Best OD/Dist Pedal for Tube Amps

[capt_oreo]

Wanna hear some opinions as to what are some of the best OD/Dist pedals you have tried and loved in front of a tube amp. I already have some ideas but i would like to hear from you guys....and to narrow things down, im referring to tube amps like Laney LC15R and Reverend Kingsnake.

 

[ShredCow]

Are you runing hte tube amp clean or dirty?

 

[thor666]

I like the Fab Distortion on my Frenzel (Fenderish) amp. Woody and retains a lot of timbre.

It's only $30 ($25) at Music Plaza. Search the forum if you are interested.

 

[gsonique]

no pedal required ....just remove the ground wire on guitar volume pot ...and make it switchable


btw....take a look here

 

[trianglebiscuit]

most pedals sound great with an all-tube clean channel.

havent heard of any pedals that sound better through a solid state amp instead.

 

[KennethC]

if you're running the tube amp clean, a skreddy screwdriver or top fuel does really well. If on the dirt channel, I personally like the combi of a blackstone OD stacked with a TS9 and RC booster. Both red and brown channels on the blackstone do well, though more ppl prefer the brown.

I'm fiddling with the crunchbox and a menatone king of the britains (separately of cos) now for distortion, and they sound pretty rad as well with my Laney VC30, on the dirt channel with drive at 2. However, I also use a TS9 to boost the cbox and kob respectively.

The Barber Direct Drive does a pretty darn good job pushing tubes as well, I almost got myself one, but couldn't convince myself since I already owned quite a number of ODs.

Have fun! Esp with ur kingsnake from kevin =)

 

[capt_oreo]

yeah i would assume most pedals will sound gd with tubes, i wish i still had my super hard on and frantone peach fuzz. would be nice to see what these 2 can do...maybe its time to start borrowing pedals and do ab test....

i would prob do dirty....i like dirty...

no pedal required ....just remove the ground wire on guitar volume pot ...and make it switchable Very Happy
thiis is interesting....

 

[ShredCow]

KenC, you run the blackstone into a dirty amp?

Interesting... the Blackstone makers say its best running into a dead clean amp, all distortion/od coming from the pedal... and I thought it worked out brilliantly for that.

What's your take? How does the bstone affect the already dirty channel?

 

[loldude333]

Tubescreamer! After all, thats wat the name means doesn't it? Actually i found a gem of a modded blues driver BOSS BD-2 that really sweetens up the clean channel of a tube. Its not been officially released as yet but i'll give u a clue: go ask Mike of standard value abt it.

 

[ShredCow]

loldude333, what do you mean by "sweetens up the clean channel of a tube"?

It makes the clean nicer? Or what?

 

[KennethC]

Well firstly I must say the VC30 doesn't have a well-driven dirt channel, so I use it more for the warmth than the actual dirt.

The bstone adds a very creamy and smooth texture to the tone, but it's really a pretty mild OD in my opinion. I've read quite a number of reviews echo-ing the same tune, that it's really just a mild OD. The only reason I could get some distortion out of it is that I stacked it with a driven TS9 on the dirt channel, and it gets a v nice tight crunch. However, it is not a marshall-esque sound I get, thus my foray into outright distortion pedals like the cbox and the kob. Sometimes I just need a wall of distortion chugga chug chug.

Also, the bstone works extremely well with my tele's neck pup in particular. Prob because the neck pup is so fat and creamy, it just accentuates the fatness with a bit of grit. V nice tone, it's the only thing keeping me from selling my tele...but I'm prob gonna let it go soon.

With the les paul and PRS, the bstone/TS9/RC booster/compressor/dirt channel combi gives me a sound that's close to Gary moore's tones in Still Got the Blues and Parisian Walkways.

 

[loldude333]

Yes, it does. Turn the gain all the way down,the tone to 11 o'clock and set the level to 12 o'clock. To drive the amp, turn the gain to 2 o'clock, tone to 10 o'clock and set the level to 10 o'clock and ur ready to rock.

 

[ShredCow]

So KenC, your bstone is run into a clean VC30?

I use humbuckers, quite hot ones, so the bstone has quite a bit of gain... the red channel is no longer od but flat out distortion. The brown channel does the tube-amp-about-to-break-up tone SO well - it mimicks a breaking up Reverend Goblin extremely well!


capt_oreo, what kind of characteristics do you want your amp-pusher-pedal to have?

Personally, I HATE dirt pedals that cut bass - sucks the life out of the tone IMO - and if you don't like that too, then I wouldn't recommend pedals like the Boss SD-1.

And also, you would like to have your dirty amp pushed to what extent?

Some like just a touch of extra grit, some like to totally trash the amp...

 

[gsonique]

Personally, I HATE dirt pedals that cut bass - sucks the life out of the tone IMO - and if you don't like that too, then I wouldn't recommend pedals like the Boss SD-1.

Shreddy bro... the bass cut (with a smaller cap value) is kinda essential to reduce compression too ya !!

 

[ShredCow]

*ssshhhhhh.... dun spill seccrreetsss!*

Okay, fine, :lol: , I also use bass cut lah.

Like when using 7 string guitar.

:wink:

 

[KennethC]

no lah shreddy...I use the dirt channel on the VC30, but with low gain, more for the warmth than the actual dirt. =)

The distortion on the bstone's red channel is rather thin on its own for me, needs to be stacked with something fuller, like the TS9.

I've tried the bstone with a variety of guits(my strat now has dimarzio humbuckers, but not v hot/the HFS bridge on the PRS is really hot, fat and it scrrrreams/the les paul has SD JB's - also not v hot/the tele I use the stock american std neck pup), I've gotten the best results on the red channel with the les paul and the PRS, while the tele's neck pup gives a yummy fat "tube abt to break up" tone, as u mentioned.

there really are so many ODs out there, I think you just need to settle on a couple and stick with em for some time, else you could be changing every month or so. Have fun experimenting!

 

[ShredCow]

Oh oh... i see! Hehehe...

Eh eh...

there really are so many ODs out there, I think you just need to settle on a couple and stick with em for some time, else you could be changing every month or so. Have fun experimenting!

101% truth!!!

Wahaha....

 

[KennethC]

oh btw the "you" in that quote was meant for the threadstarter, not u k shreddy =)

 

[ShredCow]

yah lah... no misunderstandings sir!

hehehe... I stop my OD thing liao... but I still wanna try and experiment, its really fun.

 

[capt_oreo]

im thinking trying to get an OD-1....