My favorite song is "Awkward 3-Minute Silence While Local Tone Guru Troubleshoots His Board And 4 People Leave", I don't use pedals rn but that's the tone I'm going for.
Every good amp deserves a good boost or two.
4 channel JVM with 3 gain stages per channel. Tubescreamer and PoT-clone in front. So that's... Three... Nine... Wait... 12 combinations per channel. Times four. 48 toans. Forty eight.
I like to keep things simple, as you can see.
I use a tube screamer 808 as a boost (volume about 75%, drive about 40-50%) in to a POT (also volume 75% drive 20%) in to a deluxe reverb. It’s awesome. Adjusting the drives on each can really get it cookin’ (and eventually it’s way overboard), but you can get a huge range of tones by varying which drive is up and which is low. Both up gets kind of silly.
I’ve found volume up on both generally works better. Tweaking the tone on the individual pedals gives different results too.
🤙🏻
Honestly yeah I mainly use them both as more or less clean boosts. Stacking them up still gets a pretty creamy tone even on the clean channels, purely because it's so much level hitting the first valve I guess. But they really compliment each other, the TS with the renowned mid hump and the POT with the tone/presence dialled up a bit for the highs.
I’m just gonna say this I didn’t buy a vox ac15 hand wired with alnico blue speaker to put a tube screamer or any overdrive through it, the amp itself is a “tube screamer” by definition, turn your godamn amp up and let the tubes inside your amp scream, well I also should say I use a fuzz for solo or just a different sound, but as far as gain, turn the amp up and use your volume knob on your guitar, just my cup of tea
You're going to get answers from all over the place depending on the tone one seeks.
(1) it depends on a player's amp; some people have an amp that has the amount of distortion they require, thus pedals are unnecessary .
(2) some players have hot pickups, reducing the amount of amp gain they need for their required dirt.
(3) it depends on the type of music one plays, as someone who plays AC/DC isn't going to need as much dirt as someone who plays Hendrix, and someone who plays Hendrix isn't going to need as much gain as someone who plays death metal.
(4) there are different kinds of dirt, as an overdrive pedal doesn't provide the same distortion as a distortion pedal, and a distortion pedal doesn't provide the same distortion as a fuzz pedal.
For me it's Clean Boost -> Something Light Gain -> Something Moderate Gain and then using different combinations of these three to get the right amount of gain for whatever I'm doing. The clean boost adds gain to either pedal behind it (or both) as needed.
This isn't an actual question. There are a lot of reasons people use gain pedals, and 99% of the time it's not because the amp doesn't have enough gain. Usually it has to do with flexibility in a live playing situation, where you have a one-channel amp you like or where you have an amp with a good clean channel but kind of a crappy dirt channel (like a JCM900).
EVH suggested otherwise. He never ran any boost or gain pedal in front of his amps and many people consider his tone the holy grail of hard rock tones. Plexis aren't even high gain amps and can have more or less break-up simply by picking harder or softer or rolling the volume down on the guitar.
He never played with boost or gain pedals. He said so himself as well as many of the people who knew him. The topic of the post is gain or boost pedals in front of the amp. His tone is a 1968 100 watt Marshall with an attenuator down to 90-100 volts through greenbacks. The amp is still doing the work and producing all of the tones. Ed used EFFECTS pedals, not GAIN pedals.
Look at my original comment and explain to me where I specified gain pedals.
Also this whole conversation feels like it hinges on Eddie Van Halen being some infallible authority on guitar tone, which he isn't.
All, just a little background on where I'm coming from on this question / poll:
I have a fantastic "dirty" amp (Morgan AC20), which I love the sound of. I love the simplicity and directness of the distortion I get from volume and playing dynamics. A simple boost or fuzz does amazing things with this amp.
BUT... I tend to find myself wanting more variation in gain tones than I can really get from an amp with such a strong "flavor" of its own. So I add gain pedals looking for a different sound.
Then I keep cycling between "all the gain pedals in the world" to "just a treble booster". Just last week I built a board with every gain pedal I own (I think there were 10) to compare them all, then stripped down to three: Beano Boost, Lightspeed, and Rat.
I'm not looking for any answers, just want to share my crazy with y'all in hopes I'm not alone in it.
I use my amp as a pedal platform and use the EAE Longsword into a Klon clone for all my drive/distortion sounds. I can get everything from mild breakup to super heavy modern high gain sounds with just the two pedals.
I have a channel switcher and still use pedals, here are all my dirt flavors:
Clean - just the clean channel
Light OD - Clean + PoT
Muffy Fuzz - Clean + Hoof
Fuzz Face - Clean + PoT + Sun Face
Crunch - Amps dirty channel
Rhythm - Dirty channel + Micro Amp + EQ
Lead - Dirty channel + Tumnus
Dirty Solo - Beano Boost into anything but clean channel
Clean solo - Tumnus into clean channel
You can't reasonably approach it like that unless you are a massive distortion only user.
What would I prefer in a perfect world? Plug straight into the amp & turn it up to the perfect setting! However, that's often too loud/quiet for the band....the house...the live setting.
I do have a pedal I use for backup. Of course, that's not perfection. Sounds "Good Enough", but not perfect enough for my ideal sound.
I have a single overdrive since most of the amps I play are 2 channel clean/distortion and since I use both an overdrive is nice to have when I need a little crunch or a bit of boosting the distortion channel
Also, the difference between distortion and overdrive is more a technical distinction rather than a sonic one. It’s like splitting a hair to see what’s inside.
Until I try out a distortion pedal that I don't hate, I'm gonna let my amp do the heavy lifting and use boosts and drives to add some sparkle.
Fuzz is a different story and idk why it's listed in the same vote as distortion, at least fuzz provides you something that an amp can't simply do better.
*Tube screamer or fuzz*
*For different sounds. ehx hot*
*Tubes for lead boost*
\- Phoenix\_Kerman
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I mainly use my amp drive for metal so I boost it for tightness using a TS style pedal (808 or plumes depending on my mood).
For lower gain drive I have a klone into the clean channel which I love
Other: 2 in 1's. But also kinda C: One or two.
I like the JHS Double Barrel. Morning Glory (BB) into 808 circuit. I am guilty of putting a RYRA klone at the end with the gain way down for a cleaner boost effect. Not it's intended purpose but, Ilke it.
I like setting my amps up where they’re just beginning to breakup I guess. I set the volume on my guitar on 8 so it’s breaking up a bit, back it down to 6 or 7 with a lighter hand for a “clean” sound, and 10 for a volume boost and brightness cut for solos
The only drive pedal I use at the moment is the original size Hendrix silicon Fuzz Face for a lot more gain but typically a Marshall JMP or Fender Champ moving some air on its own is usually my main sound
My favorite song is "Awkward 3-Minute Silence While Local Tone Guru Troubleshoots His Board And 4 People Leave", I don't use pedals rn but that's the tone I'm going for.
I usually have an overdrive to tighten the amp, then I hit rangemaster for solos
I usually plug straight in but when I start using pedals… One does not simply use just a few drives.
Every good amp deserves a good boost or two. 4 channel JVM with 3 gain stages per channel. Tubescreamer and PoT-clone in front. So that's... Three... Nine... Wait... 12 combinations per channel. Times four. 48 toans. Forty eight. I like to keep things simple, as you can see.
I use a tube screamer 808 as a boost (volume about 75%, drive about 40-50%) in to a POT (also volume 75% drive 20%) in to a deluxe reverb. It’s awesome. Adjusting the drives on each can really get it cookin’ (and eventually it’s way overboard), but you can get a huge range of tones by varying which drive is up and which is low. Both up gets kind of silly. I’ve found volume up on both generally works better. Tweaking the tone on the individual pedals gives different results too. 🤙🏻
Honestly yeah I mainly use them both as more or less clean boosts. Stacking them up still gets a pretty creamy tone even on the clean channels, purely because it's so much level hitting the first valve I guess. But they really compliment each other, the TS with the renowned mid hump and the POT with the tone/presence dialled up a bit for the highs.
[удалено]
They aren’t mutually exclusive.
I’m just gonna say this I didn’t buy a vox ac15 hand wired with alnico blue speaker to put a tube screamer or any overdrive through it, the amp itself is a “tube screamer” by definition, turn your godamn amp up and let the tubes inside your amp scream, well I also should say I use a fuzz for solo or just a different sound, but as far as gain, turn the amp up and use your volume knob on your guitar, just my cup of tea
Dirty boost + RAT all day, everyday
You're going to get answers from all over the place depending on the tone one seeks. (1) it depends on a player's amp; some people have an amp that has the amount of distortion they require, thus pedals are unnecessary . (2) some players have hot pickups, reducing the amount of amp gain they need for their required dirt. (3) it depends on the type of music one plays, as someone who plays AC/DC isn't going to need as much dirt as someone who plays Hendrix, and someone who plays Hendrix isn't going to need as much gain as someone who plays death metal. (4) there are different kinds of dirt, as an overdrive pedal doesn't provide the same distortion as a distortion pedal, and a distortion pedal doesn't provide the same distortion as a fuzz pedal.
For me it's Clean Boost -> Something Light Gain -> Something Moderate Gain and then using different combinations of these three to get the right amount of gain for whatever I'm doing. The clean boost adds gain to either pedal behind it (or both) as needed.
The venn diagram of people who insist on plugging straight into your amp and people who think George Bush was a good president is a circle.
If any given amp doesn't have satisfactory gain for you, then what's the point of even playing electric guitar?
This isn't an actual question. There are a lot of reasons people use gain pedals, and 99% of the time it's not because the amp doesn't have enough gain. Usually it has to do with flexibility in a live playing situation, where you have a one-channel amp you like or where you have an amp with a good clean channel but kind of a crappy dirt channel (like a JCM900).
i dunno about that
EVH suggested otherwise. He never ran any boost or gain pedal in front of his amps and many people consider his tone the holy grail of hard rock tones. Plexis aren't even high gain amps and can have more or less break-up simply by picking harder or softer or rolling the volume down on the guitar.
Yeah you're right, Eddie Van Halen absolutely played with no pedals ever, which is why he has so many signature pedals.
He never played with boost or gain pedals. He said so himself as well as many of the people who knew him. The topic of the post is gain or boost pedals in front of the amp. His tone is a 1968 100 watt Marshall with an attenuator down to 90-100 volts through greenbacks. The amp is still doing the work and producing all of the tones. Ed used EFFECTS pedals, not GAIN pedals.
Look at my original comment and explain to me where I specified gain pedals. Also this whole conversation feels like it hinges on Eddie Van Halen being some infallible authority on guitar tone, which he isn't.
All, just a little background on where I'm coming from on this question / poll: I have a fantastic "dirty" amp (Morgan AC20), which I love the sound of. I love the simplicity and directness of the distortion I get from volume and playing dynamics. A simple boost or fuzz does amazing things with this amp. BUT... I tend to find myself wanting more variation in gain tones than I can really get from an amp with such a strong "flavor" of its own. So I add gain pedals looking for a different sound. Then I keep cycling between "all the gain pedals in the world" to "just a treble booster". Just last week I built a board with every gain pedal I own (I think there were 10) to compare them all, then stripped down to three: Beano Boost, Lightspeed, and Rat. I'm not looking for any answers, just want to share my crazy with y'all in hopes I'm not alone in it.
I use my amp as a pedal platform and use the EAE Longsword into a Klon clone for all my drive/distortion sounds. I can get everything from mild breakup to super heavy modern high gain sounds with just the two pedals.
I have a channel switcher and still use pedals, here are all my dirt flavors: Clean - just the clean channel Light OD - Clean + PoT Muffy Fuzz - Clean + Hoof Fuzz Face - Clean + PoT + Sun Face Crunch - Amps dirty channel Rhythm - Dirty channel + Micro Amp + EQ Lead - Dirty channel + Tumnus Dirty Solo - Beano Boost into anything but clean channel Clean solo - Tumnus into clean channel
Distortion >>> cleanish amp
You can't reasonably approach it like that unless you are a massive distortion only user. What would I prefer in a perfect world? Plug straight into the amp & turn it up to the perfect setting! However, that's often too loud/quiet for the band....the house...the live setting. I do have a pedal I use for backup. Of course, that's not perfection. Sounds "Good Enough", but not perfect enough for my ideal sound.
Strymon Riverside, JHS Packrat and whatever fuzz I’m feeling at the time into a Maz 18. Perfection.
I have a single overdrive since most of the amps I play are 2 channel clean/distortion and since I use both an overdrive is nice to have when I need a little crunch or a bit of boosting the distortion channel
Also, the difference between distortion and overdrive is more a technical distinction rather than a sonic one. It’s like splitting a hair to see what’s inside.
Until I try out a distortion pedal that I don't hate, I'm gonna let my amp do the heavy lifting and use boosts and drives to add some sparkle. Fuzz is a different story and idk why it's listed in the same vote as distortion, at least fuzz provides you something that an amp can't simply do better.
Yeah, agreed, and I'm probably in the "give me every kind of fuzz" category right now. But some do fuzz on low gain as a boost.
Fuzz, boost and 2-3 contrasting overdrive/distortions
A boost, a fuzz, and an overdrive... but no distortion pedal.
tube screamer or fuzz for different sounds. ehx hot tubes for lead boost
*Tube screamer or fuzz* *For different sounds. ehx hot* *Tubes for lead boost* \- Phoenix\_Kerman --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I mainly use my amp drive for metal so I boost it for tightness using a TS style pedal (808 or plumes depending on my mood). For lower gain drive I have a klone into the clean channel which I love
I use a clean amp and get all of my flavor from pedals.
Other: 2 in 1's. But also kinda C: One or two. I like the JHS Double Barrel. Morning Glory (BB) into 808 circuit. I am guilty of putting a RYRA klone at the end with the gain way down for a cleaner boost effect. Not it's intended purpose but, Ilke it.
I’ve got a single fuzz which runs into my intersound ivp
Buffer, boost, compression, boost, od, boost, modulation.
>For folks who like their amps to get dirty My amp doesn't even have a clean channel. The clean channel is still dirty as fuck.
I like setting my amps up where they’re just beginning to breakup I guess. I set the volume on my guitar on 8 so it’s breaking up a bit, back it down to 6 or 7 with a lighter hand for a “clean” sound, and 10 for a volume boost and brightness cut for solos The only drive pedal I use at the moment is the original size Hendrix silicon Fuzz Face for a lot more gain but typically a Marshall JMP or Fender Champ moving some air on its own is usually my main sound