Which channel to use with effects pedals?

[Jay 77]

I've always been the type to just use the distortion & tone settings on my amp, and the only pedal I really ever used was a Crybaby Wah. I'm looking at adding to the arsenal now, and one of the pedals I'm thinking of is a blues overdrive of some kind. My question is, on a 3-channel Marshall Valvestate, which channel would you use to get that warm, overdriven feel for most rock applications? For the heavier stuff, would you just crank up the gain and use the pedal as well? I'm also looking at a compressor of some sort to tame some of the wild notes.

Been playing gigs for 12 years now, and I still can't get it right...

 

[Bludave]

Re: Which channel to use with effects pedals?

You should be able to use an OD pedal in any of the 3 channels. It will obviously need to be tweeked depending on the gain settings in the amp. I use a Marshall 900 (and other amps) in the 900 I basically use the OD channel and I have a Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal for a slight volume boost and to add a little more gain. In thew clean channel I use this with the volume on the guitar rolled off a bit just to give it a littl tube push. Another pedal that works well is the Ibanez TS9 or 808. Both of these pedals have been reissued and they sound pretty good right out of the box. A very good OD pedal and one that I feel is underrated in the Boss Super Overdrive. They cost about $40 so they are pretty cheap, but they work well. GOod tone shaping cabability. A very nice OD pedal for the money. The real key is to spend some time with a few pedals and see which one will work best for you. But IMHO you may be in need of a tube amp not a od pedal. SS amps tend to be sterile by comparison to a good tube amp. Therer are pluses amd minuses to everything. The advantage to SS is they are very reasonable, but they lack the warmth and tone that tubes do. Tubes will offer agreater range of tonal qualities you can get from the amp, but you have to spend more $ and the tubes will need to be replaced as they wear out. The louder you play the faster you will burn out the tubes.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Which channel to use with effects pedals?

That was my reasoning for going with solid state years ago. I needed something loud & dependable but I was limited as far as funds go. I've always liked the amp with the cabinet I have, but i was just hoping to find something to give me a slightly warmer tone without dropping a bundle or having to go to a new amp altogether. I'm so broke right now it hurts.