[built2drag1985]

Hey everyone,
Got a question for ya. Just bought a drri a few months ago. Plug straight into and it sounds great. Really good clean tones. Bought a few od pedals recently. Got a fultone ocd, mxr classic od and my newest edition, a Wampler Black 65. Well they all sound like poopy through the amp. The wampler is boomy the ocd sounds crappy and the mxr sounds ok. Is there anything i can do like a retube, rebias, new speaker or all the above. Really like the amp. Just doesnt play well with the od's. Amp is all stock. Tried different guitars, cables. Nothin helps. I play at home so the drri doesnt go past maybe 3. Any help would be very much appreciated.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by built2drag1985

Hey everyone,
Got a question for ya. Just bought a drri a few months ago. Plug straight into and it sounds great. Really good clean tones. Bought a few od pedals recently. Got a fultone ocd, mxr classic od and my newest edition, a Wampler Black 65. Well they all sound like poopy through the amp. The wampler is boomy the ocd sounds crappy and the mxr sounds ok. Is there anything i can do like a retube, rebias, new speaker or all the above. Really like the amp. Just doesnt play well with the od's. Amp is all stock. Tried different guitars, cables. Nothin helps. I play at home so the drri doesnt go past maybe 3. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Try a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive.

[Lizardkinged]

I do know a blues driver sounds like poopy through them. Granted thats my opinion of what poopy sounds like.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by Lizardkinged

I do know a blues driver sounds like poopy through them. Granted thats my opinion of what poopy sounds like.

I've found that the Blues Driver Didn't sound good through anything until I played my Dyna Jet through it.

Frankly, since I started using a DRRI I've felt little need for pedals. It sounds great clean.

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[built2drag1985]

Its funny you should say that synchro. I was a/b the mxr classic od and the sd-1 the other day. Went with the mxr. They had a used sd-1 for $30. I would have bought both but the baby needs new shoes. Dangit.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by built2drag1985

Its funny you should say that synchro. I was a/b the mxr classic od and the sd-1 the other day. Went with the mxr. They had a used sd-1 for $30. I would have bought both but the baby needs new shoes. Dangit.

That's just my tastes speaking. I've used an SD-1 in front of Blackface amps with great success but I'm sure that it's not the only solution.

One other thing to try is a 12AY7 in V1. It cuts the gain in the first pre-amp stage and makes the amp more tractable at low volumes. It might make it more pedal friendly too.

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[NickGretsch]

I've found my DRRI doesn't sound so good with some pedals, especially a number of them daisy chained.

Works well with the Boss OD. Also ok with my Blackstar HT Boost which I used to use for solos.

Some amps can take a bunch of pedals but not so sure the DRRI can. Can't explain this but quite sure one of our learned members can.

[dilver]

Usually, the problem most people have with the DRRI is that it's too bright, not boomy. There are a number of things you could do help with it being overly bright, e.g. Cap clip, speaker change, etc., but I'd start with your pedals.

The OCD isnt a great match to begin with since it's already a bright pedal. The only good OCD tone I get with my DRRI and a Gretsch is when I have the drive WAY down, like in the 8 o'clock position, and then it's more of a slight dirt (you can actually get a pretty decent Setzer bridge pickup tone this way). The Fulltone Plimsoul is a better match for the DRRI.

Also, try switching the order of your pedals - might help. Lastly, a new speaker could also change the voice of the amp, pretty dramatically. I put in an Eminence Canabis Rex. Love it.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by NickGretsch

I've found my DRRI doesn't sound so good with some pedals, especially a number of them daisy chained.

Works well with the Boss OD. Also ok with my Blackstar HT Boost which I used to use for solos.

Some amps can take a bunch of pedals but not so sure the DRRI can. Can't explain this but quite sure one of our learned members can.

Blackface Fenders have two characteristics that, IMO, could come into play here. They have a lot of gain in the pre-amp and they have a somewhat scooped mid-range. At rehearsal or gig volumes they sing pretty well but at lower volumes they can be quirky. The first thing I do with every Blackface amp is to lower the gain with a 12AY7 up front. With that simple mod I can use my Twin at living room volumes and it's just fine. It takes pedals well too.

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[built2drag1985]

What would be a good speaker. Im into like rock n roll, punk, rockabilly maybe a lil ska. greenback maybe? I heard those are warm sounding. Idk im kinda ignorant when it comes to modding amps. I know a little bit about tubes. Thats it really. I love to tinker and learn stuff about amps. Again thanks for all you guys help

[jflintmac]

Such a problem could get pretty costly to track down.
I would suggest that you try your pedals individually first to see if any of them are directly responsible for this issue.
Then, if you have any other speaker bins kicking around, you could try patching over to see if that helps.
"Poopy" is obviously a raw term that just compares to the amp when it is clean. You are always going to suffer a little - loss of goodness when you plug in a pedal. An attenuator will not really help either.

Perhaps an EQ might help you out. And/or a good A/B switch to completely bypass your effects when you don't need them.
It is important that all of your pedals be "true by-pass" or your signal will always be colored somewhat.
It is really hard to get things just right, without specific goals. Once you do get what you are looking for, turning the volume up or down can change everything and you're back to square one.
A good EQ can sometimes really help in that venue.

[tguen63]

Originally Posted by built2drag1985

What would be a good speaker. Im into like rock n roll, punk, rockabilly maybe a lil ska. greenback maybe? I heard those are warm sounding. Idk im kinda ignorant when it comes to modding amps. I know a little bit about tubes. Thats it really. I love to tinker and learn stuff about amps. Again thanks for all you guys help

You could try a Weber 12F150. It is much closer to a vintage Jensen and better IMHO than the reissue Jensen in the DRRI.

[The Marlin]

Weber make some cracking speakers - all at a great price point.

M~>

[Crooner]

I'll second the call for an EQ pedal. That could really make a huge difference for you. I got a Boss GE-7 and had the Monte Allum mod applied and it's fantabulous. Highly recommended and economical.
You might also need to break in the speaker a bit. If you have access to a looper pedal, play some stuff through it and leave what you played looping for a day or so. Maybe even a little more. Folks, how long should one do this? A couple hours a day for a month? A week? A year?!?
Someone mentioned doing this on another thread and it sounded like a hip idea to me, but what do I know?

What do I know? I know that a McDonald's cheeseburger tastes horrible if you put it through a blender.

[tguen63]

Originally Posted by Crooner

You might also need to break in the speaker a bit. If you have access to a looper pedal, play some stuff through it and leave what you played looping for a day or so. Maybe even a little more. Folks, how long should one do this? A couple hours a day for a month? A week? A year?!? :eek

I have heard 40 hrs thrown around as a good break in period. I have used a drum machine including a bass line (not too loud), then put the amp in a closet overnight. I think the drums and bass speed the break in.

Also want to comment to the OP that I have not generally heard of people using Celestion speakers with blackface amps, though I haven't tried it myself. With tweeds, absolutely.

[Mark W]

The Jensen in the DRRI is a great speaker. Perfect match for the DRRI. See how the amp responds at higher volumes with the pedals. If they work oK at higher volumes than the tube change may be beneficial or you may benefit from different pedals.

[jbcallender]

Have you tried changing the order of the pedals?

[Gretsch-Talk]

DRRI's are biased cold from the factory. I found that after I replaced the tubes and rebiased the amp it behaved much more like a vintage DR. And, that means it worked better with pedals for me too.

The new tubes I put in didn't help as much as the biasing though. Fender biases them "cold" or with low bias voltage to make the tubes last through the warranty period.

I too changed the speaker, and that did improve the amp -- but the biasing did more to help than anything. When I got my DRRI the bias current setting was around 18mA. Every individual amp and set of power tubes will require a unique bias current, but on mine I found one in the low 30mA range sounded best.

[WATThouse]

My Compton bridge got rid of the flabby low end and made it authoritative while clarifying mids and highs. No amp I play my 6120 through has been able to conquer that quality of the tone.

[Jimmy Rocket]

I probably missed this but what guitar are we talking about here?

Correctly biased blackfaces take pedals like a champ. They also make nice clean sounds like a champ, but IME when you are using hollow-bodies with overdrives into a blackface it can very easily sound like a hot mess.

The aforementioned mid-scoop is what I've found to be the culprit as well. That DRRI is close to "flat" with the tone controls at a minimum. Anything above 2-3 and you've got your scoop but the kicker is that there's still a strong low-mid presence that shifts as you turn the bass/treble up.

this is what you've got there, with the bottom line being essentially flat. notice that as you accentuate the treble and bass your mid shifts lower giving you the dreaded "honk."

The OCD is scooped as well so you're not helping yourself there. The Wampler is just doubling the problem and the MXR...well...

IME (again) hollow-bodies tend to exacerbate the problem.

The reason the SD-1 can sound good with this setup is that it (like it's tubes-screamer cousin) is a mids factory, essentially leveling things out and filling in the gaps.

If you decide to sell off some of those high dollar wingers I've got an SD-1 for sale at a reasonable price