Survey How many use amps distortion?

[Casper]

For regular giggers.
If so, what do you like or dislike over a stompbox?
Discuss...
Shaun

[tom]

been back and forth on this one for the past few years. don't have any real definitive conclusions. in some cases amp distortion has totally ruled, like on the mod 50. in other situations, usually lower volume gigs, the pedals have ruled. right now today i'm using an amp just breaking up with low gain pedals for boost, but it changes all the time. a clean amp with a pedal sometimes sounds better than an amp already breaking up with a pedal in front of it. i think it really depends how big a range you need from how clean to how dirty. many ways to skin a cat.

[dannopelli]

You know my preference. Clean, (well just a hair of grumble), with pedals. I have five OD/Distortion boxes to the front of my amp, plus an RC boost.

Why?

It allows me to get a number of different "flavors" of OD/Distortion, yet level the volume among all. I have had several multi channel amps over the years and was never able to get that.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/dannopelli/LargeBoard.jpg

[Babow2]

I use both pedals and amp tones. I generally prefer tube amp distortion for my lead tones, as I like the tube saturation (I play Mesas, Riveras, Fenders). However, my band covers a wide sonic palette and a need to have access to a wide variety of overdrive and distortion.
So, I have a Fulltone Fulldrive II, a BBE Boosta Grande, and a new MXR Distortion III on my pedalboard, routed through loops/bypass switches. I typically will use the pedals for rhythm overdrive or distortion tones, but sometimes they just sound right for a particular lead.

If I had to vote only once though, I prefer the richness and depth of amp generated, saturated distortion tones. I blame Mesa Boogie, whose facility is a mile away from my house and whose gear i have been playing since 1981. I can't get it out of my head...... (life could be a lot worse)
Brent

[mbrown3]

One of my favorite tones is highly saturated distortion at low volume (like in the background), and I have yet to find an amp that will give that kind of distortion without being cranked really loud. For that, pedals all the way.

Also, there are certain applications where a pedal just gives you something...different...in the feel of the sound that is not there in the amp's distortion (and vice versa). It's hard to explain. Like, on the amp's distortion, I feel more connected to it, like it's all one thing...I hit the chord/note, and what comes out is what it is. With a pedal, I feel like it's a separate thing, like I hit the chord/note, and the chord/note is there, but then there's distortion on top of it (or that chord/note is being distorted)...does that make any kind of sense? And neither one is better than the other, I just prefer one over the other sometimes for different applications or depending on how I feel.

The MOD50 does distortion at lower volumes better than any other amp I've ever heard (and better than many at higher volume too), yet I still will sometimes switch on the Small Fry for a totally different feel. Which is interesting because the basic "flavor" of the distortion is something I can get pretty close to with the modules I have on the MOD50, but again there's that different feel/vibe to it that gives it a different mojo, so it just depends on what I want at the moment.

I will say that I've never been happier with my rig than I am right now. After years of amp, pedal, and guitar GAS, I've now eliminated the amp and pedal GAS totally, and the guitars I do have aren't going anywhere, so any guitar GAS I still have is simply for additional tones, etc. that I don't already have covered (I decided a while ago not to have guitars just for the sake of having them, so having more than 1 guitar that covers the same sonic territory is out for me). I'm having loads of fun just playing...and talking with all the great folks on the Anderson forum, of course! ;)

[guitarzan]

Amp distortion/OD via the MOD50. It cured me. :)

[akivisuals]

Clean with just a bit-o-hair with dirt/OD/distortion pedals. I like having a lot of different OD tones going on and this setup allows me to have that as well as a great clean tone on the Bogner Duende. The amp's OD tones aren't as good as the clean tones + the Zvex BOR to my ear. YMMV. That said, one of the best tones I've ever heard has been my long gone Matchless SC30 cranked, but the volume was painfully loud. Louder than I've ever played and will never get to play at that volume in real life situations.

[markus]

I only use the amp distortion of my Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifiers. It's all the gain I need. :D

[Road King]

I'm pretty much in the same boat with Danno. Except I only use three ODs and an RC Booster. And on rare occasions I will step on the gain channel of the Mesa for a really saturated tone.

[Thoth105]

I use both - I have several flavors of OD from my Bogner XTC 101B and Bad Cat Hot Cat. When I play live, I normally just use the Bogner with a TS9 in front if I want compression, or a Rockett Boost/Afterburner combo for less compressed boost or distortion.
In the studio, I'm using pedals more and more. I like the sound of the AC boost, the Zendrive, or the Rockett pedals through the Bogner's clean channel (which I set to have a little hair anyway). For solos, I'm using the clean or plexi channel with a bit of drive already dialed in. If it is a big rock number, I use the bogner or hot cat with lots of pre amp distortion and maybe a little clean boost from the Rockett boost for added oomph.

So, for low and mid gain, I tend to use pedals. For high gain, I tend to use the amp's OD. I guess, I'm really using the OD pedals for tone shaping more than adding gain (although they are doing that, too).

[mapleneck]

I like amp distortion (Egnater TOL's and Pearce G2r) but use a Lovepedal 200 lbs of tone for fuzz or a little boost. When I heard the Lovepedal, I finally found something that sounded as good as the distortion channel on my amps. I have a 4 button Burn Unit that Dave Barber made me in 2002 that stacks well with the Pearce G2r green channel. When I hear what Robert Quine plays on Matthew Sweet's recordings (sounds like OD pedals in front of an amp), I think I may be going about this the wrong way.

[John Price]

My distortion/drive channel is just as important to me as my clean channel. I do have some drive pedals such as the bb preamp and the rc booster for live gigs. The bb preamp is like having another channel in my amp capturing the EL34 vibe against my 6L6 lonestar drive channel and seems to be a must have pedal for me and the rc is set at a very low gain stage with a nice volume boost for the clean channel and then if I want a little more sustain on the drive channel I kick that in as well but when ever I'm jamming at the house I just plug directly into my amp. I just wish I can get the nerve to do that live, but I'm working on it.

[Casper]

Thanks for your input everybody. I have been struggling with my amp lately. I have a Rivera Chub 40 and it has the best cleans I have ever heard and is rock soild. However, I have never been able to get the tone I am looking for out of the Brit side. In regular mode, its okay for dirt, but I find I have to have the boost on all the time to get close to the level I need and using the boost adds incredible noise that I can't dial out. Fot the last year, I have been using the Barber DD and Tone press (in tandem for over the top stuff) and it has been okay, but....?
I wonder if I could change all the preamp tubes? Its got JJs? Any suggestions?
Shaun

[dannopelli]

Thanks for your input everybody...
I wonder if I could change all the preamp tubes? Its got JJs? Any suggestions?
Shaun

Might work. It is an inexpensive upgrade.

JJ's are Russian. Durable, good for high gain, but somewhat brittle sounding to my ear.

I switched all the preamp tubes in all my amps to Groove Chinese. Made all my amps, even my F30, sound far warmer. They are not as durable, but not so much that it will break the bank if you need to replace one. They are only about $12 each.

[taclassic]

Where can you get them for $12?

I found some for $14, but they were not Groove Tubes.

[dannopelli]

Where can you get them for $12?

I found some for $14, but they were not Groove Tubes.

Yeah you are right. They are around $18 - $20.

I used to get a pretty good discount back when I was buying five or six guitars and amps a year.

[picnic]

Both
Mesa Lonestar Special's drive channel can dial in all sorts of moderate grit.
Fargen Blackbird and 68 SFDR rely on a Menatone Red Snapper.

[Harker1440]

I am using straight amp distortion tight now with my Diezel VH4 I can have up to 4 flavors of od/distortion dialed in on the amp midi switchable which I can turn into 8 different flavors THANKS to my TAG via KICKBACK SWITCH:)

[kurt1981]

I used to love my 335 into the dirty side of a lonestar clasic, very sweet combo. I'm really wanting a fuchs, if that happens, I'll never use another pedal. Well, maybe,
Kurt

[tom]

never is such a strong word;)

[mdrs]

I used to love my 335 into the dirty side of a lonestar clasic, very sweet combo. I'm really wanting a fuchs, if that happens, I'll never use another pedal. Well, maybe,
Kurt

Hard to stick with "never" forever..........

Kurt....I love Fuchs amps!! I've got a ODS 50 head, and a really cool ODS 30 2x12..........the sustain is so smooth.......... If you crave raw and edgy, yet simple, the Lucky Seven is very cool, too.

Andy Fuchs will be doing a live chat on my "The String Network" in the near future. Tom is Sept. 28th. Andy will likely be in October.

[Mister T]

I prefer using pedals on a clean amp. Sounds punchier to me.

[Mister T]

Might work. It is an inexpensive upgrade.

JJ's are Russian. Durable, good for high gain, but somewhat brittle sounding to my ear.

I switched all the preamp tubes in all my amps to Groove Chinese. Made all my amps, even my F30, sound far warmer. They are not as durable, but not so much that it will break the bank if you need to replace one. They are only about $12 each.

JJ's are not Russian, they are made in the Slovak Republic.

http://www.jj-electronic.com

[dannopelli]

JJ's are not Russian, they are made in the Slovak Republic.

http://www.jj-electronic.com

Correct. 10-4

[LonestarGtr]

For me, the amp/pedal dilemma/debate is the biggest thing I wrestle with about guitar. I go back and forth every year and sometimes three times a year. Personally, I like amp gain better for the most part. I think it's punchier, has less noise, is bigger sounding and has more harmonic content. Now, that being said, there are a lot more pedals available now that do a better job of capturing the amp gain sound than there used to be. I think for solos, it's always good to have an extra pedal for boost/mild overdrive. For the last year or so, I've been using the Tim/Timmy for that and because that pedal has so little compression, it sounds like an extension of the amp as opposed to a gain pedal.

I think much of my rig depends on the size and scale of the venue. On our typical shows, since we're using in-ear monitors, I can position my speakers in such a way that volume isn't a problem and I can run whatever amp(s) so they sound good, no matter what volume. If I were to play small clubs, (since I don't have the egnater mod) I'd opt to use a cleanish amp with pedals. Once you start turning down the master on an amp with tube gain, it gets thin and fizzy, so if volume and coverage area is an issue, I'll make the very small sacrifice and use pedals. So, to me, pedals sound better in lower volume/smaller space applications, but if you have the room (to run away from your amp) and space, I don't think you can beat a good amp gain.

On that note, I've been using the EVH III and it is great... loud, but great on all three channels.

[SonicGator]

On that note, I've been using the EVH III and it is great... loud, but great on all three channels.

Pretty cool amp there. I played through one once and thought it was a good overall amp. Channel I cleans were decent, Channel II was the classic VH sound to me, and Channel III was my old 5150 amp relived. How do you find it fits in with your overall sound?

[LonestarGtr]

I just brought it out one day and it worked great from the start as far as incorporating it what I do. Right now I have a small pedalboard with a boss limiter (a staple), Timmy, Arion chorus, and a Nova Delay and the EVH switch. I like the clean sound and if I want a little hair, I just add the Timmy. If it's a rockin' song, I use chan 2 and from there I can add the Timmy for a solo boost. When we do our obligatory 80's rock medley, I kick in chan 3 and still have the Timmy if I need a boost on that. I tend to run all the channels' gain knobs around 9:30-10:00 and that's plenty for what I do. There's still so much gain on tap for real rockers it's silly.

Now, all that being said. That rig is in our semi on the way to North Dakota at the moment and we're in Shreveport for a show tonight and I'm using another rig and I'm tempted to take back everything I said in my previous post. I'm using my ÷13 FTR and my "Brittmaster Reverb" combo (a '68 Bandmaster Reverb head turned into a 1-12, 1-10 combo) in stereo and it sounds super with my Tim, Klon and Blues Pro for gain. Pedals can give you more of a "singing" lead tone than amp gain, which most of the time is a little more "grainy"... I think in a perfect world, I would just run both rigs simultaneously and have my tech do all the switching. But then, I'm obsessive-compulsive about doing everything myself. Anyway, both amp gain and pedals can sound great... then it's just up to your fingers.

[kurt1981]

Hey guys, some great info here. I wanted to chime in on the power tube issue, I just tried a set of the new shuguang 6l6's in my rambler, and they really sound fantastic to my ears. They've got a lot of headroom, they're cheap, and very durable. I found them on an ebay store, can't seem to find the link, but the pair was $20 or so I believe. The wing-se's were my tube of choice for a long time but these shuguangs may just prove to be a more budget friendly option without sacrificing much at all.
Ps, I really would like to try those divided by 13 amps, they seem like the rage lately,
Kurt

[Casper]

I have been lusting for a Bogner for a long time. The are about to put out "The Alchemist", a 40 watt all tube 112 combo with a L6 digital effect section. The gear page has plenty of dialogue about it, most of it half and half.The demos sound KILLER.
I also found a website yesterday Proguitar.com I think, that demos pedals. I listened to a bunch of things.. the Crunchbox, OCD, DD shootout was enlightening. The Radial Hot Brit was damn nice too. The choices to make are frustrating.
I love the Rivera Chub's clean channel, but the Brit Side is unusable for my tone wants. I may upgrade to the Bogner...
BTW, you can buy the upcoming Bogner at BESTBUY.:eek:
I should have done a seperate thread...
Shaun

[jarrod]

I use the Adrennalinn pedal for overdrive and delay straight into my mesa boogie. works for me

[FFOGG]

Cant go wrong with the Bogner but I have a Duende ..hands down the best amp I have ever owned ...the only thing left to see is an Egnator

[jmdeno]

I often use quite a bit of my Matchless HC30 drive. But I'll also adjust mid-gig :D I probably approach my setup quite differently than most, but I'm ordering a new Ulbrick Stadium 120, and the drive circuit on both channels sounds AMAZING - http://www.ulbricksound.com My only drives on the pedal board are the TIM and the OCD, and I'm getting ready to retire the OCD, and add a couple fuzzes.

On average, I tend to set my matchless drive somewhere between 2-3 oclock, but I often end up backing it off, when I'm using the TIM. The whole reason I'm ordering the Ulbrick is for the drive. I LOVE the amp drive on the stadium. It's very characteristic/unique., so It will be running pretty hot every time I use it, and I'll back off the matchless quite a bit, for the tone most people try to achieve out of the hc30 to begin with :D

J

[Casper]

I wonder where the sonic differences begin between EL34 vs. EL84 amps when it comes to gain structure. Breakup/warmth?

[akivisuals]

I often use quite a bit of my Matchless HC30 drive. But I'll also adjust mid-gig :D I probably approach my setup quite differently than most, but I'm ordering a new Ulbrick Stadium 120, and the drive circuit on both channels sounds AMAZING - http://www.ulbricksound.com My only drives on the pedal board are the TIM and the OCD, and I'm getting ready to retire the OCD, and add a couple fuzzes.

On average, I tend to set my matchless drive somewhere between 2-3 oclock, but I often end up backing it off, when I'm using the TIM. The whole reason I'm ordering the Ulbrick is for the drive. I LOVE the amp drive on the stadium. It's very characteristic/unique., so It will be running pretty hot every time I use it, and I'll back off the matchless quite a bit, for the tone most people try to achieve out of the hc30 to begin with :D

J

I LOVED the tone from the Matchless SC-30 that I had, but in order to get those tones that I loved, that amp got REAL loud. Too loud to use in my normal gig situation.

[m_lance]

I'm using the Quiana w/ 6L6s. I run it loud clean (near breakup) and get my overdrive completly from my Blackstone Appliances Overdrive pedal (was using an Analogman KOT for about 5 years before that ... both are good but they taste different).

When I had a Fender Hod Rod Delux, I used the amp's green channel for overdrive that was just more of the clean tone. The Hot Rod does that really well (but it doesn't have a lot of headroom and it's clean tone can't match the Quiana's). I'd use pedals for more over the top stuff.

If your Chubster has 6L6s, you, like me, may find it hard to get a dirty tone out of the "Marshall" side that you're happy with. However, for me, a good overdrive pedal is just fine. So long as it cleans up good when I lower the guitar's volume knob and responds well to my picking dynamics, I'm fine (the Tubescreamer doesn't do either very well ... the Blackstone is about as dynamic as I've ever heard).

[barfly]

For gigs my Guitars go straight into my JCM800 2210 (Bray modded) 1980's Marshall and it's fantastic. When I play at home on my little peavey 20 watter I push it with my Sniper modded Boss eq and bump up low mids and that is great. For rehearsals at a commercial studio or Jams where I am not on my gear I use either a Soldano Supercharger GTO, a Keeley ds-1 or a Boss sd-2 and a Boss Noise suppressor. If on my Mesa Lonestar writing/recording at home I use Amp Distortion (and my Cobra S fireburst w/binding!) I prefer amp distortion..:D

[fusgtr]

Well, Mesa roadster and my Drop Top is more than enough for me. 4 different channels, and some pedals in the loop, actually a noise gate, a chorus and a delay...:)

In the past i use to have amps with lower gain and i've had as a booster a TS9 (for more fusion-mids boosted sound) and a DS1 (for more heavier stuff)

Don't get me wrong, there are soooo many pedals available out there nowadays, to generate a great tone that it is impossible to test them all. And there are a lot of them which sound really good.

But there is another reason that i missed the pedal in front of the amp. The "pushed" power tubes from a pedal. I mean to my ears a stomp box over a distortion channel of the amp has something unique which can't generated just from amp's distortion - no matter the amount of gain of the amp...

[taclassic]

Right now I am using the Fulldrive II with the Clean channel on my R55. So far it is covering the bases nicely and the rest of the band likes it. I have also tried the Overdrive channel on the amp and it just does not do it for me. It feels odd to have such an amp and not use both channels.

[Casper]

I feel the same way, the brit channel on the Rivera wasn't what I was looking for. I just sold mine, I would have kept it for the clean alone but wanted the option of using both channels..kinda like having half an amp..
Shaun