Great show, as always! Request; I would love to see an in depth look at how to use a switcher. Not so much technical stuff, but why you would use it, the different ways you might want to, etc. The G2 of course, but also more simple units as well. Thanks for the joy, guys!
You use a switcher to change more than one pedal at once. You use a switcher to work around pedals without true-bypass and in general remove unneeded pedals from the signal chain. Just think of each preset as a separate pedalboard without any other pedals than the selected ones.
This is definitely the way to do it. Have a “core tone” overdrive pedal and then a boost on each side. I’ve been watching this channel since the very beginning and this is probably the best idea I’ve gotten from you guys.
This is great! I just played a gig in a smaller venue using this technique into a 65 Deluxe reissue, and it worked great! Thanks for the awesome content again and again!
20w amps? I toured with a country band back in the day (circa 2000ish) and played over 300 shows in 52 weeks with a Peavey Classic 20 combo amp. I called it the "Little Sonofab*tch" because this little amp growled with the best of em. As for gain pedals, they all do essentially the same thing. Right now, I think Wompler has the best pedals on the market for the money. The man is a freaklin genius. Signal chain: guitar -> Original TS808 --> Wompler Tumnus --> TC Electronics Chorus --> Amp Why a chorus pedal? I used this pedal as a mid boost. I would turn off the settings for the chorus because there's no need for Chorus in Country. But, the pedal had a small gain nob much like the bias setting on an amp that actually functioned more like a presence control rather than a gain control. But, it did both quite brilliantly. So, I'd push the signal through everything else and let the TC Electronics chorus pedal layer a big, thick helping of mid boost and if you're hunting down that god-like country tone, this is it. I discovered this amp purely by accident. My original practice amp had finally given out and I needed a new one asap. I was in between shows and somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester, NY and not far from the legendary House of Guitars in Rochester. We swung in, I found this amp way in the back of a mountain of amps. It was exactly the right size, wattage and when I first plugged into it, I played one chord, looked at the singer, who also played guitar, and just smiled. I unplugged and bought the amp. It was $99. I still have it. This little amp can happily push a 2x12 or 4x12 and does not wash out. You can't find these amps anymore. But, if you can, buy it. They are truly great little amps.
David Barber is so outrageously good with every kind of gain stage (including things like compressors and EQs that most people don't consider "gain"). He might be the only pedal designer whose entire catalogue just sounds brilliant to me.
Great tips and tones Dan & Mick !! Thank you for putting so much time and effort into these clips that you so generously share ! Have a lovely time down under Dan ! With Gratitude - John
Core sound should come from the amp! That’s a hill i’m willing to die on! Every time i’ve been impressed by a guitarist’s sound I found out their set up was minimal and got everything from the AMP. What’s the point of spending good money on amps if your not going to use them and cheap amps sound like crap with pedals. I’m a TPS follower since the beginning so by no means am I anti pedal, I just think they exist to add different flavours to your core amp sound, not replace it. I get and agree with your point of guitarists who’s tone disappears when they slap on a mid heavy pedal on top of a mid heavy amp sound --MUD-- But that’s down to “know how” which is why we watch TPS. Loved the vid as usual 😊
Thanks for the stacking encouragement! Currently: valve jr < spark < behringer screamer < barber dirty bomb < pulp n peel < guitar Adding a Notaklön soon. No idea where to put it.
So much yes on the argo Easter egg! I've used it like this a lot, and also with the blend just slightly up, so you just begin to hear a little bit of that octave fuzz in the background. Glorious!
Great episode! I use my drive pedals (Lehle Sunday Driver, Vahlbruch Kaluna, Keeley AT) exactly that way! I think the rather complicated mission that many people are on is to find out which drive pedals actually combine well (also with the amp) and which don‘t - and that seems and everlasting journey... It‘s fun though 😅
I do this with a certain orange pedal and a ddr, it is glorious. When I need simple small board it's perfect, and integrates really well into the bigger rig. On a side note, I've recently picked up saxophone (sacrilege I know) on top of guitar, and was suprised to learn that there are a number of horn players who use pedals when playing, though their boards aren't necessarily as decadent as a guitar player's. Which also made me think of all the key players I've seen with pedals. And though maybe the most impractical and niche video imaginable, it would make an interesting episode of TPS to let other instruments have a rummage through the TPS inventory and build a rig. A "guitar pedals for non guitarists" video if you will.
Just discovered that I've been doing a variation of this with a compressor -> OD -> EQ. I played around with increasing the pedals' volume, reducing the guitar's volume, and getting the most headroom out of my Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb. I am well pleased. Thank you, gentlemen!
Just the subject matter i needed this rainy weekend to rebuild my board, have swapped a few drives in/out and things need a reshuffle to optimise my stacking options.
I've also discovered this this year and I use the exact same method with three gain stages (sometimes a fuzz at the end of the chain used separately). I am super glad y'all made a video about this, I personally feel like setting the amps to almost sound anemic and getting the character from the pedals produces a richer tone. I think it has to do with pushing the amps while they still have a lot of headroom left, but either way y'all are definitely on to something. I personally use a Fender Deluxe Reverb and Vox Ac-15 and get damn near the same results as shown in the episode. :)
I do that too. Running three overdrive pedals at the same time, mostly gain around 12 o'clock. I love that it gives me a lot of sustain and compression, a sound right between overdrive and fuzz. It's a great way getting that "cranked up amp" at low volumes.
Love the Christmas time videos. I bought a Roland JC Chorus based on your video 4 years ago during the holiday seasn. Would you ever consider bringing it back on the show using it in a full blown wet dry or stereo scenario? The worst pedal platform video barely scratched the surface of this fantastic amp.
Many touring pros do this. Since they don't know what kind of amp they will be using from show to show, venue to venue, they make the amp neutral and the pedals make all the tones. Paul Gilbert had a recent rig rundown on Sweetwater where he stated this straight out. Take the amp out of the equation. I'm not a touring professional but I like this idea. Pedals are way cheaper than amps, and easier to resell.
YEP! This is why I run a Kingsley Page into an original big box silver sharpie Barber Direct Drive, and then an Xotic EP Boost on the end for level/solo... Gain staging can work and sound amazing. Same thing with the color driver into the Barber.
3 boosts! That’s my reply to anyone asking which dirt pedal to buy. Dan’s explaining how I stack my boost/low drive pedals. Some of my fave fuzz tones hide out in there.
I'm finally getting into pedals, so I'm looking forward to trying this out - thanks for your insight. On a side note, Mick's delivery of "chef's kiss" at 4:29 is a keeper!
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Thanks again guys. Amazingly useful video 43:19. Loving playing today Maybe code for enjoy more, mess less? 44:40 Yeah, don't worry about what pedals, again maybe code for just play more. Sure, loads to explore when playing at high volume. It's definitely an art form, but perhaps stick to what you typically do at home or live. Sure, enjoy yourself, whatever that may be. Hire a hall, or go to church and get one for free, and play, play, play. I would rather that than worry that I haven't got the right kit so need to spend hours researching and ultimately investing more time and money. You don't have to be amazing to get good tone, think the Ramones solo on "I wanna be sedated" but the more you spend playing, the better you'll get. Sure you need encouragement from good tools and experimenting, but not at the expense of getting better. That might be lessons, practicing or playing live, but one can easily spend far too long with choice overload. Don't forget that there's loads of interaction with an electric guitar played acoustically. Beware of the man, (or woman), with only one gun. He, (she), knows how to use it! Do what you can, with what you have, where you are
Always insightful and relevant. My 3 = Barber Gain Changer SR (to die for) > Fulltone OCD > Thorpy Fallout Cloud (all set to Low-ish gain). I can get Santana-like Sustain, @ low volume with a 65 Princeton and Lollar Blonde's.
Great show. I've been doing a similar version of this for quite a while, though slightly different than your approach. My version/formula is: GTR > Klone > [OD1= Blues Breaker -or- OD2 = Xotic BB - or - OD3 = Ramble FX Marvel - or - OD4 = JHS Angry Charlie] > TC Spark Mini > Amp. That's four core tones from clean to mean (I only use core OD pedals one at a time) and a Klone to step each one up. That's eight different sounds. Then I can take each of those eight sounds and boost them at the end with the TC Spark for a "louder" version of each. That's sixteen different levels of gain and volume. I run the amp much like you are here. It's not much to hear on it's own, but I always have at least one pedal on and I like what each pedal brings to the mix. They hype up the amp into another level. And of course in each of those sounds you have your volume control on your guitar. Add chorus and Delay as you've done here and there you have it! This approach winds each pedal up to where there other pedal leaves off and there really isn't any level of volume or gain that I can't achieve. Cheers!
Great video again. I could see how much you were enjoying it! That DGT is killer. I knew it was a mistake watching this on Black Friday! Dept 10 coming my way to replace my worn out Spark.
"keep on honking" has to be the next shirt (with a picture of a goose on it 🤣) great show - lot's of knowledge as always - i'm experimenting with gain stacking myself so this was most interesting
I'm glad Mick mentioned "can't play at volume at home" because what this show is demonstrating is how to play with low volume but have feel. Amps on far too quiet, any gain pedal on bumping the output. Suddenly your down in the 60-80db range (which is still loud I'll admit) and feeling it like its 90+db. Yes it's squashier than if loud but low volume forgiveness is kinda nice. As is having it feel good & not sterile.
I 100% agree gain boosted into an amp sounds better than unity gain . The gain stacking adds lower order (more musical) harmonics than getting all your gain from one stage. This is the EVH philosophy. Personally I like a 2 channel amp so I can get loud cleans if needed and slam the second channel with pedals running a bit quieter. Or run a second clean amp. Great show as always! 🤘
Thank you for this video! Helped me dial in some things with my amp and a pedal I was about to sell and then come to find out it work wonderfully by just backing down the gains, both on the pedal and the amp!
Mick: An overdrive of my own, of a sort - I believe we're of an age (I'll be 50 in July) and just this week I had a professional diagnosis of adult combined ADHD. Yes, this late in the game, I know, right? Anyway, proper help and meds will hopefully, slowly, begin to right the ship. I've been a fan of and subscriber to TPS since That Pedal Shed, a very long time anyway, and I've always appreciated the tones and gear (and GAS), but also your philosophical and mental health meanderings and insights. I simply wanted to say thank you, in this meagre TH-cam comment, for everything you guys do - the tones, the humour, the community and goodwill, and the thoughtfulness. Here's to an improved and tone-full back nine of this existence. It's never too late to figure things out and, for me, probably about time I got my first actual tube amp, eh? Cheers to you both.
Congrats on getting the diagnosis. I was diagnosed at 40 and thought I was late in the game! Have a read of 'the drummer and the great mountain'. It's a great book for adult ADHD. ❤
I know you saw a “professional” but I wouldn’t take any of the medication he gave you. All the kids I grew up with in the 90s who were diagnosed by a professional ended up with severe problems down the road due to the drugs. Out of my friend group at least half of us were put on that medication. The only ones left still alive are myself and my buddy. We both quit taking it in 10th grade. The other kids stayed on and everyone of them turned into drug addicts. There is also a growing chorus of doctors pointing out that basically any person can be determined to have ADHD. The entire diagnosis was invented to sell pills. Pharma companies would hold teachers workshops and use teachers as the people to diagnose the “condition”. Of course the teachers loved it, the pills had the same effect on the boys in their classes as neutering a male dog. Now the boys wouldn’t be so rambunctious, in fact now they acted exactly like the girls in the class. This made it easier for teachers, now they didn’t have to work on exciting lesson plans, so they pushed these pills hard. I’d get rid of the medication straight away. It’s poison you don’t need and the diagnosis is complete nonsense made up by pharma.
@@smelltheglove2038 sorry to hear about your friends. That's terrible. All I can say is diagnosis and medication were game changing for me. The meds are part of a bigger picture of protocols you need to put in place. I also have to defend teachers too. There are good and bad teachers. Even today, teachers are woefully under trained in supporting neurodivergent learners. They need support and training, not condemnation.
@@dubshockmedia1110 sure, of course you feel better, you’re high but you’ve only been on it a week. Wait two or three years for the side effects to really start turning you into a completely different person. You’re also an adult, with a fully formed brain. Something about giving five year olds amphetamines to stop them from being five year olds is super disturbing to me. As for teachers, the problem is their training. Schools are nothing more than prisons for children designed to create passive obedient factory workers. The system hasn’t changed since the early 1900s. Having both been through school, and now currently have children I pulled from school because of the nonsense teachers are teaching today, I can confidently say teachers are some of the worst people on the planet. All the bad ideas that are permeating through our culture today are pushed by these people. Good luck with your new amphetamine addiction. I’d like to get an update on how you’re making out in two years.
@@7171jay it’s not medication, it’s amphetamines, and it’s one the leading causes of the current drug epidemic. The symptoms for ADHD are so broad anyone that goes into the office and is being screened for it, will be diagnosed with it. This idea that drug companies are out to help people and not get them hooked for life on drugs is obscene. We all knew how evil these companies were three years ago, but now suddenly they can do no wrong? You understand the amount of corruption in big pharma right? And I’m the whack job? Good lord.
Hey guys, love the show and this video totally hit home as this is what I currently do with my pedal board, except I use a combination of four pedals. Main use is with a Timmy (MXR) pedal in the front as more of a clean boost, followed by a East River Drive (Tube Screamerish) and then with the Sugar Drive (MXR) or sometimes I just kick in a normal boost with the Spark pedal. I feel, as both you demonstrated, that with a lower amp volume on my Blackstar JJN-20R, set to a clean channel, provides lots of headroom and the pedal's providing the volume boost, my playing dynamics are much better. This of course was all by accident looking for my own sound. All this with a Schecter Nick Johnston Signature PT guitar. Happy Holiday's!!!!
Nice show gents. It gives me more to experiment with. I currently run the Tumnus, Gunshot and Prince of tone as my OD pedal order with the Bad Bob Boost on most of the time as a buffer. I run wet dry into two amps set at lower level. I play a lot with the order and levels of the pedals mostly from what I learn from you. It keeps things fresh. Many thanks.
When I was using a Victory V40, which sounds pretty anaemic but works brilliantly as a pedal platform, I found pushing the volume on the drive pedals yielded by far the best results. 'Colour' pedals (or 'Amp In A Box' to the uncouth 🤣) just sounded superb stacked between a drive/boost and a decent boost.
This is very informative! I just had a super important gig and my sound just drowned in the venue the whole night. it sounded ok on stage but the damn sound guy didn't care to fix it in the front of the house, so frustrating, lesson learned I will be pushing from the stage and let the sound guy figure himself. Also perhaps include P90's for a show in a similar veine? thanks guys!
There's another way to use an overdrive/boost pedal I never hear anyone talking about. I bought a Mooer "Pure boost" mini pedal a few years ago, but I didn't really like it, so just ended up shelving it cause I rarely sell anything. Later I was watching a "Rig Rundown" episode with AC/DC. The player who took Malcom's place, I forget his name, only used one pedal. It was this same Mooer pedal I had shelved. He just used it as a mid boost. The pedal has both a treble & bass knob, so you can turn them both down so it's pushing the mids forward. This had never occurred to me. I pulled mine back out, tried it, & it works beautifully for this purpose. I've since noticed Eric Johnson does the same thing with his "Tube Driver". Thought this may be useful information to other dummies like me out there that had never considered using an overdrive/boost pedal this way. Keep it up guys. Always look forward to the next show.
Yeah!!! A DGT sighting. Sounded great Mick. I can hear the Henderson influence there. You do some great Grissom stuff (even Paul called it out). The change up was a nice surprise.
Hello guys loved you showing amp knobs and setup i think its a good reference as a starting point. I actually use 3 ods in my pedalboard. The 1st is a transparent od that i use only as a boost. Then i have a plimsoul that i use as my 1st gain stage kinda like ts ish. And then i have the archer that i use as my main gain stage when i need more crunch and bite. All my pedals are set in a way they are all at same volume level just the 3rd od is just a tinny bit louder but you hardly can notice it. So ussually they are stacked sometimes 2 at same time, others the 3. For me pedals you have to try everything and then let your ears decide whats best. I never tought my setup would end like it is. Thanks again for the knowlodge i have learn a lot on this channel.
Similar way Im set up. Big Muff into a Dept 10 Dual Drive into an LBP1 then Memory Man Toy then Strymon Cloudburst into a cleanish amp. What's interesting is also using the time based effects to add a bit of drive i.e. low effect level but blended high.
I have an Exotic EP Booster, MXR Timmy, and a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe. In front of my clean channel, I can get a slew of tones. Still have to work out solo volume thing, but the info here is priceless.
Yup - this is pretty much how I have done it forever (usually into my 5E3 clone set pretty low). Interestingly I picked up an EHX Hot Wax recently (Crayon and Hot Tubes) and if you run the Crayon into the Hot Tubes there is a noticeable volume lift as well as gain push.
I have been gain staging overdrives into just into clipping amps since forever, I can only totally agree. I believe Dan would enjoy the Mile End Effects Echolette NG-51 preamp pedal, for it is magical and beautiful
Humor me while I think out loud for a moment. It may be misleading when Dan says he gets two times the output when he is running two pedals. That implies that that the volume doubles. Which I believe it doesn’t. If pedal 1 and pedal 2 are set to similar volumes on their own, if you combine them, you would get a 3db increase in level, assuming they were exactly the same. In the grand scheme of things, this can be/feel like a large jump, and indeed, it’s plenty of a push forward in a band/mix situation. You can even see this in your db meter in the back of the room. it seems like you get a bit less than 3db, perhaps because your getting a weeeeee bit of compression happening somewhere? Said another way, if you have an orchestra with 12 violin players, and you invited another 12 to join the group, you don’t get twice the volume. You get a boost of 3db.
Never understood the unity drive guys. I always wanted a pedal when I turned it on to not only give me more distortion but a significant volume boost. Listen to Hendrix, at the end of a gig after he’s clicked off all his pedals - he’s down to Buddy Holly clean low volume tones.
I use 3 overdrives on my pedal board. first is a ts-9, second is the horse breaker (2 in 1 blues breaker and klon pedal), then it goes into the hot tubes (tube version) which I prefer as it has eq control.
Having a bright and dark amp in stereo like a supro and a vox is amazing, give it a try guys! Maybe that could be a good video idea. Mix and matching different amp voices in stereo
Definitely how I've always done it. I have 3 drives (EP Booster, Moljnir & Friedman Smallbox) and I use them separately at times, as well as stack them at other times.
![Our Fave Things Of 2023 [Most Used? Didn’t Work Out? Biggest Surprise? And more!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VysaPz_tSjg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Our Fave Things Of 2023 [Most Used? Didn’t Work Out? Biggest Surprise? And more!]](/img/tr.png)
![How Many Overdrive Pedals Do You Need? [Pedal Order & Gain Stacking Like A Pro] - That Pedal Show](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nwbu9x8vUTw/mqdefault.jpg)
A clean, high headroom amp is the canvas, the pedalboard is the palette, the pedals are the pigments, and the guitar is the brush.
This is nice!
THERES HONKING AGAIN?!?!? HALLELUJAH!!! This literally makes me happy!!!
Great show, as always!
Request; I would love to see an in depth look at how to use a switcher. Not so much technical stuff, but why you would use it, the different ways you might want to, etc. The G2 of course, but also more simple units as well.
Thanks for the joy, guys!
He’s got that stuff in his DanielTheGigRig channel
You use a switcher to change more than one pedal at once.
You use a switcher to work around pedals without true-bypass and in general remove unneeded pedals from the signal chain.
Just think of each preset as a separate pedalboard without any other pedals than the selected ones.
Never enough overdrive videos 🎉 I’ve already learned so much from you guys! Thank you so much 🙏🏻👏🏽
The '61 SG Les Paul sounds fantastic. And I have to say Mick's playing is reaching a new level. TPS is one of my favorite things in the world.
This is definitely the way to do it. Have a “core tone” overdrive pedal and then a boost on each side. I’ve been watching this channel since the very beginning and this is probably the best idea I’ve gotten from you guys.
Thanks, this helped me a lot to find an avenue to sort out my overdrive problem!
This is great! I just played a gig in a smaller venue using this technique into a 65 Deluxe reissue, and it worked great! Thanks for the awesome content again and again!
Just love these overdrive videos.... Amazing sounds.... Dan just killed it in the intro solo...🙌
I’ve watched this video 5 times over the weekend, trying get every nugget of information out of it. Cheers legends
20w amps? I toured with a country band back in the day (circa 2000ish) and played over 300 shows in 52 weeks with a Peavey Classic 20 combo amp. I called it the "Little Sonofab*tch" because this little amp growled with the best of em.
As for gain pedals, they all do essentially the same thing. Right now, I think Wompler has the best pedals on the market for the money. The man is a freaklin genius. Signal chain: guitar -> Original TS808 --> Wompler Tumnus --> TC Electronics Chorus --> Amp
Why a chorus pedal? I used this pedal as a mid boost. I would turn off the settings for the chorus because there's no need for Chorus in Country. But, the pedal had a small gain nob much like the bias setting on an amp that actually functioned more like a presence control rather than a gain control. But, it did both quite brilliantly. So, I'd push the signal through everything else and let the TC Electronics chorus pedal layer a big, thick helping of mid boost and if you're hunting down that god-like country tone, this is it.
I discovered this amp purely by accident. My original practice amp had finally given out and I needed a new one asap. I was in between shows and somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester, NY and not far from the legendary House of Guitars in Rochester. We swung in, I found this amp way in the back of a mountain of amps. It was exactly the right size, wattage and when I first plugged into it, I played one chord, looked at the singer, who also played guitar, and just smiled. I unplugged and bought the amp. It was $99. I still have it.
This little amp can happily push a 2x12 or 4x12 and does not wash out. You can't find these amps anymore. But, if you can, buy it. They are truly great little amps.
David Barber is so outrageously good with every kind of gain stage (including things like compressors and EQs that most people don't consider "gain"). He might be the only pedal designer whose entire catalogue just sounds brilliant to me.
Tom bukavac also for me atleast
Agree 100% = "Facts"
I only just thought the other day that you'd hadn't honked in ages... glad to see it back!
Thanks as always lads. You’ve no idea the light your bringing to many lives, musically, technically and emotionally. This exactly how I do it. TS10
"I wonder what the settings are" Gets me every time!!! 😂
Great tips and tones Dan & Mick !! Thank you for putting so much time and effort into these clips that you so generously share ! Have a lovely time down under Dan !
With Gratitude - John
Core sound should come from the amp! That’s a hill i’m willing to die on! Every time i’ve been impressed by a guitarist’s sound I found out their set up was minimal and got everything from the AMP. What’s the point of spending good money on amps if your not going to use them and cheap amps sound like crap with pedals. I’m a TPS follower since the beginning so by no means am I anti pedal, I just think they exist to add different flavours to your core amp sound, not replace it. I get and agree with your point of guitarists who’s tone disappears when they slap on a mid heavy pedal on top of a mid heavy amp sound --MUD-- But that’s down to “know how” which is why we watch TPS. Loved the vid as usual 😊
Thanks for the stacking encouragement!
Currently:
valve jr < spark < behringer screamer < barber dirty bomb < pulp n peel < guitar
Adding a Notaklön soon.
No idea where to put it.
So much yes on the argo Easter egg! I've used it like this a lot, and also with the blend just slightly up, so you just begin to hear a little bit of that octave fuzz in the background. Glorious!
I know you did a bunch of episodes about stacking and whatnot, but I needed this exact video to figure it out. Thanks dudes!
Great episode! I use my drive pedals (Lehle Sunday Driver, Vahlbruch Kaluna, Keeley AT) exactly that way! I think the rather complicated mission that many people are on is to find out which drive pedals actually combine well (also with the amp) and which don‘t - and that seems and everlasting journey... It‘s fun though 😅
I do this with a certain orange pedal and a ddr, it is glorious. When I need simple small board it's perfect, and integrates really well into the bigger rig.
On a side note, I've recently picked up saxophone (sacrilege I know) on top of guitar, and was suprised to learn that there are a number of horn players who use pedals when playing, though their boards aren't necessarily as decadent as a guitar player's. Which also made me think of all the key players I've seen with pedals. And though maybe the most impractical and niche video imaginable, it would make an interesting episode of TPS to let other instruments have a rummage through the TPS inventory and build a rig. A "guitar pedals for non guitarists" video if you will.
Just discovered that I've been doing a variation of this with a compressor -> OD -> EQ. I played around with increasing the pedals' volume, reducing the guitar's volume, and getting the most headroom out of my Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb. I am well pleased. Thank you, gentlemen!
Thanks for a great episode! Literally been experimenting with these concepts and enjoyed your examples of how to better use our overdrives.
Just the subject matter i needed this rainy weekend to rebuild my board, have swapped a few drives in/out and things need a reshuffle to optimise my stacking options.
I've also discovered this this year and I use the exact same method with three gain stages (sometimes a fuzz at the end of the chain used separately). I am super glad y'all made a video about this, I personally feel like setting the amps to almost sound anemic and getting the character from the pedals produces a richer tone. I think it has to do with pushing the amps while they still have a lot of headroom left, but either way y'all are definitely on to something. I personally use a Fender Deluxe Reverb and Vox Ac-15 and get damn near the same results as shown in the episode. :)
I do that too. Running three overdrive pedals at the same time, mostly gain around 12 o'clock. I love that it gives me a lot of sustain and compression, a sound right between overdrive and fuzz. It's a great way getting that "cranked up amp" at low volumes.
Love the Christmas time videos. I bought a Roland JC Chorus based on your video 4 years ago during the holiday seasn. Would you ever consider bringing it back on the show using it in a full blown wet dry or stereo scenario? The worst pedal platform video barely scratched the surface of this fantastic amp.
Many touring pros do this. Since they don't know what kind of amp they will be using from show to show, venue to venue, they make the amp neutral and the pedals make all the tones. Paul Gilbert had a recent rig rundown on Sweetwater where he stated this straight out. Take the amp out of the equation. I'm not a touring professional but I like this idea. Pedals are way cheaper than amps, and easier to resell.
Yes!!!!!Thank you for honking again...
I am properly schooled & inspired! ❤
YEP! This is why I run a Kingsley Page into an original big box silver sharpie Barber Direct Drive, and then an Xotic EP Boost on the end for level/solo... Gain staging can work and sound amazing. Same thing with the color driver into the Barber.
I run a Shanks ODS-1, Tumnus and a Keeley Monterey as my 3! Good stuff Dan and Mick!!
3 boosts! That’s my reply to anyone asking which dirt pedal to buy. Dan’s explaining how I stack my boost/low drive pedals. Some of my fave fuzz tones hide out in there.
Name drop horn hitting 104dB at 3:00 is peak TPS... Seriously though as a lifetime "all unity gain" guy this was very thought-provoking.
On behalf of the people of Norway, we love you Mick, one for the A-ha reference, and two, for that reference not being take on me. you rock!
Hahahha! Thank you. Morten is always with me. :0)
This is great compromise for the required lower volumes many bar bands are having to play at now! Thank you guys, very timely for me and my band.
I'm finally getting into pedals, so I'm looking forward to trying this out - thanks for your insight. On a side note, Mick's delivery of "chef's kiss" at 4:29 is a keeper!
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Thanks again guys. Amazingly useful video
43:19. Loving playing today
Maybe code for enjoy more, mess less?
44:40 Yeah, don't worry about what pedals, again maybe code for just play more.
Sure, loads to explore when playing at high volume. It's definitely an art form, but perhaps stick to what you typically do at home or live. Sure, enjoy yourself, whatever that may be. Hire a hall, or go to church and get one for free, and play, play, play. I would rather that than worry that I haven't got the right kit so need to spend hours researching and ultimately investing more time and money.
You don't have to be amazing to get good tone, think the Ramones solo on "I wanna be sedated" but the more you spend playing, the better you'll get. Sure you need encouragement from good tools and experimenting, but not at the expense of getting better. That might be lessons, practicing or playing live, but one can easily spend far too long with choice overload.
Don't forget that there's loads of interaction with an electric guitar played acoustically.
Beware of the man, (or woman), with only one gun. He, (she), knows how to use it!
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are
Excellent episode! Had fun playing with the gain staging on my board and just got lost in playing again which is fantastic, all the best!
Yes!
Always insightful and relevant. My 3 = Barber Gain Changer SR (to die for) > Fulltone OCD > Thorpy Fallout Cloud (all set to Low-ish gain). I can get Santana-like Sustain, @ low volume with a 65 Princeton and Lollar Blonde's.
Great show. I've been doing a similar version of this for quite a while, though slightly different than your approach. My version/formula is: GTR > Klone > [OD1= Blues Breaker -or- OD2 = Xotic BB - or - OD3 = Ramble FX Marvel - or - OD4 = JHS Angry Charlie] > TC Spark Mini > Amp. That's four core tones from clean to mean (I only use core OD pedals one at a time) and a Klone to step each one up. That's eight different sounds. Then I can take each of those eight sounds and boost them at the end with the TC Spark for a "louder" version of each. That's sixteen different levels of gain and volume. I run the amp much like you are here. It's not much to hear on it's own, but I always have at least one pedal on and I like what each pedal brings to the mix. They hype up the amp into another level. And of course in each of those sounds you have your volume control on your guitar. Add chorus and Delay as you've done here and there you have it! This approach winds each pedal up to where there other pedal leaves off and there really isn't any level of volume or gain that I can't achieve. Cheers!
I didn’t miss the honks. At all. It takes precious time away from far more interesting and useful discussion.
Great video again. I could see how much you were enjoying it! That DGT is killer. I knew it was a mistake watching this on Black Friday! Dept 10 coming my way to replace my worn out Spark.
That Strat sounds great!
"keep on honking" has to be the next shirt (with a picture of a goose on it 🤣) great show - lot's of knowledge as always - i'm experimenting with gain stacking myself so this was most interesting
Hunting High and Low. What a song.
I'm glad Mick mentioned "can't play at volume at home" because what this show is demonstrating is how to play with low volume but have feel. Amps on far too quiet, any gain pedal on bumping the output. Suddenly your down in the 60-80db range (which is still loud I'll admit) and feeling it like its 90+db. Yes it's squashier than if loud but low volume forgiveness is kinda nice. As is having it feel good & not sterile.
I learn so much from you gents. Cheers and keep shining!!
I 100% agree gain boosted into an amp sounds better than unity gain . The gain stacking adds lower order (more musical) harmonics than getting all your gain from one stage. This is the EVH philosophy.
Personally I like a 2 channel amp so I can get loud cleans if needed and slam the second channel with pedals running a bit quieter. Or run a second clean amp.
Great show as always! 🤘
I love that Mick knows Hunting High and Low!
Overdrive shows are just dirty fun!
That Supro sounds so good clean. That one strum @ 5:45.
Thank you for this video! Helped me dial in some things with my amp and a pedal I was about to sell and then come to find out it work wonderfully by just backing down the gains, both on the pedal and the amp!
Mick: An overdrive of my own, of a sort - I believe we're of an age (I'll be 50 in July) and just this week I had a professional diagnosis of adult combined ADHD. Yes, this late in the game, I know, right? Anyway, proper help and meds will hopefully, slowly, begin to right the ship. I've been a fan of and subscriber to TPS since That Pedal Shed, a very long time anyway, and I've always appreciated the tones and gear (and GAS), but also your philosophical and mental health meanderings and insights. I simply wanted to say thank you, in this meagre TH-cam comment, for everything you guys do - the tones, the humour, the community and goodwill, and the thoughtfulness. Here's to an improved and tone-full back nine of this existence. It's never too late to figure things out and, for me, probably about time I got my first actual tube amp, eh? Cheers to you both.
Congrats on getting the diagnosis. I was diagnosed at 40 and thought I was late in the game!
Have a read of 'the drummer and the great mountain'. It's a great book for adult ADHD. ❤
I know you saw a “professional” but I wouldn’t take any of the medication he gave you. All the kids I grew up with in the 90s who were diagnosed by a professional ended up with severe problems down the road due to the drugs. Out of my friend group at least half of us were put on that medication. The only ones left still alive are myself and my buddy. We both quit taking it in 10th grade. The other kids stayed on and everyone of them turned into drug addicts. There is also a growing chorus of doctors pointing out that basically any person can be determined to have ADHD. The entire diagnosis was invented to sell pills. Pharma companies would hold teachers workshops and use teachers as the people to diagnose the “condition”. Of course the teachers loved it, the pills had the same effect on the boys in their classes as neutering a male dog. Now the boys wouldn’t be so rambunctious, in fact now they acted exactly like the girls in the class. This made it easier for teachers, now they didn’t have to work on exciting lesson plans, so they pushed these pills hard. I’d get rid of the medication straight away. It’s poison you don’t need and the diagnosis is complete nonsense made up by pharma.
@@smelltheglove2038 sorry to hear about your friends. That's terrible. All I can say is diagnosis and medication were game changing for me. The meds are part of a bigger picture of protocols you need to put in place.
I also have to defend teachers too. There are good and bad teachers. Even today, teachers are woefully under trained in supporting neurodivergent learners.
They need support and training, not condemnation.
@@dubshockmedia1110 sure, of course you feel better, you’re high but you’ve only been on it a week. Wait two or three years for the side effects to really start turning you into a completely different person. You’re also an adult, with a fully formed brain. Something about giving five year olds amphetamines to stop them from being five year olds is super disturbing to me. As for teachers, the problem is their training. Schools are nothing more than prisons for children designed to create passive obedient factory workers. The system hasn’t changed since the early 1900s. Having both been through school, and now currently have children I pulled from school because of the nonsense teachers are teaching today, I can confidently say teachers are some of the worst people on the planet. All the bad ideas that are permeating through our culture today are pushed by these people. Good luck with your new amphetamine addiction. I’d like to get an update on how you’re making out in two years.
@@7171jay it’s not medication, it’s amphetamines, and it’s one the leading causes of the current drug epidemic. The symptoms for ADHD are so broad anyone that goes into the office and is being screened for it, will be diagnosed with it. This idea that drug companies are out to help people and not get them hooked for life on drugs is obscene. We all knew how evil these companies were three years ago, but now suddenly they can do no wrong? You understand the amount of corruption in big pharma right? And I’m the whack job? Good lord.
That’s exactly how I use my gain stacking Keeley Katana->Jeff Archer->Nordvang Gravity ❤️🔥
The Revv Tilt OD and Duke of Tone and the two stack nicely.
Epic tones and very informative….!
Thanks!
I've been using my gain pedals like this for a long time. Works great! 👍
Great epi gents. 🙏
I was doing it intuitively already but without knowing it.
thanks to you guys i can now replicate what i was doing and that is really cool 😁
Hey guys, love the show and this video totally hit home as this is what I currently do with my pedal board, except I use a combination of four pedals. Main use is with a Timmy (MXR) pedal in the front as more of a clean boost, followed by a East River Drive (Tube Screamerish) and then with the Sugar Drive (MXR) or sometimes I just kick in a normal boost with the Spark pedal. I feel, as both you demonstrated, that with a lower amp volume on my Blackstar JJN-20R, set to a clean channel, provides lots of headroom and the pedal's providing the volume boost, my playing dynamics are much better. This of course was all by accident looking for my own sound. All this with a Schecter Nick Johnston Signature PT guitar. Happy Holiday's!!!!
Nice show gents. It gives me more to experiment with. I currently run the Tumnus, Gunshot and Prince of tone as my OD pedal order with the Bad Bob Boost on most of the time as a buffer. I run wet dry into two amps set at lower level. I play a lot with the order and levels of the pedals mostly from what I learn from you. It keeps things fresh. Many thanks.
Argos trick was cool
When I was using a Victory V40, which sounds pretty anaemic but works brilliantly as a pedal platform, I found pushing the volume on the drive pedals yielded by far the best results. 'Colour' pedals (or 'Amp In A Box' to the uncouth 🤣) just sounded superb stacked between a drive/boost and a decent boost.
This is very informative! I just had a super important gig and my sound just drowned in the venue the whole night. it sounded ok on stage but the damn sound guy didn't care to fix it in the front of the house, so frustrating, lesson learned I will be pushing from the stage and let the sound guy figure himself. Also perhaps include P90's for a show in a similar veine? thanks guys!
There's another way to use an overdrive/boost pedal I never hear anyone talking about. I bought a Mooer "Pure boost" mini pedal a few years ago, but I didn't really like it, so just ended up shelving it cause I rarely sell anything. Later I was watching a "Rig Rundown" episode with AC/DC. The player who took Malcom's place, I forget his name, only used one pedal. It was this same Mooer pedal I had shelved. He just used it as a mid boost. The pedal has both a treble & bass knob, so you can turn them both down so it's pushing the mids forward. This had never occurred to me. I pulled mine back out, tried it, & it works beautifully for this purpose. I've since noticed Eric Johnson does the same thing with his "Tube Driver". Thought this may be useful information to other dummies like me out there that had never considered using an overdrive/boost pedal this way. Keep it up guys. Always look forward to the next show.
I always check pedals through the entire range of control.
Never know what you'll find.
Yes! The horn is back!!
Yeah!!! A DGT sighting. Sounded great Mick. I can hear the Henderson influence there. You do some great Grissom stuff (even Paul called it out). The change up was a nice surprise.
It’s such a great guitar. And yeah, been listening to a little bit of Scott and Mr Tubbs, and Landau of course. Mercurial players, all of em.
Hello guys loved you showing amp knobs and setup i think its a good reference as a starting point.
I actually use 3 ods in my pedalboard.
The 1st is a transparent od that i use only as a boost.
Then i have a plimsoul that i use as my 1st gain stage kinda like ts ish.
And then i have the archer that i use as my main gain stage when i need more crunch and bite.
All my pedals are set in a way they are all at same volume level just the 3rd od is just a tinny bit louder but you hardly can notice it.
So ussually they are stacked sometimes 2 at same time, others the 3.
For me pedals you have to try everything and then let your ears decide whats best.
I never tought my setup would end like it is.
Thanks again for the knowlodge i have learn a lot on this channel.
Yea funky playing Mike, love it, an Dan is RAW yea
Revelation 😮
Boost into drive into boost into amp… already my preferred method, but really its just an excuse to have all my favourite pedals on the board.
Brilliant.
I’ve been playing around with this and getting awesome results. Thanks.
Noel’s Knobs is now, and will ever be, the best thing ever.
This is exactly what I do. It works really well for those gigs where you can’t crank the amp.
That PRS & SG are absolute beauts AND beasts. And Hampstead is having a BF sale ya'll.
Boss GE7 is a fab boost
Similar way Im set up. Big Muff into a Dept 10 Dual Drive into an LBP1 then Memory Man Toy then Strymon Cloudburst into a cleanish amp. What's interesting is also using the time based effects to add a bit of drive i.e. low effect level but blended high.
I have an Exotic EP Booster, MXR Timmy, and a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe. In front of my clean channel, I can get a slew of tones. Still have to work out solo volume thing, but the info here is priceless.
Yup - this is pretty much how I have done it forever (usually into my 5E3 clone set pretty low). Interestingly I picked up an EHX Hot Wax recently (Crayon and Hot Tubes) and if you run the Crayon into the Hot Tubes there is a noticeable volume lift as well as gain push.
I have been gain staging overdrives into just into clipping amps since forever, I can only totally agree. I believe Dan would enjoy the Mile End Effects Echolette NG-51 preamp pedal, for it is magical and beautiful
Great Video.!! ❤❤
Humor me while I think out loud for a moment. It may be misleading when Dan says he gets two times the output when he is running two pedals. That implies that that the volume doubles. Which I believe it doesn’t. If pedal 1 and pedal 2 are set to similar volumes on their own, if you combine them, you would get a 3db increase in level, assuming they were exactly the same. In the grand scheme of things, this can be/feel like a large jump, and indeed, it’s plenty of a push forward in a band/mix situation. You can even see this in your db meter in the back of the room. it seems like you get a bit less than 3db, perhaps because your getting a weeeeee bit of compression happening somewhere?
Said another way, if you have an orchestra with 12 violin players, and you invited another 12 to join the group, you don’t get twice the volume. You get a boost of 3db.
You are indeed correct, for a whole host of reasons. The amp starting to cave in is the first and most obvious. Cheers!
Never understood the unity drive guys. I always wanted a pedal when I turned it on to not only give me more distortion but a significant volume boost. Listen to Hendrix, at the end of a gig after he’s clicked off all his pedals - he’s down to Buddy Holly clean low volume tones.
Daniel "The Magic Knob" Steinhardt
Really like the sound of the HRM. I might buy myself a Christmas present.
I use 3 overdrives on my pedal board. first is a ts-9, second is the horse breaker (2 in 1 blues breaker and klon pedal), then it goes into the hot tubes (tube version) which I prefer as it has eq control.
Dan!! Strikingly beautiful intro!
Thank you kindly!
Yes sir! Turning offf the pedal board with the headstock!!😅 Mick leg end!
All three might seems way too much, but just roll volume off guitar a smidge to taste! Magic!!!
Having a bright and dark amp in stereo like a supro and a vox is amazing, give it a try guys! Maybe that could be a good video idea. Mix and matching different amp voices in stereo
Mick’s humbucker and coil split tones here are really the stuff of fantasy, I couldn’t believe it.
This is 💯 what I do. I didn't realize this was at all interesting.😂
Definitely how I've always done it. I have 3 drives (EP Booster, Moljnir & Friedman Smallbox) and I use them separately at times, as well as stack them at other times.
This is exactly how I use my Argo, I put a big knob on the blend so I can manipulate it with a foot on the fly
+10 points to Dan for remembering the name of the Tone Pump this time!
Dig your merch! You should bring it to the US/Canada store
We ship to the US and Canada every day!
Just great stuff!!!
Subtitle should read “how every bedroom player should set his stuff”.