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I've always done this except for the rare occasion that I've had an amp that sounded good on its own. For a long while it was my Boss BD-2 that was always on, and lately it's been my OCD. I very rarely play clean and if I ever do, I just turn the volume knob on the guitar down, so it's worked for me.

What about all of you? Curious to hear what people have been using lately.

Not exactly an OD, but I just picked up a used Land Devices EP-5 that I plan on leaving on all the time. I've always been a fan of the Echoplex pre sound, but this configuration's particularly nice because it gives three boost settings—left is the most straightforward, "generally enhancing" boost, middle is a little warmer/rounder, and right is very loud, maybe a no-diode setting if I had to guess. The left setting is my fave, and does a great job of bringing out a little brightness in the 335 that I've been favoring as of late.

I have a Nobels ODR1+ which if not on all the time, is on most of the time. Just adds that bit of crispness and definition. It gets switched off when I need a pure fuzz tone.

electric12 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:54 am

I have a Nobels ODR1+ which if not on all the time, is on most of the time. Just adds that bit of crispness and definition. It gets switched off when I need a pure fuzz tone.

I've always wanted to try one of those. So you use it to just tighten up your gainy tone?

Boss OC-2 Octaver. Adds just a little bit of extra oumph with settings low, and full on Neil Young when cranked

Most recently I discovered that the JPTR FX "JIVE - Reel Saturator" is a pretty nice always on pedal. It somehow puts a little magic to your sound whatever pedal is in front of it or afterward. It is supposed sound like an old AKAI gx210 Tape Machine - and has 3 mini toggles to allow individual diodes to be (de/)activated. Depending which diode you choose the sound gets grettier but also a bit more quiet, but there is plenty of volume-reserves you can add to balance that. And also a Gain know if you need it a bit dirtier.
While all his other pedals (at least those I tried) are pretty crazy and belong more into experimental territory - this one is really a secret holy grail kind of pedal. It's still not always always on... that's solely my reverb pedal. but it's a pretty hot candidate!

hudson broadcast
fredric klone
super duper 2-in-1

Plane Ticket Plus
Archer IKON

BD-2! Used it for years, it's always-on for every genre, soft or heavy, both knobs at 10->11 o'clock depending on the guitar used.

popvulture wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:07 am

electric12 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:54 am

I have a Nobels ODR1+ which if not on all the time, is on most of the time. Just adds that bit of crispness and definition. It gets switched off when I need a pure fuzz tone.

I've always wanted to try one of those. So you use it to just tighten up your gainy tone?

I use it to add a bit of 'sparkle' or 'sizzle' in front of my Selmer amp on most clean sounds. I find it just lifts the clean a little (the Selmer is VERY clean).
In conjunction with other ODs and distortions it adds a different colour, smooths them out and yes, it can tighten them. As i say, for 'pure fuzz' I tend to switch it off, but it is useful for adding flutey sustain to fuzz too.

I've used both BD-2 and OCD in the past, as well as my RAD MoFo (which is RAT that's been modified to sound closer to an OCD). For a while I used a Red Llama clone (in combination with another Red Llama clone used as a boost).

I started out using a Boss Turbo Overdrive for this, then moved onto a Tubescreamer until the last 5 years or so. If I can’t crank my amp these were always on.

Lately I go between a BD-2, OCD and Xotic BB preamp. The B.B. is on my main board, and the BD-2 is on my grab and go. Lately I’ve been digging my Fulldrive 2 on the flat setting for this when messing around at home.

I got to the Blues Driver party fairly late, but It’s hard to beat a BD-2.

I don't know why it even has a switch.

Smallsound/Bigsound Mini is my favorite.

echobaseone wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 21, 2018 1:11 pm

I don't know why it even has a switch.

Big +1. The Speaker Cranker is my favorite always on OD that works with most amps ive had.

Through the Vox I'm using now, I like the Hotcake always on with my JMs. Also the EQD Westwood has been pretty nice as well.