One thing that puzzles me to no end is how some players are so obsessed with really ridiculessly overdriven distortion so much so that they absolutely never play clean.I was talking to a guy a few days ago and he had a really nice Gibson SG ,he said that he always plays it through a heavy metal distortion unit of some sort but that he doesn't know what the guitar sounds like clean or even through a naturally overdriven amp.To me the clean sound is what defines a guitar's sound and if it sounds good clean it will most likely dirty up nice or sound great with natural amp overdrive.I can't get my head around why someone would spend big bucks on a great guitar only to play it super distorted all the time.They should save their money -if all they're going to do is disguise the sound- and buy a $150 Walmart special because as far as I'm concerned everything sounds like junk once it reaches a certain point of distortion.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I used to be scared to play anything but chords clean. I was always going to either really clean (for chords) or really heavy (for lead). Once I got started playing blues I had to look at myself in the mirror in a musical sense and face what I really truly sound like. I don't really want to play with heavy distortion in blues anyway. I like an overdrive that can get real nasty or real subtle depending on your volume and pick attack.

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+1 I get enough natural distortion out of my amp. I may use a little boost, but that's about it.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

been here and done this for many yrs.
most overdriven amps dont give off the heavymetal tone
that we/they look for.
nice clean amps then add your favorite distortion and run it through the rest of your rack or pedal board.
the guitar, if chosen wisely, still has it voice through the distortion.
honestly, its all personal taste. for a long time i couldnt care less about what my guitar sounded like when it was clean, i didnt need clean.
its all in the style of music you choose to play really.
i took several yrs off and got back into playing early this yr.
fired up the old rig and things just werent the same. i didnt have that aggression in me like i once did. didnt honestly care to even hear the music like i once did either. all this and i still had the desire to play.
i looked into blues a bit deeper than i had ever before.
started to notice a lot of things that i never did before. so i set out to build up a blues rig. switching over has been tough, i wont kid you.
i think for the most part its a age thing. i still like my distortion, but these days its gotta be transparent. i have lots of overdrive with my new OCD, but its very very controlable. from very mild to very wild, its all in there.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

The sad part is your friends guitar can be a beautifully clean
played instrument with good mix of highs lows and real healthy
mids extremely responsive to pick attack as a matter of fact my
strat goes int the pedal board then into channel 1 and the SG
goes straight into input 2 clean becuase i like the SG so much
not better than a strat just different . I think alot people think
that those guitars are supposed to be distorted and forget that
they were designed in the 60's when people mostly went straight
in to the amp . mine personally is too beautiful sounding to play
dirty all the time I will admit (today in fact) every now and then
that there is alot of fun to be had on that bridge pickup all the
way cranked up amp and maybe tube screamer boosted too
hit an E chord and let her ring

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1956 Gibson CS Lemon Les Paul
1957 Fender CS Aged Cherry Strat
1958 Gibson CS Pg 85 Les Paul
1960 Fender CS 3tsb Strat
1961 Gibson SG Wildwood Pelham blue
1966 Fender CS Firemist Metallic Silver Strat

I do both, but when I was younger I was all about distortion. A good tube preamp section will retain the guitars character under high gain. Any guitars character changes with gain. My strat has great tone clean and all the way up until you get to the ultra high gain level. Then it gets nasal and buzzy. My ESP and Ventura still sound fat and thick with real tight bass with all other things equal yet have some noticable differences in tone. Frankly, my ESP is not that inspiring clean though, it's alright though.

So I disagree, just because a guitar sounds good clean, does not mean it will sound good distorted and vice versa.

And that can go for amps too. An amp with a speaker that is designed to stay clean under high volume can sound stiff, harsh and lifeless under high gain distortion imo. Otherwise metal heads would just put distortion pedals in front of twins, load their 4x12's with Jensens and be happy. It just does not sound as good as a pushed Marshall type amp and speaker for the high gain metal tones.

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

Whats good for one player just isn't good for another. That's why there's so many different types of music. Metal's not my thing never has been. I think they can discern tone that I'm not hearing. Doesn't make it wrong, just different. I just don't get it.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

A Strat through a tube screamer-like pedal into a Tremolux or Vibrolux or Twin Reverb is the cleanest dirty sound, you have to be good, no screw-ups on that high-wire. An LP through a Marshall/Mesa very desirable sos as before.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

A nice clean with a subtle bit of reverb is enough to keep me happy

That's about it for me too, with a boss ch-1 super chorus. The only distortion pedal i own is a boss bd-2 blues driver which is very tame distortion wise, it's more of an extra drive boost than anything, and i rarely use it. Iv'e noticed, that all of the multi effects pedals i have looked at, have mostly distortion effects onboard, and mostly distortion based presets. My boss dr880 drum machine is loaded up with mostly distortion effects and presets as well. It seems like for the last two decades or more, it's been all about distortion, and shredding! I think it's truly sad, that so many talented musicians are so locked into the distortion only mentality, when they could be broadening their musical horizons in so many wonderful ways. I'm not saying that distortion doesn't have it's place, but rather that it seems to be way over the top, all too widely used to the point where it seems like that's all that will ever be heard in too many bands.

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I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

i've never really been one for pedals ever since i got my first marshall 100 watt heat and 4x12 cab , now that was a proud day , i always kept a distortion pedal just for a bit of a boost during solo's the rest of the time it was the sound of the marshall and if i wanted it cleaned up i just rolled back the vol on the guitar , that was me , now some of my mates all they had was amps and pedals turned right up , not a very nice sound but hey, they liked it ,i think ,

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Maybe some people can only express there feelings through heavily distorted filth, but i agree even i play on clean chanel alot.

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riley

I don't even use a green tube screamer anymore,for me it's straight into the amp and clean until it breaks up nicely.
I like the BF Deluxe reverb for most stuff but a tweed Deluxe has a lot of touch sensitivity that suits my style,blues.
I have a Mesa Boogie that has all the preamp higain buzz,I don't like it,my son uses it now.
I've never been a super duper distortion player.

+1,000

Just look at the intro to Sorrow by Pink Floyd. That is Some HEAVY crunch on that strat. True Gilmour can make even the crappiest guitar sound like a Stradivarius but my point is that the same way folks look for that great blues tone, the folks that like it distorted dont always search mindlessly for crunch. Another player i like for tone is Dave Murray... yes i'm on an Iron Maiden high this week but he and Gilmour are the reason i started playing. He has a very distinct tone from that strat. You can always tell when he's taking the solo.

i dial my gain on the amp around 2oclock position. the more i increase volume, the less gain i use.
i like a good, tight distorted tone, not the chainsaw stuff. i always liked malcolm youngs sound.