Tell me which pedal I need

[AG2997]

I'm new to distortion and overdrive effects, so excuse any noobishness.

I'm looking for something to give me a boost of some sort when I play solos. I'm using my amp's distortion.

So am I looking at an overdrive or a tube screamer or something else?

I have a Boss DS-1 lying around, but that is for only distortion right? Or can it be used as a solo boost?

Thanks

 

[B2D]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

If you're using your amp's distortion, then you'd be looking for an overdrive pedal or a booster, depending on what tone you're going for and what your needs are.

Overdrive pedals can be set from anywhere to a cleaner boost to light/medium overdrive. Overdrive pedals tend to impart more of "their" tone onto the overall sound than a booster will. Tubescreamers and SD1's are in this category. There's TONS of OD pedals out there, lots of different flavors, so it's good to do some research.

A boost pedal (EP Boost, Fulltone Fat Boost, Xotic RC Boster, SD Pickup Booster) will take you signal and give it just a liiiiiitle more gain and volume just to hit the front end of the amp a little harder. If you like the core tone of your amp and you just want a hotter, louder, slightly more intense version of it, then you'd be looking for a boost pedal. A Boost pedal is usually capable of light overdrive at maximum gain settings. Some of them will have basic EQ controls to alter the boosted signal to taste.

Distortion pedals like the DS1 can be used as an overdrive or a boost if you set the gain levels low enough, but over the years I've found that distortion pedals tend to work best on 1-channel amps without an overdrive channel, or amps with a cleaner tone overall that you need some dirt out of that's more than what the amp is capable of.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

Are you looking for a drive boost or a volume boost??
Most drive pedals out front of a distorted amp will tend to add saturation instead of volume. If you have a loop, then an eq pedal in the loop is good for volume (and/or drive)

 

[Kramer Guy]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

What kind of amp are you using ? If you're using the amp's distortion , then a boost pedal or Overdrive will do the job for you.

 

[dominus]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

I'm new to distortion and overdrive effects, so excuse any noobishness.

I'm looking for something to give me a boost of some sort when I play solos. I'm using my amp's distortion.

So am I looking at an overdrive or a tube screamer or something else?

I have a Boss DS-1 lying around, but that is for only distortion right? Or can it be used as a solo boost?

Thanks

Set the distortion as low as you can, turn the tone knob to taste, and use the level knob to boost the volume.

 

[Psykel]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

I can recommend the Mooer Pure Boost. Really nice and transparent boost if that's what you're after. Based on the Xotic RC Boost, but at half the price tops.

 

[baritone]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

I do it the way AlexR and Dominus say. A lot of times, you can use any drive or volume based processor you have on hand. A couple of guys I know like to use an EQ pedal with the sliders set to a flat boost. When I'm using a tube amp, I will sometimes use an EQ with some fine- tuned midrange boost to push the tubes harder and add some fuzziness. With a solid state amp, I like my booster to add some of its own distortion. I saw a guy in a local cover band using a rocker volume pedal for solo boosts.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

You don't want distortion. Too many sources of distortion (or even two like the DS-1 and your amp) will make your sound muddy and not let the notes ring out correctly.

I suggest a standard boost pedal like SD Pickup Booster, MXR Micro Amp, or a Custom Audio Electronics (I think it might still be MXR) Booster/ Line Driver (which gives you a 20 dB increase). Those are great booster pedals that I've tried. Also what kind of amp are you using? Some (like mine) have boosters built into the amp that you can get a footswitch for.

 

[AG2997]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

You don't want distortion. Too many sources of distortion (or even two like the DS-1 and your amp) will make your sound muddy and not let the notes ring out correctly.

I suggest a standard boost pedal like SD Pickup Booster, MXR Micro Amp, or a Custom Audio Electronics (I think it might still be MXR) Booster/ Line Driver (which gives you a 20 dB increase). Those are great booster pedals that I've tried. Also what kind of amp are you using? Some (like mine) have boosters built into the amp that you can get a footswitch for.

I'm using a Blackstar HT-5R Combo. I think i may have found a solution though. I have a zoom ms-50g, and it has a boost sim built in, but I run the pedal in the effects loop, for delays, chorus, pitch shift etc. The boost on the ms-50g works fine for me, but does running the boost through the front end sound any different?

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

Generally u wana run a boost in front of the amp

But just do a test of how it sounds to u in the loop and in front.

But if u lkke running your effects in the loop another booster mite be nice in front.

TC Electronic makes a sweet and cheap line booster

 

[Matt42]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

The Joyo Roll Boost is a nice clean boost for ~$30. If you need more gain, get a tubescreamer. Joyo makes one of those too.

 

[ozzynotwood]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

You don't want distortion. Too many sources of distortion (or even two like the DS-1 and your amp) will make your sound muddy and not let the notes ring out correctly.

Wrong, I use a DS-1 to boost the gain of my Rockerverb and after testing around 10 pedals the DS-1 gave me the the tone closest to just cranking the amps gain knob. The DS-1 even gives me a little more definition. The pedal doesn't boost my volume, but it's proven to be the perfect gain boost pedal.......ask Satch.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

I'm using a Blackstar HT-5R Combo. I think i may have found a solution though. I have a zoom ms-50g, and it has a boost sim built in, but I run the pedal in the effects loop, for delays, chorus, pitch shift etc. The boost on the ms-50g works fine for me, but does running the boost through the front end sound any different?

Yes the boost will work fine, but it should be in the front of the amp.

Wrong, I use a DS-1 to boost the gain of my Rockerverb and after testing around 10 pedals the DS-1 gave me the the tone closest to just cranking the amps gain knob. The DS-1 even gives me a little more definition. The pedal doesn't boost my volume, but it's proven to be the perfect gain boost pedal.......ask Satch.

Yes, but you aren't using you're amps distortion normally. The DS-1 does sound like a cranked amp, but when he's already using a cranked amp, more distortion will sound bad. A plain, clean boost pedal is his best option.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

Lots of ways to do it. USe the one that works best for you.

#1 Try the DS-1 with GAin on 0 (or close) and turn the level up

#2 The Mooer and Joyo pedals are a possibility. Don't forget the Seymour Duncan Pickup booster!

#3 An Ibanez TS-9 or Boss SD-1 are great also because you can add grit, boost or both. And they can be used into clean for a slightly less than real distortion sound too.

Also, don't forget a good old fashion volume pedal! MAny can be set for min/max levels. Set low for rhythm and high for leads and good to go. Cool for other uses as well (volume swell, etc)

Whichever works for you, works.

I use an old MXR Micro Amp usually, or a TS-9 with gain low / Level High occasionally.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

The Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker II pedal has a Boost mode. I would not want to say how linear or transparent this is.

Much depends on whether you want to make your existing sound louder or to drive your amplifier input stage harder? For each of these objectives, the pedal needs to be inserted at a different point in the signal chain and the results are different.

 

[esandes]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

i recommend a simple clean boost. i use the BBE boosta grande. true bypass, 26 db of transparent boost that doesn't color your tone. single knob on the pedal-boost. it works great to cut through on solos.

 

[SPLANCHNOPHILIA]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

Get a clean boost pedal or an EQ pedal, and put it in the FX loop. The HT-5's distortion doesn't come from power tube saturation. Using an OD pedal with the HT-5' distortion channel, doesn't sound very good, IMO. An EQ in the FX loop can also do a lot for the HT-5.

 

[ozzynotwood]

Re: Tell me which pedal I need

Yes the boost will work fine, but it should be in the front of the amp.



Yes, but you aren't using you're amps distortion normally. The DS-1 does sound like a cranked amp, but when he's already using a cranked amp, more distortion will sound bad. A plain, clean boost pedal is his best option.

Wrong again, my DS-1 is going into a the high gain of my amp, his best option is to try all these options.