Overdriving a single channel amp.

[wasteofo2]

I'm almost definately going to buy a fender blues jr. One of the main things keeping me from diving right in is the fact that it doesn't have 2 seperate channels. Does anyone have any experience with using boost/overdrive pedals with a blues jr. or simmilar amps with only one channel to get a genuine tube breakup at lower volumes?

I'm not looking for anything metaly here, just some thick, old school rock distortion that I might not be able to get from the blues jr. otherwise

 

[jmv]

Umm.... since its tubes, if you crank it up, it'll get dirty. How many watts is it?? I don't imagine it could get TOO loud for practice use even when turned up quite a bit.... i don't have experience with that particular amp, but i think if you crank it it'll get you some good rock tones.

 

[59paul]

I would HIGHLY recommend the new Ibanez TS808 reissue !!! I don't think you would be disappointed at all !!!!!!!

 

[wasteofo2]

The blues jr. is 15 watts. I know that since it's a tube amp it will sound sweet distorted, but I just want a bit more capability as far as distortion. Sometimes, I might not want to have the volume up to 10 to get that sweet distortion.

59paul, did you mod yours at all, or do you use it stock? Do you have any clips of the ts808 ripping up a clean channel?

 

[59paul]

I didn't mod it at all !!! It comes right out of the Box ready to go !!! I have some old 808's, and it's right there with them, it's THAT GOOD !!!! I don't have any clips, but PM Stratdeluxer97( John Spina) He has the same 808 reissue, and I think he can hook ya up with some clips. It is a GREAT Pedal, no kiddin !!!! I think it would be SUPER with a Blues Jr. !!!!!! You'll get that Great Billy Gibbons , Joe Perry type tone with the gain full up. Roll the gain back, and it just SCREAMS for SRV !!! I wouldn't lead ya down the wrong path. Think " La Grange, Sweet Emotion, and Pride and Joy " !!!!

 

[chcjunior]

I'd check out Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive....very versatile unit.

 

[Pandemonium]

There are an awful lot of great sounding od pedals on the market now. Different pedals work better with different guitar/amp combinations, almost any of them should be able to push a 15 watt amp over the top and and give you a good sound, a clean boost might even be your best option. I'd buy the amp and then try some different pedals with my setup.

 

[kmcguitars]

Think of your 2nd channel as being any stomp box OD unit you
put in front of it. The Ibanez Tubescreamer family is a great place to start. TS-808 TS-9 TS-5 TS-7 etc. As mentioned in this thread
the TS- 808 mod can be done to all.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

I would advise you to try the amp 1st and see whether you really wanna boost the drive. You probably will want to, since even us metalhead gain freaks use distortion and OD pedals in front of our hi gain heads.

I would strongly recommend using a Fulltone Full-Drive 2, if you can afford it.

 

[rhmcfarland]

I second the FD2...

I second the FD2...

Fulltone makes great stuff. The FD2 would work very, very well with that amp. I am loving the '70 myself, but that's a different type of box, with a different type of amp (Metropolis).

Also, I've read some great things about the Maxon OD820. Check it out at the store if you see one...

 

[mrfjones]

i think the clean boost would work better on a more high gain amp. My soldano is only one channel but it has nice plexi like distortion through the amp and with a clean setting i can add a clean boost and overdrive the preamp pretty hard. it gives me two channels but i really like the way this amp sounds cranked. It has much more distrotion than a blues jr. To get a better distortion sound from the Blues jr i would use something that distorts before it hits the preamp

i would use an OD pedal for the blues jr.

 

[rhmcfarland]

yep

yep

The FD2 would work for that, and offer the 2nd stage boost, so that he'd have the amp tone, boost 1, and boost 2 for really screaming stuff.

 

[Fresh_Start]

FWIW - I use a Route 66 from Visual Sounds in front of my Blues Jr. It's essentially 2 pedals in one: a TS-808 clone with a bass boost (hmmm... good) and a compressor for either clean boost or more gain, etc.

The ceramic Blue Dog speaker from Weber was the best upgrade in terms of $$/benefit. The stock speaker's bass was kind of flabby/farty. The Blue Dog has stronger, tighter bass and nice chimey highs. A set of preamp tubes from Electro Harmonix or JJ Tesla improves the tone too, but it's not essential.

Here's a never-ending thread for Blues Jr. enthusiasts from the FDP: http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=94318&offset=3220

Oh, before I forget, the Blues Jr. is a mighty loud 15 watts

Chip

P.S. Scott_F has another small tube amp that he prefers over the Blues Jr. I haven't tried it and can't remember the name, but he's got a lot more experience than I do.

 

[Bludave]

I have a close friend who used this amp exclusivley while giging. It does not have a clean sound. The main reason is if you are going to play at gig volume it has to be cranked!. He was playing a Tele with EMG PUP that were active and he had the preamp set at about 1/3. It really sounded good if all you were looking for was tube/dirty, but the clean was just too dirty. If you are going to use this just for practice, it is a real good amp for that. (It is also real good for harp players.)