Nice overdrive for tube amp?

[rankine]

I've just bought my first tube amp (Laney LC30-ii) but there isn't enough gain on the amp to get me a Metallica sound. There is enough gain for blues and rock but I quite get an 80's metal / thrash metal sound.
What overdrive or distortion pedal would you recommend for this sort of sound? At the moment I've been thinking about maybe building a Tube Screamer with some gain already on the amp. But I just wanted some advice before I built a pedal that might not really want.
Thanks.

[Aharon]

Build a Sans Amp GT2 with the "right" chips,you won't regret it.

[petemoore]

  I've been thinking about maybe building a Tube Screamer with some gain already on the amp.
  You might like it and it might be 'help on the way' [driving a circuit or being driven by one] but by itself and generally I would'nt think TS is Metallic-ish.
  Rat, Dist+ or other diode to ground clipping circuit would probably get closer.
  Maybe a Minibooster or such, tweeked and knob turnt would get into the harder crunchies.
  If you're starting out, these type circuits are relatively simple, will produce hard clipping and copious amounts of boost, tone control can be added, to some degree or other to taste.
  Plain new EQ pedal cheep does good boost and demonstrates how frequency specific boost...tone shaping works.
 

[jonathan perez]

(cringe)

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

Yeah, Tube Screamer won't get you anywhere near the Metallica sound. My advice would be to start simple with a Distortion +... whether you like it remains to be seen, but at least you won't regret it. Then maybe try the RAT and/or compressor. Between those two pedals you should be able to come up with a fairly decent distortion. I don't understand why you want to get a sound like Metallica though. Making pedals is about getting your own sound. Also, if you wanted a Metallica sound, you probably shouldn't have gone for a British A-Class Tube amp!

[jonathan perez]

(metal zone, indyguitarist mods)

i did it...i love the marshall/boogie mod...kills!

[brett]

Hi
Joe Davisson's stuff (eg Blackfire) is all high-gain goodness.
Big Muff is cool, too (Wolfmother's pedal of choice)
cheers

[sfx1999]

I'm not sure how your amp is constructed, but a Rangemaster might be useful. It's not a booster, though.

I have a Distortion+, but I don't use it that much. I find that I can't really get a Metallica sound from it. You should look into something with scooped mids.

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

I would just like it to be made clear that my suggestions were given in the hope that he wouldn't actually find the Metallica sound he is after but would in fact find a distortion that he will like regardless. 

[mac]

The LC30II is not a metal amp, it's a rock'n roll amp. British Pseudo Class A amp with a beatifull clean sound.

As an owner of a LC30II I can tell for sure you that a TS is not what are you looking for. I built a Red Fuzz which is a mixture of a Rat and Fat Cat and acts as a sort of a TS. Hear the sound demo of the Red Fuzz at GGG, that's what a TS may sound. Nice for rock'n roll, but no metallic sound. I have a Dist+ also, it might take you closer, just near where metal starts. I mean, the Dist+ on the clean channel. Of course you can push the dirt channel with the Dist+ just like a TS, starting with low drive both on the D+ and the amp and then going up one at a time... but distortion over overdrive... mmhhh... The same for a Rangemaster. You'll get Brian May, maybe Blackmore instead of Kirk Hammet.

The LC30II has a nice clean channel, plug a fuzz face, rangemaster or any Ge distortion and you'll get sweet rock'n roll. The dirt channel has lots of gain, but it is more like heavy overdrive than hard distortion. That if you replace the stock sovteks and rubys with JJs. Mine has the HH, not a celestion but it has a character. I do not intend to replace the HH, maybe buy a new one with celestion or a 2x12 cabinet.

If you want sounds from the "dark side of the tone" follow Brett choices. And consider a metal zone or the digitech, don't remember the name.

PM me, I can give you some hints, but I'm not a heavy distortion kid, just a 60s-70s 41yrs rocker.  Just a guitar, germaniums and the tubes.

mac

mac

[vortex]

Nice overdrive for tube amp?

This question is kind of like asking about

"A good aftershave for a hot date"?

An important question but the subjectivity of the responses are perhaps a bit broad...

[dimitris]

I own a Laney Lc15 and with a gt-2 clone I have built I can get a decent metallica sound.
Not the simplest pedal to build but you will not regret.

[mac]

I own a Laney Lc15 and with a gt-2 clone I have built I can get a decent metallica sound.
Not the simplest pedal to build but you will not regret.

I sold my LC15... 

mac

[axg20202]

+1 for the Rat.

It can do the full-on big-hair, spandex lace-up trousers 80s thing fine, while also being good at more gentle overdrive and 60s/70s rock settings. I put a tubescreamer in front of my Rat to push it even harder for solos etc (In fact, I have 2 tubescreamers in front of it!). Multiple gain stages provide a lot of options. My RAT is a Keeley-modded one - I haven't used a stock one but I love mine.

Edit: but I agree with others here - if you wanted ear-splitting gain then you chose the wrong amp really. However, I urge you to resist the temptation to move onto something like a MESA recto or whatever - rejoice in not being yet another person who thinks gain = tone.

[Seljer]

I've found a tubescreamer works pretty well over an allready dirty tube amp: for example, if just with the amp you're at "70s rock" and you want to move up to "80s rock".....and if you scoop the mids you might be able to get a Metallica type sound (at least of the first album)

But I really don't like the Tubescreamer that much by itself (over a clean amp)

[axg20202]

But I really don't like the Tubescreamer that much by itself (over a clean amp)

I know what you mean. IMHO, on it's own the tubescreamer lends itself better to adding gentle bit of crunch and drive (I'm talking tube amps here too - tranny amps is a completely different story). On its own at extreme settings the TS is not so good. However, I find that multiple tubescreamers to build up the gain in stages is quite nice if you get the fairly sensitive controls set right between the two pedals.

[alextheian-alex]

I think you should start with a simple booster (maybe with a little bass-cut EQ) and go from there.  If a booster can't kick the preamp into saturation levels that you are happy with, THEN consider adding clipping to the pedal.

[rankine]

Thanks for the responces. I'll go with the Dist+ to begin with and then maybe a TS anyway 

By the way, I bought the LC30 for cleans, but I wanted to see what pedals I could try for a metal sound. If I can't push a metal sound out of the LC30 then it's not much of a problem because I've got an amp for metal tones, but I just wanted to see if I could.

[GibsonGM]

One thing might be overlooked here...what guitar are you using?

I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe...the chevy of tube amps.  It's great for Claptonesque sounds with my LP Studio; made for blues, no way suitable for metal.  BTO, hard 70's stuff sounds just great, esp. using a LPB-2 or BJT booster to hit the pre tubes a little harder.   But, my LP will never get an "80's sound" on its own this way!  Nor would a strat thru it. 

The other day I wired up my old 80's Charvel 375 (been sitting there collecting dust since 1991, lol).   I threw that into a Dist +, followed by a Boss EQ to scoop the mids out (clean channel). The EQ pedal was the KEY.   Can you say In Justice For All?  How about "Unchained"?     

So, if you have something shreddy around, maybe a BC Rich, Yamaha or Ibanzez, Charvel etc. with a hot HB in it, I'd recommend doing the same thing I did.  I can nail that scooped tone from Metallica, Ozzy, Journey, Bon Jovi, Poison, Crue...all the greats I'd sometimes rather not remember, LOLOL.  Follow the EQ with a basic volume booster, and there's your solos.  Dist + cost $25 to make, the EQ was $46 on Ebay.

Only other way I see to do that with your amp would be to go digital, as some have suggested....

[rankine]

I'm playing a Jackson DK2M, with Seymour Duncan humbuckers. It's a metal guitar. I'm definately going to try the Dist+ then. Thanks