Mike Thomas
Member
- Messages
- 116
Hi, I know there are what seems like millions of overdrive and distortion effects out there but I was wondering if based on the following some of you might have some ideas you could please suggest.
I just started playing with a group of guys again. We mostly play original Alternative rock songs that I have written that in a way sound a bit like Weezer and The Foo Fighters. Just good catchy melodic rock that mostly features distorted guitars.
Currently I was forced to move a few things not too long ago,so the only amp that I have has been my main rig I've had for a really long time. It is an all original 1962 brown face Fender piggy back head and matching 2x12 cab. The amp sounds amazing but with a rating roughly 38 to 40 for wattage,it definitely is more of a clean headroom amp to use pedals with. Depending on power tubes, with the loud rock band I'm playing in right now, I can't even put it past 4 before the guys in the band start telling me to turn it down. The thing is loud. So getting those golden tones of natural breakup by cranking it,is out of there question. So I have to use a good pedal.
I've owned so many overdrives and distortion boxes over the years I don't even know where to begin. I like a lot of gain,but along with a lot of gain I like for the individual notes to be able to ring out and still be somewhat heard. I know that most of the bands I like usually get their overdrive tones from a multi-channel amp,such as a duel or triple rec mesa or a diesel. Or in some cases in the studio they will crank of course a low wattage amp. Because I am stuck with what I have for right now as far as my amp is concerned,plus because I like it,I of course have to run some kind of pedal if i want to get some good overdriven tones with the band.
I'd like to find a pedal that has a lot of gain reminiscent of maybe some of the tones off of Weezer's first album,The blue album. The problem I usually run into even with some of the higher priced boutique distortion pedals out there is that it seems of course, the greater the amount of gain a pedal is capable off,the less transparent sounding your notes tend to get. Which is why I usually end up settling for an overdrive pedal rather than distortion. The notes within rhythm playing can individually be heard a little better with an overdrive; were as many higher gain distortion pedals end up almost sounding too distorted leaving you with something sounding similar to white noise that a tv can sound like. Just too muffled ,making the notes in any rhythm playing lost and almost inaudible or indistinguishable.
I thought about getting an attenuator for my amp and then just riding my guitars master volume if I need to clean the tone up a bit since the gain achieved from cranking a good tube amp gets me closer to the sound I like. However, I have never messed with an attenuator and so I don't think it would be able to be loud enough to use with a full rock band as the whole point is to be able to get cranked up sounds at lower volumes when using the attenuator.
With all that being said, any recommendations for a good true-byepass boutique pedal that is going to have a decent amount of saturated gain without clouding the tone so much that you get that white noise type of overtone instead of the individual clarity from the notes being able to come through? I currently just picked up one of those exotic sl plexi drive pedals. I love the sound of it,but I think I wish it had more gain! Even with the internal trim set to the extra 6db setting I still feel like its lacking in gain.
I did just purchase my first Duesenberg guitar and it could also be a factor that the pickups aren't as high output as I'm used to?
Thanks.
I just started playing with a group of guys again. We mostly play original Alternative rock songs that I have written that in a way sound a bit like Weezer and The Foo Fighters. Just good catchy melodic rock that mostly features distorted guitars.
Currently I was forced to move a few things not too long ago,so the only amp that I have has been my main rig I've had for a really long time. It is an all original 1962 brown face Fender piggy back head and matching 2x12 cab. The amp sounds amazing but with a rating roughly 38 to 40 for wattage,it definitely is more of a clean headroom amp to use pedals with. Depending on power tubes, with the loud rock band I'm playing in right now, I can't even put it past 4 before the guys in the band start telling me to turn it down. The thing is loud. So getting those golden tones of natural breakup by cranking it,is out of there question. So I have to use a good pedal.
I've owned so many overdrives and distortion boxes over the years I don't even know where to begin. I like a lot of gain,but along with a lot of gain I like for the individual notes to be able to ring out and still be somewhat heard. I know that most of the bands I like usually get their overdrive tones from a multi-channel amp,such as a duel or triple rec mesa or a diesel. Or in some cases in the studio they will crank of course a low wattage amp. Because I am stuck with what I have for right now as far as my amp is concerned,plus because I like it,I of course have to run some kind of pedal if i want to get some good overdriven tones with the band.
I'd like to find a pedal that has a lot of gain reminiscent of maybe some of the tones off of Weezer's first album,The blue album. The problem I usually run into even with some of the higher priced boutique distortion pedals out there is that it seems of course, the greater the amount of gain a pedal is capable off,the less transparent sounding your notes tend to get. Which is why I usually end up settling for an overdrive pedal rather than distortion. The notes within rhythm playing can individually be heard a little better with an overdrive; were as many higher gain distortion pedals end up almost sounding too distorted leaving you with something sounding similar to white noise that a tv can sound like. Just too muffled ,making the notes in any rhythm playing lost and almost inaudible or indistinguishable.
I thought about getting an attenuator for my amp and then just riding my guitars master volume if I need to clean the tone up a bit since the gain achieved from cranking a good tube amp gets me closer to the sound I like. However, I have never messed with an attenuator and so I don't think it would be able to be loud enough to use with a full rock band as the whole point is to be able to get cranked up sounds at lower volumes when using the attenuator.
With all that being said, any recommendations for a good true-byepass boutique pedal that is going to have a decent amount of saturated gain without clouding the tone so much that you get that white noise type of overtone instead of the individual clarity from the notes being able to come through? I currently just picked up one of those exotic sl plexi drive pedals. I love the sound of it,but I think I wish it had more gain! Even with the internal trim set to the extra 6db setting I still feel like its lacking in gain.
I did just purchase my first Duesenberg guitar and it could also be a factor that the pickups aren't as high output as I'm used to?
Thanks.