OCD v.s. Crowther Hotcake

ohyeahfuzzbear · Post by **ohyeahfuzzbear** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:53 pm

I'm curious in getting one of these pedals (made by mike style).

Like what the pros and cons of both pedals are, what they are both good at and what you shortscalers opinions are of them?

(I have no way of tyring them out by the way... that's why I am posting this...)

the isaac eaton · Post by **the isaac eaton** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:15 pm

I have both of them actually, in clone forms.

the OCD is thick and warm and has a lot of options, its really versatile and when boosted it can almost be moved into distortion territory. I really like my OCD, I keep mine set up for high gain over drive stuff and it really sings. It can get a little muddy sometimes, right now since I have mine set up for high gain stuff I have to have the tone knob almost all the way up.

the hotcake has way more snap and sparkle that the OCD doesn't have. I really the presence control on it, you can make your amp sound like vintage gear or biting modern gear. Its got a pretty good range of gain on it too, it can go from clean boost to almost big muff sounds at full gain. I use mine for lighter overdrive while the ocd is at high gain. so I have a good spread of over drive.

Im really happy with both, and you should just get both! maybe even in a MBM double pedal box. But if I had to pick just one, I think I would go with the OCD. It has a little more beefy-ness to it and can get really thick and saturated, which I like. Hope this helps!

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:07 am

the isaac eaton wrote:you should just get both! maybe even in a MBM double pedal box.

i'd be down for that, both great pedals, both entirely different from one another and im sure they'd get along great

ohyeahfuzzbear · Post by **ohyeahfuzzbear** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:14 am

i want the double box thing now. I'll see if i have enough money.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:11 am

see if mike can but a switch in there so you can change the order they run through each other as well.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:19 am

That's dependent on space. If I'm building a Boost and Overdrive together, I can generally do it, but two Overdrives is generally too much of squeeze unfortunately.

lank81 · Post by **lank81** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:00 pm

I currently have the OCD and love it. It's got a great marshally sound with the HP set and the gain up but it is great on LP, low gain (8 or 9 o'clock), tone at 1, to fatten up the sound a bit without getting too muddy. Still though, i'm very interested in the hotcake as I've heard it and the Vox are a match made in heaven. I guess I'll have to get one ... eventually

fiveways · Post by **fiveways** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 2:59 pm

I fine my hotcake to be very muddy in comparison to my V3 OCD.

At this moment I greatly dislike both.

ChrisFFTA · Post by **ChrisFFTA** » Mon May 10, 2010 3:55 am

I have an Orange AD30HTC and have had both an OCD (V3) and a Hotcake. The Hotcake was muddy and lifeless... whereas the OCD was lovely and sparkly. I would buy another OCD before a Hotcake. Some people swear by them though... any chance you can sit down and have a good play with both?

dub · Post by **dub** » Mon May 10, 2010 4:04 am

A lot of local bands I dig use Hotcakes, obviously they're a bit cheaper on the ground in NZ.
I have noticed that most of those bands use very clean Fender style amps.
Although the most monstrous sounding example (Jakob) use a double hotcake into two Hiwatt halfstacks...

lank81 · Post by **lank81** » Mon May 10, 2010 4:15 am

Another choice might be the Barber Direct Drive. It's comparable to the OCD but definitely brighter sounding. I feel like it hits the Marshally tones a bit better and probably cuts through the mix a little better. But if you don't want brightness, shy away. It's also a pretty versatile pedal with TS808 tones, etc. Definitely check Dave's stuff out and he posts quit a bit on his board and others (TGP). Just another OD choice to mill over. So many ODs, so little cash.