OD and distortion pedals in front of high gains amps

[Dr. Caligari]

I'm generally not so much into boosting. I think it's a pretty tired sound at this point. If I never had to hear the tubescreamer hump again I would be happy about that.

 

[Kosthrash]

I love my old 80's OD (an Arion SOD-1 MIJ) in front of my DSL... If I need to finetune my tone, I add an eq pedal to the effects loop, but most of the time I'm bored to do so...

 

[laxu]

The way I see it, if you have an EQ pedal already then you have more tonal sculpting options than any overdrive can add. For high gain amps most people just look for the overdrive to do two things: cut bass and boost mids. Where those mids are boosted depends on the pedal in question. They don't need to add more overdrive because you already have tons of gain from your high gain amp.

Overdrives are just an easy and cheap way to do it where you have the sound shaping preset for you so just plug in, tweak the few knobs a bit and you are done.

 

[Spinedriver]

For me, it's all about getting tight, percussive palm muting (ie: old schoo thrash like Anthrax, DRI, etc...) and using a boost/od seems to be the best way to get it.
Thing is, depending on the amp, some od pedals may be too bright, some may be too muddy or fuzzy, etc.. That's why it's nice to have more than one option, especially if you're using more than one source for your pre amp, whether it's a pedal, amp or modeler.

 

[Crungy]

I use a Timmy clone (Caline Pure Sky) in front of AxeFx on some mid to high gain patches and a Boss OS2 in front of some clean patches to shake things up.

I could probably do it all in the box but fuck that because I like pedals.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I never thought of 808-style boosts as nasty. They're more smooth to me.
Now the SD-1? Hella nasty.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I always use some sort of boost or drive, even for cleans. It's not that my amps are "lacking" so much as I just really like the feel and tonal footprint of using one. It's one thing to enjoy an amp raw/unboosted, but I never understood the argument that an amp that costs X number of dollars sHoULdN't nEeD a b0oST to get where you want to go.

Part of the fun is finding combinations you like of guitars, amps, boosts, cabinets, etc. for whatever tone/tones you're going for. I use a different drives/boosts for rhythm from the ones I use for cleans or leads. Each one does certain things to enhance each tone that may not necessarily be ideal for the others, you know?

 

[DestroyMankind]

Proco rat into a 6505+ lead channel is pretty awesome sounding. I also found the swollen pickle does a hm-2 tone similar to how END does it. Maxon st-9 pro plus is another I find to work really well, and the mxr m77 works great too. For my orange cr120 I lately have been running my hm-2w into the dirty channel. For whatever reason I can't get the hm-2 to work right with my 6505+. But yeah. There's my two cents.

 

[budda]

I use a Timmy clone (Caline Pure Sky) in front of AxeFx on some mid to high gain patches and a Boss OS2 in front of some clean patches to shake things up.

I could probably do it all in the box but fuck that because I like pedals.

I like pedals, but not buying them has yielded some cool guitars

 

[MatrixClaw]

I own a bunch of boosts and rarely use any of them. If I don't like the amp unboosted, I sell it. Not against boosting, it just generally adds a lot of noise and then you have to mess with gates, which always kill your tone in some way. I have been enjoying my Dirty Tree for super downtuned stuff, though. It's way too aggressive on my amps for Drop C or higher, though.

 

[trem licking]

all boosts do is take valuable real estate off of a pedalboard. buy an amp that doesn't sound like a loose fart to begin with and relax knowing you don't have to go down that tiresome rabbit hole. more money for modulation and other fun, more useful pedals

 

[ShredmasterD]

all boosts do is take valuable real estate off of a pedalboard. buy an amp that doesn't sound like a loose fart to begin with and relax knowing you don't have to go down that tiresome rabbit hole. more money for modulation and other fun, more useful pedals

i have always used amp distortion soley but now , i'm just trying new things, i have noticed significant difference with some amps, not much with others. the biggest benefit has been from two things: and eq pedals or a greer moonshot. its basically a top boost pedal that ads clarity to the hi gain mush on some amps.

 

[sonoftheoldnorth]

The way I see it, if you have an EQ pedal already then you have more tonal sculpting options than any overdrive can add. For high gain amps most people just look for the overdrive to do two things: cut bass and boost mids. Where those mids are boosted depends on the pedal in question. They don't need to add more overdrive because you already have tons of gain from your high gain amp.

Overdrives are just an easy and cheap way to do it where you have the sound shaping preset for you so just plug in, tweak the few knobs a bit and you are done.

Whilst this is true to a extent, over all; there is definitely something else that (some) boosts add that EQ can't. For example the SD1 adds a certain grind/snarl (with I presume the asymmetrical clipping) that I personally cannot/have not been able to recreate with an EQ. I'd like to be proven otherwise.

I wonder if someone has made a video or experiment of trying to perfectly emulate a bunch of different boost/OD's using EQ pedals. I remember that some guys figured they could do the Fortin Grind/33 sound with some EQ; but that was all within a DAW and not anything physical ie pedals? That's more proving that the a DAW/Plugins are more flexible; doesn't really have the same application.

 

[Shask]

Whilst this is true to a extent, over all; there is definitely something else that (some) boosts add that EQ can't. For example the SD1 adds a certain grind/snarl (with I presume the asymmetrical clipping) that I personally cannot/have not been able to recreate with an EQ. I'd like to be proven otherwise.

I wonder if someone has made a video or experiment of trying to perfectly emulate a bunch of different boost/OD's using EQ pedals. I remember that some guys figured they could do the Fortin Grind/33 sound with some EQ; but that was all within a DAW and not anything physical ie pedals? That's more proving that the a DAW/Plugins are more flexible; doesn't really have the same application.

I dont think you could. The Grind/33 was easy, because it basically is a fixed EQ. It doesnt have the clipping sections like Tubescreamer based pedals.

You can emulate the frequency response. The Tubescreamer is easy. Just cut bass below 720hz and cut treble above 720hz. However, you can't replicate that compression and clipping saturation that it has with an EQ. Same with the SD-1 or Klon around 1000hz to 1200hz.

 

[CanserDYI]

Knocked Loose and End got it right, swollen pickle into 5153. Mmmmm.

 

[ShredmasterD]

so i got a boss sd1 anniversary black edition today. using with a synergy 30 combo with an engl savage module it ads little value. after about 45 mins i could not find a real reason to use it with this module. i then used it with the fender twin/tweed module , the t/dlx, and got better results but it is not exactly a metal tone. its barely a hard rock tone if at all and more classic territory. of course its an overdrive and not a balls out distortion pedal so i didnt expect it to. tomorrow i will move on to the 6505 , marshall sv20 and a duel rectifier and see if there are benefits for me there. from all i hear it should pair well with the recto. im just looking for a little extra sauce and flavor. who knows maybe i'll find a new recipe to inspire.

 

[Shask]

so i got a boss sd1 anniversary black edition today. using with a synergy 30 combo with an engl savage module it ads little value. after about 45 mins i could not find a real reason to use it with this module. i then used it with the fender twin/tweed module , the t/dlx, and got better results but it is not exactly a metal tone. its barely a hard rock tone if at all and more classic territory. of course its an overdrive and not a balls out distortion pedal so i didnt expect it to. tomorrow i will move on to the 6505 , marshall sv20 and a duel rectifier and see if there are benefits for me there. from all i hear it should pair well with the recto. im just looking for a little extra sauce and flavor. who knows maybe i'll find a new recipe to inspire.

Usually ENGLs dont take boosts very well since they are already so tight and mid saturated. I think you will notice much more of a difference with the 5150 and Recto.

Put the level on max, gain at like a hair past zero, and tone somewhere in the middle. Run it in front of a high gain tone.

 

[KailM]

Proco rat into a 6505+ lead channel is pretty awesome sounding. I also found the swollen pickle does a hm-2 tone similar to how END does it. Maxon st-9 pro plus is another I find to work really well, and the mxr m77 works great too. For my orange cr120 I lately have been running my hm-2w into the dirty channel. For whatever reason I can't get the hm-2 to work right with my 6505+. But yeah. There's my two cents.

Same, once I got a RAT I pretty much stopped using my MXR M77 into my 6505. It sounds so thick and chunky, but still tight.

As for your HM-2 into your 6505+, have you tried running it into the green channel with the gain dimed + crunch switch off?

 

[DestroyMankind]

Same, once I got a RAT I pretty much stopped using my MXR M77 into my 6505. It sounds so thick and chunky, but still tight.

As for your HM-2 into your 6505+, have you tried running it into the green channel with the gain dimed + crunch switch off?

I have not tried that yet.

 

[Spinedriver]

Proco rat into a 6505+ lead channel is pretty awesome sounding. I also found the swollen pickle does a hm-2 tone similar to how END does it. Maxon st-9 pro plus is another I find to work really well, and the mxr m77 works great too. For my orange cr120 I lately have been running my hm-2w into the dirty channel. For whatever reason I can't get the hm-2 to work right with my 6505+. But yeah. There's my two cents.

For those looking to try out a Rat as a boost, I highly recommend you give the Joyo Splinter a shot. It's super cheap and has a couple of mode switches so you can tweak the tone even more than a standard Rat pedal.