r/guitarpedals • u/bigbigboiiiii • 1d ago
Unique drive suggestions…
Holy compensator board… ;)
I’m growing a bit tired of my Lightspeed (had it on the board for 7 years but hardly use it right now.
Browne protein, love hate, blue side is cool, dislike the green side and think the brothers am does the whole pedal better than the protein.
I also have a RYRA Klone hidden underneath, I want some unique drive suggestions to replace the lightspeed and protein slots, let me know!
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u/Betov8 1d ago
When I get tired of my drives I go for the Jhs Superbolt or the walrus audio iron horse. I’ve recently got the walrus audio ages/warhorn pedal
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u/Such_Independent_234 1d ago
I can’t seem to ever replace my iron horse. It does the exact thing I want. Doesn’t seem to matter what guitar or kind of music, it just does the thing I like.
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u/SithLordBass 1d ago
Any EAE drive. I recently made a Hot Cake clone that I have found I really like. BD-2W or OD-3. They're classics for a reason
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u/aaanicholls 1d ago
I don't have any answers but I own similar pedals and agree. My other call out is the Pre Amp mk2 is so versatile it keeps kicking my other drives (protein and brothers an included) off my board
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u/Ecker1991 1d ago
Ok for the Lightspeed replacement I’d check out either the EQD Westwood or the Fairfield barbershop. The barbershop can be transparent or with the sag dialed in it can sound spongy and respond like an old valco or tweed amp.
As for the protein replacement, I vastly prefer the PettyJohn Nash to the other ODR clones I’ve tried, it actually does a low end boost while possessing more clarity. Benson germanium preamp sounds fantastic as well, it can do a bit of a darker drive, very touch responsive etc.
The honey bee od by Bearfoot and its variants sound fantastic, mid forward without sounding muddy, perfect for lofi.
I also like the Jackson audio twin twelve, and the jhs twin twelve work well too if you like lofi indie stuff or just want something unique and scuzzy.
The Menatone red snapper is similar to the Lightspeed, it can do the hifi transparent thing yet also has more upper midrange.
Hudson dual broadcast and jhs colour box are very versatile and occupy a unique space in the overdrive spectrum.
The boss bd-2w is both unique and versatile
Way huge red llama is a classic and occupies a unique space
Benson germanium fuzz as an overdrive is killer
Strymon deco and La brea are unique too
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u/vape4doc 1d ago
You’ve got the G3S so you’re probably using midi. You might want to give the chroma console a try. It’s got a nice drive section that can go from slightly overdriven to outright fuzz. I use it and control it via midi. The other effects make it super versatile.
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u/yourFriendPan 1d ago
idk if these fit the bill for you, but some of my faves are the eae surveyor, and oats and molasses vb2. if you have the gain real low, you could use the champion leccy "dunsh" like a drive, but i think it prefers to be a fuzz
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u/Fuck_Mark_Robinson 1d ago
I’ve been loving both the Strymon Fairfax and La Brea, and they play together super well.
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u/cygnusy1 15h ago
How do you like to run your La Brea? Just got mine today.
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u/Fuck_Mark_Robinson 14h ago edited 14h ago
I’ve mostly been stacking it with other drives and I haven’t found one yet that it doesn’t work great with.
There does seem to be a particular magic in running it either before or after the Fairfax though (I imagine they planned that…) and I really love it with fuzzes and germanium boosts too.
I’ve been keeping the tape saturation and overall level pretty modest on it, primarily using it to give texture to an already HEAVILY overdriven sound and it really excels there.
But my current drive stack that has made me cackle with glee is a Shin-Ei Companion Drive clone into a basic germanium boost, then the Fairfax and La Brea. It is a saggy, broken-speaker, tweed-on-fire mess that is perfect for bluesy doom.
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u/cygnusy1 14h ago
Sounds like heaven. Great ideas. Thanks for the detailed response. Realky helpful. Will be stacking into mine too with a rat or HM-2 ( distortion dialled down).
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u/Fuck_Mark_Robinson 14h ago
Oh yeah I haven’t tried an HM-2 with it yet but I can confirm that it is awesome after a Rat!
Rock on man!! 🤘
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u/AtomicPow_r_D 1d ago
Take a Klon style clean-ish drive, then put a treble booster in front of it, and push the Klon with the boost. It will give you a lot of umph. You could use a Boss EQ as a treble boost.
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u/Infinite-Lychee-182 1d ago
You'll hate this because they are so often lumped together, but my Timmy v2 sounds nothing like my Lightspeed. They also don't stack with other pedals anything like each other.
An Analogman Sunface or Sun Lion perhaps? I think I saw on FB he stocked up on the Sun Lions. Unless you are not into fuzz, but my Sunface BART, recently traded, was a pretty tight overdrive.
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u/TotalCustomer7926 1d ago
Visual Sound Route 808 is one underrated fucker. TS with a bass boost, smooth, feels good, stacks well.
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u/Lanark26 1d ago
The Supro Drive pedal (what the JHS Thunderbolt is supposed to be) and there’s always the old standby, Crowther Hot Cake.
Though lately I’ve been real loving the Chime side of the Pettyjohn Pettydrive. It stacks really nicely. The dual drive with the Iron makes for three very nice levels of drive.
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u/JeramiGrantsTomb 1d ago
I also have the lightspeed and BrosAM on my board often with a Klone (JRA Ikon), my final gain spot rotates around between a few other drives:
JHS Kilt, not exactly unique but a surprisingly versatile drive
1981 DRV, or your RAT of choice
Fulltone OCD, also not unique and fuck Mike Fuller but it's a nice pedal (bonus if it's red)
Barber Gainchanger
Lovepedal Eternity
EAE Longsword
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u/tacophagist 1d ago
Walrus 385, Fairfield Barbershop, Palomar Coyote, Fairfield 20% More, any of the Benson fuzzes, Heather Brown Blessed Mother, one of the 424 pedals that came out recently, BOSS BP-1W (seriously)
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u/JasonKain 1d ago
Going to second (or third) the EAE Halberd for versatility. Each of the three toggles legit sounds different, not just flavor changes on the same drive. Combine that with the depth control and you get a huge array out of the thing.
Hipster choice? TC Electronic Spark. The four knob one, not the booster. It's cheap, nearly no one uses it, and it does more than most give it credit for.
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u/elliotprudence 1d ago
Greer Soma 63 is a very cool tweed drive that can get you exploding amp tones. EAE The Bard, EAE Halberd are both mid focused and clangy. OAM VB2 reminds me a lot of the SSBS Mini - full range drive that gets fuzzy on full blast and has a bias knob for broken, sputtery sounds.
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u/DrawCurious3022 1d ago
https://atomictonellc.com/product/protium/ check out Buddy Blues's recent demo ... I have this on my board and it is AMAZING.
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u/Ok-Understanding951 1d ago
It would take both slots, but Erika Synth’s Xenodrive is a sick wavefolder.
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u/JohnnyNewfangle 1d ago
Kingsley page Kingsley harlot
Every other pedal I own can't hang with these.....not even close.
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u/zipiddydooda 1d ago
Hotcake, BD2W, Timmy, Karma Machine Shop. If you’re into the lightspeed, ODR, Klon, Karma is well worth a look.
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u/sunjester 1d ago
Free The Tone Overdriveland would be a good replacement for the Protein. Instead of being two drives in one it's a single drive with two channels with a different gain range on each. It's supposed to be a dumble style drive but honestly who the fuck here has ever played a dumble to know if that's true? Whether or not it's accurate to the dumble sound though, it's a really really good pedal.
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u/chadocaster1011 16h ago
EQD special cranker. One of my favorite ODs. Makes everything sound a little bit better. Not sure if it’s very unique but I’m a big fan of plumes and JHS double barrel. Boss JB2 is also fantastic
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u/huoliver 15h ago
Dang man, I love the LS and the Protein so it’s hard to recommend something to replace them. Have you tried a Guv’nor or comparable JCM800/900 drive? Distinctly different than the others and covers a broad range from light drive to heavy crunch tones.
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u/bldgabttrme 12h ago edited 12h ago
If you can’t get the sounds you want/need from that set of drives even by removing the Protein and Lightspeed, idk if anything would be satisfying. Maybe a Smallsound/Bigsound Mini or Fuck OD, or a Walrus 385 (based on a projector amp). Or some other sort of fuzz/raunchy option, maybe a Harmonic Percolator or a Fuzz Factory.
But if I were you I’d look for more weird pedals and/or reverb and/or modulation options. A Dark World could slot in nicely where the Lightspeed is, and all sorts of different mod pedals could go where the Protien is; a Lost+Found or Walrus M1 could work, or maybe a Microcosm. The world is your oyster with that much room.
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u/Appropriate_Drive887 12h ago
How many drive pedals do you need? You have too many on your board as is.
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u/Equivalent_Panic40 1d ago
Your board is awesome! I think the only thing it's missing is a Kingsley pedal. I love my Alexander but a Page might be more Lightspeed adjacent.
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u/CollThom 1d ago
No shade here, but really, you should probably try not buying so many pedals and save your money for a little while so you can buy one higher end pedal. /s Seriously, that’s a nice board and I’m not at all jealous. I’m kind of desperate to try the POG 3, but I’ve got way too many octave/pitch pedals as it is.
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u/Ahhhh__Ian_c 1d ago
Anything from Land Devices. The HP-2 is incredible and the Moonbow are both on boards for me.
I’d also say any of the new drive pedals that Strymon is putting out as a part of their analog series.
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u/sloanfiske 1d ago
Hudson Broadcast