What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

[lucaspaço]

I'm a Thrash/Death Metal guitar player and like tones like: Exodus, Testament, Death, Kreator, Sodom, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura etc... My amp is a Laney GH 100L and I like it. However, to get those tones I MUST use a distortion pedal in front of it (Metal Zone in my case). The amp has its own drive but I never use it, not enough drive for my taste and if I use the MT-2 together than is a mess really!! Would like to know what you think about this and if you have some kind of tips for me concerning this matter. Thx!!

 

[JOLLY]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

I really do not like distortion pedals, soooooo......I apologize for even retorting.

 

[Demanic]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

If you are going to use a pedal, make sure you first set the amp for a good clean sound. If not the pedal will just turn the resulting sound to mud. That and consider getting that MT-2 modded by Keeley. It will be worth it.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

If you are going to use a pedal, make sure you first set the amp for a good clean sound. If not the pedal will just turn the resulting sound to mud. That and consider getting that MT-2 modded by Keeley. It will be worth it.

It depends on the amp and the pedal. I like having my amp set so that if I REALLY smack the strings it crunches a bit. Run an overdrive into that and it sounds sweet.

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[El Supremo]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

I like having pedals in front of the amp. Fun to experiment with and you can get pretty interesting results.
My favorite so far would still be the Proco Rat followed by the DS-1. Distortion + can pull off some old school metal tones too.

Didn't really dig the Metal Zone in combination with my Marshalls, but it sounded brutal through my Mesa. You've got to really fiddle with amp gain as well as the parametric EQ on the Metal Zone to get it to sound good. Quite a bit of of a chore, but it can be done. Cannibal Corpse used one through their Rectifiers.

Most of the bands you listed use(d) very high output pickups though (X2N and EMG 81 among others), so maybe that might be an option for you if wanna ditch the pedal thing for a guitar -> cable -> amp approach?

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

maybe you should start looking for a different amp. 6505 springs to mind.

 

[Demanic]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

It depends on the amp and the pedal. I like having my amp set so that if I REALLY smack the strings it crunches a bit. Run an overdrive into that and it sounds sweet.

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Lol, I suppose that's what I meant by a really good clean sound, crunching just a bit if you really smack the strings. But what you don't want is an already fully distorted sound like you get (at least on master volume amps) with your pre-gain turned all the way up. A distortion pedal in front of that just turns it all to mud.

 

[lucaspaço]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

If you are going to use a pedal, make sure you first set the amp for a good clean sound. If not the pedal will just turn the resulting sound to mud. That and consider getting that MT-2 modded by Keeley. It will be worth it.

Yeah, I use it very clean and turn on the Metal Zone (it has a nice EQ section I find). I can get great tones with low gain, but I'm not sure how it sounds when playing really loud.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

For old school heavy metal and early speed/thrash I like a Marshall style amp with a tube screamer boosting it. The marshall has to be loud, and the gain level is JCM800-ish, TS is more of a boost than a distortion. I first used it after realizing that's what Zakk Wylde did, now I can hear it all over the place on classic records.

 

[lucaspaço]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

I like having pedals in front of the amp. Fun to experiment with and you can get pretty interesting results.
My favorite so far would still be the Proco Rat followed by the DS-1. Distortion + can pull off some old school metal tones too.

Didn't really dig the Metal Zone in combination with my Marshalls, but it sounded brutal through my Mesa. You've got to really fiddle with amp gain as well as the parametric EQ on the Metal Zone to get it to sound good. Quite a bit of of a chore, but it can be done. Cannibal Corpse used one through their Rectifiers.

Most of the bands you listed use(d) very high output pickups though (X2N and EMG 81 among others), so maybe that might be an option for you if wanna ditch the pedal thing for a guitar -> cable -> amp approach?

In my Jackson I have an 81/85 set, in my handmade Tagima I have a Nazgul trem 6 (bridge) and a SHR-1 (neck). I'm about to get a ESP LTD MH-1000 and I'm going to load it with a Custom TB-5 (bridge) and a Screamin Demon (neck).

 

[lucaspaço]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

maybe you should start looking for a different amp. 6505 springs to mind.

What about the Marshall dsl 100h?

 

[SHOOTOUT!]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

Horses for courses.

Most would agree that a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier is a really great amp and with so much gain who needs more... but a Tube Screamer overdrive pedal tightens it up and gives it a kick. So a fantastic real tube overdrive is 'improved' (subjectively) by something that was designed to sound like tubes overdriving or help tubes overdrive more.

Boosting with a Tube Screamer

You can 'tickle' the front end of your amp with waveforms from an overdrive/distortion pedal that a tube can't produce and get infinite variations of dirt.

I've just started writing about overdrive pedals (errors and ommisions accepted, a work in progress) and when you look at everything from first principles you can't help but ultimately realise that 'anything goes' and that this principle has driven (if you excuse the pun) the development of music by intention or accident since day one.

Guitar Overdrive Pedals Explained

Going off tangent (drums!)... let's say you're recording a drummer called Phil Collins and you decide you like the accidental sound of the reverse talkback microphones on them... done... you rewire the desk, stick it on the track and then find that you have created a new and unique sound that people still discuss decades later as a 'classic' recording technique... comes in fully at 3.15...

Phil Collins 'In The Air Tonight'

Ba bom, ba bom, ba bom, ba bom, bom, bom...

:clap:

if it sounds good, it is good!

Cheers!

 

[LLL]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

I don't typically think about them. They certainly have their place; however. I'd say they're best
used as a "condiment" to your amp's "hotdog"; let the amp do most of the work for the clipping part.

Common theme in the 80's metal era was to take a BOSS Distortion and turn the gain on the stomp all the way down
but turn the volume all the way up; e.g. as a boost.

How many people have killer rigs but dare not turn their volume past "1"... instead they rely entirely
on some od/dist box for clipping. This works in a pinch, in the bedroom or for convenience's sake, but you really
gotta let that amp breathe and shine to get the full monty of krangy power chords and liquid molten lead lines dripping
with harmonic saturated goodness and feedback.

Myself, I dig the tone of a cranked Marshall goosed with an EQ or EP3/1011 preamp; going for natural distortion.

 

[Demanic]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

For old school heavy metal and early speed/thrash I like a Marshall style amp with a tube screamer boosting it. The marshall has to be loud, and the gain level is JCM800-ish, TS is more of a boost than a distortion. I first used it after realizing that's what Zakk Wylde did, now I can hear it all over the place on classic records.

Since I can't atm afford a Marshall or the like, I tend to use a tubescreamer in front of my distortion pedal (either the Keeley MT-2 or my Duncan TTM). It works.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

Lol, I suppose that's what I meant by a really good clean sound, crunching just a bit if you really smack the strings. But what you don't want is an already fully distorted sound like you get (at least on master volume amps) with your pre-gain turned all the way up. A distortion pedal in front of that just turns it all to mud.

Surprisingly, a lot of metal guys run an OD with the gain only up a bit as a tone shaper.

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[Archer250]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

Depending on the gig, I either set the amp for a good clean tone, or set it for a slight breakup and then spice things up with a RAT.

 

[dystrust]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

Several of the bands you mentioned like Exodus, Testament, and early Sepultura used JCM800s for at least a portion of their careers. A single channel JCM800 like the 2203 or 2204 doesn't have enough gain to play that type of music, so you'd need a high output pickup like an EMG, Super Distortion, or JB to begin with. In addition a Boss DS-1 or similar distortion pedal was run into the front of the amp with the pedal's volume all the way up and gain / distortion turned up to achieve the amount of saturation you want. The lead channel on your GH100 is somewhat similar to a JCM800, so a similar approach should be possible. A major drawback (and possible deal breaker) is that this type of setup makes it quite difficult to achieve a decent clean tone.

 

[Securb]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

I used a Fender 100 watt tube amp for thrash in the 80s. I goosed it a bit with a boost then used an overdrive or distortion to dial in the desired tone. I then switched to a Roland Jazz Chorus and a Chandler Preamp and got an even heavier tone. If the Metalzone and the Laney is giving you the desired tone what you use/do to get it is irrelevant. I am a huge proponent of thinking outside of the box with your setup to make your tone unique and stand out.

 

[lucaspaço]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

Several of the bands you mentioned like Exodus, Testament, and early Sepultura used JCM800s for at least a portion of their careers. A single channel JCM800 like the 2203 or 2204 doesn't have enough gain to play that type of music, so you'd need a high output pickup like an EMG, Super Distortion, or JB to begin with. In addition a Boss DS-1 or similar distortion pedal was run into the front of the amp with the pedal's volume all the way up and gain / distortion turned up to achieve the amount of saturation you want. The lead channel on your GH100 is somewhat similar to a JCM800, so a similar approach should be possible. A major drawback (and possible deal breaker) is that this type of setup makes it quite difficult to achieve a decent clean tone.

That's what I thought about the JCM 800s and my GH 100L is quite similar to it indeed. This is what I've been doing until now, using the amps clean to run a distortion pedal in front of it. I'm not really concerned about the clean tones for this setup, all fine then...

 

[lucaspaço]

Re: What do you think about Distortion pedals in front of an all tube amp?

I used a Fender 100 watt tube amp for thrash in the 80s. I goosed it a bit with a boost then used an overdrive or distortion to dial in the desired tone. I then switched to a Roland Jazz Chorus and a Chandler Preamp and got an even heavier tone. If the Metalzone and the Laney is giving you the desired tone what you use/do to get it is irrelevant. I am a huge proponent of thinking outside of the box with your setup to make your tone unique and stand out.

Totally agree man!!!