Distortion Pedal Shootout + Opinion (JHS, Friedman, Suhr, Fulltone)(HD) 

An excellent review👍🏻 IMO i prefer the Andy Timmins AT as i use that but the Suhr Riot i really might be swayed to swap to from the AT as its just natural amp sounding😍

Time stamps for main riffs in the first 12 minutes: 1:03 - Clean 1:10 - OCD Drive at Noon 1:22 - OCD Drive 0'd 1:37 - OCD Drive Dime-d 1:47 - OCD Drive at Noon, Bridge Pickup 10:34 - OCD, Riff 2 2:09 - Riot 6:07 - Riot, Riff 2 10:52 - Riot, Riff 2 again 2:41 - BE-OD 3:56 - BE-OD after some adjustments to flavor 9:37 - BE-OD, new palm-mute Riff 3 11:08 - BE-OD, Riff 2 5:05 - Angry Charlie 5:28 - Angry Charlie, after tweaking 5:49 - Angry Charlie, minor tweak 6:41 - Angry Charlie, Riff 2 11:33 - Angry Charlie, Riff 2 7:27 - Andy Timmons 8:58 - Andy Timmons, new palm-mute Riff 3 11:42 - Andy Timmons, Riff 2

Any idea what speaker comes stock in the Egnater Tweaker 15 combo? I've seen different ones in there. If I had a spare cab I'd consider getting the head but the combo I'm looking at is cheaper than the head anyway, atm.

I see your Tweaker does the same glassy “after playing stops” rattle as my Tweaker combo. It’s most noticeable when pushing the amp with a high gain pedal like this. I run a suhr Riot into mine and like it a lot. Just cannot figure out how to stop that glass rattle after reverb effect!

@Made by Mike What are the brand/model of the flat patch cables and of the round connectors?

This the best distortion pedal I've seen because it's honest. This is what these pedals sound like. A lot of the "pro" demos give a false illusion of what the pedals really sound like imo. At the end of the day I have yet to find a distortion that sounds as good as a good amp.

Suhr Riot for sure is the best on my ears...it's wide open warm sound, and also has a mid scoop (small toogle) that make sound unique...

The JHS @ sound waaayyy better with the toggle switch in the central position, wich is the 100 w feel. The down position compares to a 50w amp and je more compressed and High gainy. The 100w position is a lot more open sounding. This is actually the setting that Andy Timmons uses for his lead sound with de drive at full ( he cleans up his tone by rolling the guitar's volume knob)

I use the JHS AT+ in front of a same as the original but has a boost switch with separate level. In front of my mesa single rec- Simply the best drive I’ve ever had in 30 years of playing. 👌

The thing with the BE-OD is that you need to know how to properly dial the settings. The internal trim control tames the unnecessary amount of gain and you can almost do without the bass and presence. If anything, the tightness control is your friend

Are you the Made by Mike who makes the Siamese Dream dual MXR Dist 2/Opamp Muff pedal?

Having any of these pedals on your board is a win. They are all in the superior category IMO. Nice vid.

Did you use the middle position with both pick ups on for the entire demo ?

Awesome demo what is the songs played! This riff are so good!

For that kind of a riff, my preference would have been the bridge pickup, as most players would have chosen. Being in the middle position adds more woofy bass that does not work with high gain, but...to each his own.

Is the Friedman always so noisy when you click on it?

Help test jhs angry charlie v3 vs friedman dirty shirley Thank you very much

What is the song in the begging ? Oceansize?!

Angelvox1 I agree...the Be-od is an amp in a box pedal...the Dirty Shirley is voiced and made to sound like a tube screamer.

The Friedman has more gain than i need from one pedal and is hopped up in this chain. The JHS Angry Charlie with the 3 band EQ is the thing i like. This pedal has many great tones, with that mid knob being the key for tone shaping. Three tone knobs, with pot's that transition rather than simply going the less to more can be dialed in with minor movements, giving a lot of variety.

Never thought I'd say this, because I am NOT a Friedman fanboy but I actually bought the BE-OD and it's the best "distortion" pedal I own. I run a 6 band MXR eq in front of it so no issues getting mids if I want them.

damn i love how the at @ responds to strumming very natural in my ear i love its harshness...IMHO my vote would be 1. at and riot tie 2. OCD 3. be-od 4. angry charlie v2 i was debating between riot, pinnacle and @ at first but in the end i got myself the at drive and never look back very nice comparison...thanks!

13:26 what is the name of the song?

Nice video but when you started playing Radiohead Airbag you just got me :) Loved it

I liked the AT then the Suhr but you didn't switch the voice switch on the Suhr...

I think the Friedman also has an internal gain setting that can be advanced or backed off....probably needs to be tweaked

Nice comparation! Bogner Burnley vs Riot, please..

I love all the comments freaking out over calling the BE-OD “like a metal zone but good.” The metal zone isn’t even that bad a pedal, people need to relax.

Gotta love that Radiohead riff! Idk guys, I think he's right about the Friedman BE-OD lacking the mids control. I think it is best for studio work for example, because the scooped sound is better for recording. I love playing it when I'm by myself, it sounds mean and lean! But in a live/band mix it suffers for sure, unless you're Tosin Abasi and can play it through a $2000 tube amp, w/ your own professional sound engineer.. I will most likely replace it for the new Suhr Riot Mini.

Very good comparison. I think the friedman would be perfect if it had, as you say, a mid control, because it is pretty scooped. Tone wise, in terms of note definition and punch it really stands out for me. Also liked the gain structure very much, which is why I decided to go with it anyways. Considering the other pedals, I liked the AT best. Even though it seems to be close to the Angry Charlie, which I tried but it wasn't really what I was looking for, except that this really has the mids...

Its not only a certain pedal, its this in combination with everything: pick-ups, amp response, fingers etc.

I played the Suhr with single coils and the volume went up exponentially. I didn't like the OCD when I had it; played it with single coils.

The tip from Wolfhorsky in the comments on the BE OD realy works; you have to turn down the bass and treble! My settings now: Bass and Treble at bit under 9 O'clock presence at about 12 O'clock and gain at about 12 O'clock. Now you can play with the tight knob to find that sweet spot for the low end, for me it is at about 10/11 now. Away is that fizzy to much scooped sound, it realy sings now with enough mid to cut through in a live setting. :-) The thing, is in my opinion, that the treble knop is more a high mid frequentie knop. It are those not so pleasent mids; keep this low.

Thank you for a great video!

I usually keep the Friedman gain at about 10 or 11 o'clock which is more than enough for me, and the presence around 1 or 2 o'clock. Bass at 12, treble 12 or 1, tight at 11 or 12, and volume about 11. This works perfect for my Bassbreaker. I'm considering getting an OCD because I want to have a more organic sounding overdrive as well, switch between the two in a set. I find the Angry Charley too bassy and muffled, but it would probably work well with a very bright, trebly amp like a Princeton. Not too crazy about the Riot. It's just muddy. I love the AT and will be looking into it as well as the OCD.

Thank you for the nice comparison video

Is that the blueberry burst les paul standard? very nice.

Great demo

Open up the Friedman and dial the gain trim pot inside down.

Agree with you: liked the Riot best, and the AT was pretty good ... You really should try the earlier OCD versions; you have similar taste to me, and I'm sure you'd like them better ... Good shoot-out, thank you. Be well, K

JHS Angry Charlie nails the Bush “”Sixteen Stone” album tone!

You forgot the MXR M75 OCD JHS AT and friedman In that order Though idk the riot has this gruntier lower mid

Dude, if you want more mids, take out some low and high end, then raise the volume.

Would be super helpful if you didn't have your vocal mic audio mixed in with the ISO-cab audio. We can hear the "acoustic" strumming of the guitar through your vocal mic and it makes it less of an accurate demo.

why demo these with the middle pu position on the guitar? i'd just use the bridge pickup for the demo

Was the OCD running at 9 or 18 volts?

The Riot sounded the best and the AT was pretty natural sounding. Also, I like that you went back-and-forth between pedals instead of just going through them one time.

Cool tones. I think the Friedman works best in front of a completely clean amp- Master all the way up and channel gain used as volume- other wise it has too much gain. Also there is a trim pot inside the unit to back off the total amount of gain available. I think "BE" (BE OD)stands for "brown eye" and is Friedman's take on the brown sound. Ultimately I thought the best sounding pedal in this demo was the JHS on the far left.

Very good comparison, thank you! I have the OCD and after your video I still think it is the most versatile and the most organic-sounding of all those. It worked better when you dialed it back to about noon, otherwise it becomes almost a distortion pedal (this is what I mean by saying that it is the most versatile: it goes from TS-like mid-hump to heavy but stil uncut distortion). I use it at 18 volt, but it seems to work identically at 9. Among the others, I agree that the @ is the most originally voiced and the Riot is the best alternative to OCD, or even better, though apparently less able to become really rude. I would suggest (or rather I would appreciate very much) to make a comparison using single coils: I use an American Elite Telecaster and it sounds definitely different from your LP (and from my 58 reissue, as well): if you do it, just let me know!

they all sound kinda awesome

You had the tight knob on the Friedman too much to the left and your amp/speaker combo suited the other pedals....it is too noisey though....

The Friedman is amazing...lives up to it's rep. I like the EVH 5150 pedal and the Amptweaker stuff also rocks.

I have the @, the Friedman and the riot and find myself using the Friedman all the time. I don't get on with the @ at all for some reason. But different amps and guitars will give different results. Interesting vid. Thanks

Personally I like to have the gain set lower and the volume up higher to push the amp more.

Me gusta cuando el conector de corriente, entra completo, como el caso de Friedman y Suhr Riot.

I have the angry charlie V3 its really good especially with a Strat since its abit darker but its my go to in a clean fender amp...

Not bad, but felt you had a bias towards the Suhr Riot in the tweaking pedals stage...

The AT tied to Riot, then OCD, then a fair gap, then AC, another fair gap, then Be Od.

Very nice demo. Really. Not trying to hide the unwanted sound of any pedals (2:31) and also not adding bass or drum to the guitar playing which I find really unnecessary. No fancy guitar, not mega expensive gear. As it should be.

Try the Dirty Shirley pedal when you have a chance

And the RAT???

While this is a great comparison I'll just have to say, if you say it's too much gain with any of these pedals other than the OCD, then these are just not for you.

The AT sounds best by far to my ears, but I think I prefer my old Rat to any of them.

You need a isolated power supply to kill that noise in the BE-OD

good job !!

Anyone tested an Xotic SL drive against those?

Gnarly playing dude!!🤘

Want more mids out of BE-OD just turn down bass and treble. This will emphasise mids. BE-OD is more amp-like than my Dark Terror.

The BE-OD is the best here. The Suhr and both JHS pedals are designed are around the sound of a JCM800. OCD is based off a cranked JTM45 (much like the Wampler Plexi Drive) and the Friedman is based on its flagship amp the BE-100 which is like a heavily modded Super Lead with a percussive attack. And the Tight knob makes it go from flubby (for doom) to tight for chug.

this video is farely good butwhy didn't you add solo sounds at high posision? solo tone is also very important

OCD is more of an overdrive. Out of place with the high gain other. FYI that tweaker is the only amp that doesn't need a pedal. It does high gain great. If u set it that way.

Now when I supposedly understand the difference between overdrive and distortion you compare OCD (overdrive) with the Riot (distortion)

Angry charlie win for me that nasty crunch in which other pedals dont have 2nd is AT riot then friedman .. ocd for me sounds like overdrive ... nice comparison bro

Thanks for this, very helpful. I agree with your observations and for me it would be between the Riot and the AT. I think the AT would work very well with single coil guitars. It has a nice slightly forward mid voicing - without the fizziness that would sit well in a mix. I believe the AT also has the 25, 50, and 100 W switch that would help to give it a more dynamic amp like response at the 100 W setting with a little more headroom.

Wow good demo,I think Riot & AT win the competition, your right about the Friedman its to noisy compare to the rest of it

Are use mine in the 25 W mode but I turn the volume and drive up. If I were playing with a band I would use the 100 watt setting. I like all three.

It's so weird on the BE because the Friedman Buxom Boost is amazing.

The Friedman would be the best for Metal but the one on the far left is the best one JMO!

I think to my ears the Jhs At is the best, then second is Be-OD. I own an OCD version 1.4, don’t know which one is this; it’s a nice overdrive but like the angry Charlie and the riot they are not enough creamy to me. Be-OD is very very good but maybe too much metal-oriented while the JhsAT seems more versatile.

There must be something wrong with that Friedman. Mine does not have anywhere near that much gain from a clean sound. Mine definitely acts like as OD pedal and not a distortion pedal.

Weird, I play my BE-OD thru a cheap Marshall MG, and sound nothing like that.

Not easy to do a shootout before you learn the pedals.

Love my BE-OD!! Mine isn't noisy at all. There's an internall trim pot that can make it less Metal Zone. Knocked my OCD off my guitar board.

Nice line up of pedals. But, all I can say is before you stick your BE-OD in the closet next to your Metal Zone go check out Pete Thorn's BE-OD review.

Both JHS pedals stood out for me. Both have more of a mid bark that I love and they do not have the muddy low mids of both the BE-OD and Riot. BOth JHS pedals also take 18v power for more headroom and dynamics. Second is the OCD. I own the JHS AT and in both my old red knobs Twin and now my Revv Dynamis 7-40(through a 4x12 (great pedal platform amp with a killer dirt channel), and the AT sounds very amp-like. Never played a real OCD but I have that model in my HX Effects and the JHS sounds way better to me. The HXFX also has the DS-1 which I played for years a long time ago and Line6 nailed that model so I have no reason to think they are not also close with their OCD. The JHS AT sounds way better to me. Much better not separation, no mud and great mids. Feels great under the fingers too. I agree with you about the BE-OD though, it does sound fizzy and like a pedal. It's easily dead last and not even close to the others within these pedals here for me. The Riot sounded better but not much. Both JHS and the OCD shined here for me. All subjective of course! :)

"too much gain" wtf is that

why are you doing a distortion shout out is you dont like gain? maybe reverbs are more your style.

l likes the angry charlie and suhr riot, bigger wider sound.

Agree, Riot and OCD are awesome (but then again, I play those as well, though I have the Riot Reloaded). My main set-up is a Suhr Koko Boost into an OCD for lead and straight OCD all else. Nice video!

"Too much gain for me" Man, they are hi gain pedals.

Your problem with the Friedman is it has no mid control? Neither do three of the others. Only one has that.

I loved Angry Charlie and Riot 😃

U like low end on your sound don't u ? Not my taste but good video

THERE'S YOUR PROBLEM . . . the OCD is not on "HP" or "HIGH PASS" (and this is version 1.7 by the way, look inside the box at the marker hand printing, and it will indicate this). This will make the OCD sound bigger and more "amp-like" than the Sur.

I own the Friedman. Sounds closest to a Marshall. Sold my OCD. I do like the voicing of the Suhr Riot. It has some usable amp like tones. Didn't care for the gain structure of the two JHS pedals. I did own JHS Morning Glory and sold it as well.

Completely lost me when you compared the BE-OD to an MT-2. You've gotta be kidding me.

these are primarily overdrive pedals, not distortion units.

Great shootout of these pedals! But bro, 9 minutes of that first riff...

OCD had the Tone Control - up-too-much. It sounds warmer with the tone between 10am & 12 noon. Friedman was Very Noisy, and more of a Distortion ( not an OD ). All others sounded very comparable. I love the OCD and Angry Charlie. Nice / Fair Comparison.

Good job!!! It was a surprise but Riot was the best, in my opinion!