes and used as their role models.

Now as we all know things have changed. Thanks to the internet.
ALL RECORDINGS ARE FREE IF YOU LOOK HARD ENOUGH.

Before the internet... musicians promoted their recordings by playing live ...often for a loss. The big money was in the record sales.

NOW!!!

Musicians tour to MAKE MONEY as their recordings are virtually free...the recordings are but commercials to put bums on seats at the gigs.

THE SEMI RETIRED GUITAR HERO!

This insulting title has a point!

The guitar heroes of yesterday work 5 times harder... know then before. They do workshops...play on other's recordings. Promote equipment...and get in on the design process with the gear they promote...which means doing trade shows etc....

They often have a small band to tour with and do their own thing. Their own thing is all about ART...and not about entertainment. The gigs are smaller...and the audience is half people that truly loved the band they were in for years...and of course other musicians.

Now...if you come full circle...from starting out with little money to going back to having to budget...you know it is a demanding task
.

WHY WE ALL WILL WANT A CHANNEL OD

THE THING THAT KILLS MAKING MONEY AT THE GIG IS BRINGING ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT!!!!
If you have ever toured with a contract demanding what has to be supplied you know what happens. NOTHING...you can even get a used no-name 20 year old nasty old school transistor amp to play through.
You can refuse to go on.   BUT!!!
Congratulations....you just told your best fans with tickets to F off!!

The answer is making a Channel OD the bases of your sound.
Better yet have a one of the better Gourmet manufacturers work with you for the perfect pedal. This is not hard because a pedal with your name on it quickly becomes their big seller. EVERY TIME!



Sooo...this is what is happening....and what our heroes do...we do.
Think you are immune?
well...when all the amp makers start by offering their very best amp with only one channel. Game over..

WHY? would they do that...because the above players are asking for them...and/or are only using the clean channel of their favorite amp anyway. Extra amp channels cost money....why put them there for the dying old breed musician???

Andy Timmons...a convert

Check it out....the new breed of Channel Overdrive....the sound you hear will sound exactly like this demo even when played thru a half ass no-name 15 watt practice amp bought at a garage sale.

Seriously...the @ is that good!!

CHANNEL OVERDRIVES

THE CHOICES

THE JOYO AMERICAN & the TECH21 BLONDE

I have gone in some detail already with this pedal in both the LETS BUY AND OVERDRIVE
and in A PEDAL THAT CLONES AN AMP PERFECTLY...Pt. 1
I will not repeat myself so check out those two Posts

CATALINBREAD
DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

In the Post  ....A PEDAL THAT CLONES AN AMP PERFECTLY. I go into extensive details.The folks at Catlinbread even show you how to make the pedal....a 'Foundation Pedal' which is a term that
is more or less...make the pedal a 'Channel Overdrive'
So check out the Post.

JHS
ANGRY CHARLIE 

This was the first attempt by JHS to give you a serious Marshall JVC 800 sounding pedal. Rumours are rampant that it started life as a MI Effects Crunch box...but who knows.

Go to __So Let's Buy An Overdrive__and check out the Caline Sand Storm MI Effects Super Crunch clone...it's only $25.00 USD

Once Andy Timmons started using one...word got around and the sales went viral. There is now both a new Angry Charlie and the Andy Timmons  AT  @.

                                                                 









This has been replaced by the new v3
Current Price$199.00 USD >>

                                                           

The Andy Timmons AT (@) pedal

an Angry Charlie on steroids

Current Price $219.00 USD

Check out the 25 watt mode of the... JHS The 'AT' ...the sound is massive (more then the all the other pedals)

the sustain is excellent. The most impressive thing is that the amp is at a very low volume...and the harmonics jumped right out of the longer notes. I have not seen a pedal that can do that without the benefit of a cranked amp to allow for some feedback!!!

This pedal really raises the bar!!!

It's May10/16...and the mailman just delivered an @ to my door.

I played it for an hour and not one thing I have said about was not as good or better then I said. 

.

BUT something that I did not expect really blew my mind!

I was looking down wailing away when suddenly it occurred to me that the sound was coming out of a 4x 12 cab. Whoa!!!  I don't have a 4x12 cab...I sold mine years ago...I was listening to a 15 watt practice amp turned up only to 2 and with an 8 inch speaker????

OF NOTE: According to Chappers and the Captain of Anderton's TV....When doing a demo of entry level guitars. "Put an JHS @ on them and they all sound amazing!"

So it is Aug 21/16... I have bought have bought 5 new OD's since

They were great fun for a week..and still enjoyable in the tunes  play them in.

BUT THE @ is still my favourite !!!

THE ANGRY CHARLIE pedals were derivative of the CHARLIE BROWN pedals

these were JTM 45 sounding pedals...

very nice but not nearly as aggressive....

the old one is still available but so is the new one with updated EQ

AMPTWEAKER PRO TIGHT METAL & BIG ROCK PRO

Quite simply a Modern type Metal pedal...with no stone left unturned. AmpTweaker make many variations both as full featured or smaller pedals with basic functions. Their customers use them with all manner of huge stacks to bedroom amps. The major point is that the pedal is totally self contained

as a Channel Overdrive.
This pedal was design to put Eddie Van Halen's sound in a box by James Brown (do not ask...lol)
The same Mr. Brown that designed Eddies amp the 5150...now the 5150IIIS.
He did a stellar job and it is much closer then the MXR EVH to give you that sound.
The design and build are hard to criticize
.
If you do not like this pedal then check out the Big Rock Pro.
Both pedals are the same...it is only the 'voicing' that is different.

It is not hard to get a very similar sound to the Tight Metal...in fact I feel this pedal scooped leaves the EVH it in the dust!!!! IT IS THE SAME BUT MUCH FATTER!
.BUT...what sold me is with the click of a switch you get the classic Marshall sound. To my ears the ever popular....JMC 800. I have several...all a bit different... all great.
The thing is that all my other overdrives are excellent...but for soloing you need that extra sustain...you want pinched harmonics to jump and the overtones on those long notes to easily soar up an octave or 2. THIS IS WHERE THIS PEDAL LEADS THE PACK!
Both these pedals are really 2 pedals in one box....a great overdrive ...and a distortion with switches to change from one to the other.

There are no end of videos...more entertaining then useful. I picked the first one because I find it both informative and objective. Better still it is concise.
The Big Rock is much the same. To hear just how close the real amp is to the pedal is the clincher.
Just ask yourself...if you heard this pedal substituted on a record by a good player...could you tell it was not an amp. I damn well could not.

Current Price $320.00 USD  for either pedal. BIG OUCH!

If you love it and need to justify purchasing it

Consider it a $160.00 USD overdrive and a $160.00 USD distortion pedal

quite a reasonable cost for the 'best'

I have to admit every feature works flawlessly...the build is as good as it gets

if I give the

  JHS 'The AT' a 10 for it's overdrive sound the Amptweaker Big Rock Pro will get a 9.5

...but sound is subjective at this point.

and the Big Rock Pro...gets a 10 for it's soloing voice and response.

I hate to say it but this pedal is not over priced.

AT THIS POINT IN TIME THIS IS 

THE BEST OF THE BEST

NOW..... DO I BUY ONE OR NO ????

If I do... I have to dump a pedal or two to make room on the pedal board

EMPRESS HEAVY

Yet another self contained Channel drive type all bells whistles box. I probably sound cynical...but actually these units are damn impressive. Thanks to some excellent gating in the design...the pedal is stone silent. If you can not get your perfect sound out of this pedal...it will be because the complexity given to you to get it is overwhelming. You can not get away about getting too much in Western Culture...it is simply unthinkable.
Parts and quality build are as good as it gets.

• SO...even if you are in the 'camp' that nothing beats real overdrive distortion from a great tube amp. 
• You would not be reading this if you did not feel that any amp could use a bit of nudge from a cool pedal. OK ...my point is you can not beat pedals that sounds this great even in a fairly lame amp