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Post subject: Pedal advice!
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:19 pm
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Hey
ive been looking into getting a new pedal for christmas. I play a MIM strat throught a Vibro Champ XD. The pedals i was looking at were the ts-9, the bd-2 blues driver, the boss 59 bassman pedal, or the boss 65 reverb pedal. I want to be able to play stuff like bb king, albert king, buddy guy, SRV, hendrix, led zeppelin and the doors. Basically anything blues or classic rock. Any advice, opinions on which pedal, or experience with this pedal/amp would be appreciated.


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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:30 pm
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Wah-wah, Holy Grail reverb, and MXR M-108 Ten Band Graphic EQ


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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:44 pm
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For the sounds of most of the players you named you are going to need an overdrive pedal - as you know. The Tubescreamer or the Boss Blues Driver are famous standards precisely because they do that job very nicely. I also like the Boss OD (overdrive) pedals better than the DS (distortion) ones: a richer, bigger sound, and more appropriate to what you are looking for.

But if you are new to the world of drive and distortion pedals how about starting out with one of the "portmanteau" units? Amongst others I also have a Digitech Distortion Factory. That's a modeller which emulates the sounds of seven famous pedals - Google it and see what it has to offer.

What's useful about a pedal like that is that for a very reasonable price you not only get the sounds you are after but others that you might not have thought about as well. For instance, that Distortion Factory includes a sim of Digitech's own Metal Zone pedal, which is one I would never have bought in a million years - and yet I find it gives me some interesting sounds to mess with that I would not otherwise have at my fingertips.

A fun toy.

Now I'll make way for our colleagues to tell you all their famous and highly expensive boutique pedals that you surely cannot be without! (My own suggestion would be the Blackstar HT-Dual pedal - check it out...)

Cheers - C


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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:12 pm
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Ive a vibrochamp xd for home use, all those tones are in the amp. The amp doesnt respond well to drive pedals either, all its drive, modulation and reverb effects are digital. The champ setting on position 1 is next to impossible to drive, it even cleans my fuzz pedals sound up. That setting produces a squashy too compressed sound whenever you try to drive it.
The amp does respond really well to analogue delay pedals and tremolo pedals though so you can get those nice swampy reverb, trem and delay sounds.
The bassman tones are in possitions 2 and 3 on the amp the twin sounds are on positions 4,5 and 6. They get more gain as you go up through the numbers. E.g 4 is a clean twin sound and 5 is a distorted twin. For blues sounds i also found the 60's british amp on position 7 quite good and the hotrod deluxe on possition 10 is good too.

The amps never going to sound like a real bassman or twin, its speaker is just too small. You could improve it or use a 1x10 or 1x12 extension cabinet to make it sound bigger. The speaker will need to be 4 ohms though, its all the amp can handle.


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Post subject: Re: Pedal advice!
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 8:22 am
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theblues994 wrote:
Hey
ive been looking into getting a new pedal for christmas. I play a MIM strat throught a Vibro Champ XD. The pedals i was looking at were the ts-9, the bd-2 blues driver, the boss 59 bassman pedal, or the boss 65 reverb pedal. I want to be able to play stuff like bb king, albert king, buddy guy, SRV, hendrix, led zeppelin and the doors. Basically anything blues or classic rock. Any advice, opinions on which pedal, or experience with this pedal/amp would be appreciated.


I had the Boss FDR-1 (reverb pedal). Used it through a Champ 12 tube amp. I was disappointed with the pedal. The reverb sounded fake turned past 3. The vibrato is OK but didn't use it much. I ended up selling the pedal and upgraded to a better amp (fender blues deluxe). I have that coupled with a ts-10 and thats pretty much all I need.


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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:19 am
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If it were me, I'd save the pedal money and put that toward a better amp. I'm not a fan of loading up pedals into a small starter amp. Waste of money trying to "make" a good tone, if you ask me. Just my opinion.


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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:20 am
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I have a VCXD and don't use a distortion or overdrive pedal with that particular amp. Unless you're looking to really tweak the sound, I've found the presets to be adequate for blues and classic rock.


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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:46 am
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Ceri wrote:
Now I'll make way for our colleagues to tell you all their famous and highly expensive boutique pedals that you surely cannot be without! (My own suggestion would be the Blackstar HT-Dual pedal - check it out...)
Cheers - C


Good one.
Now I'm too embarassed to mention any boutique distortions.
I'll just go play my Big Muff Pi now.....

Love,
Todd

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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:56 am
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I got to tell you, I actually love the sound of small tube amps. I can get a great overdrive tone, without having to get the volume up to a point where the walls around me fall down. I was using a 15 watt princeton reverb, and I loved the tone. I dont have any experience with the vibro and super champs though, from what I understand, they're like a hybrid tube/ solid state....


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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:16 am
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Todd Montgomery wrote:
Ceri wrote:
Now I'll make way for our colleagues to tell you all their famous and highly expensive boutique pedals that you surely cannot be without! (My own suggestion would be the Blackstar HT-Dual pedal - check it out...)
Cheers - C


Good one.
Now I'm too embarassed to mention any boutique distortions.
I'll just go play my Big Muff Pi now.....

Love,
Todd


I'm a Big Muff PI man myself along with a TS9/808! I won't mention anymore, I'm with you Todd :) The right amp means the world though! :wink:


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:24 am
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fhopkins wrote:
Todd Montgomery wrote:
Ceri wrote:
Now I'll make way for our colleagues to tell you all their famous and highly expensive boutique pedals that you surely cannot be without! (My own suggestion would be the Blackstar HT-Dual pedal - check it out...)
Cheers - C


Good one.
Now I'm too embarassed to mention any boutique distortions.
I'll just go play my Big Muff Pi now.....

Love,
Todd


I'm a Big Muff PI man myself along with a TS9/808! I won't mention anymore, I'm with you Todd :) The right amp means the world though! :wink:


Yes, the amp - tone is king. If the amp won't get you a good sound, you're just overdriving crap. That's why amp-modelers are so popular. Cheaper than buying a dozen great amps. But they don't move any more air.

Love,
Todd

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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:29 am
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Ceri wrote:
For the sounds of most of the players you named you are going to need an overdrive pedal - as you know. The Tubescreamer or the Boss Blues Driver are famous standards precisely because they do that job very nicely. I also like the Boss OD (overdrive) pedals better than the DS (distortion) ones: a richer, bigger sound, and more appropriate to what you are looking for.

But if you are new to the world of drive and distortion pedals how about starting out with one of the "portmanteau" units? Amongst others I also have a Digitech Distortion Factory. That's a modeller which emulates the sounds of seven famous pedals - Google it and see what it has to offer.

What's useful about a pedal like that is that for a very reasonable price you not only get the sounds you are after but others that you might not have thought about as well. For instance, that Distortion Factory includes a sim of Digitech's own Metal Zone pedal, which is one I would never have bought in a million years - and yet I find it gives me some interesting sounds to mess with that I would not otherwise have at my fingertips.

A fun toy.

Now I'll make way for our colleagues to tell you all their famous and highly expensive boutique pedals that you surely cannot be without! (My own suggestion would be the Blackstar HT-Dual pedal - check it out...)

Cheers - C


How about the Boss OS-2, which is either overdrive or distortion. You can also mix the two to get all kinds of different sounds. I've enjoyed mine so far.

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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:42 am
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windwalker9649 wrote:
I got to tell you, I actually love the sound of small tube amps. I can get a great overdrive tone, without having to get the volume up to a point where the walls around me fall down. I was using a 15 watt princeton reverb, and I loved the tone. I dont have any experience with the vibro and super champs though, from what I understand, they're like a hybrid tube/ solid state....


Far too true. I tried a blues jr before i bought my vibrochamp and thought it was too loud for home not loud enough to gig. It didnt sound its best unless it was loud, when granted it sounded great. The vibrochamp on the otherhand can be played quite comfortably between 7 and 10 on the volume control where the poweramp valve really pushes hard. The amps a class A too so its poweramp clipping is far sweeter than class a/b, its poweramp clipping is far more responsive to guitar volume control than class A/B too. They are hybrid amps with the digital processing happening on the pre-amp. It really doesnt bother me and i cant hear much difference except that the preamp gain has a smoother control to it. If you look at pretty much every amp designed since 1981 and see the ammount of diode clipping going on alongside preamp valves, you will see how this form of valve and chip mix works so well.
The only thing i've done to mine is make a 1x10 cab for it. The como's speaker isnt the best.


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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:53 am
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nikininja wrote:
windwalker9649 wrote:
I got to tell you, I actually love the sound of small tube amps. I can get a great overdrive tone, without having to get the volume up to a point where the walls around me fall down. I was using a 15 watt princeton reverb, and I loved the tone. I dont have any experience with the vibro and super champs though, from what I understand, they're like a hybrid tube/ solid state....


Far too true. I tried a blues jr before i bought my vibrochamp and thought it was too loud for home not loud enough to gig. It didnt sound its best unless it was loud, when granted it sounded great. The vibrochamp on the otherhand can be played quite comfortably between 7 and 10 on the volume control where the poweramp valve really pushes hard. The amps a class A too so its poweramp clipping is far sweeter than class a/b, its poweramp clipping is far more responsive to guitar volume control than class A/B too. They are hybrid amps with the digital processing happening on the pre-amp. It really doesnt bother me and i cant hear much difference except that the preamp gain has a smoother control to it. If you look at pretty much every amp designed since 1981 and see the ammount of diode clipping going on alongside preamp valves, you will see how this form of valve and chip mix works so well.
The only thing i've done to mine is make a 1x10 cab for it. The como's speaker isnt the best.

I should try one out. I may go for a small 5 watt tube, i hear they even make 1 watt tube amps, dont know how they will sound though. Actully isnt the vibrochamp a 5 watt.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:59 am
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It is. If you want a 1 watt then look to sheldon amps be warned they are extremely expensive boutique amps
http://www.sheldonamps.com/truetone/tt3.htm
these retail between £750-£950 3 watts switchable to 1 watt, sound tremendous and the red one looks like satans handbag. Dont be fooled by ther lack of controls. Ive spent loads of time playing em and can tell you every sound you want is in there.


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