distortion - amp or effects

[peter623918]

Hi , ive been playing guiar for years in bands etc , but have to admit im still not sure how to acheive the best lead guitar sound. Ive tried all ways amp/effects but never sounds right to me .

i use jcm900 hi gain duel reverb and a boss gt5 going straight in the clean channel ( doing all the overdrives etc from the boss not using the amps o/drive ), i find doing covers a pedal board is very versitile .

However in the past i have used seperate boss pedals trying to incorperate with the distortion chanell on the amp but all gets a bit messy.

Any ideas on gettiing that glorious lead sound while still being able to switch from clean to overdrive to lead

How much amp gain would you suggest.

My latest thought is using the amps ch2 distortion and get something like a tube screamer or boss sd1 as a level booster while backing the pedal gain reall y low .

wahts the standard way of doing all this?

Hope you can help , things are getting desperate.

peter

 

[liamlw]

Crank the amp : ) it will sound better than the pedals for the overdriven sounds. lots of people use tubescreamers and ds1s to boost as well like you suggested.

 

[Brett Blackmore]

Hi,

I had the same problem with my old JCM900 - it had great gain sound for rhythm but soloing was like spitin' feathers... and turning it up did not actually help much either as it still did not sing.

I tried out a Boss DS1 and it clashed with the good sounding gain - it became too muddy and messy - I guess that type of a pedal needs a warm Plexi or a clean amp... (the new Vox Satchurator needs a clean base too). I tried an Ibanez Tubescreamer which was better as it was not as strong. The best was a Marshall Jackhammer as they can be very transparent in the OD mode. So IMO I would say an OD pedal works better with a gain amp rather than a distortion pedal.

Cheers Brett

 

[baviaan69]

Try a Digitech Bad Monkey, costs next to nothing new and sounds imo much better than any tubescreamer of OD i tried so far.

 

[Eag]

Hi,
>snippy snip snip< ...So IMO I would say an OD pedal works better with a gain amp rather than a distortion pedal.

Cheers Brett

+100

Marshall's old DriveMaster and Mesa's V1 Bottle Rocket are the best I have found for this application, and I have tried MANY. Both will take the old Marshalls to La-La land and beyond without masking your amp's own voice and without robbing any low end frequencies. Of the two the Drive Master has a slightly more aggressive edge but the V1 sings better. My favorite is the V1 set at high volume and low gain into an already overdriven amp.

 

[psphill27]

Peter,

I have a JCM900 MkIII and get all my "gain" from the amp. However, find I get the best sound when my volume is at 5 or above. As far as solos go, I always use a boost to get my lead tone. Here's a couple ways that i do it:

1. I have a Fulltone OCD that gives me some sweet drive for soloing, or I use my modded Boss SD-1 overdrive. Both of these sound awesome...just depends on which one I feel like going to.

2. Lately, I've been playing around with using a Boss (stock) DS-1 to drive solos. What you have to do is set the distortion only on about 1...crank the level all the way up and then set the tone on about 3 or 4 for a little more bottom end. This sounds really good with how I have my amp setup (JCM 900). But, could yield different results depending on you amp settings.

I use the DS-1 only with my 900 and the other two with my Vintage Modern and DSL 50. Different pedals sound better with different amps. But, I'm a big fan of using the amps gain, which is why I play a Marshall. Pedal distortion just never sounds the same.

 

[crossroadsnyc]

Hi Peter,

I think part of your current frustration might stem from the use of the digital effects from the Boss GT-5. Though some people seem to like them and find success with them, I find that they provide a very unnatural sound - very brittle sounding I guess.

I'd agree the best option is just cranking your amp up and using natural tube overdrive. You can always back off on the volume knob on your guitar to get cleaner sounds if you want to keep it at one channel. If that's not always possible, you could perhaps consider the use of an attenuator to keep the volume level in check. The third option would be the use of a pedal (either overdrive or distortion - your preference). If going w/the third option, I'm more in favor of using the pedal as just another amp channel - meaning just plug it into your clean channel for the use of clean sounds, then step on the pedal when you want some dirt. There are a number of good options - my current favorites are the Carl Martin Plexitone as well as the Tonebone Classic & Hot British. I prefer the natural tube overdrive, but all three come in handy for different applications.

Oh, I should probably mention one other preference I have. If you are planning on just boosting an already driven setting, then I'd avoid overdrive and distortion pedals all together and just look into getting yourself a nice treble booster. They work considerably better than trying to place distortion overtop of distortion.

By the way, what kind of tone are you aiming for? Any comparisons you can give?

 

[Classicplayer]

Peter,


2. Lately, I've been playing around with using a Boss (stock) DS-1 to drive solos. What you have to do is set the distortion only on about 1...crank the level all the way up and then set the tone on about 3 or 4 for a little more bottom end. This sounds really good with how I have my amp setup (JCM 900). But, could yield different results depending on you amp settings.

Do you mean 1:00 o'clock on the DS-1, or the first mark? I have the DS-1
and have been searching around for a good setting to try.

Classicplayer

 

[00jett]

i used a tubescreamer with my old 900. it worked really nice i found. still use it with my dsl

 

[stone temple pinot]

I have a similar setup as you (JCM 900 HG-DR 100W), except I'm running the GT-10 instead of the GT5. I do it all different ways.
I usually shut all the amp modeling out of the GT-10 and use my Marshall's B-channel and them slam in some of the effects from the GT-10 (tubescreamer or equivalent) when I want to get crazy.
I think the sounds I get out of the OD of the GT-10 sound great and not brittle. Of course, the GT-10 gives you full customization of every effect. So I've tweaked to my liking.
Bottom line is do what you think sounds good. You have a great setup (yep...I'm biased). The JCM 900 has an AWESOME gain channel.
And if you work it right, you can get some awesome rock n roll crunch by driving up the gain to the right level on the a-channel. And then (as someone above suggested) you can drive the crunch with either your volume or how hard you hit 'em.

 

[psphill27]

Do you mean 1:00 o'clock on the DS-1, or the first mark? I have the DS-1
and have been searching around for a good setting to try.

Classicplayer

No...I'm talking on "one"...I think of them as going from 0-10 on the pedal. Hope this makes sense.

 

[MartyStrat54]

I have many different setups depending on what I am going to play. I do not have the Drive Master or the V1, but I have all of the other pedals that have been mentioned. Lately, with my full (or half) stack setup, I am running a Rocktron Zombie Rectifier in front of a Rocktron Silver Dragon. I changed out the (Chinese) 12AX7 in the Silver Dragon and replaced it with a 1959 RCA gray plate.

I use the Zombie to "drive" the Silver Dragon which is a rather large distortion pedal. I run these in the effects loop and I sometimes go with other stomp boxes, or my old RP12 Digitech effects board.

The mix of tube/effects distortion is pretty awesome. You got to have the gain up on the amp (TSL100) for these pedals to work like they are supposed to. In fact, the Zombie is not recommended for any SS amp.

I think we all achieve our distortion through experience and experimentation. It's all about taking the time to try something new and if it's a good thing, you make note of it.

Marty

 

[peter623918]

Hi Thanks for all your replies, , my aim was to boost channel be already driven with a od pedal as in level up and gain marginal , as ever this means stomping twice to go from a clean sound channel A to a lead sound Ch B and a boost.

Anything sounds good at low volumes , but gig levels everything changes again, i guess im not alone here


cheers

peter

 

[LesPaulopolis]

Peter, try a VooDoo Labs sparkle drive. I use it to boost my 4100 DR's clean channel and gain channel. Works pretty well. Nice part about it is that it has a "clean boost only" function, as well as the classic tube screamer circuit. I use a good amount of treble on the pedal to cut as much as possible. Definitely agree that while the rhythm chords are chunky on the 4100 DR, but solos are a little squishy. Also, I've had success using an EQ pedal as a boost for solos.