Effect pedal input and output levels

TeleJr24

TeleJr24

New member
Hey everyone, I have a simple question - I think.

I know that when it comes to tube amps, having a lot of boost or increasing the signal that goes into the amp can be a good thing. But when it comes to solid state amps and from pedal to pedal, can the level be too much and therefore overload circiuts, etc. For example if I have the level of my compressor maxed out and going into my distortion pedal or ss amp, will it hurt anything?
 
Re: Effect pedal input and output levels

I don't think it will hurt anything...


But how does it sound? :boggled:
 
Re: Effect pedal input and output levels

Haven't tried it yet. I usually keep levels below 12:00. But once upon a time I did the level of my Dyna Comp at around 3:00 and that went into my no-name-but-sounds-great overdrive pedal then into my Mesa. I got great tone out of that setup.

So do the inputs of ss amps and pedals cut off signal levels above a certain amount therefore making it same for me to max out an output from another pedal? In the example above, it did sound more tube like by having it turned up that much, but I was affraid that doing that for too long might hurt my overdrive pedal.
 
Re: Effect pedal input and output levels

I think it depends. I think if you hit a SS amp (especially bass amp) too hard it will create square waves that can damage speakers but i think thats more in the output not input stages.
 
Re: Effect pedal input and output levels

Well today I tried my dyna comp into my ss peavey on the clean channel. I actually had to turn the level on the dynacomp to around 4 oclock to get the same volume with the DC on as not having the DC on. So I guess in this case I actually needed to have a high output level (I guess high and normal is the same in this case).
 
Re: Effect pedal input and output levels

When I first got my High Gain volume+boost pedal I set the boost to 6x and engaged the boost. I think it's what's finally killed my POS 15W SS amp. Like it still works, but it sounds even worse than before. I can't wait till November when I'll have the cash for a nice tube amp!!
 
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