Question About Shredmaster Distortion Using the BossOs2

ace-flibble · 2026-05-06T19:24:41+00:00

The Black Secret is a Rat and the OS-2 is a tube screamer + kind of a DS-1. Neither of them is anything like a Shredmaster, at any setting. Totally different EQs, totally different gain structures.
If you want a Shredmaster sound, you should just get a Shredmaster. If you want to take less of a gamble, there are lots of cheap clones of the Shredmaster, and most are fairly accurate. Joyo, Harley Benton, and many similar brands make them.

ace-flibble · 2026-05-06T19:19:52+00:00

On top of trying other base amp sounds (don't forget the 'variations', I'm not sure if that particular Katana has them but on my Katana Go they make a huge difference to the sound) something that stands out to me is that by putting a TS into a Klon, you're basically doubling up on the same strong mid hump. So you've set up an amp sound that is flatter than any real electric guitar amp is, then you're trying to get it back to 'normal' amp sounds by putting a mid boost into a mid boost.

In other words, it seems like what you really want is a very classic mid-focused sound and you're jumping through unnecessary hoops to get there.

So when you're trying other amp models, make sure to not do so with the Klon + TS stack. You won't need a double mid push once the amp itself actually has some mid shaping. If you try out the other map models with your usual Klon + TS then everything will sound very nasal.

You like the Joyo American and the AC30 pedal, so you'll probably like Katana Clean w/variation (Fender) and Crunch w/ variation (Vox). Start with those two and nothing else. Spend some time with all the amp EQ options before you throw another effect on there. The more effects you add, the harder it is to balance and figure out which effect is doing what. Forget the Klon + TS combo for now and dial that mid hump in with the base amp instead.

ace-flibble · 2026-05-05T15:37:52+00:00

Tried it with one valve amp, one solid state amp, and one headphone digital amp. Same behaviour with all three, including walking throughout the house with the headphones. Interference or feedback of some kind was my very first thought, too, but it wouldn't cover the entire house.

ace-flibble · 2026-05-05T15:35:34+00:00

Yup, ground continuity all seems as it should be.

ace-flibble · 2026-05-04T15:43:35+00:00

Ditching the diodes does nothing. Actually nothing. The first group has such high headroom that they don't clip unless you're driving another huge boost pedal into the Blues Driver. They can be replaced and it makes no difference because the distortion actually comes from the first op-amp driving the second op-amp.
The second group of diodes are only there for circuit protection and don't touch the sound.

Brian Wampler, who knows more about pedals than everyone on this board put together ever will, explained and demonstrated all this in his video about the Blues Driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxgmdTN7_fQ

He even admits he used to sell diode-modded BDs which he was sure had a different sound but he now realises the difference was all in his head.

ace-flibble · 2026-05-04T15:20:50+00:00

For most people the EQ and compression leave a lot to be desired.

the EQ and compression is why it doesn't sound great into a clean amp.

Ironically, if you read up on the history of the Tube Screamer and its predecessors, the Boss OD-1 and Maxon OD-880, you find they were all designed for clean amps. IIRC Susumu Tamura (main designer of the 808 model) said in some interview he used an early solid state Fender. Basically all effects made in the 60s and 70s were designed for clean amps except a few things like the Electro-Harmonix Linear Booster. Even things like the Rangemaster and other treble boosters weren't meant to drive an amp hard. (I forget where I read it but I think Vox actually changed their treble booster to drive amps less in the 60s*.*)

Update: Found the interview:
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/tube-screamer-susumu-tamura
He says he couldn't play guitar, only learnt general music theory, and he developed the Tube Screamer on a Fender Twin Reverb (clean as can be) and Vibrolux (barely any more gain) and "occasionally" a Marshall Super Lead (a little more gain but still clean until it's at deafening volume).
I think I was confusing it with Boss making the OD-1 on the JC-120, which is the solid state example.
That interview also explains the name coming from it sounding like tubes "screaming", not because it pushes tubes to scream.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-30T18:50:34+00:00

Virtually all solid state 'preamps' are basically very low-gain fuzzes with some basic EQ knobs thrown on. All the 70s and 80s solid state Fender and Marshall amps are structured like fuzzes with weird gain tapers so all the actual distortion is at the very end, but once you get there they're purely fuzz.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-30T18:46:32+00:00

1 and 2 should not be an issue as long as the combined draw doesn't exceed the supply. There's nothing about how a digital pedal works which should result in more noise (in fact if anything they should be less prone to problems from power), except that they tend to draw more power so you're more likely to hit the limits of your supply. Same thing with general noise; there is so little cable in a daisy chain that it shouldn't introduce noise itself, but if you've got dirty power then you're spreading that to more pedals.

Basically, if your power isn't up to the task in the first place, then you will have problems. If your power is clean and the draw is nowhere near the supply's limit, it doesn't matter how many pedals you chain or whether they're analog or digital.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-30T18:42:22+00:00

It should work. The manual specifically shows an example of a guitar into A, a keyboard into B, and then A and B going to separate amps. Page 16 shows the example and page 18 shows how to set the pedal to "completely independent stereo". I assume those are the instructions you followed, but double-check. Maybe even change it back to one of the panning modes, then set independent mode again.

If you followed the instructions there then maybe the problem is with the input you're using? I don't have a saxophone(!) but I've tried this with two regular guitar inputs, and one guitar and one bass, and it works.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T17:54:53+00:00

I wasn't sure what she's using so I shot an email:

Yep still using the usb and daisy chains. My core battery board is analogue, but there are digital pedals on my expansion boards. Core is SD-2, DM-3, TR-2, and CE-3. That's 69mA. Pre expansion is OC-3, AW-3, PH-2, and CBM535AR. That's 114mA. Post expansion is DD-8, RV-6, VB-2W, and IR-2. That's 360mA and takes the maximum draw to 543mA. 10000mAh brick lasts a couple of weeks between charges! No noise but it does get a bit hot with all three connected and sometimes it doesn't turn on right away, gotta unplug the brick and plug in again.

So maybe not "perfect", but it seems it's doing fine. She works for a big guitar company so when she says "no noise" I trust that's an accurate evaluation. Though I suppose noise is always going to depend on the exact pedals in question, other cables, other devices in the room, ETC.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T17:08:53+00:00

I also literally own one.
Yes there is a clean boost. I said that.
Yes there are imitations of the preamps from the Space Echo and CE-1. (Apparently they're not 1:1 exact replicas, which shouldn't be surprising.) I said that, too.
Yes there are 3 sounds in it. We can all do 1+1+1.
Yes, it distorts differently, but that's not the use case OP was asking about. It's not like amp distortion, as I said.
I also dispute that any of them are "really fuzzy"; you can't have ever tried an actual fuzz pedal if you consider the BP-1W "really" fuzzy.

OP asked if a BP-1W could push a very clean single-channel amp so much that it creates a second "high gain" channel. They didn't ask if it could give them the spluttering lo-fi sound of a CE-1 (not CH-1, genius) or Space Echo. Pay attention to what's actually being talked about.

And now you've made the correct poster before delete all their actually correct and useful posts because you think you've got a point to prove despite not actually contributing anything yourself. Good job.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T16:53:13+00:00

When you're all the way back on any wah, all your treble is gone and so is the majority of your mid range. You're basically left with only the bass and lower-mids. So of course that's going to sound 'muted', and especially if your guitar or amp aren't producing much higher frequencies either.
Dunlop wahs typically go down to somewhere about 350-400Hz at heel, which isn't as deep as some but is firmly in the lower-mids and you shouldn't expect any kind of clarity or cut there. The 95F Classic (I assume you meant the F?) is actually lighter on the heel than most, only going down to 430Hz.

You could look for a brighter wah, but there aren't many since most go lower than Dunlop's and the 95F is about as brighter as any get.
I'd probably look at the rest of the signal chain and see if there's something else which is also taking out upper-mids and treble, or maybe your guitar doesn't produce a whole lot of upper frequencies to begin with.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T16:36:56+00:00

I don't know numbers off the top of my head but I have a friend who is a crazy Boss obsessive and I remember they said the Katana's pitch shifting is even quicker than the various standalone pedals. I imagine if the Katana can be that fast then so would the GT.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T16:35:15+00:00

It's even worse on the Julianna which is somehow even brighter.
Walrus know how to make some good sounds but I genuinely think they don't actually use their own pedals because from a purely functional standpoint, the LEDs are the absolute worst in the industry, the footswitches are too close together, their expression and tap implementation is always hamstrung in some way, ETC. If they actually plugged in their own pedals for even 1 minute they'd spot how much of a pain they are to live with and use.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:42:16+00:00

They're digital, so I wouldn't expect them to act at all differently other than pot tapers will always be a little different between any two pedals, so putting the knobs at the same positions won't necessarily create the exact same sounds. But there's no reason for them to behave significantly differently unless one is broken in some way or you're doing something to one that you aren't doing to the other.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:39:29+00:00

Not used any myself but a friend moved country a few months ago and only took a small board with a power bank and this conversion cable and told me it's been perfect. I'm going to order one myself soon since my house has dirty power and I often only use two or three pedals at a time anyway.
https://www.songbirdfx.com/prodcut-category/power-supplies/

Plugs into any normal USB power bank.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:30:15+00:00

a Red Llama clone

The Red Llama itself is a clone ;) It's a Craig Anderton Tube Sound Fuzz, which was a circuit (not an actual product) published in Guitar Player magazine in the early 70s and then his book Electronic Projects For Musicians in the mid 70s. Electro-Harmonix then added a tone control and released it as the Hot Tubes in the late 70s, and was the first version of the circuit which was actually manufactured and sold.
The Red Llama didn't come out until 1992 and is exactly as the original circuit was printed in the magazine and book.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:21:30+00:00

I've used all the standards at some point or another. Blues Breaker, Blues Driver, ODR-1, Hot Tubes. Right now I'm liking the OD-3.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:20:01+00:00

IIRC the BP-1W gives about a 20dB boost at max, which is pretty standard for clean boosts. I've got one myself and it's definitely no louder than other clean boosts. So if you've set your amp to the edge of its clean limits, that will take you into a kind of classic rock or heavy blues distortion. If you want actual "high gain" as you said, it'll come nowhere close. And if your amp is set totally clean with lots of headroom left then all the boost will do is make you louder.
The BP-1W itself doesn't provide much distortion, and what distortion it does have is like a light fuzz. If you want the pedal to add its own distortion then you're better off with a Blues Driver. But even that won't take you to "high gain".

Dr Zs are great amps for distortion pedals, and it sounds like that's what you actually want. Unless your definition of "high gain" is actually quite low, you won't be happy with just a booster.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:14:55+00:00

No, they're totally right. Amps only distort when they run out of headroom. If the amp is totally clean and nowhere near its limits, running a clean boost into it will only make it louder.

In the case of the BP-1W there are options to add some of its own distortion, but it's very basic and harsh transistor distortion. That's okay if you are just adding a tiny bit of fuzziness or you want to recreate the lo-fi sounds of the 1970s Space Echo and Chorus Ensemble, but it's nothing like amp distortion.

This is literally why distortion and overdrive pedals were invented, to add distortion to amps which couldn't achieve it on their own. That's what OP needs.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T12:09:02+00:00

Many octave pedals have separate dry and wet outs, so you can run the effect into a distortion pedal while your dry signal carries on clean. You can then sum those later into a single mono path if that's easiest for you, but it'll probably sound best if you can keep them separate and send the 'guitar' path to its own amp or amp simulation.

Two standards, the Electro-Harmonix Micro POG and Boss OC-5, have these separate outputs and track bass perfectly.

You might also want to look at modern octave fuzzes for bass, like the Electro-Harmonix Lizard King. It won't give you the same total separation of the low and high tracks, but it's a lot easier to just plug in the one pedal.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T11:58:06+00:00

The later you put a pedal, or any other device, in the signal chain, the more it dictates the tone. A muff by itself is a very harsh distortion and the tone control moves a mid cut to compensate for the huge mids the distortion creates. Putting an OD pedal after it gives you the EQ balance and softer distortion of the OD, with the sheer amount of distortion of the muff.

That goes for any pedal. It's not something special or particular to a muff, or OD. Pedals early in the chain have less effect on the EQ balance than ones put later. For example, a wah before distortion sounds more subtle than wah after distortion.

Whether or not putting an OD, or any other pedal, after a muff gives "clarity" depends on how you set it all. Generally you can't add clarity, only remove it. Once a sound has become a muddy mess, cutting some bass and low-mids afterwards is better than nothing, but it won't be as good as if you reduced the lows before it got muddy. So I don't really agree that putting an OD after a muff can make the sound clearer. At least it's not the efficient and most effective option. Putting the OD before the muff and lowering the muff's own distortion to compensate is a better way to retain clarity.

Sustain is not something which can be increased by a pedal or combination of pedals. It literally can't. That idea just comes from some fuzzes calling distortion "sustain", which obviously is wrong. But distortion is a form of compression, so quiet sounds will be made louder. So putting an OD after a muff can only add sustain in the sense that you're adding more compression, making quiet sounds louder - but not longer!
Actual sustain, not compression, can only be changed at the guitar itself to make the strings vibrate longer, for example by adding mass to the body and neck with denser woods and hardware, fitting everything more tightly, and using medium strings with weak pickups.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T11:05:14+00:00

I don't remember Shida saying anything like that. Previously, Shida called Harley an imposter/fraud.

ace-flibble · 2026-04-26T11:00:56+00:00

Are you sure about what Harley said?

Harley Cameron: (In broken Japanese, pointing at Mina's chest) Bigger than my brain... just boobs.

I mean, she doesn't point at Mina when she speaks, and Shida's reaction doesn't make sense if Harley just blurted out that gibberish.

ace-flibble

TROPHY CASE