Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

[SJ318]

Hello,
I have a "Dude" pedal for gain/dirt, and an Archer clean boost. I hit the Dude for solos and want to boost that exact sound. However, it seems like when I hit the boost AFTER the Dude, I lose some gain. Problem is, at such low volume in my condo, when I reverse the order, it is hard to tell if it is much different. I don't play live very often, so I cannot be sure which would work best in a pretty loud band in a big room.
Any thoughts on which should go first to boost my "Dude sound" with out loss of gain/dirt?
Thanks,
Buff

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

Put it in the loop

[VinceT]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

Hello,
I have a "Dude" pedal for gain/dirt, and an Archer clean boost. I hit the Dude for solos and want to boost that exact sound. However, it seems like when I hit the boost AFTER the Dude, I lose some gain. Problem is, at such low volume in my condo, when I reverse the order, it is hard to tell if it is much different. I don't play live very often, so I cannot be sure which would work best in a pretty loud band in a big room.
Any thoughts on which should go first to boost my "Dude sound" with out loss of gain/dirt?
Thanks,
Buff

If you have the Dude at higher gain settings, then putting the boost before it will just make it dirtier (because it’s already compressing, it won’t get louder, just thicker).

The boost after the Dude will make the Dude sound louder (provided it’s truly a clean boost), HOWEVER, if the Preamp is already compressing from the Dude, then the Boost isn’t going to make it louder, only crunchier.

It really all depends on how much clean headroom you have available. What amp/settings are we talking about?


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[dystrust]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

Put it in the loop

The Archer is a Klone, so it really doesn't belong in the loop. It isn't really a clean boost either; the Wampler Tumnus on my board starts to get pretty gritty with the gain above about 10 o'clock.

[SJ318]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

VinceT-
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Master on 10. Volume on 4. So I start with a lot of clean headroom. pedals are Tuner>Sparkle Drive (always on for a slight bit of crunch) >Dude for solo>Archer (to boost the sound of my Dude) I have echo and chorus after that. Pickups are 59/Custom or Seth Lover with a UOA5 or A4 mag, depending on the guitar. So like I said, I want to boost the sound of the Dude, and my Archer is set at about4, gain low gain 2-3, treble 6-8. So I am trying to use my Archer as a true boost, which it is meant to do. But the Archer seems to take away some crunch but still makes it very loud, but less dirty. When I flip them, it is hard to tell the difference as I have to play so quiet in my condo. In a big room I could tell for sure, but I have no way to try that.

[dystrust]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

Do you have another pedal you can try as a boost? It's possible that the output of the Dude and the Archer input stage don't play nice.

[SJ318]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

The Archer is the only clean boost I have. I don't want to use a loop.

[Darg1911]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

The Archer is a Klone, so it really doesn't belong in the loop. It isn't really a clean boost either; the Wampler Tumnus on my board starts to get pretty gritty with the gain above about 10 o'clock.

SJ318 originally stated that he has an Archer clean boost. Still, I'm not totally clear on whether he has the Archer or the newer Archer Clean Boost.

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

The Archer is a Klone, so it really doesn't belong in the loop. It isn't really a clean boost either; the Wampler Tumnus on my board starts to get pretty gritty with the gain above about 10 o'clock.

There’s a guy on another forum I was talking with about using a B.B. preamp as a boost. I have mine in front of my amp but he puts his in the loop.
So naturally I was curious and tried mine in the loop and I was surprised how good it sounded.
Now, I run mine as a pure clean boost with the gain off but the other guy uses some dirt from his pedal. Obviously the issue there is switching to the clean channel will still have some dirt from the BB. But it sounded much better than I would have thought!

The other reason I suggested the loop is because the OP wanted the to use the Dude as a solo boost. The loop will definitely be the spot for a volume boost. In front of the amp, stacked with other gain sources will eat up headroom fast and just result in a gainy compressed tone.

I’m not familiar with the Dude pedal so I can’t really speak from personal experience as to how that particular pedal will work.
I would have suggested something like an MXR Micro Amp as a solo boost but I’d bet the Dude and definitely the Archer will work as well.

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

The Archer is the only clean boost I have. I don't want to use a loop.

I feel like you’re not going to get the results (volume boost for solos) without using the loop. I tried for years to solve that problem with my 2204 and never could until I put a boost in the loop.

[SJ318]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

OK,
Thanks for chiming in guys.
BTW my Archer is Not the clean one. It is an older silver Archer/similar to the Archer Gold.
Steve

[VinceT]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

OK,
Thanks for chiming in guys.
BTW my Archer is Not the clean one. It is an older silver Archer/similar to the Archer Gold.
Steve

Ok. Settings for Klon as a boost, gain at 0 or maybe 1, but above that it’ll lose treble until you hit 8 or 9. Volume above 9 (my preference is to dime the volume and then roll back the guitar volume a little). At these settings, I don’t have to take the Treble control much above noon - though that depends on the amp and preamp settings.


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[SJ318]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

VinceT and all-
A small miracle (for me), my friend saw this and picked me up (I am not allowed to drive) and I took my pedals to his basement (my stage amp is there) I tried the "Dude" high gain into my clean set Archer, and the result was I lost a lot of Gain/Crunch, but was much louder. That was not what I wanted.
So I used the Archer (still set as clean boost) into my Dude- and the result was perfect, very loud, extra mids, singing sustain and crunch. So trying these out where I could really crank it up saved the day for me. Driving my Boost INTO my Gain pedal sounded remarkably great to me. So whoever said Boost first, Gain second, you were right. IMHO. I almost bought a Keeley D M Drive/Boost pedal with one side gain, second side Boost. And it has a switch that lets you choose gain>boost or boost>gain. Boost>gain sounded best to my ears. Now I don't have to sweat the money for a pedal like that.
Thanks for everyones insight.
Steve.

[MalcolmSex]

Re: Boost>Gain? Gain>Boost?

Boost into gain, EQ pedal (with a volume slider) in the loop to shape solo volume and tone.