Dirt Boxes

[mwalluk]

I can't seem to gel with them for the life of me. I'll constanty pick up one every once in a while to try it out and for one reason or another it doesn't work. Always seems thin and not up to par with my tone needs. Anyone else prefer them amp's natural distortion compared to a pedal?

Now granted I'm using a high gain amp, so dirt pedals would probably sound a lot better going through a Fender than a Fryette.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Dirt Boxes

Why bother when the amp is doing its thing??

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Dirt Boxes

IN GENERAL, I think an amps natural distortion tends to sound best but you can definitely find some great overdrive/distortion pedals that will give you different flavors and still sound awesome.

Then there are the pedals where you can't get that sound anywhere else.... ie Tubescreamer, Rat, Fuzz pedals, etc.

[mwalluk]

Re: Dirt Boxes

Why bother when the amp is doing its thing??

Just wanted another flavor. It's nice to get a different vibe, style, tone for different songs.

Also convenience factor. My amp is a one channel amp. So if I want a pristine clean for a song (one in which dialing down on the guitars volume won't achieve, though it does clean up nice, but I need a pristine clean) I have to set the eqs and gain knobs accordingly on my amp. So I'll try to use a dirt box to gain it back up for the chorus without tweaking the amp mid song.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Dirt Boxes

Ah how about an eq instead??

[lex666]

Re: Dirt Boxes

I prefer to use amp distortion, that's why I always look for amps with at least 2 channels - 3 channels preferable. I do alot of channel switching and I like the idea of cascading gain.

I tried to get along with different dirt boxes but ironically found them harder to dial in.

[jeremy]

Re: Dirt Boxes

try different boxes. i love amp overdrive but dont own a channel switching amp. i found that timmy works great for me.

[mwalluk]

Re: Dirt Boxes

try different boxes. i love amp overdrive but dont own a channel switching amp. i found that timmy works great for me.

What's this timmy you speak of?

So far I've used Keeley DS1, GNI Xtreme DIstortion, TS9DX, Wylde OD, OCD, Box of Rock, etc

[jeremy]

Re: Dirt Boxes

a guy paul cochrane somewhere around nashville makes timmy and tim pedals

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: Dirt Boxes

I agree that amp's natural distortion is nice (at least depending on the amp) but dirt boxes serve other puproses.

Sometimes they can help you bring more out of your amp, they can provide you with different textures, etc.

I like and use both.

[mwalluk]

Re: Dirt Boxes

I agree that amp's natural distortion is nice (at least depending on the amp) but dirt boxes serve other puproses.

Sometimes they can help you bring more out of your amp, they can provide you with different textures, etc.

I like and use both.

I guess I just haven't found one that suits my amp (VHT/Fryette Deliverance 60). They worked good when I had a DSL though.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Dirt Boxes

My Bassman sounds unbelievable when I run a Nobles ODR-1-boosted Box of Rock into it. I like it better than the early 90's Dual Rec that the other guitarist usually uses. And for doom, nonetheless.

I think it's really just a matter of getting the right pedals for your amp. Talk to other owners of your amp and see what pedals they've tried, what they've liked and not liked, and compare it to your pedal experience.

[gilaltom3]

May I suggest the Triple Wreck for high gain, Crunchbox for marshally to higher gain sounds, and the Wilson Effects Sparkling Blue for od to early VH type distortion.

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: Dirt Boxes

I think a lot of it just depends on the amp you are using, the tones desired, guitars used, etc.

this is why so many dirt pedals exist.

I'd simply suggest brands of boxes i like: Fulltone, Catalinbread, DMB, Wampler, Empress, ZVEX, etc. Visit youtube, proguitarshop, etc watch demo videos....read reviews, etc.

I think something else that might help (since I don't personally own your amp) might be to take your rig somewhere and try out a variety of boxes. Or try to find other people online with the same amp as you and find out if they have luck with any box over another.

The Tweaker is the most "out there" amp i've ever purchased. Before that I liked the Carvin vintage tweed amps (nomad, belair), various fender tube amps (champs, vibrolux, vibro champ, twin (bf and tweed), bassmann, etc), various Marshall amps (jtm, jcm, bluesbreaker), Blackstar amps, orange amps, vox amps, etc. Basically a lot of the amps I liked kinda have one distinct personality. A lot of them also clean up well and really like pedals.

Some amps don't like pedals as much as others.

[richard parker]

Re: Dirt Boxes

On a lot of 2/3 channel amps the worst sound is the 'clean' channel. They never seem to have the poke of a decent non-master amp. A 'clean only' amp wound up a fair bit with the right drive pedal in front of it can sound absolutely awesome.