I personally like a blend. The amp provides the spongy feel and the pedal shapes and augments the tone. I'm currently in love with a 50/50 setting, half-amp, half Tube Screamer. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd take the amp by itself. I'll play the amp by itself or periods, but I always end up adding the pedal back in.
At 5’29” Brian makes a vital point for me. He says ‘it FEELS good under the hands’.. how it sounds will depend on how it feels. You have the sound in your head, so you compensate with your hands to colour what the electronics are doing to the signal. I’m right with Brian on this point and much of what he says, a smart and humble guy. If you can get a balance where the sound responds with your playing, you’re onto to path of fun and pleasure.
This kind of videos really makes you open your eyes. At the end of the day none of them are better that the other one, they are just different kind of distortion, useful and pleasent in different scenarios. Thanks Mr Wampler.
Agreed. I modded mine to have two extra bass boost/gain boost settings. Between that and my treble booster/fuzz face dual pedal I recently built and the klon clone I built into my Marshall DSL100HR I have pretty much all the drive tones covered. I would like to build a few more though just for the hell of it
This made me realize I truly love the tube screamer. I think my issue was I'd never used an Ibanez one but hearing one here and my guitarist using one to great effect makes me feel I need the real thing.
@@StudioBrock1337 get the clarkesdale, basically a uprated tube screamer and far superior (imo) sounds amazing on its own but pushing my euphoria its out right evil!
I purchased a Fender Blues Jr several years ago and primarily ran overdrive/distortion pedals through it. Recently I watched a video of Joe Bonamassa discussing amp tube gain/distortion, so I decided to remove the pedals and go straight into the amp. THAT'S the tone I've been looking for! I manipulate the volume and tone controls on my Les Paul to get totally different sounds from it. Absolutely incredible! Great video! Love this channel!
Me too. I finally got wise and put all my money into a few good amplifiers. I got sick of pedals, their faulty spaghetti connections, their need to tweak, and their cost. Keep it simple, stupid.
I actually really like a medium gain/overdrive from an amp and then hitting the front of it with a boost/overdrive/distortion/fuzz. You can get great sounds from all sorts of different arrangements though, as you've clearly demonstrated.
@@juancarlossuarez7486 i dont think you understand, clipping distortion as in there is too much to the point where notes cant actually ring out its just a big mess put a fuzz next to a overdrive pedal and youll see lol it sounds like ass
Thank you, Dr. Wampler, for a nicely done concise demo of what most of us take for granted because we don't exactly know WTF we're doing in our quest to get cranked up!
I've recently come to the realisation that what I like is hotrodded marshall tone. I've just gone with a multi amp, multichannel wet/dry rig that covers all bases and I've taken every dirt pedal off the board
yea.. same, I was always trying different od and distortion pedals.. then I realized.. wait I have a boogie mark5 and a marshall.... both which sound amazing distored yet I am screwing around on the clean channel with pedals. dropped all the od and distortion pedals off my board.
Same here...with a Clean channel, an OD1 and an OD2 on my Marshall, it's all perfectly working for me. I do have a clean boost in the front though, for volume boost when I'm using the clean channel and punching just that little bit more when using OD1/OD2. But, what works for me doesn't necessary work for others, of course....
Hi Brian. This is , to me at least, one of the most informative videos I have seen. And trust me, I have seen a lot during my 5 years as a bedroom player. The preamp way of getting a great full sound has made it possible for me to play in my bedroom in the first place, without blowing my ears and head off. I use a 5W amp, on low master volume and it sound as good as it can get in that type of setting (with a compressor and delay). Again, a very good and informative video. Cheers
The simple answer is it depends on the style of music you're playing, and how you resonate with the character of the distortion itself. For blues, country, and even some rock, that loose, fuzzy, transistor sound works beautifully to cut through the mix and add an extra dimension of playability. For genres like 80s rock, and even modern metal, preamp gain in conjunction with a noise gate works to solidify palm muting and give a sledgehammer/machine gun type of sound.
I like a combination of all of it. My favorite is the classic JCM800 type circuit with a lot of preamp gain, pushed to the point of the power section giving it some hair, and boosting with an SD-1. But I love all of it. I built a 5w el84 kit and that sounds amazing cranked. I happen to really like the jcm900 4100 which is basically an op-amp pedal with a 100w tube power section, and there’s some amazing stand-alone overdrives that sound incredible through a clean input or into an effects return. One of them being the Pantheon, I just got that pedal and I love it. Anyway - they’re all great, just depends on the tone and feel you’re going for.
I love the sound of power amp distortion! I also love being able to hear, having intact windows, and not having the ceiling come down on my head- so I mostly use pre-amp or pedal distortion... Even a 15 watt amp is painfully loud, inside when you crank it all the way up. Sadly, turning up the gain- or using a dirt pedal doesn't give you that tube compression, The harmonic content, or the sound of the speaker and cab really getting into the conversation. I was getting frustrated the other day, trying to get the sound I wanted out of my rig. Fooling with the preamp didn't do it, trying different pedals didn't do it... What DID do it, was turning the gain down- and the master UP, lol. It was considerably less distorted- but sounded WAY fatter and richer- not to mention, it made the guitar feel like it came alive in my hands!
Really it depends greatly on which amp and which pedal. I know that conventional wisdom dictated that tube beats solid state every time, and there was a long time where that was true but in the last 10-15 years solid state (so pedals) have gotten to the point where there are many I've owned and played that sounded better than amps that I've owned. There definitely are frequencies and the way they behave are different in a tube than with an op-amp, transistor, mosfet, etc. However the degree that they come into play will depend on everything else; the guitar, pickups, strings, cable, player, speaker.... Over the years, having worked as a luthier (actually closer to a tech than builder), and the subsequent years working on amps and perhaps I've come to know that all the things that cause the biggest arguments: fretboard materials, tone wood, finish etc do have an impact on tone. I have handled literally hundreds if not thousands of them. However what has a noticing affect when on a strat with vintage SSS can be completely lost on a PRS HH, or Gibson. they can be really noticable running through a Fender deluxe Tweed, but be completely absent on Silver Jubilee. Personal I find that with gain, OD, Distortion I'm less interested in it's tone (though obviously I certainly AM interested in it) and I'm more focused on how it plays and responds to my playing. It used to be that tubes had a much more dynamic and natural sensitivity and response, I had a mid 90s Peavey Envoy a few years ago that I bought to have home at my bench to test guitars I work on, I had used a Fender Twin that literally didn't get turned off in a couple years.I remember my first electric came with a little Peavey that even at that young age and early stage I recognized sounded like shit, but the Envoy sounded surprisingly great, to the point that I wouldn't mind having a pedal that sounded like it. However when I rolled the guitar volume down it just lost volume, it didn't clear up. Now though there are plenty of really touch sensitive pedals. The most dynamic drive that I've heard in years was an Earthquaker devices amp in a box, but instead of the normal Marshall, fender,vox, dumble thing it was based on the preamp of an old film projector. It was insanely dynamic, more than almost any amp I've played. So in closing I point to my earlier response to "does amp gain sound better then a pedal?" Yes, sometimes
@@timwhite5562 if you're comparing amps like fender and orange to pedals I'll chose the pedals. But if it's a pedal vs a bogner, mesa or a diesel I'd choose the amp all day everyday esp since I can afford it.
The big differences between these different source of distortion are 1) control of tone before and/or after the distortion, 2) soft or hard clipping and 3) symmetry - generation of even or odd order harmonics. Hope you might cover these in another video so we can understand the impact on tone and feel.
I would say, from my experiences when messing around with distortion and or getting a specific tone out of an amp. I would use a tube screamer and or some type of distortion pedal to help boost the front end of my amp. Yes, a lot of times you will need a good noise gate to help unwanted feed back. Like I said, this is pretty much my preference to getting what I want out of an amp. These methods would probably appeal more towards the metal heads than anyone else...or depending upon how much gain you like. ...BUT, that's more or less a completely different story to talk about.....
A person who makes electronics with less complexity than your TV remote, wants you to pretend they're worth more than your 60 inch TV...and your tube amp is worthless for distorting. How can people believe wampler's BS?
I use a Boss OD-3 in a similar way! Quite convincing sound in both. I’ve recently started using a Tubescreamer in front of it for leads, and it’s a great combo. Cheap ways to good tone!
I've usually found pedal only distortion to sound somewhat sterile, even when run into a tube amp. As others have said, stacking gain stages leads to better results when combined with some tube amp saturation. One exception I've found is the Boss OD1 - to me it has a nice tube-like asymmetrical clipping that sounds great straight into a clean amp.
Indeed. What's said is "damn, an overdriven power amp sounds great!" I've modded several non master volume amps with post phase inverter madteri volumes. While they don't sound exactly like a non master volume crankey, they sound much closer than the typical gain/ Master volume setup. Oddly, I've never opened any of the first Marshall JMPs when they went with Master volumes, but I've played a few and heard many. They always sounded very close to the non-master models. I thin they have a PPIMV. I don't know why they changed them when they came out with the actually Master Volume series (I think they were just the original JCM800 single channel amps before they called it a JCM).
I've seen lately that there are a few OD pedals that are based off of power amp distortion. I've seen 2, both I believe just have a single knob. However neither are based off of Marshall or Tweeds for some reason. One is made from an old Sunn amp and the other off of another equally esoteric model.
@@timwhite5562 What I do find cool though is that you can get a really good and usable sound in many different means now. A cranked amp sounds and feels the best for me, but I also think its awesome that amps have master volumes and that pedals and DSP modeling can dish out great distortion tones too. Nothing will beat a cranked amp, but the great news is that we don't have to settle for subpart tones!
I love those all. I got bags full of overdrives/distortions/fuzzes, digital preamps and tube preamps, a tube amp, an SS power amp, and a load of amp-plugins. Hahaha. Sometimes a beautiful creamy overdrive, sometimes a bass-choking-fuzz with an octaver is the bees knees, or a 70's Double Sound wah with it's fuzz into a matamp-mimicing preamp. Usually the most satisfying sounds come out of using a different dirt on every track of the song. To me. YMMV, IMHO and all that.
I have a microphone between me and all the amps, so a cranked Marshall and a Distortion Pedal get the same treatment. I can’t hear the amps, they’re far enough away and isolated, but I can monitor them trough the DAW. Capturing the energy of an amp, meeting a specific level without going over clip is required, so dynamics are important, and level has a lot to do with satisfaction. I have a love of all of them, and would say my pedal sounds as good as my preamps. All of the amplifiers are wide open, but I control what goes into them, and then have more control thereafter with mic level and limiters. Limiters chop the top of stray frequencies, like drop tuned guitars. The wide open tube amps, the Marshall JMP and JTM amplifiers are more classic rock, and if the guitar volume is reduced offer some really tasty low gain. Matter of fact, low gain is best on them. For high gain, it’s again important to have a good level, so limiters tame the worst offending frequencies, and the ‘gain’ feature of the limiters help them match levels better. The 3 step process, mic pre, EQ, and limiting is so important for getting a good recorded tone. Stacking multiple takes, which can phase cancel and flange recordings, is often employed these days, but I don’t enjoy it as much as a good solid mono left and mono right source. I also like a variety of speakers, huge differences between them, but after things are mixed it’s much more subtle. I’m not really into plugins but Fabfilter is everywhere and Gullfoss is a more intelligent dynamic EQ which can tame and recover frequencies interactively. Gullfoss helps your recordings translate in a variety of playback situations. These days I mix more specifically for earbuds, which involves a more round and full bottom. And if guitars are pushed down in the mix to allow vocals, bass, and cymbals to feature, you’ll need to correct the bottom end because it disappears and the top becomes blurred. But if you’re making guitar centric recordings you can of course feature the guitars and show off some of the best tones at your disposal. I like guitar music, so that’s typically what I’m doing. Rock on Brian.
I’m reminded of when I worked with an eastern bloc engineer ( mostly avionics stuffs) to design a small DIY amp. After tossing schematics back-and-forth he finally said “this is to much, your design will distort the sound!”😂 once he realized that’s what I wanted he laughed and scratched out a stacked TS808 style circuit 😂. I miss that ugly lil amp ☹️
the gig scene is very different where I come from. every band expects to play at all the same pubs and clubs, each with their own in house gear (of varying quality, of course). I totally could invest in a head/cab setup, but that would cause so much hassle for setup and tear down, all for a 30 minute set. It's for that reason I prefer to just invest in a high quality dirt pedal, and may borrow a cabsim pedal if necessary. For that choice, I run a 5150 od with an od before it. this setup gets me a semblance of a core tone, while still fitting completely in my gigbag, which i can lug around on a commute with only minor hassle.
Love to see you design a pedal that has a growling overdrive thats sounds like a diesel truck gearing down...you know that sound, huge gurgling billowing smoking dirty diesel as its reducing speed quickly...Thats the sound in my head which no pedal can yet capture! Good Luck with that in mind Mr. Wampler!
Amp distortion, coloured by an overdrive. This is what works for me, I run a solid state Fender head which I pair with a Tube Screamer. The TS has the drive at about 10% and just gives the amp a more saturated sound. It’s not for everyone but I runs with what I gots. Works in the studio and on stage.
What I personally like to do is have a hotrodded Marshall style amp, not very high wattage (30 to 50) so it distorts more easily. The most I use to push it is a treble booster and a fuzz (mk1 tonebender style). Run that through a 2x12 loaded with Creamback 65s and you have all the smooth, creamy and insane gain you could ever want.
I don’t know, the La Grange sounded best to me out of the different sounds on this video. I might have to pick one up. I tend to prefer vintage Marshall overdrive tones, and this pedal seems to deliver the goods better than most amps.
still looking for the ultimate useable for everything tone lol so will use which ever suits the song in my head i guess , Thank you again Mr Wampler for your time and increadable insight
I have rarely used amp drive channels even though they are fine. The pedals do it well and i can have a large number of drives that are stack friendly. I always want the amp sound i don't have... until i get it. Same as many things in life. First drive i still own. It is the DOD FX 55 Distortion. Two knob, no tone. It is dark folks. I had no idea back in 1985.
@@dezionlion yes but that gives you a preamp type drive and distortion, personally i like the distortion from the power amp but that means the amp needs to be cranked
Ok, they all sound different. So it all comes down to preference... Personal preference... Something where a magnetic core goes into saturation... A nice mellow, but full distortion, that actually breaths instead of just clipping.
One of my favorite tone combos is my Hellmouth, which is a TS clone with LED clipping, into my Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh, which is just a tricked out big muff, and all of that actually going into my bass amp
Great comparison. I caught a glimpse of 1986 as it was trying to sneak out of the Marshall amp. I'm going to tweak my eq section instead of buying more gear.
Great video. Super sharp picture & clean audio. The "all killer/no filler" 10 minutes or less thing works. If you could manage to crank out more of these, I'd be really likely to watch them all the day they come out. Coffee break stuff.
Always a treat! One nice thing about a pedal is that they are handy for vintage style (5f1) amps. I've been using a guitar for the probe plugged into an Eico 147A Signal Tracer (switched out the 1.5 watt speaker to a 30 watt 4" 8 ohm Eminence. The SD-1 is a hoot! And someone finally got that cringe look on their face and complained it's too loud! Thanks for all you do Brian! Cheers!
A good point you raise and a very good demo video to back it all up, I honestly think they all have a place and create lovely timbres, it will always be down to each individual musicians preference dependant on the genre of music you play, personally I do play pretty clean but love a slight boost of a Tube screamer or Dumbler and blues driver and then when I occasionally want to crank it the I also love throwing a more Hi-gain pedal into the mix for a solo or a part I really want to stand out altogether giving me a great range of dynamics in the tonal spectrum, so each to their own on this one for me.
Great demo video! Thank you! :-) Distortion pedals and comparison videos have convinced me that the distortion pedals bottom line comes down to how MUCH the signal is distorted and the overall EQ (typically more...or less, high frequencies). For me, this means many distortion pedals could be satisfactory and the differences would be negligible (to me) in a mix...ESPECIALLY live.
I prefer to run my amps at the edge of breakup. For a clean sound I will usually back off the guitar volume. I then will whack the front of the amp to push it with a “transparent overdrive “, a Red Llama, or a Fuzz Face type unit depending on how much gain I want.
Thanks for this. I used to be a straight-to-amp guy, using a higher gain amp. Until, one night at the end of an audition where the show was the next day, the band leader said "BTW, you won't be needing that(pointing to my amp), we'll be using a backline. At that exact moment, I began a quest to build a board which allows me to get my tone practically anywhere. Your Your Pinnacle V is helping me achieve that. I've been using pedalboard power amps, And am still deciding which one of those will suit my needs.
Clipping diodes are different from clipping valves, it's maths and science. But they just sound different, we wouldn't have most of today's awesome music if one or the other didn't exist. Both are useful. And that's why I love this channel, you're transparent (pun not intended) about this stuff.
If you're in the room next to the amp, it almost always sound better. BUT pedals can boost shape or push your amp and that's how you obtain very specific sounds. Klon clones or Tube Screamers type pedals do wonders on almost every amp.
Every tone you tested was really good. And I've heard plenty of distortion, gain, overdriven tones that I do not like. The only one that I didnt think was really good was the Rat pedal.
I've been putting a way huge pork loin in the effects loop of a Marshall and using both a cranked Marshall sound and a smooth dumble like tone with the pork loin engaged
The Bogner La Grange sounds sweet . The good old TS will never go out of style. What a timeless circuit. I still OD into an amp close to break up and distortion into a clean amp at this point in my ongoing tone chase .
Over many years on the journey of finding the ultimate sounds I came to the realisation that there is no one ultimate sound. I love the gain I get out of an old 112 combo for certain songs, I love the gain out of a 212 for others and again I love the gains I get out of a clean tube with pedals for others. Now I spend less time on fiddling with sounds and more on enjoying the playing
I used to be in the amp gain channel always sounds better camp, until I got a od-3. It sounds just like the amp and is very responsive. It even helps make headphone out sound better and the amp sounds better at lower volumes. Iv’e had other drives before, bd-2,ts-9, jackhammer but they sounded nothing like my amp, iv’e played the same amp for 15 years so I know it well and I forget I’m using the pedal and it always stays on.
I’ve never been into the TS type of clipping, just sounds a bit sterile for me. But cranking a non- master volume amp, THAT is for me! Great video. Peace.
Agree to a point, but the venues you play or your neighbors won't appreciate you showing up and cranking your tube amp to distortion. You'll quickly find you get no calls from other musicians, and LOTS of threatening calls from your neighbors.
I felt the same. I've relegated my mini TS to "tightening" duty before other dirt pedals. But then I bought a Joyo vintage overdrive pedal on a whim, attempting to save some money, needing a TS style pedal to do some more tightening for a second board. And, wow, turns out that $40 pedal sounded great on it's own! So now I'm considering the Clarksdale... More EQ options.
Wow, that distortion sounded good. You see so many reviews of amps the distortion can really suck sometimes. Your sounded good, I could feel the power instead of just getting my ears "scratched."
Apples and oranges and where you really feel the difference is with a tube amp driven to it's breaking point and all those glorious harmonics. I've never run across a pedal that does that sound
I will say that in my quest for Mark IIC+ tone, that the Sovereign could not only nail the tones I dialed in with an Overdrive 200 & Mark V, it was far more flexible. I could get more scoop, more cut, just plain more - and it felt just as good. If you like Marshall tones, ditto for the Pinnacle. Also had great success with the Riot, GT500, GT2, & Tri AC. 200 for a Riot, or 2k for a Brown Eye? In the case of the GT500 it does something no Marshall does well - bass guitar. FETs & Muamps are your friends, folks. Very likely your all tube monster is gonna have a booster or OD in front, anyway.
I have a tube amp recently and i also have Diezel VH4-2 pedal with the Magnum 44 power amp. There isn't any right or wrong answer to getting a distortion tone. It all depends on the player's hearing and fingers. I have no preference of any arrangement, but at the moment my favorite setup is having a Diezel VH4-2 pedal connected to the 'return' of my H&K GMD40 tube amp, with SD1 (9 Oclock)>NS2>Diezel VH4-2 (channel 3, 12 noon)>MXR EQ. This gives me a modern ultra distortion with sustain. NS2, keeps the noise out.
I'm one of those dudes who can think someone (lots of people) sounds amazing with a marshall/ tube screamer /seymore duncan. But if that sound comes from my cab.. Can't do it. Dont want to sound like so and so.. So thanks for making awesome pedals and helping a half crazed nit wit like myself to mod a few slightly overproduced pedals.
Seems a lot of people love this pedal. I have it and I'm not very impressed. Is it because I use it on a clean preset of a digital Fender Mustang GT100? Any tips?
@phillup bucket thanks. I had a feeling that was the issue. I want to get one of the small Marshall DSL amps but have to wait til I have the funds. I turned off the cab simulation and used the Super Bad Ass and it finally sounds good! The clean tone sounds horrible and flat though lol. I guess new amp it is...
I wish I could sit in and play along. BW has some awesome gear. There are surely some amazing sounds we’re not able to appreciate fully via TH-cam audio.
Recently discovered the MXR Dist+ as OD.. like you said: there’s no “better” but they’re tools. And every tool has his goal. BTW, great and clear video. BTW2 I love TOOL.
Brian. My regular Plexi Drive is my fav pedal of all time. My preferred use is in front of a Marshall dsl combo (not a live player any more). Amp set to medium gain, with thE P Drive set to unity volume...gain and treble to taste. The PD adds SO MUCH harmonic content its unreal! For singles I use a Duncan Pup Booster in front of the PD, just add that little something that single coils need IMO. PS. PD sounds great into a clean amp as well
A tool is just that, a tool. No matter if you are a artistic painter, carpenter or a pastry chef. You use the right tool for the job. Acrylic, water color or oil paint? Nail, screw or glue. Eggs, milk and butter. When do you use the right tools for the job. THAT is the question. It is not a competition b.t.w. "Which is better?".
Whenever I tried a clean amp and pedal distortion, my sound disappeared as soon as the drummer started playing (and this is not about the mids, there were tons of those). I find that it can work for some genres, usually either just a little drive (e.g. blues with a Tubescreamer) or ridiculously high amount of gain (e.g. HM-2). But I reside somewhere in between, going from AC/DC to Slash, and when playing more complex chords it seems the intermodulation distortion (I think that's what it's called) doesn't work the same way. With pedals, chords make the sound more clouded instead of bigger. That's the best way I can put it BUT, pushing an amp further with pedals... that I do, a lot. See, no tube amp can overdrive its first stage without some help from the silicon fairy. So, put a TS or Klon type in between and crank that Level and bam! A JCM800 2204 becomes a beast! Plus you get to tailor the signal coming in to clean up the lower end boost the mids pre-distortion for that bold aggressiveness. There is certainly a place for clean amps and distortion pedals, but it doesn't work for all scenarios. But tube amps will always go well with good simple pedals.
In my case, pedal distortion is what I use by default. I don't use an amp at all. My rig is pedalboard-mounted, so I have a compact rig which is easy to tour. The pedal I use is the Effectrode Blackbird. The clean channel is a Fender Blackface, and the distortion channel is a Dumble. It runs on any 12a type tube, but I have 12ax7s in mine. It also has a buffered direct out, so I can plug it directly into the mixing board. I can travel from gig to gig with the guitar and pedalboard in the back seat of my car, and nothing else needed. The only way to tour.
Personally, I love the cat at the beginning of the video.
Me too.
He/she is beautiful!! Even though I'm a dog kinda dude 😂😂
@@jeffreybonaventure6981 Its a she. 3-color cats are almost always females with very rare exceptions
Many guitarists get their axes to wail like cats. I can see the connection. lol
@@kangaroofoot this made me chuckle!
I love how he goes over other brands not just his own
Wampler's channel is like JHS' with fewer subscribers, a less charismatic host, but more technical detail.
Says the bot repeating the SAME COMMENT on nearly every sampler video. Quite 'sincere' you seem, bot.
@@EnterJusticeJosh is
Not charismatic lol
Brian Wampler is an absolute champ. So gracious.
I personally like a blend. The amp provides the spongy feel and the pedal shapes and augments the tone. I'm currently in love with a 50/50 setting, half-amp, half Tube Screamer. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd take the amp by itself. I'll play the amp by itself or periods, but I always end up adding the pedal back in.
It's all taste as far as I'm concerned. Personally, I prefer an over-driven amp every time. It just sounds more organic to me. Fantastic video!
Marshall + Tube Screamer = ❤️
Vox AC30 + Treble Booster = ❤️
Brian, your videos are so great. Very clear on what's what, but also always keeping in mind that there's no "wrong".
At 5’29” Brian makes a vital point for me. He says ‘it FEELS good under the hands’.. how it sounds will depend on how it feels. You have the sound in your head, so you compensate with your hands to colour what the electronics are doing to the signal. I’m right with Brian on this point and much of what he says, a smart and humble guy. If you can get a balance where the sound responds with your playing, you’re onto to path of fun and pleasure.
This kind of videos really makes you open your eyes. At the end of the day none of them are better that the other one, they are just different kind of distortion, useful and pleasent in different scenarios. Thanks Mr Wampler.
God, that's a beautiful clean tone in the beginning!
Will forever love the tube screamer, both as dirt and as a boost.
yes
Agreed. I modded mine to have two extra bass boost/gain boost settings. Between that and my treble booster/fuzz face dual pedal I recently built and the klon clone I built into my Marshall DSL100HR I have pretty much all the drive tones covered. I would like to build a few more though just for the hell of it
This made me realize I truly love the tube screamer.
I think my issue was I'd never used an Ibanez one but hearing one here and my guitarist using one to great effect makes me feel I need the real thing.
@@StudioBrock1337 get the clarkesdale, basically a uprated tube screamer and far superior (imo) sounds amazing on its own but pushing my euphoria its out right evil!
Not to mention Klon clones.
I purchased a Fender Blues Jr several years ago and primarily ran overdrive/distortion pedals through it. Recently I watched a video of Joe Bonamassa discussing amp tube gain/distortion, so I decided to remove the pedals and go straight into the amp. THAT'S the tone I've been looking for! I manipulate the volume and tone controls on my Les Paul to get totally different sounds from it. Absolutely incredible! Great video! Love this channel!
See I’ve always done that but through a peavey, lately I’m thinking about whether I can improve my tone with a transparent overdrive but we shall see!
my fav has always been the pre-amp section of my amp, I have never found a pedal that can compare.
Me too. I finally got wise and put all my money into a few good amplifiers. I got sick of pedals, their faulty spaghetti connections, their need to tweak, and their cost. Keep it simple, stupid.
May i ask what amp you use?
Peavey classic 50
I actually really like a medium gain/overdrive from an amp and then hitting the front of it with a boost/overdrive/distortion/fuzz. You can get great sounds from all sorts of different arrangements though, as you've clearly demonstrated.
As someone else already said: it's all good because distortion is good
Apart from clipping distortion
@@nathanadnitt name a distortion that doesn't come from clipping
@@juancarlossuarez7486 i dont think you understand, clipping distortion as in there is too much to the point where notes cant actually ring out its just a big mess put a fuzz next to a overdrive pedal and youll see lol it sounds like ass
@@nathanadnitt sounds like you don't understand what clipping means. lol
I boned a swimsuit model.
Thank you, Dr. Wampler, for a nicely done concise demo of what most of us take for granted because we don't exactly know WTF we're doing in our quest to get cranked up!
That La Grange tone was the standout.
Damn straight~
I've recently come to the realisation that what I like is hotrodded marshall tone. I've just gone with a multi amp, multichannel wet/dry rig that covers all bases and I've taken every dirt pedal off the board
Id like to be your friend
yea.. same, I was always trying different od and distortion pedals.. then I realized.. wait I have a boogie mark5 and a marshall.... both which sound amazing distored yet I am screwing around on the clean channel with pedals. dropped all the od and distortion pedals off my board.
@@KaHabbful Im suprised you can see the pedals past that dirty FUCKIN cheeseburger locker ya got there, Randy
Same here...with a Clean channel, an OD1 and an OD2 on my Marshall, it's all perfectly working for me. I do have a clean boost in the front though, for volume boost when I'm using the clean channel and punching just that little bit more when using OD1/OD2. But, what works for me doesn't necessary work for others, of course....
@@dyamicorriveau9677 how many gain pedals you driven into that 100w gut today, Randy? 15?
Great video, I love stacking pedals (each with not much gain) combined with amp gain. Love it much more than each on their own.
Hi Brian. This is , to me at least, one of the most informative videos I have seen. And trust me, I have seen a lot during my 5 years as a bedroom player.
The preamp way of getting a great full sound has made it possible for me to play in my bedroom in the first place, without blowing my ears and head off. I use a 5W amp, on low master volume and it sound as good as it can get in that type of setting (with a compressor and delay).
Again, a very good and informative video. Cheers
The simple answer is it depends on the style of music you're playing, and how you resonate with the character of the distortion itself.
For blues, country, and even some rock, that loose, fuzzy, transistor sound works beautifully to cut through the mix and add an extra dimension of playability.
For genres like 80s rock, and even modern metal, preamp gain in conjunction with a noise gate works to solidify palm muting and give a sledgehammer/machine gun type of sound.
I like a combination of all of it. My favorite is the classic JCM800 type circuit with a lot of preamp gain, pushed to the point of the power section giving it some hair, and boosting with an SD-1. But I love all of it. I built a 5w el84 kit and that sounds amazing cranked. I happen to really like the jcm900 4100 which is basically an op-amp pedal with a 100w tube power section, and there’s some amazing stand-alone overdrives that sound incredible through a clean input or into an effects return. One of them being the Pantheon, I just got that pedal and I love it. Anyway - they’re all great, just depends on the tone and feel you’re going for.
I love the sound of power amp distortion! I also love being able to hear, having intact windows, and not having the ceiling come down on my head- so I mostly use pre-amp or pedal distortion... Even a 15 watt amp is painfully loud, inside when you crank it all the way up.
Sadly, turning up the gain- or using a dirt pedal doesn't give you that tube compression, The harmonic content, or the sound of the speaker and cab really getting into the conversation.
I was getting frustrated the other day, trying to get the sound I wanted out of my rig. Fooling with the preamp didn't do it, trying different pedals didn't do it... What DID do it, was turning the gain down- and the master UP, lol. It was considerably less distorted- but sounded WAY fatter and richer- not to mention, it made the guitar feel like it came alive in my hands!
you can always use an attenuator. you won't get a lot of speaker break up, but still, great sounds. some are about 100 usd
Amps usually have a sweet spot where things just sound great. Sadly it's often at loud volumes.
Get an attenuator.
The tube screamer with your "Bravado" amp sounded best to me !
I can cut through all the amp vs pedal divisiveness with one irrefutable answer:
-Yes, sometimes.
Really it depends greatly on which amp and which pedal. I know that conventional wisdom dictated that tube beats solid state every time, and there was a long time where that was true but in the last 10-15 years solid state (so pedals) have gotten to the point where there are many I've owned and played that sounded better than amps that I've owned.
There definitely are frequencies and the way they behave are different in a tube than with an op-amp, transistor, mosfet, etc. However the degree that they come into play will depend on everything else; the guitar, pickups, strings, cable, player, speaker....
Over the years, having worked as a luthier (actually closer to a tech than builder), and the subsequent years working on amps and perhaps I've come to know that all the things that cause the biggest arguments: fretboard materials, tone wood, finish etc do have an impact on tone. I have handled literally hundreds if not thousands of them. However what has a noticing affect when on a strat with vintage SSS can be completely lost on a PRS HH, or Gibson. they can be really noticable running through a Fender deluxe Tweed, but be completely absent on Silver Jubilee.
Personal I find that with gain, OD, Distortion I'm less interested in it's tone (though obviously I certainly AM interested in it) and I'm more focused on how it plays and responds to my playing. It used to be that tubes had a much more dynamic and natural sensitivity and response, I had a mid 90s Peavey Envoy a few years ago that I bought to have home at my bench to test guitars I work on, I had used a Fender Twin that literally didn't get turned off in a couple years.I remember my first electric came with a little Peavey that even at that young age and early stage I recognized sounded like shit, but the Envoy sounded surprisingly great, to the point that I wouldn't mind having a pedal that sounded like it. However when I rolled the guitar volume down it just lost volume, it didn't clear up. Now though there are plenty of really touch sensitive pedals. The most dynamic drive that I've heard in years was an Earthquaker devices amp in a box, but instead of the normal Marshall, fender,vox, dumble thing it was based on the preamp of an old film projector. It was insanely dynamic, more than almost any amp I've played.
So in closing I point to my earlier response to "does amp gain sound better then a pedal?" Yes, sometimes
Absolutely, we are going for distortion, just different ways to get it. And some amps love and spotlight pedals while others choke on them
@Nothing Noone no bro, it's not no
As expected. lol
@@timwhite5562 if you're comparing amps like fender and orange to pedals I'll chose the pedals. But if it's a pedal vs a bogner, mesa or a diesel I'd choose the amp all day everyday esp since I can afford it.
To me, nothing beats a cranked JCM 800 pimp-slapped with an OD pedal.
I just use a wah boost on solos. Rarely I touch my OD pedal. Straight in the amp is mucho grande
@@SevenGlitch it's just a classic timeless thing to put an od in front of a cranked marshall.
@@johnc1666 WHAAAAT? 😏
@@harmonicaneil9418 😅 I SAID IT SOUND GREAT WHEN KRANKED
The big differences between these different source of distortion are 1) control of tone before and/or after the distortion, 2) soft or hard clipping and 3) symmetry - generation of even or odd order harmonics. Hope you might cover these in another video so we can understand the impact on tone and feel.
I would say, from my experiences when messing around with distortion and or getting a specific tone out of an amp.
I would use a tube screamer and or some type of distortion pedal to help boost the front end of my amp.
Yes, a lot of times you will need a good noise gate to help unwanted feed back.
Like I said, this is pretty much my preference to getting what I want out of an amp.
These methods would probably appeal more towards the metal heads than anyone else...or depending upon how much gain you like.
...BUT, that's more or less a completely different story to talk about.....
I have Dr. Z Maz 18 and love the way that it overdrives. Such a great amp to plug straight into.
1:00 la grange.
1:34 TS clean amp
2:38 bravado
3:27 TS + Bravado
4:35 preamp style gain
5:06 preamp style with TS
5:49 Pathos to clean amp
6:15 Rat to clean amp.
La Grange is a Plexi in a box
miss my dsl 😢
A person who makes electronics with less complexity than your TV remote, wants you to pretend they're worth more than your 60 inch TV...and your tube amp is worthless for distorting.
How can people believe wampler's BS?
@@xjohn1970 "La Grange is a Plexi in a box"
Through, ah, what?
This video really showcases how many different sounds you can get with amps, pedals and combinations of such...great video!
All I've got is a Blues Driver right now. That with a compressor before it works great for me
I use a Boss OD-3 in a similar way! Quite convincing sound in both. I’ve recently started using a Tubescreamer in front of it for leads, and it’s a great combo. Cheap ways to good tone!
I've usually found pedal only distortion to sound somewhat sterile, even when run into a tube amp. As others have said, stacking gain stages leads to better results when combined with some tube amp saturation. One exception I've found is the Boss OD1 - to me it has a nice tube-like asymmetrical clipping that sounds great straight into a clean amp.
They all sound great, but there is something to be said about a non master amp cranked loud as hell slammed with an OD pedal.
Yup!
All of the overtones on those rung out chords -- glorious.
Indeed. What's said is "damn, an overdriven power amp sounds great!"
I've modded several non master volume amps with post phase inverter madteri volumes. While they don't sound exactly like a non master volume crankey, they sound much closer than the typical gain/ Master volume setup.
Oddly, I've never opened any of the first Marshall JMPs when they went with Master volumes, but I've played a few and heard many. They always sounded very close to the non-master models. I thin they have a PPIMV. I don't know why they changed them when they came out with the actually Master Volume series (I think they were just the original JCM800 single channel amps before they called it a JCM).
I've seen lately that there are a few OD pedals that are based off of power amp distortion. I've seen 2, both I believe just have a single knob. However neither are based off of Marshall or Tweeds for some reason. One is made from an old Sunn amp and the other off of another equally esoteric model.
@@timwhite5562 What I do find cool though is that you can get a really good and usable sound in many different means now. A cranked amp sounds and feels the best for me, but I also think its awesome that amps have master volumes and that pedals and DSP modeling can dish out great distortion tones too. Nothing will beat a cranked amp, but the great news is that we don't have to settle for subpart tones!
I love those all. I got bags full of overdrives/distortions/fuzzes, digital preamps and tube preamps, a tube amp, an SS power amp, and a load of amp-plugins. Hahaha. Sometimes a beautiful creamy overdrive, sometimes a bass-choking-fuzz with an octaver is the bees knees, or a 70's Double Sound wah with it's fuzz into a matamp-mimicing preamp. Usually the most satisfying sounds come out of using a different dirt on every track of the song. To me. YMMV, IMHO and all that.
I have a microphone between me and all the amps, so a cranked Marshall and a Distortion Pedal get the same treatment. I can’t hear the amps, they’re far enough away and isolated, but I can monitor them trough the DAW. Capturing the energy of an amp, meeting a specific level without going over clip is required, so dynamics are important, and level has a lot to do with satisfaction. I have a love of all of them, and would say my pedal sounds as good as my preamps. All of the amplifiers are wide open, but I control what goes into them, and then have more control thereafter with mic level and limiters. Limiters chop the top of stray frequencies, like drop tuned guitars. The wide open tube amps, the Marshall JMP and JTM amplifiers are more classic rock, and if the guitar volume is reduced offer some really tasty low gain. Matter of fact, low gain is best on them. For high gain, it’s again important to have a good level, so limiters tame the worst offending frequencies, and the ‘gain’ feature of the limiters help them match levels better. The 3 step process, mic pre, EQ, and limiting is so important for getting a good recorded tone. Stacking multiple takes, which can phase cancel and flange recordings, is often employed these days, but I don’t enjoy it as much as a good solid mono left and mono right source. I also like a variety of speakers, huge differences between them, but after things are mixed it’s much more subtle. I’m not really into plugins but Fabfilter is everywhere and Gullfoss is a more intelligent dynamic EQ which can tame and recover frequencies interactively. Gullfoss helps your recordings translate in a variety of playback situations. These days I mix more specifically for earbuds, which involves a more round and full bottom. And if guitars are pushed down in the mix to allow vocals, bass, and cymbals to feature, you’ll need to correct the bottom end because it disappears and the top becomes blurred. But if you’re making guitar centric recordings you can of course feature the guitars and show off some of the best tones at your disposal. I like guitar music, so that’s typically what I’m doing. Rock on Brian.
I've always liked the feel of preamp dist. Get the preamp barking and your power amp just adds the magic to it.
I’m reminded of when I worked with an eastern bloc engineer ( mostly avionics stuffs) to design a small DIY amp. After tossing schematics back-and-forth he finally said “this is to much, your design will distort the sound!”😂 once he realized that’s what I wanted he laughed and scratched out a stacked TS808 style circuit 😂. I miss that ugly lil amp ☹️
salute ;)
the gig scene is very different where I come from. every band expects to play at all the same pubs and clubs, each with their own in house gear (of varying quality, of course). I totally could invest in a head/cab setup, but that would cause so much hassle for setup and tear down, all for a 30 minute set.
It's for that reason I prefer to just invest in a high quality dirt pedal, and may borrow a cabsim pedal if necessary. For that choice, I run a 5150 od with an od before it. this setup gets me a semblance of a core tone, while still fitting completely in my gigbag, which i can lug around on a commute with only minor hassle.
Now this is a man who answers the questions we all know we will eventually ask ourselves
Love to see you design a pedal that has a growling overdrive thats sounds like a diesel truck gearing down...you know that sound, huge gurgling billowing smoking dirty diesel as its reducing speed quickly...Thats the sound in my head which no pedal can yet capture! Good Luck with that in mind Mr. Wampler!
I both. They're good for different situations.
Amp distortion, coloured by an overdrive. This is what works for me, I run a solid state Fender head which I pair with a Tube Screamer. The TS has the drive at about 10% and just gives the amp a more saturated sound. It’s not for everyone but I runs with what I gots. Works in the studio and on stage.
What I personally like to do is have a hotrodded Marshall style amp, not very high wattage (30 to 50) so it distorts more easily. The most I use to push it is a treble booster and a fuzz (mk1 tonebender style).
Run that through a 2x12 loaded with Creamback 65s and you have all the smooth, creamy and insane gain you could ever want.
Great explanation! I never have to use my ambiguity tolerance pedal dialed up, when I watch your vids. Thank you! Cheers!
i have had various overdrive and distortion pedals in the 30+ years of playing, but usually go back to amp overdrive if i'm using a two-chennel amp.
I don’t know, the La Grange sounded best to me out of the different sounds on this video. I might have to pick one up. I tend to prefer vintage Marshall overdrive tones, and this pedal seems to deliver the goods better than most amps.
First off, that clean tone is freakin AMAZING!!!
I loved the playing , amongst other things. Clean and classy. An oasis in this category.
for me I love the built in dirt sound coming from the amp... I will only use an OD or DS for boost if needed
still looking for the ultimate useable for everything tone lol so will use which ever suits the song in my head i guess , Thank you again Mr Wampler for your time and increadable insight
trick question- The real answer is both. Tube amp distortion, helped along with a nice boost pedal. Perfect example: JCM800 + TS-808. Tone heaven.
Yes that's the way to have a great tone! I always use a boss sd-1 to have a mid push and sizzle, great for Van halen style.
Cranked Marshall + Tube Screamer + bridge Humbucker with tone rolled off = Celtic Frost sound!
I have rarely used amp drive channels even though they are fine. The pedals do it well and i can have a large number of drives that are stack friendly. I always want the amp sound i don't have... until i get it. Same as many things in life. First drive i still own. It is the DOD FX 55 Distortion. Two knob, no tone. It is dark folks. I had no idea back in 1985.
One of the best series on TH-cam
Pedals can’t duplicate a tube amp imo, but that doesn’t mean pedals aren’t useful
Unless they’re tube pedals, my tube screamer has a 12ax7 in it!
@@dezionlion yes but that gives you a preamp type drive and distortion, personally i like the distortion from the power amp but that means the amp needs to be cranked
A Big Muff can't duplicate a tube amp, but a tube amp can't duplicate a Big Muff!
@@joeyjo-joshabadu9636 exactly
Ok, they all sound different. So it all comes down to preference...
Personal preference... Something where a magnetic core goes into saturation... A nice mellow, but full distortion, that actually breaths instead of just clipping.
Thank you Brian, this has been my favorite video of yours.
One of my favorite tone combos is my Hellmouth, which is a TS clone with LED clipping, into my Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh, which is just a tricked out big muff, and all of that actually going into my bass amp
Great comparison. I caught a glimpse of 1986 as it was trying to sneak out of the Marshall amp. I'm going to tweak my eq section instead of buying more gear.
Great video. Super sharp picture & clean audio. The "all killer/no filler" 10 minutes or less thing works. If you could manage to crank out more of these, I'd be really likely to watch them all the day they come out. Coffee break stuff.
Always a treat! One nice thing about a pedal is that they are handy for vintage style (5f1) amps. I've been using a guitar for the probe plugged into an Eico 147A Signal Tracer (switched out the 1.5 watt speaker to a 30 watt 4" 8 ohm Eminence. The SD-1 is a hoot! And someone finally got that cringe look on their face and complained it's too loud! Thanks for all you do Brian! Cheers!
A good point you raise and a very good demo video to back it all up, I honestly think they all have a place and create lovely timbres, it will always be down to each individual musicians preference dependant on the genre of music you play, personally I do play pretty clean but love a slight boost of a Tube screamer or Dumbler and blues driver and then when I occasionally want to crank it the I also love throwing a more Hi-gain pedal into the mix for a solo or a part I really want to stand out altogether giving me a great range of dynamics in the tonal spectrum, so each to their own on this one for me.
Great demo video! Thank you! :-)
Distortion pedals and comparison videos have convinced me that the distortion pedals bottom line comes down to how MUCH the signal is distorted and the overall EQ (typically more...or less, high frequencies). For me, this means many distortion pedals could be satisfactory and the differences would be negligible (to me) in a mix...ESPECIALLY live.
This is a good helpful primer on the main ways of producing electric guitar distortion!
I prefer to run my amps at the edge of breakup. For a clean sound I will usually back off the guitar volume. I then will whack the front of the amp to push it with a “transparent overdrive “, a Red Llama, or a Fuzz Face type unit depending on how much gain I want.
Thanks for this. I used to be a straight-to-amp guy, using a higher gain amp. Until, one night at the end of an audition where the show was the next day, the band leader said "BTW, you won't be needing that(pointing to my amp), we'll be using a backline. At that exact moment, I began a quest to build a board which allows me to get my tone practically anywhere. Your Your Pinnacle V is helping me achieve that. I've been using pedalboard power amps, And am still deciding which one of those will suit my needs.
Clipping diodes are different from clipping valves, it's maths and science. But they just sound different, we wouldn't have most of today's awesome music if one or the other didn't exist. Both are useful. And that's why I love this channel, you're transparent (pun not intended) about this stuff.
I like the sound of the Marshall with pre-amp gain, no pedals, best. Sounds like Pete Townshend's tone.
This video just convinced me to disregard the pedals & save for a better tube amp
If you're in the room next to the amp, it almost always sound better. BUT pedals can boost shape or push your amp and that's how you obtain very specific sounds. Klon clones or Tube Screamers type pedals do wonders on almost every amp.
Every tone you tested was really good. And I've heard plenty of distortion, gain, overdriven tones that I do not like.
The only one that I didnt think was really good was the Rat pedal.
I've been putting a way huge pork loin in the effects loop of a Marshall and using both a cranked Marshall sound and a smooth dumble like tone with the pork loin engaged
The Bogner La Grange sounds sweet . The good old TS will never go out of style. What a timeless circuit. I still OD into an amp close to break up and distortion into a clean amp at this point in my ongoing tone chase .
I love that La Grange circuit!
@@wampler_pedals sex in a metal box LOL!
Good video, good info. I do use the Ibanez TS9 to drive the high sensitivity input on my Marshall JMP 2203 and it sounds marvelous!
Brian: Amp or pedal distortion. Which do you prefer?
Me: Yes.
I like how you don't miss many videos making fun of other youtubers. By the way, love your vids.
Over many years on the journey of finding the ultimate sounds I came to the realisation that there is no one ultimate sound. I love the gain I get out of an old 112 combo for certain songs, I love the gain out of a 212 for others and again I love the gains I get out of a clean tube with pedals for others.
Now I spend less time on fiddling with sounds and more on enjoying the playing
I used to be in the amp gain channel always sounds better camp, until I got a od-3. It sounds just like the amp and is very responsive. It even helps make headphone out sound better and the amp sounds better at lower volumes. Iv’e had other drives before, bd-2,ts-9, jackhammer but they sounded nothing like my amp, iv’e played the same amp for 15 years so I know it well and I forget I’m using the pedal and it always stays on.
I’ve never been into the TS type of clipping, just sounds a bit sterile for me. But cranking a non- master volume amp, THAT is for me! Great video. Peace.
It is sterile on its own but that mod focused soft clipping is perfect for tightening up tube amp distortion. Especially with Marshall style amps.
Agree to a point, but the venues you play or your neighbors won't appreciate you showing up and cranking your tube amp to distortion. You'll quickly find you get no calls from other musicians, and LOTS of threatening calls from your neighbors.
I felt the same. I've relegated my mini TS to "tightening" duty before other dirt pedals. But then I bought a Joyo vintage overdrive pedal on a whim, attempting to save some money, needing a TS style pedal to do some more tightening for a second board. And, wow, turns out that $40 pedal sounded great on it's own! So now I'm considering the Clarksdale... More EQ options.
All of the above tones, yes please. And wow that Bravado sounds great!
In Texas, we say La GrAnge. -- lə GRAYNJ
Wow, that distortion sounded good. You see so many reviews of amps the distortion can really suck sometimes. Your sounded good, I could feel the power instead of just getting my ears "scratched."
Just started using the plexus drive deluxe for mid gain and distortion. Love it so far
Apples and oranges and where you really feel the difference is with a tube amp driven to it's breaking point and all those glorious harmonics.
I've never run across a pedal that does that sound
I will say that in my quest for Mark IIC+ tone, that the Sovereign could not only nail the tones I dialed in with an Overdrive 200 & Mark V, it was far more flexible. I could get more scoop, more cut, just plain more - and it felt just as good.
If you like Marshall tones, ditto for the Pinnacle. Also had great success with the Riot, GT500, GT2, & Tri AC.
200 for a Riot, or 2k for a Brown Eye?
In the case of the GT500 it does something no Marshall does well - bass guitar.
FETs & Muamps are your friends, folks. Very likely your all tube monster is gonna have a booster or OD in front, anyway.
Great tones man! And it’s cool other brands can coexist in this demo!
After hearing your demo, the TS9 is all you need. If I want distortion from my amp, Blackstar is my choice.
I have a tube amp recently and i also have Diezel VH4-2 pedal with the Magnum 44 power amp. There isn't any right or wrong answer to getting a distortion tone. It all depends on the player's hearing and fingers. I have no preference of any arrangement, but at the moment my favorite setup is having a Diezel VH4-2 pedal connected to the 'return' of my H&K GMD40 tube amp, with SD1 (9 Oclock)>NS2>Diezel VH4-2 (channel 3, 12 noon)>MXR EQ. This gives me a modern ultra distortion with sustain. NS2, keeps the noise out.
My favorite distortion pedal is channel 2 or 3 on my Boogie Mark V. Sounds farking incredible.
This video WAS needed. Goog going Brian, cheers 🍻
Love that cranked amp sound.
I'm one of those dudes who can think someone (lots of people) sounds amazing with a marshall/ tube screamer /seymore duncan.
But if that sound comes from my cab.. Can't do it. Dont want to sound like so and so..
So thanks for making awesome pedals and helping a half crazed nit wit like myself to mod a few slightly overproduced pedals.
My favourite distortion pedal is the mxr super badass......what a pedal.
Seems a lot of people love this pedal. I have it and I'm not very impressed. Is it because I use it on a clean preset of a digital Fender Mustang GT100? Any tips?
@phillup bucket thanks. I had a feeling that was the issue. I want to get one of the small Marshall DSL amps but have to wait til I have the funds. I turned off the cab simulation and used the Super Bad Ass and it finally sounds good! The clean tone sounds horrible and flat though lol. I guess new amp it is...
jcm2000 classic gain (crunch) + O/D pedal = tone heaven for me.
I wish I could sit in and play along. BW has some awesome gear. There are surely some amazing sounds we’re not able to appreciate fully via TH-cam audio.
Recently discovered the MXR Dist+ as OD.. like you said: there’s no “better” but they’re tools. And every tool has his goal. BTW, great and clear video. BTW2 I love TOOL.
Brian. My regular Plexi Drive is my fav pedal of all time.
My preferred use is in front of a Marshall dsl combo (not a live player any more).
Amp set to medium gain, with thE P Drive set to unity volume...gain and treble to taste.
The PD adds SO MUCH harmonic content its unreal!
For singles I use a Duncan Pup Booster in front of the PD, just add that little something that single coils need IMO.
PS. PD sounds great into a clean amp as well
A tool is just that, a tool.
No matter if you are a artistic painter, carpenter or a pastry chef. You use the right tool for the job.
Acrylic, water color or oil paint?
Nail, screw or glue.
Eggs, milk and butter.
When do you use the right tools for the job. THAT is the question.
It is not a competition b.t.w. "Which is better?".
So the amp,tube distortion, would be the water color, the acrylic the pedals? and then , a , well, forget ir hahahah
Ah yes a fellow Weedian
Whenever I tried a clean amp and pedal distortion, my sound disappeared as soon as the drummer started playing (and this is not about the mids, there were tons of those). I find that it can work for some genres, usually either just a little drive (e.g. blues with a Tubescreamer) or ridiculously high amount of gain (e.g. HM-2). But I reside somewhere in between, going from AC/DC to Slash, and when playing more complex chords it seems the intermodulation distortion (I think that's what it's called) doesn't work the same way. With pedals, chords make the sound more clouded instead of bigger. That's the best way I can put it
BUT, pushing an amp further with pedals... that I do, a lot. See, no tube amp can overdrive its first stage without some help from the silicon fairy. So, put a TS or Klon type in between and crank that Level and bam! A JCM800 2204 becomes a beast! Plus you get to tailor the signal coming in to clean up the lower end boost the mids pre-distortion for that bold aggressiveness.
There is certainly a place for clean amps and distortion pedals, but it doesn't work for all scenarios. But tube amps will always go well with good simple pedals.
"[P]ut a TS or Klon type in between and crank that Level and bam!" Yep. Or a good graphic EQ pedal with well more than unity gain for a boost.
sounds like user error tbh
That's why I am getting the orange terror stamp: 20 watt tube distortion pedal with awesome sound
In my case, pedal distortion is what I use by default. I don't use an amp at all. My rig is pedalboard-mounted, so I have a compact rig which is easy to tour. The pedal I use is the Effectrode Blackbird. The clean channel is a Fender Blackface, and the distortion channel is a Dumble. It runs on any 12a type tube, but I have 12ax7s in mine. It also has a buffered direct out, so I can plug it directly into the mixing board.
I can travel from gig to gig with the guitar and pedalboard in the back seat of my car, and nothing else needed. The only way to tour.
Guitar Nerd what kind of music do you play with that rig?