- the 5F6 had to be dialled in as bright as possible to match the tube preamp, leaving "nowhere to go" in terms of adjusting to a room etc.
- the Analog Drive was a touch noisy, cannot cascade multiple gain models, and doesn't have a big muff
- Fredric Effects Regent 150: This is my "clean channel", with plenty of headroom and powerful enough EQ to match and exceed the range of the Kraken. I'm not pushing it hard so it sounds quite neutral really; but it's compact, easy to use, looks great, with good build quality.
- Fredric Effects Zombie Klone: It's a Klone, and supposedly a pretty good one. I set it up as a compromise between delivering a nice TS-like filter/boost into gain channels and working as an alternative crunch channel into the Regent 150.
- Fredric Effects Grumbly Wolf: Basically a DOD250/D+ and Green Ringer 2-in-one. With the ringer off it gives some different gain tones, but mostly I have it as a "holy #%*^ button" with the ringer on.
- Morningstar ML5: MIDI loop switcher, controlled from the HX effects. Compact and easy to use. A big part of what makes this board so great is that I put the HX effects (input and effects send) into an ML5 loop. After the dirt pedals we go to preamp section, then back into HX effects for cab IR and post-FX. This means I can bypass one set of ADC/DAC if not using any HX pre-effects. This has a very noticeable effect on the noise floor!
- Fredric Effects Accomplished Badger mk1: LOVE this thing. Three gain stages, three knobs, the middle stage is grungy germanium. I have it set to break up a little and provide a little boost; running this into the Regent 150 gives my clean channel a bit of texture and compression, running it into the Kraken gives some fat lead gain. Pushing it with other pedals goes into squishy fuzz territory.
- Fredric Effects Green Russian: compact Russian Big Muff clone. I wouldn't mind if the tone knob range worked differently, I have it nearly all the way open to get the sizzle I want - but even then there is a solid low end. Compared to traditional fuzz pedals it handles dissonant chords really well, which I think is a general property of muff pedals. Also fantastic on bass, obviously.
And here are the other pedals accumulated in that time:
- Boss SD-1: The classic alternative tubescreamer. Used before buying the Klone; honestly it's just as good running into gain, but I like the Klone texture better when running into clean.
- Digitech Hardwire SC-2: Marshall-y distortion box. Fabulous build quality, I'd been hoping for a sort of DS-1++ but the character is a bit different. It sounds nicer than a DS-1 but that's not always helpful. Doesn't quite fit my palette, but likeable nonetheless.
- AMT V1: This was my clean channel in-between the 5F6 and Regent 150. I'm wondering about swapping back actually, because you can limit the headroom by balancing the gain/volume controls and that would help keep my levels more consistent.
- Fredric Unpleasant Companion v2: I'd hoped this would be a good "holy #$%^ button" but it's kinda fussy and that's not what you need when rocking out. The "fuzz" control is very subtle, and the mid-scoop pot has 90% of the action at one end of its range. It does the volume-knob-cleanup thing and a pretty unique honky sound, so intend to keep it around for studio solos and overdubs.
- Domovoi Aggressive Repulsive Disorder: This OCD-derived bass distortion was made by one of my fave bands with appropriate artwork. It has an interesting mix control design that includes some filtering to approximate the classic distorted bass parallel chain.
- Boss OD-3: Very different from SD-1: it cuts the lows a bit but not as much and adds a nice bright Marshall-y crunch. My board doesn't need that, but I like it on synths.
- Digitech Hardwire CM-2: Now this is a Tubescreamer++, or a Bad Monkey+. It's slightly more complicated to dial in than the SD-1 (or a TS808), but that flexibility makes it superb for bass guitar as a thick low-end can be recovered. I'd recommend it to anyone that likes the sound of tubescreamer saturation but not the filtering - basically the opposite of how most people use them
- Devi Ever Aenima: So much hiss. Nice texture for guitar solo. Monstrous on percussion loops. Keep for studio
- DIY rat/green ringer combination, already posted to KVR. I ended up using the grumbly wolf on my board as it does the same job and is much faster to dial in. But this is very versatile, could also go in the mid-boost-OD slot if necessary.
) are minimal so far: wah and fuzz (WD7 and Stone Bender).
