Dirt: Pedals or Amp

Dirt: Pedals or Amp

  • Pedals

    Votes: 4 6.5%

  • Amp

    Votes: 17 27.4%

  • Both

    Votes: 39 62.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 2 3.2%
  • Total voters
    62
G

greatbob6

New member
I'm curious as to what you guys tend to prefer for getting your dirt tones...do you use a clean amp and pedals into the front of it, or do you get your dirt from your amp primarily and just use pedals for effects (if at all)? Or a mix?

Personally, so far I've been getting all of my dirt from my amp (except for my Big Muff) but it seems like using pedals would be much more versatile.
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

While at the moment I use a Vox Tonelab LE in front of a clean Univox amp, I do prefer using both. I love the sound of an naturally overdriven tube amp and then kicking it into high gear once in awhile with a dirt pedal.
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

Realistically, most of us cannot crank a tube amp loud enough to get real power tube saturation and a lot of pre-amp distortion can sound thin and fizzy, though not all. I think for home play and practice stomp boxes give you more versatility and better tone at reasonable volumes.

Live or for recording, I prefer tube amp distortion with a stomp box to shape the tone to fit the song or solo.

I think you need some of both to do everything you want.
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

Either.
Both.
Neither.

If it blows your skirt up, do it.
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

Whichever gives you the sound that's right for the song first.
 
Last edited:
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

Both...

If I could crank my amp all the time I wouldn't need any dirt pedals... Hot tubes are great.

But when I want some overdrive or fuzz I plug in either my Bad Monkey, My Eternity, My Sunface, or my Big Muff. It's all good.

:cool:
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

i love cranking the amp for my base tone, and using pedals or built in boosts for when i need to up the intensity or add some spice. I've never managed to use a pedal into a clean channel and find a tone i would dare use as a primary tone. Thats just my experience

EDIT: with the major exception of the Big Muff or other fuzz pedals. Those things are god among dirt boxes
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

there is just something special about a distortion channel with a dirt boost. it gives it a "hifi" sustain and compression that cannot be achieved by an amp alone. it's a sound that we've all grown up hearing even when we didn't know what it was, from the dawn of overdriven guitar sounds of the 60's, 70's, and 80's into the now...
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

John E Rokker said:
there is just something special about a distortion channel with a dirt boost. it gives it a "hifi" sustain and compression that cannot be achieved by an amp alone. it's a sound that we've all grown up hearing even when we didn't know what it was, from the dawn of overdriven guitar sounds of the 60's, 70's, and 80's into the now...
Click to expand...

Yep, but I love to get that mild, organic dirt by keeping my TS9 on, and switching to single coil in the neck and lowering the volume to 5 ...
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

I'm always disapointed by the distortion tones of pedals. Even pre-amp based amp distortion comes across as more authentic and less fake than pedals.
 
Re: Dirt: Pedals or Amp

Lake Placid Blues said:
I'm always disapointed by the distortion tones of pedals. Even pre-amp based amp distortion comes across as more authentic and less fake than pedals.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I'll take a master volume amp with the master turned all the way down and preamp cranked rather than to resort to using pedals. I do have a Crowther Hot Cake for when I want a crunchy and fizzy sounding overdrive, but I rarely use it because I simply prefer natural amp tones.

That's not to say that people don't get great results with pedals, because our own TGWIF is evidence of that, but he's an exception to the rule. I listen to stuff like Oasis and can't help, but think they'd sound better without the Cornish pedals into a Fender and just cranked Marshalls instead. I listen to stuff like Radiohead and I can hear that fizzy solid state smear on the distortion. Some people like it; I really don't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top