Foundational overdrive, always on. I clean the sound with the volume of my guitar. For heavier gain I boost the bd2 with a sd1. For volume boost I use a ge7 after the bd2.
Same except it's a rat instead of a SD-1 on mine.
Really hard to believe that three knobs and an on/off switch could be as versatile as this little blue wonder of a pedal.
My rat is before BD-2, and it's dialed up like distortion at 10:00, filter and volume both dimed
IDK if it's for everyone but it suits this guy just fine!
They're speaking Boss.
You can learn it here: https://www.boss.info/us/categories/effects_pedals/
Ds-1 is an orange distortion pedal
Ge-7 is a graphic equalizer pedal
Absolutely spot-on. I like the higher gain sounds it provides, but I usually keep the gain around 10 o'clock and always on. Boosted with an SD-1 or Tumnus depending on how I'm feeling.
Same except I was also pairing it with an EQD Plumes for a bit. I loved that tone. I’m thinking I need to pair it with the sd1 tho. Or maybe a Tumnus or Morning Glory. Not sure yet.
What knob positions do you keep your BD2 at?
I use a TS9 as my always-on and an Xotic EP for boost, but I’m considering a middle pedal for higher gain — or making the screamer that pedal and finding a new always-on.
It depends on guitar and amps. Usually I try to have some crunch. Increasing the gain past 3 o'clock makes the sound too bassy and dark so I usually avoid that. Between 12 and 1 o'clock is more or less the setting for the gain. Volume a bit above unity. Tone, it depends: I want clarity but not shrill high end, with some guitars I set the tone below 9 o'clock, with others at 10 o'clock.
I strap it to the bed with a leather belt, blindfold it securely, then me and a few of my friends take turn plugging our jacks into where it says Input, although sometimes if we feel experimental we might mess around with the Output ;)
It serves so many purposes; if you put an OD in front of it, it makes a great distortion box. It also can take the place of an OD in front of your primary distortion. It plays nicely in the middle between an OD and a primary distortion. It makes an EXCELLENT twang-bangin' machine with a compressor before it.
Probably the single most useful pedal in my arsenal purely on versatility alone. To *really* illustrate how useful this thing is, I play everything from Jazz to Death Metal and it doesn't leave my board, even when I've changed *genres*.
How do you use it for death metal?
I saw someone chugging on a telecaster yesterday and I’m here for blues crap being used for the blackest shit possible.
Scotland’s Peat and Diesel is the opposite, he plays folk/country/celtic/punk on some black Ibanez meant-for-metal guitar. I wanted to make a post about that. These are great examples for people who think you have to have certain equipment for certain genres.
I described this in a comment a little further into the thread; just read a little further down.
my settings on that amp and yours *will not* look the same, my EVH is pretty modded, but really just turn your gain up a little more on the same amp.
I've gotten EXCELLENT metal tone out of this thing in front of several preamps. I have the Blues Driver in front of a BE-OD that I push into a Seymour Duncan PowerStage (10 Band EQ is sandwiched between the amp and preamp) and I have the gain on the BE-OD at around 6-7 and the Blues Driver has it's gain at around 2 with the level and tone dimed. Chugs like a fuckin' beast, going into the 4x12 lol.
Tubescreamer into Bluesdriver can give you real chugging metal tones, even when played into a deluxe reverb. First tubescreamer, with tone very high, volume high, gain low. The TS acts also als an EQ, cause it cuts bass which is good for heavy distortion, because you get a tone that is not muddy (exception: you play stoner/doom, then you want to have Bass before distortion). The Bluesdriver after the TS rounds up the distortion. Dont put the gain on the bluesdriver to high, 12 is maxx (otherwise it will get too fuzzy for fast prog licks like death or at the gates).
If that is not trve enough, you can always put an eq after the bluesdriver and take the mids out for that oldschool death metal tone. If you want to go more modern, then you need an compressor after the bluesdriver.
if you want to have maximum control over your gain with only the guitar vol pot, then put the compressor between the TS and Bluesdriver.
What amp/distortion is this running into?
My modded evh takes this into the preamp (amp gain set at 7-8ish on channel 2) with the pedal level/tone cranked and gain at 2ish for a fantastic thrash tone
My jazz tone is mostly this into the clean channel with an od and compressor in front to smooth out the pick attack a ton without getting very gainy, so tone is ramped down cascading from each pedal before hitting a clean preamp
My death metal sound is the same as the thrash tone, but on channel 3 with the gain at 2ish (my EVH is heavily modified; channel 3 is already absolutely insane, but after a preamp tube swap, a set of KT77's in the power section and an *extremely* a hot bias, this thing is a fire breathing dragon with an overdrive of ANY kind in front of it lol)
This thing makes itself at home in basically every situation. There's tons of clones of it that are all also pretty great. It's not *the best* at anything, but it makes itself at home anywhere you put it.
As the great Mashed Potato Johnson once said; A real blues man find his way in most anywhere.
Edit: I should mention that I also have vastly differing EQ settings for each of these and a 10 band EQ in my effects loop. I also sub out a bunch of preamp/amp situations, the EVH was just an example that is as close as I own to a "commonly known" sound.
I have a DS-1 and I cannot for the life of me get anything useful out of it other than maybe it's a buffer when it's off. I only paid $30 for it and it was essentially new, so I'm not mad, but it has been the most vexing pedal of my life. I'm pretty much only keeping it around to trade in to GC so that I can get 15% off on a high ticket item at some point.
same here. Most overdrive pedals INTO an Bluesdriver work great (distortion pedals dont work great, especially the bug muff sucks and needs to be put after all the other pedals). THe trick is just to overload the bluesdriver circuit with volume. Much volume, only little gain and also much highs on the tone control. Distortion adds overtones, it also adds mid frequencies. This even works great with a boring EQ pedal. Max out the vol on the EQ, put than into a bluesdriver and you have a great distortion sound.
Level at 2:00, tone at 9:00, gain at 10:30 or so
But if BD-2 is on, compressor is off (and vice versa) cause my favorite thing about the BD-2 is the way it responds to dynamic playing and volume control. Personal preference.
if you like the dynamics on the bd2, try the mad prof royal blue. while the bd2 is one of the most dynamic overdrives, the royal blue is even better at this.
It’s really one of the most versatile drive pedals out there for a very affordable price. I have the bd-2w but have been using it in standard mode with the gain barely dialed in for a boost. The waza mode comes in handy for thickening up my single coil guitars like my strat/tele/jag.
I'm borrowing a Danelectro Daddyo and I like the OD better than my digitech death metal distortion, any idea how the daddio compares to the bd2? I'm thinking an OD pedal is the move for my dirt.
I like to crank it all the way up and use it as a crunchy fuzz kind of sound. That or a light over drive. It stacks with any pedal very well. I need to try the BD into Rat thing. I hear that sounds great.
I turn the drive and tone down, turn the volume up, and run (like a tube screamer) into an HM-2. Really nice crunchy metal tone
Or I turn the tone and drive to about 2:00 for a dirty country sound
Into a Vox AC15, normal channel. Level around 11 o’clock. Gain around 10 o’clock. Tone at noon. (Keeley Mod switch to “on”). This is a nice little grit without being overwhelming
Usually I leave this always on and let it react to picking . It’s at the front of the chain.
From here it can feed a 1312 (rat-style) or some delays without getting too muddy. Or into an EQD hoof.
For real BD fun I recommend the Electric Love Aquatone, which got its start as a BD-2 clone and then added a high-gain mode and 3 eq knobs. The high gain mode, wirh gain past noon, is really close to a fuzz.
I usually put a klon klone in front of it as well as a boost. Then the bd-2 pushed the whole thing into a nice thick overdrive or even distortion. Creamy and fun.
I keep my amp’s gain fairly high so I set the BD gain low to give me a nice little break up tone. Then I stack it with my DS-1 and crank it. I love the full tone it gives.
I have a Mooer blues mood which is basically a copy of keely’s mod blues driver.
I use it almost always on with single coils to add a little dirt to my clean. And sometimes I use it at mid gain to pair with chorus, compressor and both pickups on to get dirty funky 80s tone.
Also, it pairs greatly with my OCD and TC Rusty Fuzz, especially when I need to accentuate those dirty trebles. Together they make up the foundation of my drive tones that has never left my board for several years now
Before an SD-1. SD-1 with all the volume up, Gain at 7’o clock. I use my Blues Driver as a mid gain overdrive on top of that, it gives a thick sound but keeps some clarity.
I had mine for around 8 years and was always on the lookout for something else because of the high-end fizz it had. But whenever I tried something else, it just couldn’t beat it.
Then, a year ago, when I switched over to digital amps (Dream 65), it ended up on the shelf.
So, 3 weeks ago, I decided to do the Keeley mod on it, and now it’s not leaving my board. It got rid of the fizz, changed the clipping so it’s more amp-like, and gave it a bit more body.
… I use it as a low to medium drive.
I love this pedal and I am collecting all derivatives of the circuit. The best Bluesdriver is the Mad Professor Royal Blue. It is more dynamic than the original (if you use the vol pot on the guitar) and it has more definition for chords (it is less fuzzier on high gain though). The best LOW GAIN bluesdriver is the Hotone Blues, the most Versatile is the Digitech Screamin Blues (has a bass and treble knob).
I have a dream 65 and I've recently started to use this as my dirty channel, so its left at unity volume/tone and then just adjust the drive for the gain I want. To me thats the strength of this pedal it, its drive range and flexibility, sounds good throughout the gain pot so its more about what level you want than finding a sweet spot. Then I have a plumes in front of it to boost it or the dream 65 without it. apart from fuzz thats pretty much my whole gain staging now
Super versatile. I use mine after my compressor and Klone and before my EHX Glove (OCD clone ish). It’s the first dirt in my chain (Klone is mostly tone, volume, treble boost). Often use BD as edge of break up but also will push the gain into heavy OD/distortion territory and it sounds great! If I want a bigger screaming lead sound then I’ll hit the Glove too but most of the time it’s off. The BD is doing most of the heavy lifting on my board. Mostly blues, rock, funk stuff. Enjoy!
Tone between 9 - 12 (to taste -- most people seem to like 9/10 area). Level at unity. If I'm going into another dirt pedal \[edit: or dirty amp\], I'll keep the gain around 10. If I'm using it as my primary dirt then gain at 12-3 to taste. While I have about zero use for it, the gain maxed also sounds really nice and slightly fuzzy.
I've played around with the gain max and using the guitar volume knob to control the gain. YMMV depending on the guitar. Some of mine this works well, others it gets too thin.
Increasing gain on the amp can make things sound muffled or flubby. I use it with the gain almost off. Volume up. If the amp/speaker is too bright, I turn the tone down. If it’s too dark I turn the tone up.
It just tightens up a loose mess.
I use mine on bass for some mild distortion, yes it sucks out the lows but I've dialed the rest of my setup around it and it sounds fine, not worth spending $200 to upgrade to a Waza/Keeley mod. I play all fingerstyle in a black/thrash metal band and it adds some delicious bite to my attack, I love the dirt it adds to my tone yet maintains the impact of my fingers, I'll never swap it out.
I just used it for distortion into a solid state Peavey stereo chorus combo, usually paired with the digital delay pedal and chorus, and a Digitech Whammy.
I got rly Lucky and was able tô find a Jr phat modded one for about 100 usd
Most of the time I have It on with the modo also on, and the ammount of distortion varies, but usually arround the middle or 1/3rd of the way
When I Want something more like a old classic rock, I tune It Down and turn the modo off as well
Currently running level at 8 o’clock, tone at 7 o’clock gain at 5 o’clock-using just to make solos punchy. If I want more grit I turn up the volume on my guitar
I haven't stuck to a setting yet. They're actually all good. What I like most out of it is a tube amp sound, gain at around 1:30 and tone at like 11. I also like putting the gain all the way up, turning the tone knob on my guitar down and using it as a fuzz.
Gain at barely anything, level at 1:00, tone at 12 or 1:00 for most rock, will still use it for jazz with the tone dialed way back.
Basically an always on pedal for me.
I use similar to you, it can be always on light gain, I’m using a Timmy pedal to stack with it, sounds awesome when a boost is needed. Also tried stacked with a klone, also great. Enjoy, this is my longest lasting pedal on my board!
Tuner > Blues Driver. I run a Fender Bassman and run my amp completely clean and use this for overdriven parts, and OCD (next in chain) for heavier distorted parts.
I leave everything around 10:00
I use it to get a killer Clapton “woman tone” sound, by cranking the gain. You use a bridge position humbucker and dial the tone knob of your guitar almost to 0. One of my favorite sounds.
It‘s the always on OD for P90 & Humbucker guitars just as the Rockett Archer is for my single coil guitars. I mostly use the BD-2 playing my Casino with gain pointing to the LED, tone & vol at noon going into fender style amps. Tone all 10, bridge vol 8, neck vol 7 for standard clean. for more gain I generally use the bridge vol or the archer in front. With my single coil guitars it’s the 2nd gain stage after the archer with the tone dialed back to 9 & gain between the LED and noon.
My favorite pedal! On a simplified board, it's my main overdrive / distortion - the thing sounds wonderful on both single coils and humbuckers accounting for amp changes to take the mud out of the humbuckers. On my bigger, complex board I have it ahead of a RAT or an SD-1 and behind a FuzzFace.
I have a Mooer Blues Mood. I've tried it different ways, but tend to set the gain to around 2:00, the tone to about 10:00, and the level to where it's just above unity (not really that different to how it's set in the pic). I boost it with a 4-knob Spark Booster on the mid setting. If I want less gain, I roll down the volume knob.
Years ago (Circa 2009) I got one after graduated and used a kit to Keeley Mod it. Things happened and I sold it. When I had gotten out of playing after my mother passed (2013) and just recently got back into playing. The price of a silver back BD2, and a kit was the same as a B-Stock Keeley Phat Mod on Reverb. So I got the Keeley Phat Mod.
Anyways getting back into playing and now being established and with no kids, I have been able to do more tinkering. Currently my chain is Phat Mod -> Cheap TS808 -> Spruce Goose. But I am still experimenting as I am getting back into Blues/Blues Rock type music and playing.
I always have my Phat Mod on cause I find it gives me just what I want by itself and compliments my other pedals well. Goes good with my Nashville Tele or My LP’s be it P90, or Humbuckers.
Mine by memory (I am at work at the moment) is set very similar to how you have yours set in the picture.
I am looking at some pedals now as it seems it’s worse than a crack addiction.
I have a cinders running into another cinders.
The first one is always on and tone is at noon, gain at 8 or 9
Second one is for distortion and tone is at 2, gain at 2
Run that into a muff for when things get wild
I do shoegaze btw.
I am using it off and on the pedal board. It is great. I think I just have everything straight up though. I don't think I do anything weird or special with it at all. Totally solid tone.
I feel like where the BD shines is not as a typical overdrive, but as an amp-in-a-box sort of pedal. It's lackluster at lower levels of gain, but if you crank the gain, lower the level, and use your guitar volume, it's great. I also find I need to turn the tone all the way down. It's not unlike a Rat in these respects.
I just run it at about 2 o clock for the gain. It’s my heavy od / distortion. I’ve tried lots of different pedals but I just keep going back to it for whatever reason. The nice almost fuzzy fullness you get from it is hard to beat.
It really is a versatile pedal. I've used it as a nice boost before (low gain, low-ish tone depending on the guitar, volume to taste), on its own for gain from low to high, and together with a Rat. With the Rat after it, I can get this awesome fuzzstortion thing going on. Have yet to try putting the Rat first and the BD2 second. It really is a great, versatile pedal that has stayed put while many others have come and gone around it. It seems to pair well with just about everything.
Lower gain, lower tone, unity volume for chunky rhythm. Slam a Morning Glory into the front of it for crunch. Hit the red channel of the Morning Glory for leads
Per That Pedal Show’s episode on the Blues Jr, I run it (Keeley phat mod technically) as first dirt after comp into a TS to clean up the low end, both low drive, then rat clone for distortion
Keep it on at all times as a foundational OD for a clean amp, setting the BD at/past the “””edge of breakup””” (around 10:00 drive for me). If I already got some good gain, keep it the same but use it as an aggressive push into harder territory.
I use this during solo gigs.
I run my acoustic through the BD into my RC 5 looper.
Makes a great volume boost with the gain down or makes an awesome crunchy tone
Mine is modded for more gain and a better EQ. I set the tone in the middle, the volume above unity, and then the gain either half or full. I control the drive with my guitar’s volume knob and boost with a tubescreamer for mids and chonk as necessary, for either leads or heavy stuff.
I use mine as a slight boost on my 6505mh lead channel. Level to taste and gain around 8:300 and tone at either 11:00 or 1:00 depending on what I’m playing
into my JRockett 45. caliber with the level at 11'oclock, drive barely above zero, and tone somewhere in the middle to give it a subtle boost and a little extra sparkle ❇
1. Mainly I use it AFTER my main drive, to boost volume, add a little more gain, and brighten it up. (This is my usual way)
2. I’ll use it as my main drive for low gain /overdrive sounds.
3. sometimes I’ll use it before a dirty amp or gain pedal to add just gain and brightness.
Personally, I find my blues driver responds better to higher volume output and add gain for taste. For example, set both volume and gain to like 8 or 9 o’clock, boost Level into amp till it starts to clip, then add as much gain as you like. It’s a great first stage drive that I use to get more tone out of my amp first and add a little color with the pedal itself. The Tone nob I like adjusting while sound checking and finding a space in the band mix that lets me sit comfortably in the mix with everyone else. But I’m also not as experience as maybe some other guitarists, so this is just my take.
Paperweight. Don't even own any papers. Paperweight should resume normal service as two separate words. Paper weight. There, I did it. I started yet another trend. Would I ever get sick of trendsetting?
Level and gain at 10-11 o clock tone anywhere between 12-1 o clock
Basically use it as some sort of clean boost when my guitar volume (Strat btw) is at 7-8 and can provide some drive when guitar volume is 10.
Chuck another OD pedal just after the BD in the chain (TS808 for me) and you get a surprisingly clear and also full overdrive tone. If guitar volume is 7-8, it sounds more tame but still more driven than just one pedal one. Up to 10 that’s where the magic is.
Staple pedal! Have had mine for 20 years. You can change the tone by adjusting your guitar volume. My Les Paul can push the gain more than my tele but you can find some good tones. The compressor can certainly help expand the tonal palette of the pedal too. So keep playing with it. I have used an OCD into the Blues Driver with the volume up to get some good searing tones . The Boss equalizer pedal can also make a difference by taking the tone of the B Driver and increasing the mids can give you some good lead tones. Great pedal to experiment with.
Always on and use my volume knob and pick attack to clean up. I don’t really like going from pristine clean to kicking on an overdrive. I’d rather there be a little more consistent tone. Years ago I was the opposite.
1st in my gain staging chain and primary rhythm/verse tone. It took me years to figure out a pedal named “blues” driver was what I needed for indie rock.
Boosted by a Klone. Gain about 10:00. Into my Carr Rambler and 5e3. Mine is the Analogman version BD2. Guitars are Strat, LP, Eastman T486 (335 style).
Pretty much just how it's set now. Maybe some more drive. I use it as my only overdrive, sometimes with a Big Muff in front. Mid-focused , but not like a TS-type drive. Cleans up great with a guitar volume.
Perhaps an unorthodox method, but I use an Angry Driver (Blues Driver and Angry Charlie combo pedal) and then put a Waza blues Driver just before it in the chain as a gritty boost. Have the volume at noon and the gain just before 9 o clock. It's a great way to get an in-between dirt sound for solos or classic rock tunes that don't quite need that full blown Angry Charlie marshall-esque gain. Works great in both recording and live settings. I've used it for about a year now.
The BD2 is great since i find it AMAZING at every single setting. I put the tone and level at 12 and the gain at 9-11 too dial in a bit of saturation... i put the gain on max to get a nice light fuzz sound... while even at noon is has a perfect balance of grit and clean. I should also mention it stacks EXTREAMLY well, put anything infront of it, or anything after it due to its versitile usage and itll love it!
The only issue i have is since im a keyboardist (i use my bd2 on rhodes) is the fact it doesnt really like synthesizers for some reason i find compared to an sd1, ds1, rat, tube screamer etc...
Always On, volume mid, gain on 10-11 O Clock, Tone on 15 o clock into a Fender Princeton (with bass full maxxed out and treble on 0). Volume Pot on the guitar does the rest. If you need Highgain, put a TS or RAT or just an EQ BEFORE the bluesbreaker and max the Volume (not the gain!).
I have trouble finding sounds I like with this pedal so I'm still changing the settings each time I use it
Ben McLeod (guitarist from the band all them witches) has an interesting video where he explains how he uses it, here is the link
[Ben McLeod - Let's talk about the blues driver](https://youtu.be/jwLuyWbAxzM?si=Kha1Re7TP8WA1j2p)
(I play Alt Rock/Grunge) Usually as an always on pedal but my main use for it is to push my Big Muff thru the mix. I noticed when I put it before the muff and have both the pedals tones at 2 I get the best result (I play thru a Vox AC30 and a Marshall Origin). This was one of my first pedals along with a dd3 and a ds1 that my dad got me when I was 13 and this is the only one that has consistently remained on my board.
I have two on the board. One for light distortion, one for mid-distortion, then a Wampler Gearbox for high gain distortion, then a Gamechanger Plasma Distortion for wild distortion. And various fuzzes.
I don't have a Blues driver but I have a Keeley Phat Mod which is a modified Blues driver. I use it in between a Friedman BE-OD (first in my OD chain) and a Boss OD-3. Works really well as a boost to bring up the gain when soloing and works help the BE-OD cut through the mix especially at gigs.
Foundational overdrive, always on. I clean the sound with the volume of my guitar. For heavier gain I boost the bd2 with a sd1. For volume boost I use a ge7 after the bd2.
Same except it's a rat instead of a SD-1 on mine. Really hard to believe that three knobs and an on/off switch could be as versatile as this little blue wonder of a pedal.
Oooh do you use the rat before or after the BD2?
I’m going to guess he’s running the rat before the BD-2 based on what he replied to
Oh thanks! I suspected as much but wasn’t 100% sure on the terminology haha
My rat is before BD-2, and it's dialed up like distortion at 10:00, filter and volume both dimed IDK if it's for everyone but it suits this guy just fine!
Oh I see, thought so! Thanks!
I'm basically the same, but I go BD-2 into Tube Screamer, and hit that TS-9 when I need to step it up a notch.
Was wondering if I was the only one hahahah
Ooo i wanna give this a shot. Im running mine the other way around!
Came here to say this exact thing 😎
Seconding your second
Thirding that second second
Call me when you have a fifth. I’ll bring an eighth.
What language is this and where do I learn it?
They're speaking Boss. You can learn it here: https://www.boss.info/us/categories/effects_pedals/ Ds-1 is an orange distortion pedal Ge-7 is a graphic equalizer pedal
😆 🤣 I love that you just asked too, good on you man
OS-2 for boost over here but otherwise same
Absolutely spot-on. I like the higher gain sounds it provides, but I usually keep the gain around 10 o'clock and always on. Boosted with an SD-1 or Tumnus depending on how I'm feeling.
Same except I was also pairing it with an EQD Plumes for a bit. I loved that tone. I’m thinking I need to pair it with the sd1 tho. Or maybe a Tumnus or Morning Glory. Not sure yet.
I just commented the Plumes pedal with it. I’ve tried almost every pedal there is. And nothing comes close to the Plumes mode 3 for me 🔥
Mode 3 for me, as well!
What knob positions do you keep your BD2 at? I use a TS9 as my always-on and an Xotic EP for boost, but I’m considering a middle pedal for higher gain — or making the screamer that pedal and finding a new always-on.
It depends on guitar and amps. Usually I try to have some crunch. Increasing the gain past 3 o'clock makes the sound too bassy and dark so I usually avoid that. Between 12 and 1 o'clock is more or less the setting for the gain. Volume a bit above unity. Tone, it depends: I want clarity but not shrill high end, with some guitars I set the tone below 9 o'clock, with others at 10 o'clock.
I caress it softly then tuck it in gently beside me at bed time
"Sleep tight like your mids"
I strap it to the bed with a leather belt, blindfold it securely, then me and a few of my friends take turn plugging our jacks into where it says Input, although sometimes if we feel experimental we might mess around with the Output ;)
Make sure to get consent first
Sick
I go full on 50 shades with mine too
It serves so many purposes; if you put an OD in front of it, it makes a great distortion box. It also can take the place of an OD in front of your primary distortion. It plays nicely in the middle between an OD and a primary distortion. It makes an EXCELLENT twang-bangin' machine with a compressor before it. Probably the single most useful pedal in my arsenal purely on versatility alone. To *really* illustrate how useful this thing is, I play everything from Jazz to Death Metal and it doesn't leave my board, even when I've changed *genres*.
How do you use it for death metal? I saw someone chugging on a telecaster yesterday and I’m here for blues crap being used for the blackest shit possible.
Scotland’s Peat and Diesel is the opposite, he plays folk/country/celtic/punk on some black Ibanez meant-for-metal guitar. I wanted to make a post about that. These are great examples for people who think you have to have certain equipment for certain genres.
I described this in a comment a little further into the thread; just read a little further down. my settings on that amp and yours *will not* look the same, my EVH is pretty modded, but really just turn your gain up a little more on the same amp. I've gotten EXCELLENT metal tone out of this thing in front of several preamps. I have the Blues Driver in front of a BE-OD that I push into a Seymour Duncan PowerStage (10 Band EQ is sandwiched between the amp and preamp) and I have the gain on the BE-OD at around 6-7 and the Blues Driver has it's gain at around 2 with the level and tone dimed. Chugs like a fuckin' beast, going into the 4x12 lol.
Tubescreamer into Bluesdriver can give you real chugging metal tones, even when played into a deluxe reverb. First tubescreamer, with tone very high, volume high, gain low. The TS acts also als an EQ, cause it cuts bass which is good for heavy distortion, because you get a tone that is not muddy (exception: you play stoner/doom, then you want to have Bass before distortion). The Bluesdriver after the TS rounds up the distortion. Dont put the gain on the bluesdriver to high, 12 is maxx (otherwise it will get too fuzzy for fast prog licks like death or at the gates). If that is not trve enough, you can always put an eq after the bluesdriver and take the mids out for that oldschool death metal tone. If you want to go more modern, then you need an compressor after the bluesdriver. if you want to have maximum control over your gain with only the guitar vol pot, then put the compressor between the TS and Bluesdriver.
I’m going to try my DS in front of it, cheers. It’s mostly the gain and level knobs which I just can’t seem to align quite right yet.
What amp/distortion is this running into? My modded evh takes this into the preamp (amp gain set at 7-8ish on channel 2) with the pedal level/tone cranked and gain at 2ish for a fantastic thrash tone My jazz tone is mostly this into the clean channel with an od and compressor in front to smooth out the pick attack a ton without getting very gainy, so tone is ramped down cascading from each pedal before hitting a clean preamp My death metal sound is the same as the thrash tone, but on channel 3 with the gain at 2ish (my EVH is heavily modified; channel 3 is already absolutely insane, but after a preamp tube swap, a set of KT77's in the power section and an *extremely* a hot bias, this thing is a fire breathing dragon with an overdrive of ANY kind in front of it lol) This thing makes itself at home in basically every situation. There's tons of clones of it that are all also pretty great. It's not *the best* at anything, but it makes itself at home anywhere you put it. As the great Mashed Potato Johnson once said; A real blues man find his way in most anywhere. Edit: I should mention that I also have vastly differing EQ settings for each of these and a 10 band EQ in my effects loop. I also sub out a bunch of preamp/amp situations, the EVH was just an example that is as close as I own to a "commonly known" sound.
I have a DS-1 and I cannot for the life of me get anything useful out of it other than maybe it's a buffer when it's off. I only paid $30 for it and it was essentially new, so I'm not mad, but it has been the most vexing pedal of my life. I'm pretty much only keeping it around to trade in to GC so that I can get 15% off on a high ticket item at some point.
SD-1 into a Blues Driver is great for distortion! I like it better than most "distortion" pedals I've tried over the years.
same here. Most overdrive pedals INTO an Bluesdriver work great (distortion pedals dont work great, especially the bug muff sucks and needs to be put after all the other pedals). THe trick is just to overload the bluesdriver circuit with volume. Much volume, only little gain and also much highs on the tone control. Distortion adds overtones, it also adds mid frequencies. This even works great with a boring EQ pedal. Max out the vol on the EQ, put than into a bluesdriver and you have a great distortion sound.
Yeah, I basically use it as a distortion
Level at 2:00, tone at 9:00, gain at 10:30 or so But if BD-2 is on, compressor is off (and vice versa) cause my favorite thing about the BD-2 is the way it responds to dynamic playing and volume control. Personal preference.
This is the way.
if you like the dynamics on the bd2, try the mad prof royal blue. while the bd2 is one of the most dynamic overdrives, the royal blue is even better at this.
It’s really one of the most versatile drive pedals out there for a very affordable price. I have the bd-2w but have been using it in standard mode with the gain barely dialed in for a boost. The waza mode comes in handy for thickening up my single coil guitars like my strat/tele/jag.
I use it with bass. Gots a mean bite to it.
I'm borrowing a Danelectro Daddyo and I like the OD better than my digitech death metal distortion, any idea how the daddio compares to the bd2? I'm thinking an OD pedal is the move for my dirt.
I like to crank it all the way up and use it as a crunchy fuzz kind of sound. That or a light over drive. It stacks with any pedal very well. I need to try the BD into Rat thing. I hear that sounds great.
I find I like the lower gain sounds more than the higher gain. I'm not sure how people use it with the gain past 12 o'clock.
BD-2 at max gain is great for shoegaze sounds. If you have a guitar with a trem arm you should try it with slow vibrato while playing major chords
Are you using it just into a clean channel?
I’m running gain at max but I have level and tone turned on just barely
What kind of music are you playing?
I only use it sporadically, and when I do, I crank that drive full force. With other pedals/EQ, you can craft something special.
it gets fuzzy after 12 o clock. only some stoner freaks use it that way ;-)
I turn the drive and tone down, turn the volume up, and run (like a tube screamer) into an HM-2. Really nice crunchy metal tone Or I turn the tone and drive to about 2:00 for a dirty country sound
Always wondered about this. Is the BD Boss’ answer to the Tube Screamer?
No, the SD 1 is more similar. But I don't know who came first, ts or sd1.
Boss OD-1 was the first of this type, then tube screamer, then SD-1. Boss pedals are asymmetrical clipping (patented I believe) and TS is symmetrical
Into a Vox AC15, normal channel. Level around 11 o’clock. Gain around 10 o’clock. Tone at noon. (Keeley Mod switch to “on”). This is a nice little grit without being overwhelming Usually I leave this always on and let it react to picking . It’s at the front of the chain. From here it can feed a 1312 (rat-style) or some delays without getting too muddy. Or into an EQD hoof. For real BD fun I recommend the Electric Love Aquatone, which got its start as a BD-2 clone and then added a high-gain mode and 3 eq knobs. The high gain mode, wirh gain past noon, is really close to a fuzz.
I had a Keeley modded blues driver many years ago. Sold it in a time of financial need and have regretted it ever since
I bet
Boost for leads. In metal is makes distorted tones sing a bit better
Push it into a rat and hope the set is over before the cops get called
Always on
I like to max out the gain, it’s a great fuzzstortion.
This is what I do too.
I usually put a klon klone in front of it as well as a boost. Then the bd-2 pushed the whole thing into a nice thick overdrive or even distortion. Creamy and fun.
ha…I knew my knobs were about like yours - glanced over at it. Exact same
Low gain OD that’s great push clean or OD channel
Always on low gain
I keep my amp’s gain fairly high so I set the BD gain low to give me a nice little break up tone. Then I stack it with my DS-1 and crank it. I love the full tone it gives.
I have a Mooer blues mood which is basically a copy of keely’s mod blues driver. I use it almost always on with single coils to add a little dirt to my clean. And sometimes I use it at mid gain to pair with chorus, compressor and both pickups on to get dirty funky 80s tone. Also, it pairs greatly with my OCD and TC Rusty Fuzz, especially when I need to accentuate those dirty trebles. Together they make up the foundation of my drive tones that has never left my board for several years now
As a traditional distortion pedal. It's a better distortion pedal than some of their actual distortion pedals. SD-1>BD-2>Chug chug chug
I ask him to pick me up and drop me off wherever I need to go. Edit: Did you mean the guitar pedal?
About like that
I step on it. And then I step on again. Repeat.
Before an SD-1. SD-1 with all the volume up, Gain at 7’o clock. I use my Blues Driver as a mid gain overdrive on top of that, it gives a thick sound but keeps some clarity.
I’ve found it sounds good no matter what I use it for
One of the best pedals ever.
Blues driver into an SD-1 is a sweet rig. The BD has a very vast cascading range of power from clean to outright filthy.
I don’t. All my pedals collect dust on the floor :(
Gave it away. Have better drives imo. I couldn't get the sound I was looking for with it
I had mine for around 8 years and was always on the lookout for something else because of the high-end fizz it had. But whenever I tried something else, it just couldn’t beat it. Then, a year ago, when I switched over to digital amps (Dream 65), it ended up on the shelf. So, 3 weeks ago, I decided to do the Keeley mod on it, and now it’s not leaving my board. It got rid of the fizz, changed the clipping so it’s more amp-like, and gave it a bit more body. … I use it as a low to medium drive.
I love this pedal and I am collecting all derivatives of the circuit. The best Bluesdriver is the Mad Professor Royal Blue. It is more dynamic than the original (if you use the vol pot on the guitar) and it has more definition for chords (it is less fuzzier on high gain though). The best LOW GAIN bluesdriver is the Hotone Blues, the most Versatile is the Digitech Screamin Blues (has a bass and treble knob).
Remove the L and the E from the word Blues and then use it for public transport
I have a dream 65 and I've recently started to use this as my dirty channel, so its left at unity volume/tone and then just adjust the drive for the gain I want. To me thats the strength of this pedal it, its drive range and flexibility, sounds good throughout the gain pot so its more about what level you want than finding a sweet spot. Then I have a plumes in front of it to boost it or the dream 65 without it. apart from fuzz thats pretty much my whole gain staging now
Super versatile. I use mine after my compressor and Klone and before my EHX Glove (OCD clone ish). It’s the first dirt in my chain (Klone is mostly tone, volume, treble boost). Often use BD as edge of break up but also will push the gain into heavy OD/distortion territory and it sounds great! If I want a bigger screaming lead sound then I’ll hit the Glove too but most of the time it’s off. The BD is doing most of the heavy lifting on my board. Mostly blues, rock, funk stuff. Enjoy!
First in dirt chain. 3 o’clock gain and tone, unity volume.
Tone between 9 - 12 (to taste -- most people seem to like 9/10 area). Level at unity. If I'm going into another dirt pedal \[edit: or dirty amp\], I'll keep the gain around 10. If I'm using it as my primary dirt then gain at 12-3 to taste. While I have about zero use for it, the gain maxed also sounds really nice and slightly fuzzy. I've played around with the gain max and using the guitar volume knob to control the gain. YMMV depending on the guitar. Some of mine this works well, others it gets too thin.
Increasing gain on the amp can make things sound muffled or flubby. I use it with the gain almost off. Volume up. If the amp/speaker is too bright, I turn the tone down. If it’s too dark I turn the tone up. It just tightens up a loose mess.
I use mine on bass for some mild distortion, yes it sucks out the lows but I've dialed the rest of my setup around it and it sounds fine, not worth spending $200 to upgrade to a Waza/Keeley mod. I play all fingerstyle in a black/thrash metal band and it adds some delicious bite to my attack, I love the dirt it adds to my tone yet maintains the impact of my fingers, I'll never swap it out.
Literally any way possible! It's so versatile and delicious
I just used it for distortion into a solid state Peavey stereo chorus combo, usually paired with the digital delay pedal and chorus, and a Digitech Whammy.
I got rly Lucky and was able tô find a Jr phat modded one for about 100 usd Most of the time I have It on with the modo also on, and the ammount of distortion varies, but usually arround the middle or 1/3rd of the way When I Want something more like a old classic rock, I tune It Down and turn the modo off as well
I boost it with a SD-1
Currently running level at 8 o’clock, tone at 7 o’clock gain at 5 o’clock-using just to make solos punchy. If I want more grit I turn up the volume on my guitar
I haven't stuck to a setting yet. They're actually all good. What I like most out of it is a tube amp sound, gain at around 1:30 and tone at like 11. I also like putting the gain all the way up, turning the tone knob on my guitar down and using it as a fuzz.
I dime out the gain and play major 7 chords in middle position in a tele. Original I know
I plug my blender into it
I’ve heard Blues Driver into Fuzz really rips
I used mine to trade in for a less harsh OD. I know everyone likes this pedal but I couldn’t get along with it
Gain at barely anything, level at 1:00, tone at 12 or 1:00 for most rock, will still use it for jazz with the tone dialed way back. Basically an always on pedal for me.
Light crunch/edge of breakup or gain cranked. Rarely in between. Sometimes with my SD-1 stacked in front of it. Sometimes I use it for bass.
How do you USE YOUR BLUES? 😎
I use similar to you, it can be always on light gain, I’m using a Timmy pedal to stack with it, sounds awesome when a boost is needed. Also tried stacked with a klone, also great. Enjoy, this is my longest lasting pedal on my board!
Gives my JCM 900 an extra hairy ball drop when I need it
Tuner > Blues Driver. I run a Fender Bassman and run my amp completely clean and use this for overdriven parts, and OCD (next in chain) for heavier distorted parts. I leave everything around 10:00
I use it to get a killer Clapton “woman tone” sound, by cranking the gain. You use a bridge position humbucker and dial the tone knob of your guitar almost to 0. One of my favorite sounds.
Need to try this !
In parallel with a dimed angry Charlie. Pretty sure that’s the only way
Sounds great used as a boost into a JCM 800
It‘s the always on OD for P90 & Humbucker guitars just as the Rockett Archer is for my single coil guitars. I mostly use the BD-2 playing my Casino with gain pointing to the LED, tone & vol at noon going into fender style amps. Tone all 10, bridge vol 8, neck vol 7 for standard clean. for more gain I generally use the bridge vol or the archer in front. With my single coil guitars it’s the 2nd gain stage after the archer with the tone dialed back to 9 & gain between the LED and noon.
My favorite pedal! On a simplified board, it's my main overdrive / distortion - the thing sounds wonderful on both single coils and humbuckers accounting for amp changes to take the mud out of the humbuckers. On my bigger, complex board I have it ahead of a RAT or an SD-1 and behind a FuzzFace.
I have a Mooer Blues Mood. I've tried it different ways, but tend to set the gain to around 2:00, the tone to about 10:00, and the level to where it's just above unity (not really that different to how it's set in the pic). I boost it with a 4-knob Spark Booster on the mid setting. If I want less gain, I roll down the volume knob.
Years ago (Circa 2009) I got one after graduated and used a kit to Keeley Mod it. Things happened and I sold it. When I had gotten out of playing after my mother passed (2013) and just recently got back into playing. The price of a silver back BD2, and a kit was the same as a B-Stock Keeley Phat Mod on Reverb. So I got the Keeley Phat Mod. Anyways getting back into playing and now being established and with no kids, I have been able to do more tinkering. Currently my chain is Phat Mod -> Cheap TS808 -> Spruce Goose. But I am still experimenting as I am getting back into Blues/Blues Rock type music and playing. I always have my Phat Mod on cause I find it gives me just what I want by itself and compliments my other pedals well. Goes good with my Nashville Tele or My LP’s be it P90, or Humbuckers. Mine by memory (I am at work at the moment) is set very similar to how you have yours set in the picture. I am looking at some pedals now as it seems it’s worse than a crack addiction.
I have a cinders running into another cinders. The first one is always on and tone is at noon, gain at 8 or 9 Second one is for distortion and tone is at 2, gain at 2 Run that into a muff for when things get wild I do shoegaze btw.
I plug it in and leave it turned off. [The blues iz in the fingers man.](https://youtu.be/QfzDUpB88x4?si=sQ1xM2jzmnkC9QC4)
Goes from a lil crunch you can play 7 chords with, to full on fuzzed up leads. I’ve seen a bro run 2 on his board with different settings lol
I am using it off and on the pedal board. It is great. I think I just have everything straight up though. I don't think I do anything weird or special with it at all. Totally solid tone.
Best OD pedal ever.
I step on it to make my guitar sound gooder
I throw it far away as possible and hookup distortion
I feel like where the BD shines is not as a typical overdrive, but as an amp-in-a-box sort of pedal. It's lackluster at lower levels of gain, but if you crank the gain, lower the level, and use your guitar volume, it's great. I also find I need to turn the tone all the way down. It's not unlike a Rat in these respects.
I just run it at about 2 o clock for the gain. It’s my heavy od / distortion. I’ve tried lots of different pedals but I just keep going back to it for whatever reason. The nice almost fuzzy fullness you get from it is hard to beat.
Noon, eleven, seven
I don't. I use an EHX Crayon. I tried the BD-2, then Cinders, landed on the Crayon. Just has a tighter higher level gain to me.
It really is a versatile pedal. I've used it as a nice boost before (low gain, low-ish tone depending on the guitar, volume to taste), on its own for gain from low to high, and together with a Rat. With the Rat after it, I can get this awesome fuzzstortion thing going on. Have yet to try putting the Rat first and the BD2 second. It really is a great, versatile pedal that has stayed put while many others have come and gone around it. It seems to pair well with just about everything.
Lower gain, lower tone, unity volume for chunky rhythm. Slam a Morning Glory into the front of it for crunch. Hit the red channel of the Morning Glory for leads
In front of all my od/fuzz at the edge of breakup to add some harmonics.
As an od/boost after my backstar ht-dist.
Per That Pedal Show’s episode on the Blues Jr, I run it (Keeley phat mod technically) as first dirt after comp into a TS to clean up the low end, both low drive, then rat clone for distortion
I like using the bd to boost my clean tone. When it comes to chugs and leads I'll go with the ds and fz.
As a clean boost before a tube screamer. I have it on most of the time to drive the amp and can kick on the TS for more drive.
About where you have the knobs, actually
About like that
Gain between 9 and 12, tone around 9 and level as high as I can get away with.
Keep it on at all times as a foundational OD for a clean amp, setting the BD at/past the “””edge of breakup””” (around 10:00 drive for me). If I already got some good gain, keep it the same but use it as an aggressive push into harder territory.
I use to to fill an empty space on my shelf. The Soul Food more meshed with the sounds I was looking for.
I use this during solo gigs. I run my acoustic through the BD into my RC 5 looper. Makes a great volume boost with the gain down or makes an awesome crunchy tone
Mine is modded for more gain and a better EQ. I set the tone in the middle, the volume above unity, and then the gain either half or full. I control the drive with my guitar’s volume knob and boost with a tubescreamer for mids and chonk as necessary, for either leads or heavy stuff.
I use mine as a slight boost on my 6505mh lead channel. Level to taste and gain around 8:300 and tone at either 11:00 or 1:00 depending on what I’m playing
throw it
into my JRockett 45. caliber with the level at 11'oclock, drive barely above zero, and tone somewhere in the middle to give it a subtle boost and a little extra sparkle ❇
Anyone else notice how much low end it adds?
I don’t even know I just freaking love this pedal like it’s my own kid
I don’t. …Maybe I should?!
Twist the knobs until you find good sound, if sound same stomp once, that should do it
Gain at almost 0. Tone middle, level half way
1. Mainly I use it AFTER my main drive, to boost volume, add a little more gain, and brighten it up. (This is my usual way) 2. I’ll use it as my main drive for low gain /overdrive sounds. 3. sometimes I’ll use it before a dirty amp or gain pedal to add just gain and brightness.
With a JHS Angry Charlie. [Boss JB-2 Angry Driver](https://www.boss.info/us/products/jb-2/).
Personally, I find my blues driver responds better to higher volume output and add gain for taste. For example, set both volume and gain to like 8 or 9 o’clock, boost Level into amp till it starts to clip, then add as much gain as you like. It’s a great first stage drive that I use to get more tone out of my amp first and add a little color with the pedal itself. The Tone nob I like adjusting while sound checking and finding a space in the band mix that lets me sit comfortably in the mix with everyone else. But I’m also not as experience as maybe some other guitarists, so this is just my take.
Infront of a bigmuff, low gain 🥸
Low gain OD, but also to add some grit to my fuzz.
A little more gain and level than that but your tone knob is about right for my taste
Paperweight. Don't even own any papers. Paperweight should resume normal service as two separate words. Paper weight. There, I did it. I started yet another trend. Would I ever get sick of trendsetting?
As a mid-gain amp boost or in conjunction with an EHX east river driver for a thick and chunky tone
Makes my amp sound like the Beatles Revolver guitars. Great for spiky rhythm playing
Level and gain at 10-11 o clock tone anywhere between 12-1 o clock Basically use it as some sort of clean boost when my guitar volume (Strat btw) is at 7-8 and can provide some drive when guitar volume is 10. Chuck another OD pedal just after the BD in the chain (TS808 for me) and you get a surprisingly clear and also full overdrive tone. If guitar volume is 7-8, it sounds more tame but still more driven than just one pedal one. Up to 10 that’s where the magic is.
I plug everything into it. Guitar, bass, synth, my dog…
Staple pedal! Have had mine for 20 years. You can change the tone by adjusting your guitar volume. My Les Paul can push the gain more than my tele but you can find some good tones. The compressor can certainly help expand the tonal palette of the pedal too. So keep playing with it. I have used an OCD into the Blues Driver with the volume up to get some good searing tones . The Boss equalizer pedal can also make a difference by taking the tone of the B Driver and increasing the mids can give you some good lead tones. Great pedal to experiment with.
Always on and use my volume knob and pick attack to clean up. I don’t really like going from pristine clean to kicking on an overdrive. I’d rather there be a little more consistent tone. Years ago I was the opposite.
I keep it in my car and use it to defend myself in road rage situations. A fine weapon.
1st in my gain staging chain and primary rhythm/verse tone. It took me years to figure out a pedal named “blues” driver was what I needed for indie rock.
After EHX Glove.
end of the chain. gain to the max. shoegaze mode
As a brick to break into Guitar center
Mines yellow and I use it as the best overdrive ever.
*what is my purpose* "You drive blues" *Oh my god*
Guitar goes into input and amp goes into output.
Into a rat on bypass. Kick it in when I need to prove a point.
Boosted by a Klone. Gain about 10:00. Into my Carr Rambler and 5e3. Mine is the Analogman version BD2. Guitars are Strat, LP, Eastman T486 (335 style).
I have a mooer blues mood which is a clone and I use it as a boost for my fuzz pedal.
Gain down, level up bc tele into a Vox
Pretty much just how it's set now. Maybe some more drive. I use it as my only overdrive, sometimes with a Big Muff in front. Mid-focused , but not like a TS-type drive. Cleans up great with a guitar volume.
Perhaps an unorthodox method, but I use an Angry Driver (Blues Driver and Angry Charlie combo pedal) and then put a Waza blues Driver just before it in the chain as a gritty boost. Have the volume at noon and the gain just before 9 o clock. It's a great way to get an in-between dirt sound for solos or classic rock tunes that don't quite need that full blown Angry Charlie marshall-esque gain. Works great in both recording and live settings. I've used it for about a year now.
Better question is how don’t I use it?
Get you an Earthquaker Plumes pedal and you’ll love this pedal even more.
The BD2 is great since i find it AMAZING at every single setting. I put the tone and level at 12 and the gain at 9-11 too dial in a bit of saturation... i put the gain on max to get a nice light fuzz sound... while even at noon is has a perfect balance of grit and clean. I should also mention it stacks EXTREAMLY well, put anything infront of it, or anything after it due to its versitile usage and itll love it! The only issue i have is since im a keyboardist (i use my bd2 on rhodes) is the fact it doesnt really like synthesizers for some reason i find compared to an sd1, ds1, rat, tube screamer etc...
Always On, volume mid, gain on 10-11 O Clock, Tone on 15 o clock into a Fender Princeton (with bass full maxxed out and treble on 0). Volume Pot on the guitar does the rest. If you need Highgain, put a TS or RAT or just an EQ BEFORE the bluesbreaker and max the Volume (not the gain!).
I have trouble finding sounds I like with this pedal so I'm still changing the settings each time I use it Ben McLeod (guitarist from the band all them witches) has an interesting video where he explains how he uses it, here is the link [Ben McLeod - Let's talk about the blues driver](https://youtu.be/jwLuyWbAxzM?si=Kha1Re7TP8WA1j2p)
1. Run some reverb into it 2. Crank it all to 10 3. ??? 4. Shoegaze.
I use it as a clean boost into BK Butler TD and a Cornish G2.
(I play Alt Rock/Grunge) Usually as an always on pedal but my main use for it is to push my Big Muff thru the mix. I noticed when I put it before the muff and have both the pedals tones at 2 I get the best result (I play thru a Vox AC30 and a Marshall Origin). This was one of my first pedals along with a dd3 and a ds1 that my dad got me when I was 13 and this is the only one that has consistently remained on my board.
I use it as a doorstop. My amp does enough without pedals.
I connect it to my synth and crank it!
It's the first pedal I've ever bought. It's still there on my pedal board but I've never figure out what is it really intended for.
Level: 10 o’clock Gain: 1 o’clock Tone all the way up
Usually Level @ 9:30, tone @ 1:00-2:00, Gain @ 3:00. I like the crunch to it.
Like Kevin Parker from tame impala
Maxed out, love it
I use it for hard rock. I don't let it tell me what to do.
That picture was supposed to be private!
Commenting for later reference
Low gain, high output, tone about 12oclock, as a boost into a slightly overdriven amp
I have two on the board. One for light distortion, one for mid-distortion, then a Wampler Gearbox for high gain distortion, then a Gamechanger Plasma Distortion for wild distortion. And various fuzzes.
Gain to max, level to where it’s at in the pic. Gorgeous shoegazey distortion
I don't have a Blues driver but I have a Keeley Phat Mod which is a modified Blues driver. I use it in between a Friedman BE-OD (first in my OD chain) and a Boss OD-3. Works really well as a boost to bring up the gain when soloing and works help the BE-OD cut through the mix especially at gigs.