Boosting an overdriven amp to tighten the gain. Or using an overdrive in general like that. Never feels right for me. I spent years doing it ala Zakk. But then got my Marshall modded by Dave Friedman lol. Never looked back.
This might seem wordy but it’s worth it and I implore one to read it as to why I agree or at least listen to the clips! I really prefer an amp I can plug my guitar straight into and get the sound I want. People scoff at my amp mods with “why don’t you just use an OD?” but when the components are tuned perfectly, for one thing there’s something about the way the pickups interact with V1 with nothing in between not least of which is the unparalleled note definition in chords under gain and the much more pleasing way it sits in a mix with minimal processing.
I won’t hear for a second the JVM “isn’t really a metal amp” when nobody who has heard mine, especially with my choice of speakers can reasonably argue it’s not
anything enough for metal! (tight, punchy, ballsy etc) and it took little more than some minor cap/resistor value changes and the right tubes. I certainly wasn’t trying to make it sound like something it wasn’t designed to be.
I took a sound I already really liked and made it even more my own. It has an absolutely sick growl, it’s perfectly tight in any tuning (too tight is overrated to me and too tight to my ear means thin sounding) and fantastic definition of both pick and notes. Even my Dual Rec while I understand boosted is a sound in itself that is classic for extreme metal for a good reason, I can dial it in to where not only does it not need one for what I play but can in fact be detrimental and cause a congested sound, rather than the huge, whomping yet clear sound I like it for.
My absolute favourite rhythm sound after developing it over many years and evolving through many releases is blending the dual rec with the Marshall on one side and blended again with my “secret sauce” amp on the other with strategically placed crossover frequencies. I just can’t get enough of blending a tight amp with a fatter sounding amp.
Before anyone brings up the Cornhole, I know I had a custom overdrive built but I put a lot of work in to make sure it doesn’t take away what I like about the core tones of my amps (the very thing I hate about tubescreamers and its derivatives,) I don’t always use it and it so much more than the always on bandpass filter most metal guitarists use overdrives for.
I had a chance to try a Fryette Pitbull and while I absolutely love how incredibly dry and uncompressed it is no matter how much gain is used, it just doesn’t have the size I’m after. It’s by no means thin and I can immediately hear and feel why people love them so much but if I ever owned one, I would inevitably blend it with a fatter amp and I’m more than happy wity my blending choices. Leads and solos are another story but it’s too much to drop on an amp when that ground is covered nicely by the extra features of the CoHo.
TL;DR try and work with your guitar direct into your amp first before adding ODs. Also, here’s a cool little look under the hood of my tri-amping techniques (all miked, no sims)
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CX49C8XKg0v/?igsh=bTA3czM4YmM5NzR3
Also, you’ve GOT to hear how bad@ss this secret sauce amp sounds alone even just through a phone. I’ll never part with it. It’s just so awesomely beefy and tough effortlessly!
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7vok...auce.mp3?rlkey=877hsyyi3f1qesypib6hw2avp&dl=0
I just love that!