actually, I believe a tube amp only distorts when it has run out of headroom i.e. when it's as loud as it can beWell, I think tube amps are your best bet. Many of the pedals out there seem to have been designed to work with tube amps. I use a fender bassman reissue; it takes pedals very well and has a great tube distortion on its own when cranked. The cool thing with boost, overdrive and/or distortion pedals is that they will drive a tube amp harder and cause the amp to distort sooner.
Generally a tube amps natural distortion is more preferred over a pedal's distortion (this is a matter of taste though); but, you can use the pedal's drive to distort a tube amp sooner and not have the amp volume be excessively loud.
actually, I believe a tube amp only distorts when it has run out of headroom i.e. when it's as loud as it can be
so using OD pedals doesn't really drive the tube amp harder such that the power tubes distort and provide more amp distortion. The OD pedals are providing whatever drive you set them at.
actually, I believe a tube amp only distorts when it has run out of headroom i.e. when it's as loud as it can be
so using OD pedals doesn't really drive the tube amp harder such that the power tubes distort and provide more amp distortion. The OD pedals are providing whatever drive you set them at.