Grateful Dead Music Forum

Hi folks,

So far my pedalboard is simple,and only consists of a Qtron +, MXR Carbon Copy Mini, MRX Distortion +, Korg Pitchblack Advance Pedal tuner, and a Boss RC-1 Loop Station.

The order of the pedals is as followed:
Korg Tuner, Qtron+, MXR Dist. +, MXR Carbon Copy Mini, Boss RC-1 Loop Station

All of which is connected to a reissue Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb 22w ( with 1 x 12” ) using an OBEL

I have a love hate relationship with the MXR Dist. +, I can get some useful tones at times, but feel it’s just not where I’d like it to be. I have considered either replacing it all together with an OD pedal, or running it with one.

What would be a good compliment to / or replacement OD pedal, based on your experience? I’d love to keep it under $150 but would consider a bit more for the right one.

Appreciate any input

I have had the same experience with the Dist+. I've opted to run it with another OD pedal, mainly because my board sounds better as a whole with its buffer in the chain whether the Dist+ is engaged or not.

I've tried a number over the years, including an OD-1 clone, a klon klone, an MXR OD Classic, and a couple others I can't recall. The one that's done the best overall has been a Fulltone OCD run just ahead of the Dist+ so that the tone is more Dist+ than OCD when both are engaged. Yeah, I know, most of these aren't pedals that Jerry used, but the OCD set as a light OD into the Dist+ can sound pretty spot on, and the OCD is really good on its own to put just a bit of hair on a solo.

Check out the JHS Moonshine V2. It is based loosely on a Tubescreamer, but is so much more. It has a blend control where it allows u to blend the clean signal with the overdrive. I have played many OD’s, and even built a few, but the Moonshine is my all time favorite. The JHS Double Barrel is a dual OD pedal with their Morning Glory, and this Moonshine in one pedal. They stack beautifully.

I have two general suggestions that do not involve recommending a specific pedal.

One, distinguish between distortion and overdrive. Though there's overlap, don't choose A if you really want B.

Two, experiment with settings that involve higher-than-you-might-normally-select pedal volume/level control levels matched with lower-than-you-might-normally-select pedal overdrive/drive/distortion/gain levels.

Sarno Earth Drive

When you're entering stores again, stop by someplace like a GC and try every overdrive and distortion pedal they carry. Then you'll know what YOU want rather as opposed to relying on advice from others, however knowledgable and well-meaning.

This being said, if you already know the type of pedal you want, e.g., Tubescreamer, Rat, or Klon-based, that's when I find advice from others to be the most helpful.

LazyLightning72 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:35 pm Hi folks,

So far my pedalboard is simple,and only consists of a Qtron +, MXR Carbon Copy Mini, MRX Distortion +, Korg Pitchblack Advance Pedal tuner, and a Boss RC-1 Loop Station.

The order of the pedals is as followed:
Korg Tuner, Qtron+, MXR Dist. +, MXR Carbon Copy Mini, Boss RC-1 Loop Station

All of which is connected to a reissue Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb 22w ( with 1 x 12” ) using an OBEL

I have a love hate relationship with the MXR Dist. +, I can get some useful tones at times, but feel it’s just not where I’d like it to be. I have considered either replacing it all together with an OD pedal, or running it with one.

What would be a good compliment to / or replacement OD pedal, based on your experience? I’d love to keep it under $150 but would consider a bit more for the right one.

Appreciate any input

THat's a nice setup. If you are associating a pedal with an era, then MRX Distortion + is ideal for 77-78, maybe even until 83; boss OD for 80s-90s is well-documented. No pedals for early 70s, just a stratoblaster for 72. I have a Sarno Earth Drive and Solar Flare that I don't use if you/anyone else is interested. Everyone loves those it seems.

I should probably also ask what kind of music you play.

If it's only Dead, that narrows it down a lot. Will's SMS Earth Drive suggestion would be gold in this case.

If it's a range of classic rock, that broadens it.

I, too, am now (for the first time in a decade - I've been relying on my Line 6 M13 exclusively for this time period) also pulling together an "individual pedals" board. Here's what I have so far. A Micro-Tron IV is ordered and on the way to replace the Boss T-Wah. And I'll also soon be adding a second delay, probably a Strymon DIG as I love that pedal's tone and functionality.

I'll say this about the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 (V1 - pre-MOSFET). It is one incredibly multifunctional pedal. Pulling the Comp Cut knob changes the tone almost into a second pedal. Add in the on-board Boost and you've got the functional equivalent of 4 different overdrives.

If I had to keep just one of my pedals to cover the most possible ground, the FD2 would be it.

Thank you all for the helpful input/suggestions

As far as what I play, it’s nearly always Dead, I’d say 98% of my playing is Dead, with an emphasis on Jerry.

I’m not bashing the MXR Dist. +, it’s a nice pedal.

I’m going for those subtle and sometimes not so subtle “dirty” tones he was using on songs like:
Minglewood, Samson, Passenger, Miracle, Hell In A Bucket, and so on.

I just got one of these and it is absolutely killing it for Jerry tone. Beautiful medium gain tube saturation with edge of breakup. I am a huge fan of tubes. I also run the Earth Drive through a tube bypass on another pedal and it absolutely smokes for Jerry, including early 70s because it sounds like a pushed clean tube amp.



But yeah I’m running that through the clean channel of the Blackbird for OD on my upstairs rig and kills!

LazyLightning72 wrote:Thank you all for the helpful input/suggestions

As far as what I play, it’s nearly always Dead, I’d say 98% of my playing is Dead, with an emphasis on Jerry.

I’m not bashing the MXR Dist. +, it’s a nice pedal.

I’m going for those subtle and sometimes not so subtle “dirty” tones he was using on songs like:
Minglewood, Samson, Passenger, Miracle, Hell In A Bucket, and so on.

Well then, just get yourself an OD 1 and an OD2r and be done with it. It is what Jerry used, and they are awesome overdrives.

Searing75 wrote:

LazyLightning72 wrote:Thank you all for the helpful input/suggestions

As far as what I play, it’s nearly always Dead, I’d say 98% of my playing is Dead, with an emphasis on Jerry.

I’m not bashing the MXR Dist. +, it’s a nice pedal.

I’m going for those subtle and sometimes not so subtle “dirty” tones he was using on songs like:
Minglewood, Samson, Passenger, Miracle, Hell In A Bucket, and so on.

Well then, just get yourself an OD 1 and an OD2r and be done with it. It is what Jerry used, and they are awesome overdrives.

Lol, at some point he swapped out the OD-1 for an HM-2, if you can believe that, for those really gnarly 1989 or so Hell In a Bucket/Miracle, etc. Can't really believe he'd use a pedal that can be pretty bad sounding and associated mostly with metal, but it's documented in a few places. And yeah, that's obviously not an OD.

The Solar Flare or a good fuzz pedal will also do the gnarlier Jerry tones.
A lot of your choice depends on the sound/feel you are looking for. Jerry was playing at extremely high volumes which had a huge impact on his tone. He was using th “tube screamer” type Boss pedals to push his amp into breakup territory. This isn’t really possible for bedroom players. Without the high volume the tube screamer pedals will dominate you signal chain. They are not transparent at all and they will swallow the whole signal. You can still get the “sound” of Jerry but you can’t really get the “tone” and “feel.”
That is why I prefer more transparent options and tubes. They tend to allow the signal if the pickups and guitar to come through while still pushing the amp into breakup and giving you a natural feel under your fingers. This works for me at bedroom levels.
One of the benefits of having a preamp/power amp setup is that you can crank the preamp and keep the power amp reasonable therefor pushing the signal of the preamp into higher gain without it being super duper loud. (Still needs to be reasonably loud). With a combo amp it’s tougher.
One option would be to consider getting an attenuator (like a Weber) for your DR so that you can crank it up a bit but still lower the volume. I bet you could get some pretty awesome Jerry tones from
Just doing that.

wpmartin1979 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 2:07 pm I just got one of these and it is absolutely killing it for Jerry tone.

I had a B.K. Butler Real Tube unit for many years. At one point, I replaced the stock 12AX7 with a 12AU7 and it entered Blue Tube territory. I sold it after acquiring my Fulltone Fulldrive 2.