Pedal question

happy raisin

happy raisin

New member
I've read and seen alot about people using overdrive pedals to get more distortion out of already distorted amps. I know that alot of people use some form of tubescreamer, and plenty of others use one of Boss' pedals. Is the MXR GT-OD a good pedal to use for this application, or no? Could any overdrive be used this way, or do only some work well in this situation?
 
Re: Pedal question

Most "OD" pedals work well, in one way or another, in front of a distorted tube amp.
One of the classic ways to use a tubescreamer type of pedal is to use the gain really low and just boost the volume on the pedal until the amp gives up the goods.
Some low-wattage amps may turn to mush if you hit them too hard like that but as long as the amp is up to task, you can almost always use an OD pedal that way for some really nice results. The MXR should be able to do this well.

If you're actually gonna use the "gain" in an OD, you'd be wise to play whatever OD first to make sure you like how rough or smooth, how bassy or trebly, and how clear it is. Using too much OD pedal gain can muddy things up if the amp's already cookin.

This ALL depends on the amp in the end, because you're gonna be juicing the amp to bring out more of it's own character, just with a little flavour twist. It won't turn an ac15 into an ac30, it won't turn my JCM 2000 into an 800.
 
Re: Pedal question

Oh ok thanks yeah I should have said it was a tube amp. Are there any OD pedals that would do this better than others, or do most of them do it pretty well?
 
Re: Pedal question

Very nice Fuse.

Basically, the OD pimp slaps the preamp tubes into super-overdrive. You can do this by only adding pure gain (level), or by adding gain plus fuzz (drive/OD). And of course most pedals have an eq.

Basically this adds up to adding more distortion, sustain, volume or some combination of all three to the amps signal.

It's an option instead of using a super high-output pup. Depending on the amp, and the pedal, and your taste it can be awesome or meh. Remember - most amps today have ridiculous amounts of gain on tap. An old Marshall, not so much compared to today.

Just another way to bow to the high holy god of sonic distortion at the the alter of clipping.
 
Re: Pedal question

Oh ok thanks. As basic or stupid as this question may sound, I've been curious for a while, so thanks for helping me out
 
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