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Hey, it's been waaaaaay too long since my last post here (been lurking occasionally ), i had a daughter and disconnected from the gear world for like 1 year or more..

Anyway: i need a low-gain overdrive with tons of headroom and top mounted jacks. Right now i'm using an old OCD version powered 18v and i'm totally good with it, but i'm kinda reassembling all of my board and i need to save precious space.. Any suggestions of similar stuff?

i've tried all kinds of OD but never found something similar with such little/no compression.

Thanks!

I've got zero experience with 'em myself, but I would think that there should be something that fits yer descrption in the Earthquaker Devices catalogue.
Fwiw, they all have top mounted jacks. Westwood might be a good example, though I don't think it's quit as gainy as the OCD.

What about something like the EAE µ Blaster or Wren and Cuff Two Five Drive-Boost? (Although, the Wren and Cuff doesn't have the top jacks. If you really want one, maybe they'd build you a custom one with top jacks?)

Dr. Scientist The Elements also work with 18v.

frigid midget wrote:I've got zero experience with 'em myself, but I would think that there should be something that fits yer descrption in the Earthquaker Devices catalogue.
Fwiw, they all have top mounted jacks. Westwood might be a good example, though I don't think it's quit as gainy as the OCD.

Yeah, last week was checking the Dunes, in particular the "None" clipping voice could be what i need. I'd love to hear some impression from somebody who has/had it.
I heard some clips of the Westwood but it didn't impress me.

Chankgeez wrote:What about something like the EAE µ Blaster or Wren and Cuff Two Five Drive-Boost? (Although, the Wren and Cuff doesn't have the top jacks. If you really want one, maybe they'd build you a custom one with top jacks?)

Didn't know about the µ Blaster, tonight i'm checking it out, thanks!

sylnau wrote:Dr. Scientist The Elements also work with 18v.

Tried it in the past but didn't fit in my setup at the time, maybe i should check it again.

Get someone to rehouse an OCD for you in a top mounted enclosure.

Maybe Acid Splash (jwar).

Dunes seems like the option you're after (though I don't have one currently - only a Palisades, long ago), but I wonder if the 18V OCD is more applicable to the headroom issue overall, which would lead me to recommend the Seymour Duncan 805 (a klon variant, however), which has tops jacks & can be run at 18V, and is still relatively cheaper than a Bondi, maybe even the EQD

You could try a lpb-1. Get someone to build you an ocd with a 9v\18v toggle, I'll throw my hat into the ring. Hell, you could throw both in one box

Don't those drives with nanotechnology have less compression naturally? I can't remember the brand that uses them (besides the Dr. Scientist Heisenberg which is a good choice) but they sound cool.

eqd gray channel - both sides have a high headroom option with the toggles in the middle
hudson broadcast - can run it anywhere from 9-24v, trimpots inside to set the max gain amount for both modes. also a gnarly fuzz in hi gain mode.

Dunwich DA120 goes to 18 volts and can be pretty clean or an all out gain monster. The separate knobs for boost, drive, and gain make it pretty versatile.

Thanks for the amount of suggestions guys.
Yesterday i've checked a bunch of demos of those. So far i've excluded Bondi effects and the Broadcast for the big size (too bad because the Broadcast really sounded good to my ears).
From what i heard the Gray Channel could be good, but i fear it cuts off some frequencies exactly where i need to.. there's a shop here in town that should have it in stock, i'm going to give it a try.

DRodriguez wrote:You could try a lpb-1. Get someone to build you an ocd with a 9v\18v toggle, I'll throw my hat into the ring. Hell, you could throw both in one box

sylnau wrote:Get someone to rehouse an OCD for you in a top mounted enclosure.

Maybe Acid Splash (jwar).

Rehousing was my first thought, got to find somebody who does it here.
Too bad i'm in Europe and Jwar is on the other side of the ocean.

The no diodes setting on the Gray Channel is huge sounding, not to mention a shit ton louder than any of the other diode settings on the pedal—so much that switching to the setting from another can be a bit dangerous for your amp if you've got the level set too high.

I just picked mine up the other day after not playing it for quite a while, and was quickly reminded that it's a damn fine pedal.

Edit: oh and it's probably the same size as the Broadcast, just a little more vertically oriented.

Also, just had to ask...Ever try an harmonic percolator? There's plenty of good clones out there these days, I'm sure there's at least one with top mounted jacks and a diode switch. It's surprisingly good at medium gain overdrive tasks. Doesn't give you the Marshall-y high gain crunch of the OCD though. For that sort of thing, I'm using a DOD Gunslinger (no top jacks).

sylnau wrote:Dr. Scientist The Elements also work with 18v.

Yep. On 9V it has lots of headroom. On 18 it has super lots. Not even jwar with his insane output basses can defeat it.