Amp is DRRI and guitar is a Godin Velocity.

The strangest thing. I have 6 pedals and the only one I like is the MXR 10 band EQ. I have pedals ranging from cheap a chorus to a Catalinbread Formula no. 5 for od. I have tried every EQ setting I can find and besides the MXR, I feel I am losing tone with anyother pedal. It seems like the tone goes from dynamic, to flat and processed which sort of defeats the purpose of owning a tube amp.

Now I talked to 2 double E's today that also play and they both said that yes I am most likely processing my signal. So ok, I'm taking the dynamics of the tubes, and digitizing them.

After awhile of thinking about it, the effects pedals are "Up Stream" of the tubes and not after and shouldn't affect the amps output. So I'm confused. Do effects pedals affect the DRRI, or are they affecting my guitar?

Thanks.

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Gary

Here's a short answer--

Technically, an effects pedal will only affect the signal coming from a guitar.
But that affected signal will be processed (yes, even tube amps are processing your signal) differently than a straight "Guitar-and-Cable-into-the-amplifier-input" scenario, so it is affecting your amplifier, too.

The signal from your guitar is being "effected" (more properly, "affected") by the effect pedal--we'll use your MXR EQ for example.

With a MXR M-108 10-Band equalizer pedal, the guitar signal is being shaped tonally by the ten frequency sliders (certain frequencies boosted or reduced), and you are able to increase the Gain and the Volume of the signal from your guitar.

Now, that affected/shaped/effected signal is going into your DRRI. Depending on what effect you are using, this can drastically change the amp's response to that signal.

Going back to your MXR EQ: if you have all your frequency sliders "flat" (in the middle, neither boosting nor reducing), but you crank the Gain up considerably, you're going to get more fullness and punch--like a gain knob on an amp.

If, in the same scenario, if you crank the Volume slider up all the way, you're going to get a similar effect as cranking a Slave Volume on a Master Volume-equipped amp (which your DRRI is not). The sound from your amp will be more overdriven/"broken up" due to the higher volume slamming the front end of the amplifier.

The same can be said of any overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal with a volume knob.

Are you confused? Then my work is done.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



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

Actually it makes sense now, thank you.

Effects pedals can affect either, or both the amp and guitar and the affect, or the effect is dependent on many variables including what effect the input is and the affect of the outcome of said effects.

Chrystal clear brother!


To be serious, I think the effects are affecting my guitar more than the amp. The only way I like the Humbucker on my bridge is to use the Catalinbread OD pedal. It's got some pretty good hair to it and normally I never use it.

_________________
Gary

One person described it this way--effects pedals are kinda like extra knobs on your amp. So if your amp doesn't have a "gain" knob or an "overdrive" channel, you just set yourself up with an external one.

As far as not liking your humbucker without the Catalinbread OD, I understand completely. Humbuckers are a different animal.

I have a 1980 G&L F100, with coil- and phase-tapped humbuckers. It is the only guitar I own with humbuckers; it is also the only guitar I like to use with a distortion pedal. It sounds good with overdrive, but it sounds better with a distortion pedal.

In my experience, Humbuckers react with effects pedals or with amps differently than single coils...neither one is "better", but just "different." Since I own several single-coil-sporting guitars and just one humbucker-equipped guitar, the distortion pedal I still have rides the bench instead of plays the pedalboard...it doesn't complain, though.

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



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

Thank you. I understand now. This wasn't an issue years ago with a SS amp even with an MIA Strat.

_________________
Gary

And just now I tried my BD2 with and without the EQ and it pretty much sucked the tone right out. Then the Formula no. 5 with and with the EQ, and it was better, but not as good as just running the EQ with the gain turned down to 0 and the volume turned up to +6.

But with the Formula 5, I get a pretty sweet Zeppelin type sound with the gain turned almost off, the tone at noon, the volume on the box at about 7 0 clock, the amp at 3 and the knob at the guitar pretty much hammered regardless of is I'm using the Humbucker or the single coils.

It has to be me with being new to tube amps. Maybe I should of been thinking clean boost instead of over drive/distortion. With cheaper solid state amps, I would of never noticed the difference. But I'm happy now.

I got the cleans/twang I like for country, I found some hair for a little grit, and I found some old school "oopmh" that I can make work for Zep, or even Sabbath.

_________________
Gary