A Good Overdrive For An Already Overdriven Amp

[Pastasauce]

I hear quite a big difference...the OCD seems a lot warmer but I think I preferred the cool cat for the sharpness (although it did seem a little boxy)

OK fair enough The point wasn't that Dano pedals are exactly the same as the ones they're supposedly cloned from, but more that they're extremely decent pedals for the money and compare very favourably with much more expensive options. We're talking $79 here.

So they're great pedals FOR THE PRICE?

[matman]

Maybe Ryan could add a boost to your amp/lead channel..

I dont quite know what the deal is but it is quite common to kick the front end of an amp with an od pedal, to me it allows the amp to get moving earlier without having to run the gain and master up. When I do that I bring the gain on the amp down alot...

the rymat doesn't need pedals

Yep, thats where the thought of just having Ryan add a boost ch to Rhett;s amp came from, well actually your post and the Ryanmatt, the Ryanmatt does have a solo/boost ch I believe

Not so much a separate channel - just a foot switchable volume boost. Like Willow said though, I have got rid of all of my dirt pedals and am down to just a wah, phaser, and a delay - OD/Distortion? Don't need 'em, don't miss 'em. Amp gives me all of the loud (and low volume) crunchy rock happy fun times I want/need.

[Scooter13]

In order to solo boost, more saturation (clean boost in to front end) isn't going to help the sound stand out. Is that what it's needed for? In fact, depending on gain levels, it might have the opposite effect and mud the sound out. It certainly might help you do those fluid tapping and legato runs though
IMO, you either need to boost frequencies too (Mids), or volume boost (fx-loop clean-boost/eq-boost or hard-wired amp solo boost).

Or, ride the volume control. Set amp up for rhythm to say 6/7 on the guitar pot, and roll up to 10 for lead. This might not be enough though to give you the lead sound you want though if you need that crunch to screaming lead boost though (80s metal) but it's certainly good enough for classic rock.

Or maybe I've misunderstood?

....and you just want to whore OD pedal's around.

[Pastasauce]

Probably a bit of that last comment!

But let me try to be specific. I want to be able to make quick changes throughout a song. So, I might be playing in church, and want to kick it up a notch - to go from mildly overdriven to about 20% more overdriven - for a chorus, or a bridge or whatever. I'm unco when it comes to playing with my volume knob. So I want to be able to kick the amp's gain up by 20% for those parts.

Or I might be playing at home or doing covers and want to give the amp gain a bit more saturation and presence for a solo. In each case I just want "more" of my amp's gain, but I don't want a big volume jump either, which is why boosters worry me a little.

[head_strong]

pretty much any mild OD will do what you are asking.....I use a bad monkey for that exact purpose. Admittingly its a very cheap pedal but it does what I want and it sounds great IMO. Probably helps that im starting with a CAB built tonehouse......but none the less.

[Vorbis]

pretty much any mild OD will do what you are asking.....I use a bad monkey for that exact purpose. Admittingly its a very cheap pedal but it does what I want and it sounds great IMO. Probably helps that im starting with a CAB built tonehouse......but none the less.

How are you finding it?

[head_strong]

pretty much any mild OD will do what you are asking.....I use a bad monkey for that exact purpose. Admittingly its a very cheap pedal but it does what I want and it sounds great IMO. Probably helps that im starting with a CAB built tonehouse......but none the less.

How are you finding it?

luuuuurvly. took me a while to get used to the EQ (it doesnt quite do as expected I found) but once I got my head around it (well enough to know not to use it like a normal EQ) theres no looking back. such a wide range of tones and can pretty much do anything. master volume is a god send!

[Pastasauce]

That's awesome. Along with this pedal thing I'm also getting Ryan to do some pretty heavy modding on my amp... a channel switching mod and voltage scaling too.

[AmpShop]

pretty much any mild OD will do what you are asking.....I use a bad monkey for that exact purpose. Admittingly its a very cheap pedal but it does what I want and it sounds great IMO. Probably helps that im starting with a CAB built tonehouse......but none the less.

How are you finding it?

luuuuurvly. took me a while to get used to the EQ (it doesnt quite do as expected I found) but once I got my head around it (well enough to know not to use it like a normal EQ) theres no looking back. such a wide range of tones and can pretty much do anything. master volume is a god send!

Is this the little dark green 2w?

[Scooter13]

Probably a bit of that last comment!

But let me try to be specific. I want to be able to make quick changes throughout a song. So, I might be playing in church, and want to kick it up a notch - to go from mildly overdriven to about 20% more overdriven - for a chorus, or a bridge or whatever. I'm unco when it comes to playing with my volume knob. So I want to be able to kick the amp's gain up by 20% for those parts.

Or I might be playing at home or doing covers and want to give the amp gain a bit more saturation and presence for a solo. In each case I just want "more" of my amp's gain, but I don't want a big volume jump either, which is why boosters worry me a little.

Ok. Any OD that cleans up with the pedal gain set low and volume and tone set to taste will do that trick. (TS's generally sound best with gain set at around 9-10 o'clock anyway, for that slight mid-hump and bass response, and then the volume doing the pushing).
Or use a volume pedal in front of the amp, so you can use your foot instead of your knob to adjust.

[mr_sooty]

Or use a volume pedal in front of the amp, so you can use your foot instead of your knob to adjust.

This!

[head_strong]

luuuuurvly. took me a while to get used to the EQ (it doesnt quite do as expected I found) but once I got my head around it (well enough to know not to use it like a normal EQ) theres no looking back. such a wide range of tones and can pretty much do anything. master volume is a god send!

Is this the little dark green 2w?

yeh that sounds about right, vorbis got it built by you, he sent me the specs, 5w cranked, master volume, cut knob. got any magic tips? the mid knob seems to run the roost, is amazing how much impact it has

sorry for offtopic rhett

[Vorbis]

Is this the little dark green 2w?

The very same...he was pretty quick to pay shipping 'tho

Also, please sell him something better than the bad monkey.

Kthxbye.

[AmpShop]

luuuuurvly. took me a while to get used to the EQ (it doesnt quite do as expected I found) but once I got my head around it (well enough to know not to use it like a normal EQ) theres no looking back. such a wide range of tones and can pretty much do anything. master volume is a god send!

Is this the little dark green 2w?

yeh that sounds about right, vorbis got it built by you, he sent me the specs, 5w cranked, master volume, cut knob. got any magic tips? the mid knob seems to run the roost, is amazing how much impact it has

sorry for offtopic rhett

Cool Yeah, the mid control is almost dual purpose - from 0-4 it covers a typical range; from 4-10 it adds a lot more midrange and a fair bit more gain too, and the bass and treble controls have a lot less effect.

[Pastasauce]

I've spent some of the evening with Conway's T Rex Moller (he kindly lent it to me to try out). It's a great pedal - very versatile. To my ears, the overdrive sounds just like a more even, hi-fi tubescreamer. The mix control is great too. It also has an independent boost.

I like the overdrive AND the boost. The boost is great for more saturation and it maintains the crisp, hard-edged gain sound of the amp. It does give a small volume boost too but nothing too major. The overdrive is good for a nice soft clipping sound. I set the mix at about half and it was particularly usable on the low input, for decent overdrive and a lower volume. The tubescreamer side mixed with the high-gain channel is total 80's metal territory. On top of that, the pedal just looks cool.

I'm still undecided though. I'm actually really warming to the idea of just riding the volume knob and plugging straight into the amp. Maybe it's cus Derek Trucks does that. And again, I'm never sure how much this is just psychological, but there is something more dynamic about playing that way.

The long and short of it is I have about $600-700 to build a pedalboard with. I've already ordered a Powerall and a Pedaltrain mini, and I've bought a delay pedal. If I sold those all on Trademe I'd have over $800 in the GAS account from this whole gear-selling shenanigans. If I decided to just forget about a pedalboard, I'd be left with a versatile, monster amp (seriously this thing is a keeper), and a Gibson Les Paul Studio that I enjoy, though it's not a dream guitar.

There are so many options. I could save for a few months and keep my eyes open for another amp in the $1000 bracket - maybe something smaller and more tweedy? I could look for a guitar for around that price - maybe save a bit more and get a USA Tele, or a Tokai one... or even that ex-Slash-ed SG Standard.

Or I could even sell my LP Studio, add in the extra Gas money and buy an LP Standard. Or even just buy Conway's pedal and make a board!

So many options. I might explode.