Direct Drive in Limbo...caught in the middle

[Ephes6]

Hi fellow Barber Aficionados,

I have a dilemma and wondering if you can offer some insight? I like my DD but cannot find the right spot for it on my pedal board - tonally.

Currently my only two dirt boxes are the DD and an Alums mod SD-1. I need a nice lower gain OD as the SD-1 is not clear enough and too middy for me. Honestly, I only see that as a good mid/fat boost or full on Screamer application pedal. I lack a real nice clear subtle break-up gain tone as I run my Fender Humboldt Hot Rod Blue's Jr. clean.

I am looking for 3 level gain solution that will get me from low gain to high gain. Should I....

Option 1 - buy an LTD and use the DD for medium to high gain. The SD-1 can be boost for either.
Option 2 - Use the DD as lower gain and buy a Small Fry for high gain?
Option 3 - Buy a Half Gainer to go from clean boost with a little hair, medium gain on channel two and DD for high gain. The SD-1 can be a designated TS application pedal, mid/fat boost or whatever...maybe off the board.

By the way, when engaging the second channel of the Half Gainer, does that stack or switch over from the first channel? Do you find the Half Gainer to be a transparent and clear as the LTD?

Appreciate your expertise.

Mike

[78deluxe]

I would pick Option 3, but a fairly wide margin personally.

The Half Gainer I find to be more versatile than the LTD. The LTD tone and transparency is there, but you have the ability to adjust the mids to taste (as the manual says it takes you from LTD SR > LTD Silver in tone by adjusting the knob). Thus mitigating the dilemma of which LTD version to get.

I love the Half Gainer for the clean/little hair switch to more gain option, this pedal really excels at that.

The channels do not stack, they switch between two settings. But with the DD in the mix you could stack it with either channel really adding to the versatility of your set up.

Though it does have a different application, but you might just find your SD-1wouldn't be needed.

[Ephes6]

78deluxe - wonderful response. Greatly appreciated. MIke

[78deluxe]

78deluxe - wonderful response. Greatly appreciated. MIke

Hi Mike, my pleasure, I hope my personal observations ring true for you as well.

[Ephes6]

78deluxe - wonderful response. Greatly appreciated. MIke

Hi Mike, my pleasure, I hope my personal observations ring true for you as well.

I know this pedal is a different beast altogether, but these are the type of low gain tones that I am trying to achieve. Will the Half Gainer get me in the ball park? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNfNlcWISlg

Thanks again,
Mike

[78deluxe]

Its hard to say. I've seen that video before and I like the tones too.

That being said, I always have a hard time translating what a pedal really sounds like from a YouTube demo (very compressed sound, unknown sound source/recording...gear I'm not using guitar/amp/mics/cables, etc).

I have not played through an Ecstasy but I would think it would get you in the "ballpark" just because it is a transparent drive with some EQ control, and you are shooting for low gain, assuming you are going through a clean amp.

To my ear, the Wampler in the demo, sounds a little more "Small Fry-sh" set very low gain than the Half-Gainer does in the mid-range. I'm guessing the Wampler is tighter in the low end than the Half-Gainer also, just judging by the video.

I wish I had 1st hand experience with the Wampler, so I'm limited to nothing more than conjecture based on what I'm perceiving in the compressed video.

[Ephes6]

78deluxe:

A very thorough and valid response. Thank you once again.

Mike

[fatteletom]

I have a DD SS, SF, and Half-Gainer, and I'd probably say go for the Half-Gainer for the reasons noted above. I think it's probably also a better choice for the range of gains used in the majority of that Ecstasy demo.

I would agree that the Small Fry can do that sort of thing at lower settings, and is probably the better choice for the higher-gain tones at the end of the Ecstasy video, but for the bulk of it, and for what you describe in terms of a nice clear low-gain OD, I think the H-G would be a great choice. The mids knob and the "bi-directional" nature of the tone knob really give you a lot of easy flexibility in terms of dialing in clarity or fuller midrange.

I love the SF, and it is very versatile--it can get cleaner than the DD for example. But there's a lot of overlap with the DD in terms of the overall gain ranges. So, if it were me, I'd keep the DD and add the H-G. You'll have a ton of options between the two pedals on their own (your "option 3"), and even more when you consider the options of stacking them in either direction.

For example, you can put the DD before the H-G and use it as a nice fat boost or overdrive into the two H-G settings, much as if you were running the DD into an overdriven amp. Or, run it the other way with the H-G first--this gives you two low gain options with the H-G alone, a higher gain option with the DD, and a "more" option (actually two "more" options) when you stack the H-G into the DD.

I love the Small Fry, and it might be the one of the three I'd keep as a desert island choice, but given you already have the DD, and are looking for lower gain, the H-G seems the way to go to me.

Tom

[Ephes6]

Thanks Tom for a very excellent reply.