OD-808 vs. MXR 10 Band EQ

[MiSeRY]

So, I'm picking up my Roadster combo this weekend and was going to go ahead and pick up either a Maxon OD-808 AND an MXR EQ or maybe just one of them for now. I've heard many people on this forum talking about how much more focused these options can make an amp. Having always played Dual Recs and tested plenty of Roadsters, I know they can still use a little tightening up on the bottom end. Would you guys suggest using one, the other or both of these pedals? I know people like the guitarists from Killswitch say that the OD-808 is their secret weapon but then other people on here say that throwing an EQ in the loop has no equal. Thoughts?

 

[gearboy]

Get them both! I have the Maxon in front and the MXR in the loop....

 

[stompboxfreak72]

Get them both! I have the Maxon in front and the MXR in the loop....

+1. I use an MXR 10 band eq and a Maxon OD-9 tubescreamer. Gotta have em both ! Hell, buy 2 of each........

 

[Zoomzilla]

I have the MXR in the loop and plan on adding the 808 in the future. It was one or the other for me and I went with the EQ first because I wanted to tighten it up some first, then add the OD. If money was not an option, I would have done both in a second.

 

[MiSeRY]

that's some good advice. for those of you that use both, is there a big difference in what they do together? i always thought that since most people use the Maxon to tighten up and focus the amp (not really using the gain), that it would do similar things as the MXR does.

 

[stompboxfreak72]

Im no tone guru but I know what I like. I think an EQ will give you more tone shaping abilities. I like to run the gain on my DR low so that I can crank the Tubescreamer and get that " mid hump" boost that Tubescreamers are famous for. I seriously just bought the MXR EQ a few weeks ago and I have played 3 gigs with it and I never turn it off. I wonder how on Earth I ever played without it.

If you can only get one effect I suggest the EQ. For a really great, cheap OD pedal pick up a Digitech Bad Monkey instead of the Maxon for now. That cheap little ugly green box is really a much better OD than a lot of boutique pedals I have owned.

Keep us posted !

 

[Mr.Hetfield]

Both.. end of story.

 

[MiSeRY]

guess i'll just have to pick up both then!

 

[wildrat666]

have em both but I only use the od-808 for a little tightness and more saturation. don t need the eq, the roadster is easy to dial in. good luck

 

[MiSeRY]

have em both but I only use the od-808 for a little tightness and more saturation. don t need the eq, the roadster is easy to dial in. good luck

i was playing around on my buddy's last night through 2 Mesa Stiletto cabs and it was still a little flabby...reminiscent of the Dual Rec. Everyone has been saying to use an Eq in the loop to pull out the 200khz (??) frequency that tends to make things get flabby. I just want it tight with pretty much zero breakup.

 

[Zoomzilla]

Yes, turn up the 100's and turn down the 200's and you get the famous chugga chugga without the mud! You will love the EQ. I cannot speak for the OD yet since I don't have it, but I know I will freak when I get it. The EQ did wonders for my tone, it made me love my amp. I was questioning why I bought a DR before the EQ. Now you would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands! Also, when I did the series loop mod, that made a big difference as well. Not saying you HAVE to do it, but it really made the EQ sound better.

 

[JF Omalycat]

Yes, turn up the 100's and turn down the 200's and you get the famous chugga chugga without the mud! You will love the EQ. I cannot speak for the OD yet since I don't have it, but I know I will freak when I get it. The EQ did wonders for my tone, it made me love my amp. I was questioning why I bought a DR before the EQ. Now you would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands! Also, when I did the series loop mod, that made a big difference as well. Not saying you HAVE to do it, but it really made the EQ sound better.

Careful with that 100 htz, though. It's a fine line between chugga-chugga and whoompa-whoompa. My two cats decided to have a rumble right on top of my pedal board one day, and inadvertently maxed my EQ. I went chugging into my gain channel with the output pretty high and **** near blew my speaker.
Stupid cats.

 

[playdosboogies]

When i played mostly mesas in my setups, i would at least use a tubescreamer type pedal in front to get at least a little tightness. Once i put a rack eq in the loop, i couldnt play without it anymore...Too much tweaking and too little playing though led me to other amps that were more plug-n-play.

 

[Zoomzilla]

Yes, turn up the 100's and turn down the 200's and you get the famous chugga chugga without the mud! You will love the EQ. I cannot speak for the OD yet since I don't have it, but I know I will freak when I get it. The EQ did wonders for my tone, it made me love my amp. I was questioning why I bought a DR before the EQ. Now you would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands! Also, when I did the series loop mod, that made a big difference as well. Not saying you HAVE to do it, but it really made the EQ sound better.

Careful with that 100 htz, though. It's a fine line between chugga-chugga and whoompa-whoompa. My two cats decided to have a rumble right on top of my pedal board one day, and inadvertently maxed my EQ. I went chugging into my gain channel with the output pretty high and **** near blew my speaker.
Stupid cats.

Oh, I hear you. I usually run my knobs flat in front except for bass which I turn down, then I give a few DB shift in the EQ for the 100 and a few DB shift for the 200. I can hear cone breakup pretty well, so I would know if I am going to damage my poor little greenies!

 

[jdurso]

have em both but I only use the od-808 for a little tightness and more saturation. don t need the eq, the roadster is easy to dial in. good luck

i was playing around on my buddy's last night through 2 Mesa Stiletto cabs and it was still a little flabby...reminiscent of the Dual Rec. Everyone has been saying to use an Eq in the loop to pull out the 200khz (??) frequency that tends to make things get flabby. I just want it tight with pretty much zero breakup.

i think there is a setting right out of the manual you'd like.... i think its channel 4 with atlantic blues??? it something like modern, bold, 100w, silicone diodes, gain at 9 oclock, master at 12, cant remember the rest but its a very very dry, tight crunch with very little saturation.... its still heavy but more like vht heavy.... i found if you keep your master at like 10 oclock, and push your output to say 9 oclock you get a very Master of Puppets/AJFA type rhythm crunch.... i found most of those settings in the roadster manual to be excellent

 

[Newysurfer]

Yes, turn up the 100's and turn down the 200's and you get the famous chugga chugga without the mud! You will love the EQ. I cannot speak for the OD yet since I don't have it, but I know I will freak when I get it. The EQ did wonders for my tone, it made me love my amp. I was questioning why I bought a DR before the EQ. Now you would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands! Also, when I did the series loop mod, that made a big difference as well. Not saying you HAVE to do it, but it really made the EQ sound better.

+1
but I'd add that an MXR EQ pedal will do similar to any amp - not just a DR. A Series Loop really helps though. I have the 6-band MXR EQ pedal. it not only improves the tone & adds a huge amount of tonal versatility to the amp but it's also perfect as a clean boost for solo's.

 

[MiSeRY]

So I picked up the Roadster combo AND an MXR 10 band. The one thing I can say so far is that the EQ really does do wonders. That being said, the EQ is noisy as all hell on channels 3 and 4, so I put my NS-2 in the loop. That seemed to fix that problem but then my Les Paul was noisy as hell out front. I know this sounds like overkill but I was thinking about getting another NS-2 to throw in the front..is this crazy?

Secondly, to those of you that use the MXR and the OD-808, what does the OD do that the MXR doesn't? I mean, the MXR made SUCH a difference, I can't imagine the OD doing that much more for the pricetag.

Thanks

 

[Zoomzilla]

So I picked up the Roadster combo AND an MXR 10 band. The one thing I can say so far is that the EQ really does do wonders. That being said, the EQ is noisy as all hell on channels 3 and 4, so I put my NS-2 in the loop. That seemed to fix that problem but then my Les Paul was noisy as hell out front. I know this sounds like overkill but I was thinking about getting another NS-2 to throw in the front..is this crazy?

Secondly, to those of you that use the MXR and the OD-808, what does the OD do that the MXR doesn't? I mean, the MXR made SUCH a difference, I can't imagine the OD doing that much more for the pricetag.

Thanks

That is odd the EQ is noisy in your loop. I don't even hear mine. I run an ISP Decimator out front and just the EQ in the loop. I tried adding the ISP in the loop, but the amp rejected it. You could use another gate out front, or you could try something like an ISP G-string I think it's called that can be used up front AND in the loop.

 

[MiSeRY]

So I picked up the Roadster combo AND an MXR 10 band. The one thing I can say so far is that the EQ really does do wonders. That being said, the EQ is noisy as all hell on channels 3 and 4, so I put my NS-2 in the loop. That seemed to fix that problem but then my Les Paul was noisy as hell out front. I know this sounds like overkill but I was thinking about getting another NS-2 to throw in the front..is this crazy?

Secondly, to those of you that use the MXR and the OD-808, what does the OD do that the MXR doesn't? I mean, the MXR made SUCH a difference, I can't imagine the OD doing that much more for the pricetag.

Thanks

That is odd the EQ is noisy in your loop. I don't even hear mine. I run an ISP Decimator out front and just the EQ in the loop. I tried adding the ISP in the loop, but the amp rejected it. You could use another gate out front, or you could try something like an ISP G-string I think it's called that can be used up front AND in the loop.

yeah, on channels 3 and 4 with the gain turned up, it is loud as hell. granted, my friend dialed it in and turned the gain all the way up on the EQ until right before the clip light comes on. what do you guys find are the best settings for the over all volume level and the gain level on the MXR?

 

[Zoomzilla]

So I picked up the Roadster combo AND an MXR 10 band. The one thing I can say so far is that the EQ really does do wonders. That being said, the EQ is noisy as all hell on channels 3 and 4, so I put my NS-2 in the loop. That seemed to fix that problem but then my Les Paul was noisy as hell out front. I know this sounds like overkill but I was thinking about getting another NS-2 to throw in the front..is this crazy?

Secondly, to those of you that use the MXR and the OD-808, what does the OD do that the MXR doesn't? I mean, the MXR made SUCH a difference, I can't imagine the OD doing that much more for the pricetag.

Thanks

That is odd the EQ is noisy in your loop. I don't even hear mine. I run an ISP Decimator out front and just the EQ in the loop. I tried adding the ISP in the loop, but the amp rejected it. You could use another gate out front, or you could try something like an ISP G-string I think it's called that can be used up front AND in the loop.

yeah, on channels 3 and 4 with the gain turned up, it is loud as hell. granted, my friend dialed it in and turned the gain all the way up on the EQ until right before the clip light comes on. what do you guys find are the best settings for the over all volume level and the gain level on the MXR?

Ok, so you mean loud as in increased volume output, or loud as in increased white noise? I pretty much leave the volume and gain alone on the EQ. I just mess with the tone sliders. If I do use the gain, I turn the gain back in the front and add the gain in the EQ, but you lose the Mesa gain sound more when you do that. I can make my DR sound like a Marshall when I do that, so that part is cool if I want a different tone once in a while.