I purchased my first tube amp 1 year ago. I bought a Traynor YCV40WR. I really like this amp, but I have not been able to play as often as I would like this past year. I knew I wouldn't be able to buy a new amp for a while, so I figured I should take opportunity when I had the money.
After my ramble, my question is:
Are most overdrive pedals are supposed to emulate/simulate tube amp overdrive? If so why would you use one on a tube amp, if you can overdrive the amp? My amp has a specific drive channel. I have a gift cert to my local shop and I was considering pedals (Boss Blues drive, TS9 etc) and I was wondering of they are worth using on a tube amp.
It may sound like a dumb question, but I have been playing solid state amps my entire guitar playing life.

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I've never found a overdrive, distortion or fuzz that sounds good as the sole source of drive. I think they all need to be used to compliment or enhance amp drive rather than replace it.
As well as making amps drive better at lower volumes.

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No no and no

niki has a point here. i too came from SS amps for the most part.
ive always had my cravin heads (tube) but anywhere besides big venues
i had to use my SS amps. i got so use to them i started to like them to much lol.
best thing to do is go try out some OD's and tube amps and see the results for yourself.
the pedals are exactly what they say they are, OVER DRIVE pedals.

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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."

Overdrive pedals are the perfect compliment to a tube amp. Years ago I had a Sparkle Drive overdrive and used it with a solid state amp and I just didn't get what all the fuss was about. Then I got my first tube amp and was able to crank it in a band setting, then stomped on the overdrive and it was a magical moment!

First of all, know that there are 2 types of natural tube distortion you can get from a tube amp with an Overdrive channel (or any channel with a Master Volume for that matter):

1 - Preamp tubes only. When you turn the Gain way up and keep the Master low. That buzzy fuzzy sound is preamp tubes overdriving.

2 - Output tubes + preamp tubes. When you dime the Master volume and have the Gain knob up relatively high (the level depends on the amp model, some are cleaner than others) the output tubes and preamp tubes overdrive. For amps or channels with no Master volume, just crank the single volume knob.

Overdrive pedals 'emulate' that bold power tube overdriven sound for those gigs you just can't crank the amp for volume restrictions. Also, overdrive pedals set to clean but with the level knob turned up slams the front end of a tube amp to help push the amp into natural overdrive sooner.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

great explaination 74. i couldnt find the words.
now if you will, explain the differences between
a OD pedal and a distortion pedal to him.

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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."

Take your own guitar and amp with you to try out pedals. Try the pedals through both your clean and dirty channels. You may discover that the pedals don't do what you wanted, but a shiny new pedal can be an irresistible accessory when money is burning a hole in your pocket.

Best of luck and be patient. There's no rush to buy.

Be sure and try the Boss Blues Driver before you settle on a pedal. I use one in front of my tube amps and anywhere from 5 to 50 watts you can dial in some really nice OD sounds.
Sometimes I use it as just a boost and other times kick the gain up for some nice crunchy blues.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

Volume is the reason. For tube amps >30 watts, especially Fenders, it's hard to get the natural tube overdriven sound w/o making your ears bleed. A pedal helps push it into OD @ a lower volume.

I think there is no clear cut boundary between the two, but the connotation of OD is usually a mild, blusey distortion, whereas the term distortion is more often associated w/ the harder rock.

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The quintessential sound of 60/70's R&R:
Fender Tube Amps
Gibson Guitars

fair enough reply. i like OD pedals best with tube amps unless im going pure heavy metal
with my ibanez, even then i think a good wampler paisley drive might be in order now.
SS amps dont fair as good with a OD as they do with a distortion pedal.

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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 little I know

Distortion is squarewave signal clipping. (the sound source is moved in an extreme way by increasing voltage)
Overdrive Smoother clipping
Fuzz opposing odd order clipped signals.

The reason drives sounds better with valve amps is because it acts with the amps compression. Rather than just pushing the volume up and adding a clipped signal, it pushes the amp to compress, therefore making the amp seem slightly quieter if anything. While also adding a clipped signal.
If you get a non master volume amp and keep it on a very low volume setting you'll see this out of most drive pedals. Regardless of how the signal is clipped.
So SS amps like valve amps with little input gain, show up all the volume hump from the pedal.
Get your amp giving it's absolute cleanest sound. So that you have to turn the master up full to hear it. Then put any drive with the dials set to 12oclock infront of it and it will react like any solidstate amp aside from the bit of power valve clipping you get.

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No no and no

A decent OD pedal (I use a Blackstar HT Drive) is great for adding thickness to your lead parts (adding gain, compression and extra EQ) but I don't like using them for rhythm parts and prefer to let the amp do its thing; the amp sounds more 'open'. Very personal, though, and there are many variables.

Take your gear to the store and try a load of them out!

Most of the venues I play aren't conducive to natural amp overdrive (it would be a bit too loud, even with my "little" 40W Fender 1963 Re-issue Vibroverb amp)...therefore, I use overdrive pedals.

Since I have long been the "fill-in-the-blanks" guy with the various bands I've played with, I have more pedals at my feet than I would normally need. Generally, I have an overdrive, a distortion and a fuzz (all of which are very different effects) on my board.

The number of pedals (especially overdrive) has been reduced in recent times, since I have quit playing with so many different bands and have been concentrating on a specific group (the Screamin' Armadillos). I play Texas Roadhouse music (a mix of blues+classic rock+outlaw country), with a bit more emphasis on blues, if you would like a sonic reference.

Here's some overdrive suggestions (all of which I have used or am currently using):
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
MXR M-66 Classic Overdrive (Guitar Center exclusive; a little hard to find)
Danelectro Daddy-O (big cream-yellow overdrive pedal)

For Distortion:
MXR M-86 Classic Distortion (another Guitar Center exclusive)

For Fuzz:
Dunlop JH2S Jimi Hendrix System Classic Fuzz (a little hard to find; it has been discontinued for several years).

I know Niki's gonna blast me for the use of all these MXR/Dunlop boxes (Jim Dunlop is his arch-nemesis --just kidding!), but I've had good luck with them for years, just as several of my friends have had...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

ive used dunlop products for yrs w/o issue.

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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."

Nah not at all. If you like em and they work for you, who am I to judge. I just don't see how they can justify charging more for say the Sak Mild overdrive that Danelectro do for theirs. When the Dano' one far outperforms it in every way.
Though I could put a good fuzz your way.
Looking at the schematic

It uses 2N3904 transistors. These sound great, really squashy like germainium jobs. I was really knocked sideways by the sound of the things. But they only switch a 3rd of the current that the 2n2222 does. I use both types, so get more gain than 3904's and a better sound than 2222's.

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No no and no

distortion could probably fall into the "simulated effects" category, whereas true overdrive is the sound of a tube being pushed into clipping. but then, there are also overdrive emulators. distortion doesn't "naturally occur" as overdrive does (in a tube amp, no FX), am i right?

now that im thinking about it, most OD pedals ARE emulators, because they introduce their own diode clipping (or tube if you're one of those people) into the signal. seems the only pedals that truly drive an amp are those such as seymour d's pickup booster, however thats the same effect as turning up the guitar vol. never used this type of pedal, but id imagine it wouldnt be effective for low volume OD.
So...i'd say when we "drive the froint end" with an OD pedal, we're not actually driving or pushing it, but rather we are hearing the pedal's clipping only. maybe that's stating the obvious. i could be wrong, but its making sense as i type this. feel free to correct me.

the beauty of low watt amps is you dont "need" an OD/Dist pedal.
at any rate...Blues driver -> pro jr = good combo. although i find i dont use the BD that often, because the PJ is usually cranked as is...though i suppose i should re-evaluate that "habit"