Simple or Complicated

[Guitar Guy]

Which is better, to have a simple amp and used pedals to get different sounds or to get a feture rich amp and go lite on pedals. For example, with Fender, is it better to have a blackface reissue and use pedals or is it better to used and amp like the Hot Rods with less pedals?

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Simple or Complicated

"Better" is always gonna be subjective when it comes to guitarists. Just depends what you're goin for.

I like my old fender showman reverb. I don't crank it too loud, and really only use it for cleans 90% of the time. The built-in tremolo and reverb sound pretty damn good, and with a nice grit pedal in front it can really rock.

It suits my needs well .

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I like simple amps and pedals for extra mojo/oomph. Simple amps sound better to me usually. More organic and more alive than the complex ones. I'd say the bogners and diezels are pretty complex amps and they sound good on recordings. That being said, I've never heard them in person or played them.

 

[wahwah]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I like simple amps and pedals, personally. I know a lot of so-called purists will say that straight into the amp is the only way to go, but when you consider that Hendrix, Page, Gilmour, Clapton, Iommi, Blackmore, SRV, etc all used pedals before their amps, and that many of the "purists" are completely un-heard of, then it becomes obvious that there is nothing wrong with extending your pallette of gain options by using good quality pedals into a good quality simple amp. Most of the legends I mentioned used some sort of treble booster or fuzz, usually based on a germanium transistor, (Dallas Rangemaster, Hornby Skewes, Orange, Arbiter FuzzFace) to drive their amps into overdrive and distortion, because they didn't have the option of multiple gain stages in the amps of their era. The legendary tones that these players produced were rarely the result of going direct into an amp. Ironically, these are the tones that most amp builders are attempting to emulate with their multiple gain stages!

In the case of most of the cheaper multi-channel amps, the results are often better with high quality pedals. In a select few of the more expensive "boutique" multi-channel amps, the direct sounds can be awesome, but obviously that is what you pay for. In the case of Fender, you are more likely to get a wider variety of tones by using pedals. Try an MI Audio Crunch Box for example, and you will access elements of the "British" crunch that a Fender's second channel will not generally produce. Add one more overdrive or boost pedal and you have quite a broad range of gain options without spending a fortune, and your money can go toward getting a good simple amp as the foundation of your tone.


Cheers................wahwah

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Simple or Complicated

As has been mentioned, your choice of effects is all up to you. My opinion is that you should get a good amp that sounds like what you want it to sound like and use effects if need be.

I don't like the idea of using a pedal to be my main source of gain/OD. I haven't found one yet that properly mimics the sound, response and feel of the interaction with an amp.

I was able to find an amp that does 95% of what I want it to do with just volume control on the guitar. I use an OD for lead/solo/boost parts, but most everything is just between the guitar and amp.

 

[ES350]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Since so few people seem to care for the OD on the Fender HR series, you may be better off with a pedal in either case...although I kinda prefer simple amps in general.

 

[LJ King]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Guitar-->cord-->amp-->speaker(s).

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Guitar > all the effects i can lay my hands on > simple amp.

 

[Lu_B]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Guitar-->cord-->amp-->speaker(s).

+1

And if you fancy a bit of a change throw in a pedal or two

 

[wixedmords]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I always seem to find that multi-channel amps compromise their sound at bit compared to single channel amps. We have all seen the posts, "I want Fender cleans and a modern high-gain channel". There is usually something you give up in such an amp. I even question if there is one tube that does both well, given the known nature of tubes (more powerful than the EL84). Reliability seems to take a dive down with multi-channels. This always brings me back to an A/B box setup.

I also feel over-effected when I use some pedals, most pedals. Pedals usually lead me to a sound that isn't as organic. That being said, certain pedals do have that "little something" to them. An 80's Japanese Boss SD-1 sounds pretty good with an 800 series Marshall. But, that is just one sound, and it may not be the only sound you or I am looking for.

I do think it comes down to what is in the signal path, and the quality of these parts. I believe pedals and amps sound better with replacement parts that are of better quality. Will better resistors and capacitors make a Yamaha T-100 a SLO? Likely not, but it may make for a better imitation.

For me, simple usually works better, but it won't get you to a multi-sounding rig. That usually takes multiple amps.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Yeah,soon as i can afford another amp, i'll be doing the A/B thing.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I like simple amps and pedals for extra mojo/oomph. Simple amps sound better to me usually. More organic and more alive than the complex ones. I'd say the bogners and diezels are pretty complex amps and they sound good on recordings. That being said, I've never heard them in person or played them.

'zactly!
My Fav Engl amp is the Fireball (60 watts and really basic)
My Fav Laney is also really simple
My Fav Mesa is the F50
My Fav Marshall is 2203(modded but still basic)
Even my dream amp is simple (cornford mk50 II)

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Both! Seriously. There are times each has a place. The portability of a single amp (if not too heavy and the reduced footprint is great). The ability to voice things so many different ways of a pedalboard is also a great option. There is no "one way" as I see it.

 

[Rushfan2112]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Well, my ideal setup is

Guitar-->Tuner-->BYOC Triboost-->BYOC Fuzz Face/Lovetone Big Cheese clone-->Ibanez DE7-->Fender Footswitch-->DRRI

soooo I guess I'm going simple.

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I always seem to find that multi-channel amps compromise their sound at bit compared to single channel amps. We have all seen the posts, "I want Fender cleans and a modern high-gain channel". There is usually something you give up in such an amp. I even question if there is one tube that does both well, given the known nature of tubes (more powerful than the EL84). Reliability seems to take a dive down with multi-channels. This always brings me back to an A/B box setup.

I also feel over-effected when I use some pedals, most pedals. Pedals usually lead me to a sound that isn't as organic. That being said, certain pedals do have that "little something" to them. An 80's Japanese Boss SD-1 sounds pretty good with an 800 series Marshall. But, that is just one sound, and it may not be the only sound you or I am looking for.

I do think it comes down to what is in the signal path, and the quality of these parts. I believe pedals and amps sound better with replacement parts that are of better quality. Will better resistors and capacitors make a Yamaha T-100 a SLO? Likely not, but it may make for a better imitation.

For me, simple usually works better, but it won't get you to a multi-sounding rig. That usually takes multiple amps.

There's so much truth in this.

 

[LJ King]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Well, my ideal setup is

Guitar-->Tuner-->BYOC Triboost-->BYOC Fuzz Face/Lovetone Big Cheese clone-->Ibanez DE7-->Fender Footswitch-->DRRI

soooo I guess I'm going simple.

Yes. It's all because of the tuner.

 

[Rushfan2112]

Re: Simple or Complicated

Yes. It's all because of the tuner.

I'd hardly call three pedals, a tuner and an amp "complex", in comparison to some rack rigs I've seen on Harmony Central.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I think simplicity way is over rated. Then again, I only have a noise gate and delay.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Simple or Complicated

In cases like this, there ain't no such thing as "better", only what you prefer.

In this particular case, I'd suggest that the majority of proposed rigs are complex. What's the difference between having to tap dance on a footswitch or a stompbox to go from one timbre to another? Can anyone really argue with a straight face that using separate amps for clean and dirty tones is somehow simpler than using a multi-channel amp?

IMO, it boils down to this: the more varied tones you want, the more "complexity" you'll have to tolerate. It might come in the form of knobs and switches on the amp. It might be a pedalboard with a number of pedals. It might be a multi-amp setup. It could even be some combination of the above.

Pick your poison.

 

[FamousForSustain]

Re: Simple or Complicated

I don't like the idea of using a pedal to be my main source of gain/OD. I haven't found one yet that properly mimics the sound, response and feel of the interaction with an amp.

I was able to find an amp that does 95% of what I want it to do with just volume control on the guitar. I use an OD for lead/solo/boost parts, but most everything is just between the guitar and amp.

I'm with you there. If you've got a solid tube head, odds are the best distortion sounds you'll be able to get out of it are the ones it comes with. I'm a straight into the amp guy; EQ in the loop and that's it.

To address the original post, I'd take a basic amp and a lot of pedals. Effects like reverb and so on are usually better handled by a dedicated outboard device than built in.