Great amp distortion vs. Pedal distortion?

[markr04]

Hi all. When I had some less-than-good amps, I used pedals for my distortion through the clean channel. Now that I have two really great amps, I never use pedals for distortion. I know some of you even have truly incredible amps - Engls, Marshalls, etc. For those that have the cream of the crop amps... Are you still boxing your distortion? May I ask why?

[nelson]

Versatility.



Its like saying, I have a jaguar, great to drive in, but I still love my porsche, my lamborgini and occassionally, my volkswagon beetle.

[aron]

One amp cannot do it all AFAIK.

Boxes allow you to do a FUZZ, then thick smooth distortion, then bluesy in a couple of presses. Sometimes you have to switch sounds fast or just want more than a few sounds.

[mojotron]

I have a few boxes I made that just simply sound better than my Deluxe Reverb or the any of the other amps I used to own... and I can tweak the sound until I get exactly what I want.

So, now I have a few vintage amps, but generally I use a TubeWorks head and a good cab - which is a great combo for a rig where all the overdrive/distortion comes from pedals. I can then go from a Marshall to Boogie to Fender.... all sounding as good as the original IMO...  

[petemoore]

Here's my take on it...
 Tube amps.
 If you have exactly what you want going on with it, then you probably don't know any need for stompboxes as such.
 Otherwise, my take still works best for me..that is
 A nicely voiced' tube amp can have lots of voices, most of the amps I've played have up to two or three, even one great one [that has many 'sub-voicings at guitar volume or other controls] can be enough tonal difference in the Fuzz Department to do great things with, tubes can sound superb.
 I like the deal...take an amp, and work with the voicings at 9v. A good amp should have the ability to do all kinds of crazy and conventional sounds.
 You didn't state what the two great amps you have are...
 I'm mostly using a slightly modded 50W MkII, or Dyna ST 70, also an RCA Victor for testing. One might not say 'great' about the RCA, but it was voted the same sound as Deluxe Reverb-reverb in a 'clinical' [same speakers, boxes and guitar] test.
 I have 'extra' tube gain stages I use, tube boosters as it were, all tube...why not? But when asked "Tubes or TRansistors", I say "Both".
 I can't afford or they don't make tube octaves, [which can be part of a "fuzz'], or phasers. And if they did, I wouldn't want to tweek and Octave at 250v.
 I would wager, for the sake of devils advocate, that your tube tone is great, but doesn't do everything what transistors do.
 That said, if I had to choose one or the other, I'd have one tuff time parting with my tube heads.

[Bucksears]

I've had too many amps to waste time boring you with the details, but I can say that my choice of amplification basically takes one of two roads: either an amp that 'does it all' or a Fender amp and distortion pedals.
I opted for the latter.

Honestly, unless you're going to buy the Egnater modular preamp (or two) and a ton of the preamp modules (which would run you a few grand), distortion pedals are going to give you MUCH more versatility.

[troubledtom]

cleanish amp and the use of pepals, i have NEVER found an amp w/ " just the right distortion/fuzz ".
        i have amps people would likely kill for , but i run'm all cleanish.
thus the need for toyz :twisted: .......  man i love toyz.
                          peace,
                              - tom

[aron]

man i love toyz.

OK, the truth's out.

WE LOVE PEDALS!  :twisted:

[RDV]

We're all indulging our inner tap-dancers!!

RDV

[vortex]

Tube amps, Nothing like a great tube amp and the right guitar. It's all there, like a great meal all layed out on the table. Dig in!

But, there is a lot to be said for pushing the front end of a tube amp, whether with a clean boost, treble boost, compressor or overdrive/distortion/fuzz etc.

I think a good player will get the most out of any setup he is given. Any particular amp or amp/pedal combo should yield results.

That said, if you have a decent tube amp with happening tone and are in a situation where you can exploit the natural charactoristics of the tubes, there are beautiful nuances that can be wrought with a sensitive hand. What's not to like about that?

With that sensitivity in mind, a good pedal can enhance some of these charactoristics or interact in a magical way on the "tube" platform. A lesser pedal (or player) will flaten the dynamics and take the life out of a quality tone. The player accounts for the lions share of what come out of the amp.

Personally, I prefer a nice Fender combo with great clean tone and headroom and further enhance that with the basic options of compression, boost, overdrive/ over the top fuzz and delay. I am totally open to any combination of guitar amp and signal processing that is possible if it shows even the slightest bit of merit.

I come from a blues background (guitar/chord/amp), but in reality I find that can get pretty boring to listen to for 4-5 sets. There are a maybe few players that can keep me seated with the basic setup, Albert Collins is the only one that comes to mind at the moment.

It comes down to options. Why limit yourself to basic tube tone? There are good reasons, like being a better, more sensitive player. but once you open the gate to experimentation anything can happen. Three ring mods and an octave fuzz into a pignose amp miced with a cb radio mic, why not!  :shock:

[vanhansen]

Give me a Marshall with a nice warm natural sounding overdrive and then give me a booster or OD pedal to kick it over the edge and I'm good to go.  Wait.... I have that already.    For clean, I'll just switch to another amp.

[R.G.]

One man's fish is another man's poisson.

Diff'ren' strokes for different folks.

De gustibus non est disputandem.

A small thing, but mine own.

Love the one you're with.

Lady or the tiger?

"Sometimes you dig a girl as soon as you've kissed her, and then you get distracted by her older sister..."

What's the best ... X....?

[vortex]

"Sometimes you dig a girl as soon as you've kissed her, and then you get distracted by her older sister..."

What's the best ... X....?

Doing them both...

[Steben]

De gustibus non est disputandem.

DisputandUm that should be (speaking in Yoda style).

For the main thread question: What's nicer than a basic of warm tubey sounds with a fuzz face style transistor fuzz in front of it.
I'll never stick to tubes alone. In fact I never had a specific tube amp longer than a week in my living room ;-)

[MartyMart]

"Sometimes you dig a girl as soon as you've kissed her, and then you get distracted by her older sister..."

What's the best ... X....?

Doing them both...

..... now THAT was uncalled for  !!!    :wink:

Marty .....  


Back "on-topic" I use them because  I dont have a "flashy" three/four
channel amp, so leave them "clean" and break 'em up with "Toys"  !!!!

M.

[Steben]

Back "on-topic" I use them because  I dont have a "flashy" three/four
channel amp, so leave them "clean" and break 'em up with "Toys"  !!!!

M.

Well, what do we still need beneath our feet with those multi-channel amps?....... Stompswitches! Yes thank you...
I guess a clean channel with stompboxes is far more efficient.

[Melanhead]

hmmmm ... I have 10 overdrive/Distortion pedals and they all sound different, most are modded, It's fun! ( I'm building a TS type pedal now, it's my first overdrive build )... I'm using a Boogie 22+ and I'm not that fond of it's lead channel... My pedal board has 6 pedals and 4 are for OD/Dist for different levels and gain ... different tones! ... Basically, I play in a cover band mostly and need some versatility. I usually use amp distortion in the studio though from a modded JCM800 head. I have the cabinet in an iso both so I can crank 'er up!  

[MartyMart]

hmmmm ... I have 10 overdrive/Distortion pedals and they all sound different, most are modded, It's fun!  I'm building a TS type pedal now, it's my first overdrive build

Melanhead,
you've probably got it started/know what you're after, but .... here's a
recommandation from a "tone searcher"  !!
Phillips "Liquid Drive" from  http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/liquid.html
Possibly the best overdrive that I've heard, from "gentle - through - blues - to - rock   !!
It's very, very nice and a great addition to any "pedal arsenal"  

Just my 2c's worth.
Regards,
Marty.

[Melanhead]

hmmmm ... I have 10 overdrive/Distortion pedals and they all sound different, most are modded, It's fun!  I'm building a TS type pedal now, it's my first overdrive build

Melanhead,
you've probably got it started/know what you're after, but .... here's a
recommandation from a "tone searcher"  !!
Phillips "Liquid Drive" from  http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/liquid.html
Possibly the best overdrive that I've heard, from "gentle - through - blues - to - rock   !!
It's very, very nice and a great addition to any "pedal arsenal"  

Just my 2c's worth.
Regards,
Marty.

Thanks! ... always looking for something different to try ... I have some burr browns sitting here doing nothing so I'll give it a shot when I'm finished my TS clone ... with mods of course

[MartyMart]

It's fairly straight forward, just a "twisted" DOD250 kind of deal, but Phillip's done a great job with it ... Eq/Drive sounds great
Good luck with the "9" clone ..... which mods BTW..... ?
808-more gain-tone caps ......
Cheers,
Marty.