The best dirty clean tone overdrive?

[rustywire]

I will+1 the HP set low/hi. I have built Percolator circuits with lower gain transistors and 2n7000's in the clipping section which have a wonderful sounding cleanish-dirtyish setting. Here is an example. Playing starts at about 1:20.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iqTHQcGYc8[/youtube]

I would suggest having somebody in the Shark Tank build you a one trick pony pedal that just does the cleanish distortion thing. Not a lot of knobs, not a lot of versatility, just one good sound.

Steampunkish HP-ish, DM-3, frankenstrat, lil badass combo amp, ribbon mic...nice

What I like most about the HP's character is how it amplifies what you already have...retaining so much of your guitar & amp's character...adding more harmonic distortion not just the clipping peaks...which it also does with extreme aggression if desired.
Also how sensitive the strings respond when it's in the circuit. I've yet to feel another fuzz, overdrive or distortion pedal so open & dynamic at the input...yet capable of squashing things into a saturated roaring wall of noise. The gtr-vol-knob-rollback is legendary.

[SoaringTortoise]

I will+1 the HP set low/hi. I have built Percolator circuits with lower gain transistors and 2n7000's in the clipping section which have a wonderful sounding cleanish-dirtyish setting. Here is an example. Playing starts at about 1:20.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iqTHQcGYc8[/youtube]

I would suggest having somebody in the Shark Tank build you a one trick pony pedal that just does the cleanish distortion thing. Not a lot of knobs, not a lot of versatility, just one good sound.

Steampunkish HP-ish, DM-3, frankenstrat, lil badass combo amp, ribbon mic...nice

What I like most about the HP's character is how it amplifies what you already have...retaining so much of your guitar & amp's character...adding more harmonic distortion not just the clipping peaks...which it also does with extreme aggression if desired.
Also how sensitive the strings respond when it's in the circuit. I've yet to feel another fuzz, overdrive or distortion pedal so open & dynamic at the input...yet capable of squashing things into a saturated roaring wall of noise. The gtr-vol-knob-rollback is legendary.

Yeah, I think my favorite thing about the HP is it's sensitivity to the guitars volume control. It can do a very decent sparkly clean to soaring harmonic mayhem with the twist of the guitar volume. Thanks for the props on my video set-up. Had to stop using the ribbon mic, after several years or regular use it started to get a little floppy sounding. I have to figure out how to tune it up.

[hbombgraphics]

I have all the ones you're looking at and honestly, they're all great. Work great at volume and they record nicely too. It more depends on the exact feature set you are after as to which to choose, or perhaps what "secondary" or "extended" features you want.
Fuck - crackle
Mini - eq, gets fuzzy
Fairfield - simplicity

Heisenberg - 3 very different flavours of od with some fancy tech and very simple interface
Elements - clean blend, insane gain range, clipping and eq options
Demo tape - huge volume. Super clean to tape input blowing up.

Turn you have fuzzes that do lofi od as well.
Fuzzhugger Arc Flash - goes from clean to amp melting. For real. It sounds like an amp melting. A very true name.
Fuzzhugger suneater - with low gain mod this is a lovely od, but doesn't get as clean as the others.

All of them can do hifi or lofi. All except the barbershop get real dirty.
All are great.

Easy choice huh

the arc flash is a great choice

add lumpy's lemon drop to your list, does a great cleanish dirty amp sound

[ThurberMingus]

I use a Klone. I play wannabe Sonic Youth all the time!

But Fuck. It's soooooo goooooood. If you can get me one, you can get you one (thanks again by the way, you're the best!)

I was doing some ambient drones today with my SK-1 and iPad and I ran everything into the Fuck with the gain set low and it was beautiful, how I imagine tape saturation to sound. You can turn it up and make everything become beautiful liquid goo. Truly fantastic pedal.

Refer to my Instagram account for a clip!

[DRodriguez]

I will+1 the HP set low/hi. I have built Percolator circuits with lower gain transistors and 2n7000's in the clipping section which have a wonderful sounding cleanish-dirtyish setting. Here is an example. Playing starts at about 1:20.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iqTHQcGYc8

I would suggest having somebody in the Shark Tank build you a one trick pony pedal that just does the cleanish distortion thing. Not a lot of knobs, not a lot of versatility, just one good sound.

Love me some percolation. That one is particularly cool. The only problem is I love me my knobs. The more knobs I have available, the happier I am. Just because I rarely actually go back and want to repeat a sound exactly, I'll get tired of it and want something similar but different.

the arc flash is a great choice

add lumpy's lemon drop to your list, does a great cleanish dirty amp sound

Man, been listening to demos of that arc flash, and it sounds lovely. I hate how there are all these hidden pedals on Fuzzhugger's site with no easy way to find. I wasn't even aware it existed, but it says I can buy it now.

But Fuck. It's soooooo goooooood. If you can get me one, you can get you one (thanks again by the way, you're the best!)

I was doing some ambient drones today with my SK-1 and iPad and I ran everything into the Fuck with the gain set low and it was beautiful, how I imagine tape saturation to sound. You can turn it up and make everything become beautiful liquid goo. Truly fantastic pedal.

Refer to my Instagram account for a clip!

No matter what pedal I'm about to buy, I always end up judging wether I want it or the Fuck. I really should just pull the trigger one of these days.
Rad Instagram clip.

[goroth]

Get the clipping/gain toggle thing on a footswitch. Re: arc flash. That'd be rad.

[frigid midget]

I'd say fuck ilf cred, and look into boss/mxr/ehx for slightly dirty cleans
Nothing against all these sweet $200 fuzz peddles, they look awesome in the "show your pedalboard" threads and all. But for what you're describing, I'd say a Rat, dist+, or somesort of OCD clone should easily be able to get close enough without breaking the bank, and witout having to mod anything
Dunno, maybe I'm just not that picky or something

Having said that, I guess my Hotcake is stricly speaking also sorta "boutique"
Doesn't have a clean blend or anything, but dialed in for semi dirty tones, it's warm and slightly crunchy without messing too much with your clean tone, or at least not in an unpleasant way

[MEC]

I use the Fuck or the dirt on the RM-1N.
Demo Tape & Black Forest work pretty good as well.
The Barbershop sounds good but was a little too "pristine" for me.