My amp doesn't accept pedals very well

[ppanousos]

I built some projects,mostly overdrives but they don't sound that good through my amp.I guess the preamp section of the amp doesn't accept pedals that well.Is there a simple guitar preamp(vero layout only) so i can send my pedals there and then to the effect loop of the amp so i can hit the power amp of the amp?Thanks!!!

[MarcoMike]

what amp are we talking about?

[ppanousos]

Crate GX65,65w,1x12 inch speaker

[seedlings]

I have a Crate G 40 that I use to plug pedals in to see how they sound with solid state.  I found that very low gain settings on the clean channel work best to try overdrives or distortions.  Turn the master up about half way, then just barely turn up the gain until it's loud enough for evaluation.

I don't like the sound of the built-in overdrive on either channel in my amp.

CHAD

[GGBB]

Can you be a little more descriptive about what you mean my doesn't take pedals very well?  If you are trying to overdrive the preamp using a pedal, I don't think too many SS amps will behave very well.  I had a GX40D for many years.  I never had any problems with pedals, in fact I wish I still had that amp.  IMO the Crate GX series amps are quite good.

[ppanousos]

The clean channel doesn't have a gain knob just level(master volume).When i play the clean channel with my les paul the sound is decent and full.When i hit the amp with an overdrive or a distortion they sound like crap.I made the purple plexi and sounds horrible(scooped sound without bottom).The barbershop sounds little better.

[nocentelli]

I use solidstate amps, and some OD pedals sound lots better than others: Fairfield's own desciption of the Barbershop states that it sounds best pushing a tube amp (I often think this is a positive way of saying it sounds crap through a clean solidstate amp), and I don't really like the clone I built. I've had a lot of luck with Catalinbread ODs, the RAH and DLS in particular sound very nice through my spanking clean tranny amps.

[seedlings]

The clean channel doesn't have a gain knob just level(master volume).When i play the clean channel with my les paul the sound is decent and full.When i hit the amp with an overdrive or a distortion they sound like crap.I made the purple plexi and sounds horrible(scooped sound without bottom).The barbershop sounds little better.

How does it sound through the dirty channel set cleaner-ish?

CHAD

[ppanousos]

Bad also...

[DougH]

Here's a simple idea to try. After your overdrive, stick a graphic EQ in the chain. Now play with the sliders, roll off highs etc and see if you get a better sound. Overdrives/fuzzes/etc all EQ the signal in some way. Sometimes a particular amp preamp will EQ the signal in a way where it exaggerates the frequency response in an unpleasing way. A graphic EQ is a handy tool for "fixing" these kinds of problems.

[armdnrdy]

I have a little 15 watt Fender Sidekick that was given to me and a Marshall Valvestate 30 watt that I used to use to test builds. I noticed that there is a big difference between those two amps and my "real" amp when I plug in a build. It's like night and day!! I don't use those amps to test anymore because I'm not getting the true sound.

My "real" amp is a custom (I know the builder Steve) UGLY AMPS 45 watt.

I've found that with some amps and effects, the decay of the note is amplified in a bad way. Basically, you have to start with a great sounding amp because whatever you put in front of it isn't going to give it that magic sound! The effect could make it sound worse!