Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

The amp that I have been using lately is my Laney VC 30 (1X12). I like the distortion I get from it. It is not a high gain amp.....But suits me a lot...Think 'The Who' or 'Cream'......When I do what some extra push the pedals I am using right now are:

Lovepedal Purple Plexi
Mighty Red Distortion
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

I just use a Digitech RP-50 with my 1989 Peavey Bandit 112. It's a good mix with that amp and I get everything I need with that pedal .
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

amp distortion. always.

and then i use a boost or an OD to push it a bit more.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

I was always a amp guy the last 5 years and had alot of amps, now im pretty happy with my Bogner red/blue into a blues deluxe with a speaker swap. I works great and have nice cleans
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

Depends on how loud you can turn up, really. It would be great if we could all play through a cranked 100 watt marshall all the time, but if you are playing at home that isn't going to happen. At lower volumes, I think the WORST thing you can do is turn the gain knob all the way up (unless you enjoy fizz/buzz). I keep the gain fairly low and add an overdrive pedal. I don't usually like true "Distortion" pedals though.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

Depending on the volume and context, I use either my amp's driven sound, or help it a little with a clean boost (in my case a HAO Rust Booster III) or an ultra mod Keeley DS-1. But it depends entirely on volume and context.

(My amp is a Marshall Vintage Modern combo.)
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

CTN said:
amp distortion. always.

and then i use a boost or an OD to push it a bit more.
Click to expand...

That's just what I do, too.

However, if I played a stock Superlead, which is very unlikely, I'd definitely use dirt boxes. These bubbly, vintage, dynamic old school amps take distortion pedals like a champ (haha!), unlike modern, compressed high gain amps. The latter just tend to sound kinda flat & buzzy with a distortion in front.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

Same here. Amp gain and sometimes a booster or somewhat clean OD pedal. My amps gain channel is very similar to the Rectifier so extra distortion is just overkill.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

Back when I had a band, I used a Fender RocPro1000 head into a Carvin 2x12 cabinet. At first I was using my ADA MP-1 for the tones and the Fender for the power, but since our stuff was rather one-dimensional (Southern/Classic Rock, with Man In The Box on top), the Fender's stock channels were good enough. Wouldn't use it for Thrash/Speed/Death, but for a "2.5 channel" amp (Clean, Distorted, Boosted) it did just fine.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

It depends on how often you play clean. The hotrod will always have exceptional cleans and will take on any dirt pedal like a champ. I've heard a guy even using a stock DS1 into a 410 deville and it sounded great. Ironically the cleans are the real deciding factor. A lot of guys like using a dirty amp and rolling back the guitar volume for cleans, but the clean tone you get from that is usually lesser quality than that of a nice fender clean.

Having said that, I'm a pedals guy. I live in NYC and I don't use my own amps when I play out so I like to rely on a few good pedals and count on there being a nice tube amp, which is most often a Hot Rod.

My two pedals I use are a PC Tim and the Fulltone Plimsoul. The Tim is amazing and could probably get buy with only that, using its boost, but the Plimsoul is hard to beat for that plexi sound. I've also got a SD Tweak Fuzz, but I don't use it much.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

The vast majority of the time, I stick to the Mesa tones in my Triaxis/2:Ninety combo for cleans and distortion. I particularly like the Rhythm Yellow "hyper clean", Lead 2 Green "medium gain Boogie lead", and Lead 2 Red "searing Boogie lead". I feel pretty fortunate that I found an amp that can do Fenderish cleans, brutal high-gain, and many points in between.

I do still have an old DOD Corrosion pedal that I pretty much only use situationally, either for over-the-top industrial noise or with the gain really really low to boost the Mark II or Recto sounds of my Triaxis. Even just as a bit of a boost, it tends to muddy and add noise to the signal, so I have been steering further from using it. Most days I won't even bother plugging it into my signal path. It is nice to have it in my bag as an option though.

I also still have an old Crate GX combo with okay solid state distortion, but terrible cleans.

Really, if you dig your overall clean sound and are able to get aggressive enough with a boost, overdrive, or distortion pedal, go for it.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

For me . . . (always) amp dirt, except when i need a FUZZ tone.

No amp can do fuzz, so then i turn to pedals.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

I used amp crunch for rhythm and a gentle OD pedal and/or wah for solos but I don't use guitar heads anymore just tiny AMT preamp pedals and tiny power amps. So I guess, even if my rig is wired like any normal amp made of separate block elements, they are still pedals so I'm a pedal guy.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

Both I prefer to go straight into the amp. Some times I use a lovepedal purple plexi 100. I also like to crank the amp and use the pedal set for no gain and it works like a clean boost that stays true to the tone of my amp.
 
Re: Distortion: Amps and Pedals?

vinta9e said:
That's just what I do, too.

However, if I played a stock Superlead, which is very unlikely, I'd definitely use dirt boxes. These bubbly, vintage, dynamic old school amps take distortion pedals like a champ (haha!), unlike modern, compressed high gain amps. The latter just tend to sound kinda flat & buzzy with a distortion in front.
Click to expand...

vintage clean loud amps always seem to take pedals better then modern high gain amps I find aswell.... I actually really like a simple loud combo (Traynor YGL2/Fender Deville) and some boosts and fuzzes in front to get it dirty
 
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