How far will Amp overdrive take me?

[Jeremy A]

So I want to be able to get a good clean tone, low gain, medium gain, high gain/fuzz, and lead tone with as little pedals as possible. If I crank my amp to give me a good thick medium gain tone, can i then use my volume knob on my guitar to get low gain and clean? And then my big question is will a fuzz pedal work well with a cranked amp? I'm particularly thinking a Skreddy LM (Vox Ac15 and tele). This would be perfect for me because I use medium gain most of the time and then can just use my volume knob for lighter drive and clean settings, and then a fuzz for higher gain stuff, and a boost pedal for leads. The things I'm worried about are: will a fuzz work well into an already overdriven amp?, will I lose too much volume when cleaning up with my volume knob for low gain and clean?, and if my amp is already overdriven a lot, will it have enough headroom for fuzz and leads?

Thanks for your help! Sorry, I'm used to playing with my amp pretty clean and then getting all my dirt from pedals.

 

[mcdes]

Should work. I've heard plenty of people using fuzz with a goosed amp.

 

[sdrootsman]

Fuzz will work fine with an already overdriven amp if you keep the gain/fuzz on the pedal low.

 

[Jeremy A]

Fuzz will work fine with an already overdriven amp if you keep the gain/fuzz on the pedal low.

Is the LM good for that? Or does it work better with a clean amp?

 

[sacakl]

This certain someone does it that way, dimes his amp and steps on a superfuzz at the 2:00 mark for his solo, then turns it back down afterwards.

 

[Fulldrive-1]

Fuzz will work fine with an already overdriven amp if you keep the gain/fuzz on the pedal low.

It'll work even better if you crank the gain on the fuzz. Worked for Jimi.

 

[Jeremy A]

So basically everything I said would work out good?? I'm stoked!

 

[Blues Lyne]

When using the guitars volume to get different levels of dirt, I've found it helps to dial in you amp/tones with the volume and tone controls on the guitar set around 7 or 8. If you listen you'll hear kind of a sweet spot where the volume is lowered, but things still sound nice and full. So with guitars volume and tone rolled off, dial in a medium gain dirt on the amp and dial the amps tone controls to where you like them. You'll be able to lower your volume for less dirt or cleans, but you can also turn it up a bit for more dirt or solos, then you can add the fuzz for those tones when you want. One of the advantages of this is that, at least for me, I notice less high end roll off when I turn the guitar down. As with the volume, you can not only turn the tone down, but you can now turn it up also. So, if you need a bit more highs for your clean tones, you have it at your finger tips.

 

[Jeremy A]

When using the guitars volume to get different levels of dirt, I've found it helps to dial in you amp/tones with the volume and tone controls on the guitar set around 7 or 8. If you listen you'll hear kind of a sweet spot where the volume is lowered, but things still sound nice and full. Now dial in a medium gain on the amp. You'll be able to lower your volume for less dirt or cleans, or turn it up a bit for more dirt, then you can add the fuzz for those tones when you want. One of the advantages of this is that, at least for me, I notice less high end roll off when I turn the guitar down.

Wow great idea! Will do.

 

[Blues Lyne]

Oops, sorry, I was editing my post when you quoted it!

 

[Jeremy A]

Oops, sorry, I was editing my post when you quoted it!

Haha no worries man! That's a really great idea. Thanks!