Amp overdrive VS. Pedal overdrive

slash-ed · Post by **slash-ed** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:50 am

More is definitely more. My amp's overdrive is certainly more (and more better, yessss) than any pedal I've ever encountered.

Cdog · Post by **Cdog** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:05 am

It just goes to show you can't have it all at once.

Tube amp overdrive through a nice cab.... uhhhhh an incredible sonic experience, something to do with the rich harmonic content, something to do with the sheer volume messing with our ears/bodies, something to do with the way the amplifier reacts to our playing when connected directly to the instrument... But unless you have a whizpop-multi-thingy amp that sounds good, it's a pretty limiting setup. Out come the pedals...
My favourite pedal overdrive sounds come from a an amp channel that is only just starting to clip and compress, yet still sounds pretty clean, fender/vox stuff... then you get much closer to that delicious 'amp' sound nom nom... plus you get the convenience of having at your feet a stomp switch and knobbies to change your sound on the fly

Miza · Post by **Miza** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:34 am

Conway wrote:Flying in the face of current trends as usual... pedals are bestest and funest. Stuff the "less is more" brigade - more is more! The backlash starts here!

I wouldn't argue with that.

It would be a lot cheaper to have a few decent modeling pedals, like Catalinbread or Tech21, that cover the AC30 tone, the Marshall tone, the Tweed tone and maybe the Blackface fender tone, all running into a decent clean tube amp than it would be to try and have all those amps, and then have them all cranked.

Pedals make a lot of sense.

slash-ed · Post by **slash-ed** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:40 am

It amuses me that people are cool with single pedals that do amp modelling, but not multi-effects boards that do the same thing, arguably better.

MogwaiBoy · Post by **MogwaiBoy** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:43 am

It's a horses/courses thing - depending on how dynamic you want your sound to be. It's bloody annoying trying to get clean headroom out of a low watt amp when you need to (gigs), though rolling back guitar volume on something in the 15-30 watt range can give you everything at your fingertips. Conversely it's very cool having a 'clean platform' and any number of dirt pedals set up for instant chaos with a single click (ie: huge dynamics) - but multi-channel amps can do that too

I also can't stand the snobbery around "Class-A" operation being a sellable bullet point. It's a fallacy that 'A' sounds cooler or more prestigous than 'AB'. Truth being that you often get more spongey/sag with push-pull (AB).

I believe there are lots of myths and misconceptions around 'odd/even order harmonics' too - maybe someone would like to school us on that?

rickenbackerkid · Post by **rickenbackerkid** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:48 am

babytaylor wrote:
Conway wrote:Flying in the face of current trends as usual... pedals are bestest and funest. Stuff the "less is more" brigade - more is more! The backlash starts here!
I wouldn't argue with that.

It would be a lot cheaper to have a few decent modeling pedals, like Catalinbread or Tech21, that cover the AC30 tone, the Marshall tone, the Tweed tone and maybe the Blackface fender tone, all running into a decent clean tube amp than it would be to try and have all those amps, and then have them all cranked.

Pedals make a lot of sense.

I guess I've just fallen in love with using ONE tone, and working it carefully between shades of overdrive. It might sound boring, but it's addictive to play, forces me to be a better player, and seems to be picking up complements.

rickenbackerkid · Post by **rickenbackerkid** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:51 am

slash-ed wrote:More is definitely more. My amp's overdrive is certainly more (and more better, yessss) than any pedal I've ever encountered.

This is correct. Your amp sounded righteous at the last gearfest.

Miza · Post by **Miza** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:52 am

MogwaiBoy wrote:It's a horses/courses thing - depending on how dynamic you want your sound to be. It's bloody annoying trying to get clean headroom out of a low watt amp when you need to (gigs), though rolling back guitar volume on something in the 15-30 watt range can give you everything at your fingertips. Conversely it's very cool having a 'clean platform' and any number of dirt pedals set up for instant chaos with a single click (ie: huge dynamics) - but multi-channel amps can do that too

I also can't stand the snobbery around "Class-A" operation being a sellable bullet point. It's a fallacy that 'A' sounds cooler or more prestigous than 'AB'. Truth being that you often get more spongey/sag with push-pull (AB).

I believe there are lots of myths and misconceptions around 'odd/even order harmonics' too - maybe someone would like to school us on that?

My experience with class A amps is that they sound quite muddy when overdriven.

AB seems to have a more smooth overdrive.

MogwaiBoy · Post by **MogwaiBoy** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:00 am

babytaylor wrote: My experience with class A amps is that they sound quite muddy when overdriven.

This has been my experience too, espesh the 1xEL84 five watter types : )

Single coil · Post by **Single coil** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:48 am

It isn't just me then... Phew.

Post by **Capt. Black** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:23 pm

You're all doing it wrong.

Single coil · Post by **Single coil** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:38 pm

inb4 "You can dirty up a clean amp but you can't clean up a dirty amp"

Post by Bg » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:37 pm

You're all doing it wrong:

Post by **Capt. Black** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:39 pm

Single coil wrote:inb4 "You can dirty up a clean amp but you can't clean up a dirty amp"

Rest my case.

Single coil · Post by **Single coil** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:44 pm

Dammit.

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