Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Yngwiestein

Yngwiestein

New member
So I strolled into a friend of mine's shop and there was a pro guitarist playing a BOSS Metal Core pedal through a clean JVM and 4x12 1936 cab. Before I knew what he was playing through I was amazed w the tone. He had dialed in a really great rock tone. Nothing hardcore like Sepultura. More like a heavy brown sound. Just the definition and crunch were nothing like you can get from a JVM on its own.

There were a few pro musicians there in the shop. All with a lot of experience playing gigs and studio recording. They all told me the contrary of using amp distortion. I always thought that it's better to use amp distortion than pedals. They said that especially in gigs when you're blasting the amp it's best to use a pedal in front of a clean amp.

So I decided to put this to the test. I pulled out my JVM 2x12 combo. It's 50w but trust me it's a LOUD 50 watts! I tested 6 pedals on this amp. A Maxon OD9, Fulltone Fulldrive 2, BOSS Metal Core, Radial Tonebone Classic, Blackstar HT drive & BOSS Blues Driver. I cranked it up and started dialing in sounds on each pedal. Before doing this I recorded the amp distortions and overdrive sounds for comparison. Next I recorded the individual pedals twice. Once w moderate overdrive then another with distortion.

I went through the recordings over and over again for the last 2 weeks. I burned them on a CD and played them in my car while traveling. Unfortunately I deleted the .wav files from my computer and recorder to save space, then some of the silver film on top of the CD got scratched off. Now I have to do it all over again. Still I was able to listen to the recordings a lot. I've done this some with my Laney TT50 and Koch Twintone but not to the extent I did with my JVM. So far I'm getting fantastic results.

In conclusion bros I'm becoming a real believer in pedals. I always got great results w an OD in front of my amp but relied mainly on amp drive. Considering the results of my little experiment I'm going to be buying a handful of pedals now!
 
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Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Whenever I meet someone who says "This pedal has the best distortion" or "Only amp distortion is good" or "You have to use the ???? pickup for that sound" I almost immediately discount them.

The truth is that pedals, pups, and amps all have there uses. At the end of the day, it's not really that there is "A sound" but "Is this the sound you are looking for?"

They all work together - sometimes better, sometimes not - to get that sound that you are trying to get. And there are multiple ways to get the same sound! You could plug a stock LP into a Mesa dual recto, or you could put a Pearly gates into a strat, through a DS 1, with some eq and end up the same place. No one likes to talk about that!

And when you hear the album I will always maintain you really have no idea what they did to get that sound - and that often you'd be surprised. For the most part I think any given amp has a fairly distinct personality - they aren't built for flexibility in fuzz land. So they get one sound. If it's your sound - great. But mostly it probably won't be what you want exactly. Thus behold the beauty of pedals - little boxes of various tones, often bulit for a very specific sound or flexible tones, at $100 a pop.

If it sounds good it is good. My cheapo LP with a ToneZone through a Peavy Studio 110 really had a Classic rock tube Marshall sound. I had a setting on my old Boss ME-6 that was so Slash you'd think he was in the next room. Old T-Top with a Metal Zone and some EQ mostly.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Just amp distortion for me. I have not found an amp/pedal combo that suited me.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Aceman said:
Whenever I meet someone who says "This pedal has the best distortion" or "Only amp distortion is good" or "You have to use the ???? pickup for that sound" I almost immediately discount them.
Click to expand...

+1. Look at the guys who have all of our favorite tones, and the vast majority of them are using a combination of pedals, amp drive, and various pickups.

For me, there's something about backing off the gain on the amp, and bringing it back up with a pedal that sounds thicker and "better" than the amp by itself.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Pedals are a functional practicality for me for live performance. In the course of my main gig, there are about 6 different types and degrees of gain that I need to switch to on any given downbeat. As a result I use three different OD/Distortion pedals in ascending degrees of gain, often cascading two together for a specific effect. The volume control alone can't accomplish this. But for recording, I will gladly spend time with the amp alone to get the desired overdriven tones. Having said that, I've recorded plenty of tracks and parts with pedals as well. I agree with those who have suggested to use whatever works for the individual and the situation. There's certainly plenty of great sounding pedals out there from which to choose!



Cheers........................................ wahwah
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

In my opinion amp distortion sounds great... but so does pedal distortion. There simply is no better in this, just what works better for the person and her uses in question. Pedals often have the advantage that they usually work better with lower volume levels, but don't forget that their sound also usually benefits from opening the amp up.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

I agree they all work in different ways for different tones. I.e. SOme of the best cranked "plexi tones" had a tubescreamer in front. I do prefer amp distortion most of the time. Then again my amp is modded. When I use my Blackheart the OD in front is awesome 80's cranked plexi tone.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

When talking about OD boxes it's very important to know that they fall into two very different categories: the type that goes in front of a clean amp (Boss OD-1 type), and the type that goes in front of an overdriven amp (Tube screamer type). A Maxxon OD-9 won't sound all that good in front of a clean amp because that is not what it is designed for. In front of an overdriven sound though...it can't be beat.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Many pedals, such as the Blackstar HT for example, are basically more like preamps than anything else (running two 12ax7's at 300w, full tone stack etc) so the line between a pedal and an amp can tend to blur.

As such one can't simply make it black and white saying if its a "pedal" ie; a small enclosure in front of the amp, its not going to sound good.

At the same time, theres so many other factors such as the amp itself, how saturated it is, the sag and feel, the speakers and cab etc

This isnt even counting the subjective element of "great tone"


Heck, I've worked with a band before who just would plug a MetalZone and some fuzz boxes into the board and they loved the tones because it worked for their style of music.

I didnt think it sounded good in the least, but they werent after classic rock sounds from a cranked amp as they were a synth/industrial type band. Different strokes for different folks.

Point is, the sound of a cranked EL34 amp through a 4x12 w/ v30's isn't everyones holy grail of tone.

I think it sounds great, and lots of other people do as well, but majority opinion does not make it the RULE
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Just got me a ProCo Rat and wow, I really wish I had found one a lot earlier. Sounds better through a clean channel than some dirty channels do on their own...
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

If you are using a SS amp... The harder you drive it (The preamp) the thinner it will get onstage, at a real performance stage volume.
If on the other hand you are using a Tube amp... If you combine the preamp gain along with some real Tube saturation it will continue to fatten up, nice and thick!
You may not notice these things at lower volumes... or even with the Tone at all.
But you get on a stage with a SS amp and dirt boxes... you will go, **** this is thin!
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Satriani uses a Boss into his amps and sounds like crap to me all of the time for the most part. Yngwie, that video of G3 you posted, Satriani sounded the worst IMO and the only time I will give Malmsteen a complament is his tone, good old tube saturation.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

What is the difference between a line driver and an overdrive?
 
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Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

By the name, I would think a line driver boosts the signal to it's original level, whereas an overdrive boosts it beyond original.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

You know, it's all very well to say that power amp OD is the way to go, but in a real life situation that isn't always possible. I play in a band that is very oriented toward good vocals, and good vocal harmony. Keeping my stage volume down is critical to having a good overall band sound, but it kills any chance of power tube od...even with a 20 watt Fender Deluxe Reverb. So I mic my amp and use good quality OD pedals.

It's important to remember that the guitar is only there to accompany the lead vocal. For that reason I keep two OD boxes on my board: an OD-1 Variant, and a TS Variant. I run my amp volume on 3, and leave the OD-1 type on all the time. I use the TS as a lead boost and also for gritty riffs.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

Well, it is not really much of a question for me most of the time. I rarely play anyplace that would let me drive a 50w amp hard enough for power tube distortion to really hit. The volume would just be too high. I like to have the ability return to play someplace again so I tend to like to keep the customer somewhat happy. For me finding od's and distortion tones at reasonable levels is what I find works. And, honestly while occasionally having my pant egs blow in the breeze created by the amp is cool, the ringing ears for a day and half are not cool. Perhaps if I had an ISO room or a good iso box it might be different.
 
Re: Pedals vs Amp Distortion Put To The Test

I run my JTM45 on Vol 7 and my Plexi on Vol 2... It's not that loud, compared to some acts I've seen.
We are a Trio with a Front Person, Yes, It's a guitar driven band...
I like to create a large canvas of sound... not loud though... big, open and full...
I'm filling in the kbrd kind of, and our Bassist plays a 7 String Fretless Bass.
We use a lot of Compression, Echo, Tap Delay, Chorus and Verb of course.
But the Vocals are still our main priority also, and we all sing harmony.
But when I step on my OCD and or Keleey BD-2 my leads are singing FAT through those Marshalls! ;-)
 
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