Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

GuitarGuy503 said:
This isn't a current thing with me. This was many years ago when I tried running a Wampler Triple Wreck in front of a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. Those amps don't have a loop so only option was to run in front.
Click to expand...

regardless of whether it is a current issue or not, as far as this scenario of "distortion pedal run into preamp channel" goes - i was just saying that from my own experience - it just doesnt work. Doesnt sound good. Meaning distortion needs ro be a 2md channel on the amp or if there is only 1 channel on the amp - then that amp needs to have an effects loop feature so that the preamp channel can be bypassed. I have never had success getting a distortion pedal to sound great runnng through a clean preamp channel despite many attempts.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

It's just one of those things. When you have high quality amplifiers with great gain stages, nothing else really cuts it.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

I've had mixed results with overdrive/distortion pedals over the years. In the '70s and '80s I used a solid-state SUNN combo, and got good results with the DOD 250 and the FX Overdrive that replaced it. When I got back into tube amps, these worked just okay with the Fender amps, and sucked a$$ with the Marshalls.

I've never liked those little green screamer boxes, or the Boss ODs and the DS, or the Distortion +. They just don't sound natural to me, and I find them noisy and hash-y and harsh. I'm old enough to know and remember what wide-open Fender and Marshall amps actually sound like...and I could never find that in a box.

I did have an original Big Muff Pi back in the day, but it was stolen. And I've had two original Fender Blenders...and both of those were stolen! (Maybe fuzz is not my thing!)

The one I did like was a Real Tube 901, bought in 1994, and which is still on my board. I liked it better after I replaced the 12AX7 with a lower gain 12AU7. It was certainly smoother, but it can be hard to find the right EQ. I RARELY use it...just too lazy to take it off the board.

So it was all of that frustration that led me to Mesa. The first Mark III I bought had the great cleans I needed, awesome crunch tones, and the perfect singing Boogie lead tones. The Fenders had the cleans, the Marshalls had the crunch...but nothing sings like Boogie.

Bill
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

DankStar said:
Some I have work great with nearly any amp - tube king, jackhammer, crunch box...
Click to expand...

The Jackhammer is a great sleeper dirt pedal. I sold mine and I know I'll have one again eventually.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

kingswebe said:
regardless of whether it is a current issue or not, as far as this scenario of "distortion pedal run into preamp channel" goes - i was just saying that from my own experience - it just doesnt work. Doesnt sound good. Meaning distortion needs ro be a 2md channel on the amp or if there is only 1 channel on the amp - then that amp needs to have an effects loop feature so that the preamp channel can be bypassed. I have never had success getting a distortion pedal to sound great runnng through a clean preamp channel despite many attempts.
Click to expand...

What pedals have you tried?
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

I found the best was to dirty up a Twin or Super Reverb (Which are considered the 2 cleanest of Fenders) is to 2 stage it with a distortion and a boost, use the boost to smack the headroom and the distortion for pre saturation that a clean amp struggle to produce.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

I fired them all....now I have nothing...I true and heartfelt bypassed it all with intune fanned tubes and frets...simulated myself into a human moddddeleleleleleer...now everything works in harmony with the midi super duper clock...
Anyways..just use an amp with dirt...it is not like the options are that limited!
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

devastone said:
What pedals have you tried?
Click to expand...

Maybe i should preface that with, i have had success w "overdrive" pedals going thru an amp's clean channel, but not as the OP phrased it - "distortion" pedals, as i consider the target tones of overdrive pedals and distortion pedals to be completely different animals.
 
Last edited:
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Yep - distortion is not overdrive, though there are some pedals that sorta bridge the gap.
I'd assumed the OP was talking about drive pedals in general with a clean amp.
Unless you're looking for harshness, distortion into dead clean isn't ideal.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Yeah to be honest, the only distortion pedal I have is the jcm800 mod DS-1, and it has more of an overdrive sound now, not all fizzy/fuzzy like it was... So I should say I sometimes like pedals into a dead clean or pretty clean amp but mostly overdrive. I did like the crunchbox when I had a DRRI for sure.
Sometimes I'll crank the gain on the blues driver which is still pretty low gain in the grand scheme of distortion things, but more dirt than a lot of people dial in on an overdrive sometimes I'll max gain the ds-1, but more often I'll stack them...
But it sounds decent to me. I don't know if many could tell in a blind test what I was using, pedals or just amp, especially with other instruments going. It's mostly in feel, a little compressed. Maybe a lot compressed sometimes.

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Only distortion pedal I've been able to get a good sound with through a clean amp is my Mesa Throttle Box EQ, my MXR Dist + sounds pretty good through my Supro when its clean but even with the gain cranked it's closer to an OD.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

allbutromeo said:
Only distortion pedal I've been able to get a good sound with through a clean amp is my Mesa Throttle Box EQ, my MXR Dist + sounds pretty good through my Supro when its clean but even with the gain cranked it's closer to an OD.
Click to expand...

I've tried a lot of distortion pedals through various setups and my general consensus on it is that I prefer a good, real tube amp distortion. I have no OD/boost/distortion pedals in my setup right now and I dig it.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Agree with many of the above posts - every amp reacts differently to different distortion/OD pedals - and I'll ad that it is also affected by the guitar running into it (esp pickups, HB's vs SC's).

That said, the clean amps I've owned have all been picky about what pedal I run into them. I had an old JCM800 Bass Series 100w head for a while and I've had a few different Fender amps. The only pedal that i can get a consistently usable OD tone through is the Boss OD3 - this is for light breakup, bluesy sorta stuff, and I play a strat mainly.
Other pedals are either great or terrible - but this varies for different amps..
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

My name is Bob and I have a Mesa amp. I love the Ibanez DS9M, the Joyo US Dream, the Boss Digital Metalizer, the Original Rat, the Suhr Riot and a number of others into the clean channel of my Mesa. I rarely do that though, as the Stiletto has more than enough mojo for whatever Marshall flavors I want.

Now, I have had Distortion pedals that I didn't like period. That happens a lot. And the Rat sounds way better into the distorted channel.

And I have ran into a whole lot of "overdrive" pedals that were just crappy into the clean channel!

And then there is the Metal Muff w/ Top Boost. My Mesa can't touch that evil sound on its own.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Aceman said:
My name is Bob and I have a Mesa amp. I love the Ibanez DS9M, the Joyo US Dream, the Boss Digital Metalizer, the Original Rat, the Suhr Riot and a number of others into the clean channel of my Mesa. I rarely do that though, as the Stiletto has more than enough mojo for whatever Marshall flavors I want.

Now, I have had Distortion pedals that I didn't like period. That happens a lot. And the Rat sounds way better into the distorted channel.

And I have ran into a whole lot of "overdrive" pedals that were just crappy into the clean channel!

And then there is the Metal Muff w/ Top Boost. My Mesa can't touch that evil sound on its own.
Click to expand...

I've never owned an actual RAT, but the RAT model in my M13 sounds awful through a clean channel but it slays into a crunchy amp. Kinda mid heavy but it's workable. I like it a lot.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

some_dude said:
Fuzz on the other hand is ****ing awesome.

IMO
Click to expand...

Depends on the fuzz. Fuzz Faces into a slightly dirty sounding amp are lovely, but they're kinda crap into a clean amp.

A big muff into a clean channel is like switching your guitar into God mode though.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

I’ve moved most of my dirt pedals off my board since moving my main amps to the Hot Rod 25 and Decatone.

I do use a Rockett Archer or MXR CB Overdrive with the clean channel of my Decatone, Astroverb, or old Stiletto Ace for the occasional different flavor, but for the most part, I prefer the overdrive tones from the HR and Decatone as they are.

When I used the Stiletto as my main amp, I used the MXR CB Overdrive and ‘78 Distortion through the clean channel for mid gain sounds and it gave me the opportunity for three to four tones.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Diego said:
I've never owned an actual RAT, but the RAT model in my M13 sounds awful through a clean channel but it slays into a crunchy amp. Kinda mid heavy but it's workable. I like it a lot.
Click to expand...

A Rat pedal through an older (silverface or earlier) Fender twin is freakin' amazing. Through most other amps they're not so great.. In my experience that is.
 
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

Can do the right combo of a clean amp and a drive pedal but don't like it. I MUCH prefer going the other way with a high gain tube amp running some gain then cleaning up with ether touch or the guitar volume to running clean an adding dirt. Now having a great 2 channel high gain amp with both a great clean and blistering crunch tone is just gravy and I own 4!
Example here in my Church rig the old Carvin X50B Hot Rod Mod head running pretty much nothing but a little Reverb and some delay in the loop and micing a cab in the back and I'm never off the crunch channel here.
 
Last edited:
Re: Anyone else not been able to work with a clean amp and distortion pedal?

It sounds counterintuitive but distortion pedals are made for overdriven amps.

DS-1 into a Twin is sterile and harsh. Into a dimed JCM800 it's amazing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top