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Anyone here have experience with the Tech 21 Liverpool or Blonde? I'm sort of indifferent about my current dirt pedals, aside from my OD-3, and have thought about replacing the YDR and BBM with either the Liverpool or Blonde. Anyone replaced some of their dirt pedals with either of these?

I have a Blonde. Dead handy for recording into my computer and for replacing the pre-amp in an otherwise unfavourable amp (like my Fender 85), but I wouldn't say it's a dirt pedal or a replacement for one. Nothing stopping you using it as one though, I s'pose.

Get one of those Harley Benton er, tributes from Thomann and give it a go.

Ta,

Mark

I think they'll be under the brand name Joyo in the states. If you want you can probably play 10 times the price from freekish Blues for a repaint job on 'em (boom tish)

i think mike did a demo of the harley benton copy and is very impressed with them

I have the Harley Benton American (Blonde). It sounds really good but won't sound right if you try and use it as a dirt pedal.

Theyre great preamps, ive got the joyo california sound and its great, very close to what it models. Doesn't sound very good as a dirt box though, I'd look for something else if I were you, well as long as your looking for dirt pedals.

lorez wrote:i think mike did a demo of the harley benton copy and is very impressed with them

Yeah. I use mine as a PreAmp/DI box. They sound immense as a Clean base to push pedals through.

[youtube][/youtube]

I've read a review by Phil on HC stating that they can be used as dirt boxes if desired or as something I can have going into my Firebox if I want to record anything in Garageband. I've also read that they're fine as regular pedals as long as they're placed after dirt and modulation but before reverb/delay (this is if you don't want it right in front of your amp)

Thanks for your input guys. I'm leaning towards the Liverpool right now. Read a comment on the Joyo version that stated it was more trebly (AC Tone vs. Liverpool).

The Joyos are more trebly, though you can just turn the Treble down, but they also have the speaker emulation always on which makes them less useable as drive pedals.

Speaker Emulation into a real amp generally sounds unpleasantly toppy and boomy.

I've got the Liverpool on the way, but if it doesn't work out, I can return it. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

I forgot to say, they work well as a dirt pedal if you place them in the effects loop - thats my experience anyway. Sounds quite nice like that, I'm tempted to get myself the joyo ac tone as I like the california so much.

Forgot to add my follow-up: got the Liverpool in a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure if it's a keeper. It sounds fine on clean settings, but introduces a lot of buzz when increasing the amount of drive. The OD-3 does this, too. I'm thinking I might need an MXR Smart Gate because I want to use this pedal, along with other pedals in a chain, not in a separate effects loop. I'd like to combine it with delay and/or reverb from time to time.

Maybe I'd just be better off with a regular distortion pedal that would fit better in the chain. Any suggestions of some good all-rounders would be welcomed. Please keep in mind, that although I'd consider using the drive on the Pathfinder, I'm having to play through headphones and drive on the Pathfinder is noisy/hissy as hell.

I know the Boss BC-2 is sort of the same concept as the Liverpool, but it sounded pretty decent from the demo I heard.

The OD-3 is not a noisy pedal. I think there could be something else nasty in your chain that is cocking things up.

Check your cables, power supply etc.

The OD-3 is a little noisy, but nothing compared to the Liverpool. I have to lower the volume on the Liverpool when increasing the drive and lowered volume makes it nearly unusable in my setup. I posted a thread about my situation on HCFX and one guy suggested that the headphone jack of the Pathfinder is just crap when it comes to using dirt pedals and that I use a Amplitube as my amp. Don't really want to go that route right now.

Like you suggested, Mike, I should probably look at my pedal cables. I bought an 8-pack of 8-inch pedal cables for $25 and a friend suggested that I stop being such a cheap bastard when it comes to pedal cables and upgrade. Maybe I should go in this direction--a solderless pedal kit:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PedalCabKit/

As far as power supply, I'm using a Godlyke PowerAll, which is the same thing as a OneSpot. It's going into a power conditioner and not straight into the wall outlet. I do notice that my signal is pretty noise-free when playing clean or using non-dirt pedals.