💩 My Dirty Obsession

With the arrival of 2 longer patch cables from EBS, I can now successfully route my pedalboard's drive section to the optimal arrangement. This post is solely dedicated to my love for dirt pedals, otherwise known as my dirty obsession!

Pedalboard v5.71

1. Jackson Audio Prism as my 1st stage drive

The first drive pedal in my signal chain is not really a dirt pedal to begin with. The Jackson Audio Prism is more of a booster preamp than an overdrive, but the functionality to my ears is that of an overdrive. The official website recommends the Prism to be first-in-chain so that's exactly what I did.

This placement of the Prism allows me to immediately add EQ to my guitar's tone while feeding it into my other dirt pedals. With a few flick of the switches, I get to increase the gain or volume, which is super handy for cleaner sets. This pedal is the perfect ingredient for stacking dirt.

2. Fulltone OCD-Ge as my 2nd stage drive

The Fulltone OCD is next in my signal chain. This is the optimal position for a Fulltone OCD because of it's dual overdrive/distortion nature. This is my hairiest dirt option which adds a significant amount of fuzziness to my tone. I have the option of setting this guy to clean tones but that's not what the OCD is made for.

The OCD takes the tone from the Prism and adds it into the mix, making the overall sound clearer and crispier. If I don't choose to stack it with the Prism, I will use the OCD to push the Zvex harder. This is as good as pushing an amp at the edge of breakup, which is exactly what the OCD is designed for. Very versatile.

3. Zvex Distortron as my 3rd stage drive

My 3rd stage drive is the Zvex Distortron, which to my ears can also be an overdrive pedal. I mainly use it for crunchier tones that the OCD cannot achieve. The reason why I have to put this pedal before the amplifier is that it provides more EQ options than the OCD.

I like drives with a lot of EQ options right before the amplifier because that is the drive that affects the overall tone of the stack. Previously had a Scarlett Love v3 pedal for that exact EQ purposes. But ultimately, the size of that pedal was such a huge turnoff. With the Zvex, my problems is solved and I even get to remove low end on 3 different levels!

This pedalboard should be my latest rendition, version 5.71. I can only think of one reason to go version 5.8, which is to replace the Prism with the Boss WL-50 and swap it's place with the OCD. This would mean I have one less item to carry with me, which is great, but I lose a very versatile preamp boost. Still deciding on that one.

Otherwise, 5.71 is gonna be my board for quite a while. Gonna spend some time to work on my backup board, picking up from the last known variation of the Nano wireless board, version 4.3. Also still currently deciding on a 2nd HX Stomp or a Hotone Ampero One.

Edwin Ang

Tags: PBv5.71