No pedal gave me my "tone"...

[A Skater]

Okay, I went to guitar center on friday, trying all the overdrive/distortion pedals through a Vox Ad50(Just like mine), and I was amazed. No pedal's that I tried gave me "the tone" I was looking for. It might have been the guitars I was trying them with, but it just didn't give me what I wanted. NOTE: I only tried Boss and Digitech pedals. I could not find the Rat or any other brands like Rocktron.

So what did I do? Nothing, I just left home and considered getting a foot switch and a ge-7. The overdrive on my amp is what I want, and I wanna see how well I can tweak my cleans(they're a little distorted when picked hard). I didn't try a Tube Screamer(it was there) or a rocktron pedal, but I think I'm just going to have this setup for small gigs:

Strat Copy w/invader->GE-7->Footswitch->Amp

Does anyone think that the GE-7 should go AFTER the footswitch or before?

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Wouldn't the footswitch for the amp come out of the amps footswitch jack???

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Solid state amps and modeling amps 99% of the time won't sound good with overdrive or distortion boxes... they just don't take them well. If you don't like the amps overdrive and distortion, sell it and find a tube amp (I've yet to find one that doesn't work with od/dist. pedals).

 

[A Skater]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

My Vox has a tube pre-amp, which to me, gives it a nice tube feel to it. I like my amp's distortion, and yes! The foot switch would come out from the footswitch jack, thanks for reminding me.

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

May I suggest a mesa v-twin. It's an all tube pre amp pedal with 2 different channels IIRC. There are 2 versions of the v-twin. the 2 channel vtwin and the 1 channel vtwin bottle rocket. both have 2 12ax7 pre amp tubes are are like 200$ i think.

v twin

vtwin bottle rocket

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

My Vox has a tube pre-amp, which to me, gives it a nice tube feel to it. I like my amp's distortion, and yes! The foot switch would come out from the footswitch jack, thanks for reminding me.

well then never mind the post about the v twin's unless you want gain-for-days distortion. And if you like the od/dist. channel on your amp what is the need for a distortion box anyways?

 

[aleclee]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

My Vox has a tube pre-amp, which to me, gives it a nice tube feel to it. I like my amp's distortion, and yes! The foot switch would come out from the footswitch jack, thanks for reminding me.

Actually, the Vox uses the tube to simulate a power section. The tube is not used anything like any 12AX7 found in a tube amp's preamp section.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

My Vox has a tube pre-amp, which to me, gives it a nice tube feel to it.

The confusion sets in here because there is a tube, but the amp is still not considered a tube amp. The preamp will add a bit of life to the circuit, but everything else is solid state, and there are no power tubes present in the circuit, which may be why things typically don't sound that great.

Stuff like the Digitech and Boss probably wouldn't work that well because they don't use any tubes. Stuff like the Mesa Bottle Rocket does use a tube and that will tend to work better with solid state or modeling amps. I forgot to mention that :smack:

A footswitch should be all you need, so grab one and enjoy multiple different distortion tones all accessible at your feet

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Solid state amps and modeling amps 99% of the time won't sound good with overdrive or distortion boxes... they just don't take them well. If you don't like the amps overdrive and distortion, sell it and find a tube amp (I've yet to find one that doesn't work with od/dist. pedals).

Absolutely not true! :wink: Both my fender cyber twin and my Vox Valvetronix can coax great tones from pedals when I run the pedals through a nice clean tone.....These are very subjective areas and are based alot of times on opinions more than actual facts....I have to disagree on this one... :newangel:

Depends on alot of factors...Our hands,our technique,gear,and a great pedal(s) always helps! I would try the GE7 in the effects loop because I'm finding that's where it sounds best in my own Vox amp..It's nice and quiet there also..Just like a little church mouse...(Fixed for the Metal dude)....LOL

John

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Depends on alot of factors...Our hands,our technique,gear,and a great pedal(s) always helps! I would try the GE7 in the effects loop because I'm finding that's where it sounds best in my own Vox amp..It's quiet as hell there also..

John

First of all, I'm not sure how quiet hell would be :22: sorry I couldn't help it. Second, I use a Tubesceamer or a DS-1 to boost my purely SS tone, and while it does mud up the sound like a b!tch, it provides all the gain and sustain I would need.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

First of all, I'm not sure how quiet hell would be :22: sorry I couldn't help it. Second, I use a Tubesceamer or a DS-1 to boost my purely SS tone, and while it does mud up the sound like a b!tch, it provides all the gain and sustain I would need.

I'll go ahead and fix that metaphor for you with something better....LOL :smack:

 

[TaZMaNiO]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Haven't used pedals in years strictly a rack guy myself.

And IMO no pedal could get the tone and effects I crave :22:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Haven't used pedals in years strictly a rack guy myself.

And IMO no pedal could get the tone and effects I crave :22:

I did the rack thing during the 80's and I still feel that a rack is just basically the variety of tones all in one unit(Like a bunch of pedals)Unless you're talking a seperate preamp and head and not an effects processor?....Too much wiring and too gimmicky these days for me....Guess it depends alot on our music styles and what gear we use etc...I started out in the 70s using pedals through a great amp...If the guitar and amp,and a person's abilities aren't there,you're basically polishing a turd...

If I can just plug my guitar into an amp these days and get "Real Tone" in about 15 minutes or so,I then use a pedal(s) to enhance the amp..Alot of times I just use a pedal so I can toggle back and forth between clean and gain with my foot..Everyone has their way of getting their tone and that's a good thing...I'd sure hate to sound "Just Like" somebody else.... :wink:

 

[muttonchopsrule]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

I would try the GE7 in the effects loop
John

+1

my GE7 (even though it's completely stock) is just as quiet as any other pedal when i place it in the loop.

 

[B2D]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Okay, I went to guitar center on friday, trying all the overdrive/distortion pedals through a Vox Ad50(Just like mine), and I was amazed. No pedal's that I tried gave me "the tone" I was looking for. It might have been the guitars I was trying them with, but it just didn't give me what I wanted. NOTE: I only tried Boss and Digitech pedals. I could not find the Rat or any other brands like Rocktron.

So what did I do? Nothing, I just left home and considered getting a foot switch and a ge-7. The overdrive on my amp is what I want, and I wanna see how well I can tweak my cleans(they're a little distorted when picked hard). I didn't try a Tube Screamer(it was there) or a rocktron pedal, but I think I'm just going to have this setup for small gigs:

Strat Copy w/invader->GE-7->Footswitch->Amp

Does anyone think that the GE-7 should go AFTER the footswitch or before?

I would agree with putting the Ge7 in the loop... its much quieter there and you get much more tonal control that way.

If you like the distortion thats in your amp but you're looking to beef it up maybe something like an SD SFX01 Pickup Booster (placed in front of the amp) would be an appropriate weapon to use. Personally I find a mix of amp and pedal distortion to be best so I set my amp for a medium crunch and then boost the gain and volume a bit with a good overdrive pedal to get it in that zone.

If you still wanna play with standalone pedals there's a LOT of other brands and makes and models out there. Do some research! Find out what sound you're going for and try to look for stuff that can hone in on that.

 

[JeffB]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Problem with the Ge-7 in the loop is...

The 15/30/50 Watt VT's dont have a loop. :yell:

My 30/50 sound OK with a SOD/TS as a boost (level dimed, gain nearly off), but not spectcular.

The Soldano/Mesa/TSL models have TONS of gain. May not be the tone you are looking for, but I cant see how anyone would need more than they give. I run them all between 10 & 1 o clock on the gain and it's quite a bit.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Problem with the Ge-7 in the loop is...

The 15/30/50 Watt VT's dont have a loop. :yell:

My 30/50 sound OK with a SOD/TS as a boost (level dimed, gain nearly off), but not spectcular.

The Soldano/Mesa/TSL models have TONS of gain. May not be the tone you are looking for, but I cant see how anyone would need more than they give. I run them all between 10 & 1 o clock on the gain and it's quite a bit.

Damn cheapo Vox amps! No effects loop? LOL.... :wink: :laugh2:

 

[Boleslaw Gers 666]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Always play with your guitar when trying out new equipment, trust me. It makes all the difference. Try a modded tube screamer.

 

[JeffB]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

Damn cheapo Vox amps! No effects loop? LOL.... :wink: :laugh2:

John,

I don't use much in the way of effects..jes the built in delay and reverb really..at least for practice, so it's not a big deal to me, but yeah it IS kinda lame not havin it for jes what was suggested here.

The 60/120 is def a better amp, but I haven't found them to sound that much better believe it or not. Jes the slight diff having a presence control and the diff between speakers. The only models where I've really felt the need for the presence control are on the 800 & the Soldano.

I ran a VT50 into a Marshall 1936 cab (celestions of some sort I assume) when I first tried the VT's, and I couldn't tell much diff between it and the 60 watter through the neodog cab at all :shrug: So I opted for the 50 even though money was not an issue.

I think the big thing is like ya said..cheap. Cheap parts...15/30/50 are def not very reliable, IME. They have been a love/hate affair for me. Can't wait to get my MESA back from the shop and put the VOX out to pasture

 

[Dills]

Re: No pedal gave me my "tone"...

I have found that my solid state amp takes pedals alot betta than the tube amp i use the sound of the pedals come through alot more especially if you want to customise your rig a bit better, the tube amp makes my effects all sound the same (disortion and overdrive wise) Thats why for tube amps i use the built in distortion which is much more natural.