Looking for a good sounding od/distortion

[Vince Caruana]

I have an evh 5150 od. I run it through a 2x12 Peavey Vypyr on my clean channel. It's a great sounding pedal but in order to get it to really scream I have to run a clean boost on my amp. Most guitars it's not an issue but my ESP sounds like shit on the clean channel. I'm looking for something to give me a tube kind of feel just running off my clean channel. I live in a town home so a head isn't really practical so just working with what I got. I'd appreciate some suggestions! I've been eying the precision drive but idk if I wanna drop the money on it.

 

[makecamera]

Revv G3.

 

[ATRguitar91]

Precision Drive is nice but won't have nearly enough gain to use as a standalone distortion. An overdrive might be useful to run into the 5150 pedal to tighten things up though.

What about your ESP sounds bad? If your other guitars sound good I'd adjust the EQ on the amp or pedal first.

If you're just looking for a different sound into your clean channel, there are a ton of cool options out there: Amptweaker Tight Metal (I recommend the Pro for the built in boost), Revv G3, ISP Theta, AMT Legends pedals, Megalith Delta, Empress Heavy, Wampler Triple Wreck.

 

[Vince Caruana]

Precision Drive is nice but won't have nearly enough gain to use as a standalone distortion. An overdrive might be useful to run into the 5150 pedal to tighten things up though.


What about your ESP sounds bad? If your other guitars sound good I'd adjust the EQ on the amp or pedal first.

If you're just looking for a different sound into your clean channel, there are a ton of cool options out there: Amptweaker Tight Metal (I recommend the Pro for the built in boost), Revv G3, ISP Theta, AMT Legends pedals, Megalith Delta, Empress Heavy, Wampler Triple Wreck.

We'll my other guitars have 707s and the 57/66-8s. I think the pickups I've used in my esp are just a little more gainy then I'm used to. I've used the 81/85 and the JL blackouts in the ESP (great pickups btw). Never starting having issues really until I added that clean boost to have the 5150 od sound good. I could get a foot switch to change channels but I really don't want to have to use and od and a foot switch just to switch between two sounds I want yah know?

 

[makecamera]

We'll my other guitars have 707s and the 57/66-8s. I think the pickups I've used in my esp are just a little more gainy then I'm used to. I've used the 81/85 and the JL blackouts in the ESP (great pickups btw). Never starting having issues really until I added that clean boost to have the 5150 od sound good. I could get a foot switch to change channels but I really don't want to have to use and od and a foot switch just to switch between two sounds I want yah know?

There are blurry lines between the Overdrive/Distortion/Preamp definititions and their respective physical counterparts, but if you want to go from crystal cleans to brutal distortion with one footswitch press, you generally want a high gain distortion pedal / preamp, not an overdrive pedal. I.e. @ATRguitar91 's suggested list above. Also, add the Revv G4 (different flavor) and Horizon Devices Apex (not sure if these are out yet).

 

[Vince Caruana]

There are blurry lines between the Overdrive/Distortion/Preamp definititions and their respective physical counterparts, but if you want to go from crystal cleans to brutal distortion with one footswitch press, you generally want a high gain distortion pedal / preamp, not an overdrive pedal. I.e. @ATRguitar91 's suggested list above. Also, add the Revv G4 (different flavor) and Horizon Devices Apex (not sure if these are out yet).

Yea man I was leaning more towards that apex eq when i found out about it but I didn't know if that was what I would need

 

[budda]

Are you playing this setup live?

Also yeah - write down your settings, then run the 5150 without clean boost (as it seems this worked before) into the amp, and write down those settings.

Then adjust your settings and pedals depending which guitar you're using.

 

[KailM]

When I had that amp I found that it didn't take any boost/distortion pedals well at all. It wasn't designed for it and it wouldn't respond the way tubes do when you push them. The 6505 and Rec models sounded pretty damn good on their own, without using the digital "TS" boost (it already sounded like a boosted 6505 without anything else added).

If you're after the '5150' tone it seems like you're going to an awful lot of trouble just to end up with a tone that the amp can already do on its own and maybe even better. Use the 6505 model.

As a side note, I bought the Vypyr years ago because I kept hearing how much "better" modelers sounded at low volumes. Nope. My real 6505+ kicked its ass at low volumes and at high volumes it blew it out the window.

 

[Vince Caruana]

When I had that amp I found that it didn't take any boost/distortion pedals well at all. It wasn't designed for it and it wouldn't respond the way tubes do when you push them. The 6505 and Rec models sounded pretty damn good on their own, without using the digital "TS" boost (it already sounded like a boosted 6505 without anything else added).

If you're after the '5150' tone it seems like you're going to an awful lot of trouble just to end up with a tone that the amp can already do on its own and maybe even better. Use the 6505 model.

As a side note, I bought the Vypyr years ago because I kept hearing how much "better" modelers sounded at low volumes. Nope. My real 6505+ kicked its ass at low volumes and at high volumes it blew it out the window.

I'm not really crazy on the higher gain amp models on there man. I usually play it at pretty low volume though because of neighbors and all that. I think it sounds pretty good as far as my distortion it's just a bitch trying to get the best of both worlds. I'd kill for a 6505+ with a mesa cab.

 

[ATRguitar91]

I keep recommending this but I think it's solid advice, especially considering your situation: grab a 112 or 212 used locally, then get a pedal power amp like the Magnum 44 or Quilter Microblock. You can do this pretty cheap going all used.

You can then use your 5150 OD as your preamp and I imagine it'd sound better than your current rig. This also provides a lot of expansion potential in the future as you can get a bigger power amp, different preamps, or grab a full head to use with the cab. You won't have a great clean channel but you could keep your Vypyr for that.

It'll sound good at low volumes and should provide enough juice for jamming or smaller gigs.

 

[Bentaycanada]

I have an evh 5150 od. I run it through a 2x12 Peavey Vypyr on my clean channel. It's a great sounding pedal but in order to get it to really scream I have to run a clean boost on my amp. Most guitars it's not an issue but my ESP sounds like shit on the clean channel. I'm looking for something to give me a tube kind of feel just running off my clean channel. I live in a town home so a head isn't really practical so just working with what I got. I'd appreciate some suggestions! I've been eying the precision drive but idk if I wanna drop the money on it.

I take it you're talking about the MXR 5150 Overdrive pedal?
That thing screams, and is one of the best distortion pedals I've played.
It ain't the pedal that needs help, it's that terrible amp.
Get a new amp, heck look for a better Peavey, like a Bandit or Valveking.

 

[Vince Caruana]

I take it you're talking about the MXR 5150 Overdrive pedal?
That thing screams, and is one of the best distortion pedals I've played.
It ain't the pedal that needs help, it's that terrible amp.
Get a new amp, heck look for a better Peavey, like a Bandit or Valveking.

Trust me man I know. It's the best pedal I've ever used to get distortion. Just doesn't work great with this amp. And your completely right, it is this amp lol. They just don't seem to have alot of great lower volume options. I might pick up a mini 6505 or a minI dual rec down the road.

 

[budda]

Anything with a master volume is a low volume option.

Or you get your ideal amp and a two notes torpedo and go.

 

[Spinedriver]

I have the 5150 OD as well and I have tried putting a bunch of different od pedals in front to 'boost' it but never got any result that was any better than just engaging the onboard 'boost' button. It always ends up sounding a bit boomy or mushy so I don't know if it's the pedal itself or how I had the od's set up.

 

[laxu]

Trust me man I know. It's the best pedal I've ever used to get distortion. Just doesn't work great with this amp. And your completely right, it is this amp lol. They just don't seem to have alot of great lower volume options. I might pick up a mini 6505 or a minI dual rec down the road.

I’ve had better luck with 50-100W amps turned down when it comes to getting great ton$s at lower volume. Ignore power, go try some amps. Buy the one that sounds best at the volumes you can use.

 

[Wolfhorsky]

Friedman BE-OD. Simple as that.

 

[Bentaycanada]

Trust me man I know. It's the best pedal I've ever used to get distortion. Just doesn't work great with this amp. And your completely right, it is this amp lol. They just don't seem to have alot of great lower volume options. I might pick up a mini 6505 or a minI dual rec down the road.

In my experience distortion / od pedals just don't work well into digital amps, outside of the Axe Fx, Helix, Atomic, Kemper realm. I tried running pedals into old Line 6 combos and it just didn't work.
For the pedal you have, which is a GREAT pedal, even an SS combo would be worth looking at. Cheaper SS Peaveys are great amps, and too often overlooked.

As said above, maybe even an EHX 44 Magnum power amp pedal, or Mooer Baby Bomb power amp pedal. I used the EHX with my 5150 Overdrive pedal before, they worked great together. The Baby Bomb can be had for less than $100 I think.

 

[lurè]

yeah the vypyr isn't a good pedal platform in general.
It is designed to work with the built in fx and stompboxes and, while some of them are horrendous, some fx are nice.
The 6505 amp sim is pretty good sounding.

Also I don't understand why you are looking for a mini 6505 or mini recto to use with your OD.
If you like the evh 5150 distortion, why not looking for a evh 5150 lbx ?