Need a good/bangforbuck/neutral OD, basically. I want to be able to send my AC15 a little further into high gain territory and get a bit more natural compression/saturation for when I am playing metalz. I love the tone I am getting, just need a little more of it. So am thinking I probably don't want a TS style pedlol, a lowend cut is maybe a little silly here for what I want.

Here's a clip of some of the guitar/amp/tone in question:

https://soundcloud.com/cameron-heck/dat-new-jam

Need a little more chuggachugga on the low strings when I am playing the thrashy feel Converge riff, for sure. I am hoping slamming the amp a good bit might help me out in that department.

OCD maybe, MI Crunchbox will get chunky also.

Crunchbox sounds dope. But, I am kinda wondering if I want more of a OD/clean boost than anything else, this MI gets gnarly without any gain on the amp, I probably want minimal circuitry and gain for dat signal purity. I'll mostly be using the thing to send my medium/high-ish gain tone into boosted JMP with a bit more brightness territory. I am wondering if a oneknobberjobber would be bast. Everyone on forums online is talking up the Timmy, unsurprisingly. I mostly just want to slam the fuck out of the input of the amp while retaining the lean/tight low end those pickups provide, maybe beef it up a biiit in the lowend.

Sounds like you want a Timmy. You can try mine into my ac15 when you roll through.

That would be sick as fuck. In slightly related news, I bought an HM-2.

MXR Microamp for flattish slamming maybe. For a dirty version of the Microamp, try a Marshall Guv'nor type mayhap.

I like the Timmy, but some people find it a bit too TS-like for some types of boosting. I personally don't, but whatev. Into a Vox, it can be an overbright party with some settings. If you mind the treble knob and keep the bass knob level with it, it is basically just flat flat EQ though.

The OCD is pretty flattish for EQ, and additionally has a bit more grit available than a standard boost/OD, which could be helpful for certain types of sounds one might be looking for. It also works well at lower gain settings, but just has more top end there if you want it. I didn't really like it as an od into a clean amp, but i could see it being excellent for some violence boosting aims.

Anther high/mid gainer that is interesting is the Way Huge Red Llama, or one of the pile of pedals based on it. Like the OCD, a flattish EQ, but with more dirt available than a typical OD. Where the OCD goes basically into a compact sort of distortion maxxed out, at full tilt, the Red Llama has a little fuzz quality to it. Down a little from there is distortion, and lower than that dirty boost into a more normal boost at low gain settings.

For boosting metal though, there are really just so many options. When i had Mike's TS9 here(i think it was analogman modded?) i thought that it sounded very nice for boosting gainy settings. Even though it is a TS, i didn't feel that it was fucking the mids up very much at all, and i even preferred it over the timmy for getting metal sounds from my amps. (though i preferred the timmy for the level of gain that i actually usually use)

I feel like because I'm just chillin' in standard even for my metal the lowcut of the TS-9 is probably unnecessary when the components of my rig are considered, I am thinking I am just gonna go try out a Micro Amp. That kind of sounds like all I would need/want. Just more output before the amp.

Yarr, you could try it out. One thing that is worth noting, is that when you boost with flat EQ, you can very easily find the amp feeling softer, because the low end is pushing too hard. This is why generally foalks like to boost with TS-styles.

You might think you want flat, but you might also find that flat has too much low end for tight chugz.

I can't say though really, as i dunno exactly what you want for feel/sound.

I personally like something with a bass knob that i can cut or boost tho.

For a bit more OD without going to a distortion drive check out the Prince of Tone. I got the KoT, and holy balls there's is a reason there's a waiting list. PoT doesn't have a wait, and is readily available on TGP used.

Yarr, the KOT is a modified Marshall Bluesbreaker. Which is also closely related to the Guv'nor.

Those older Marshall pedals were all pretty excellent.

Obviously I love the OCD, as I've been using it for a few years now. It is pretty flat-ish, with no low cut. I don't like TS-types into the Vox. (Though I wouldn't mind giving the Sparkle Drive another whirl, what with the clean blend and all.) The OCD has quite a good amount of gain, too- consider I run Fenders with singles, and my "real amp" tones are pretty filthy- and I don't run it full on or even as much of a level boost. See: the Garda record, many clips I've posted over the years. I do find the OCD very "neutral" "color-wise", if it's anything. Still sounds like my Vox, just with a ton of filth on top.

Unlike Chris, I do like the OCD into something that is pretty much clean, at least, when I need to turn down the Vox. It also sounds damnfine on bass due to the lack of low end cut. It also has a fair bit of output if you just want to slam an amp with it. Not particularly tight though. We tried using it on my friend's metal thing a few years back, and wound up using the TS-9 and Sparkle Drive if we wanted a pedal.

Oh, and on your HM-2. I used mine earlier today jamming with my occasional metal collaborator for bass fuzz.

Random metal trivia: didn't they use a Guv'nor as a boost on Heartwork?

I know Bill Steer used one live fo sho. There was an article where he talked aboot Heartwork and using a 5150 with the guv for his live rig. I don't remember if he said he used it for the recoarding(i would guess so though).

Moastly i just remember the bit about the marshall ministack.

I remember the big long thing that was poasted in Andy Sneap's forum a few years back where someone- Colin Richardson maybe?- who worked on the record popped in with a bunch of details. And I wanna say the Guv'nor was used. They did something fucked-up with the cabs too, like they took the backs off and duct/gaffer taped them together back-to-back or something along those lines. They really went out of their way to get that guitar sound.

Found it; it was Keith Andrews, the engineer on the record: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/745219-carcass-heartwork-recording-process-keith-andrews.html

It's pretty long. It's been a long time since I've read it. Or, for that matter, listened to Heartwork.

BTW, fucked with a TS-9 into my AC15 today. The band I've been recording has one, and they let me borrow it. I've gotta say that it does sound like what I am looking for in terms of boosted saturation, but as I suspect the bass cut was a little too much. Maybe in a mix with bass and kick it might actually be for the better, who knows. But it feels a little too thin in the bottom still, it is definitely tight, but I want a little boom. These pickups in standard ain't putting out enough flub for it to be an issue, so I'm looking for a Microamp.

Oh DUDE. Have you ever played a Zvex Super Hard On?

It just occurred to me that one might be exactly what you are looking for. That thing will piss off an amp right quick.

Man, that thing sounds like just the ticket..

My, they are expensive..

Real Zvex ones are pricey, but it is one of the simplest pedals ever and could easily be built out of trash by almost anybody. It is not as few parts as a rangemaster, but it is real close. A very good cleanboost that gets nicely filthy(and LOUD, but if you are talking cleanboost, that is what you are going to be dealing with anyhow) on the top end.

That sounds like just what I am looking for. I am thinking I might have to make one, I will check how easy it would be.