Anybody go crazy and use straight pedals for dirt?

[Gooseman]

I am contemplating doing this right now. I am contemplating just moving on to a Port City Pearl Amp as my main amp, and just putting dirt pedals in front. That is stupid and regrettable, right? I mean, I haven't really gigged with pedals before and its not like I don't love my Roadster or 1987x. I just want the simplicity of a one channel clean amp (that is beautiful by the way), and various dirt pedals for different gain sounds. Hmmm.

 

[dstroud]

I've never had great results with pedals into straight clean. I've had much better results with pedals into a slightly broken up amp and just use a combo of the pedal and volume pot on the guitar to get the desired clean sound.

 

[The Hoff]

I've thought about doing this a bunch of times. It works, isn't too bad but, definitely not the same. I'll get use to the tone and think it sounds great (which it does) but then when I plug in my tube amp-no comparison.

 

[steve_k]

Not me.....I much prefer spending $40,000 on amps to find the good dirt

Fake dirt sounds.......fake

 

[university81]

i use straight pedals into a hiwatt custom 100 .. the thing won't break up without attenuation =0

i tried a load of different pedals, at one point i was using two ODs together which did sound great for certain lead parts, but there was always a little something missing, the tracking/amp like character is hard to get out of some pedals running chips at 9v

took the hiwatt to the local music store, and tried a blackstar ht dual ... sold me on the spot
i took a step further and had it modded by a german amp tech/modder

in my experience it is doable, i would agree amp dirt is most likely better, but i'm still yet to find an amp that offers me not only the dirt but the versatility and sounds i get out of my pedalboard , usually a great dirt channel won't have the best clean etc.. unless you're paying big dollar

in this case i have a killer clean , and colour it with pedals,

the biggest advantage is i see my whole effects chain at my feet, and no playing around with effects loops/rack units/midi controllers, or having extra long cables running from the amp to the front just for some delay/reverb as well as having boosts and what not in front, it's all in front of me

here's a pic of what i use

the BB preamp is being used as a clean boost, i would get an EP booster, but i like the flexibility of the BB as i don't have that much pedalboard room, the noah's ark is just a loop switcher

i guess i should do some samples of it at some stage probably easier

 

[Shark Diver]

I just got a Hiwatt DR103/SLO hybrid which has me thinking of a rig like this. I'd still rack it all in a looper.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

I am contemplating doing this right now. I am contemplating just moving on to a Port City Pearl Amp as my main amp, and just putting dirt pedals in front. That is stupid and regrettable, right? I mean, I haven't really gigged with pedals before and its not like I don't love my Roadster or 1987x. I just want the simplicity of a one channel clean amp (that is beautiful by the way), and various dirt pedals for different gain sounds. Hmmm.

It can be done.

In the 90's I used an old tube based PA head and cabinet and pedals up front for all the distortion sounds. It was cheap and all I could afford at the time.

It actually worked quite well and I used that setup in a band and in a few live shows. The key (imo) was the old tubed based PA head in that it provided warm, relatively neutral tube power to warm up the pedal distortion.

 

[Gooseman]

Thanks for the responses. I remember playing in a band with a guy who used mainly boxes for his dirt. I used to get pissed because he wouldn't add enough grit to his sound, thus making his tone (which was essentially more clean than gritty, and not as compressed) stand out more than mine. It became a volume battle of epic proportions. Anyways, I definitely don't want to end up with that sort of sound. I love the dirt on the Roadster, but I don't think the clean channels are all that great. They are serviceable and good, especially the tweed clean tones, but they do have this slight breakup to them that I can't stand. I think it is just the nature of having such a high gain head.

If going strictly pedal dirt will in the end be regrettable, maybe I'll just sell the amps I have and go with two separate rack amps. I've contemplated this too. Seems better than hauling around two gigantic heads or combos. I could buy the Electra Dyne and Lonestar Rackmounts, then put my pedals in there as well, accessing everything with a RJM. Then just bring two Port City Wave 112s for each amp. This way, I'd have a dedicated clean amp and dedicated dirt amp.

 

[ttosh]

Pedals into a Marshal 1987 or 1959SLP slightly broken up sounds excellent for 70s, 80s and early 90s music. Not so sure if you want todays more modern music but for rock/hard rock and early metal it sounds as good as tube amp distortion/drive and is less expensive and more versatile in the long run. YMMV.

 

[TeleBlaster]

Yes. My "small" rig is a Chadwick single in to a 2x12 with a Distortus Maximus in front. Sounds as good as my 100w + 4x12, but at a volume more appropriate for smaller stages.

 

[rupe]

I do that from time to time with my Matchless Chieftain, although it's tone is typically already a bit broken up with the guitar's volume wide open before any pedal is added. The key is finding the right pedal to blend with your particular amp.

 

[Meathead]

I tried just using pedals for gain...didn't work. It's a journey that many should try though, to get to the point of realizing what I realized.
I tried a lot of pedals (higher gain, lower gain, stacking multiple pedals, tube pedals...) I'm confident now that amp gain (with boosts) is the way to go (for me).

 

[threadkiller]

It will work and can sound good, as long as you don't a/b it with your high gain amp you'll probably be happy with it.

 

[glip22]

I run a Dyna Red Distortion into a Colonial Heritage and it sounds great.

 

[Meathead]

It will work and can sound good, as long as you don't a/b it with your high gain amp you'll probably be happy with it.

LOL
That's what happened to me.
I went back to my Peters Polaris amp with a boost and thought 'oh crap, I can't possibly get that nice of tone and feel with pedals into a clean amp...not possible'.

 

[Hua and a tele]

It will work and can sound good, as long as you don't a/b it with your high gain amp you'll probably be happy with it.

Or you take the time to find the right amp and pedals for the application and it sounds better than the high gain amp you own and you stick with it.

 

[polaris20]

I kinda do both. While I'm not a big fan of using a TS-type pedal as a boost, I still like using a dirt box on the clean channel of my DC for a different sound. But I still think the regular gain channel sounds better.

 

[BenoA]

Lotsa dirt flavor out there, pick according to your budget and taste:

Pete does a good demo of the Plexitone here, I think it sounds very good for a dirt pedal:

Or for a EVH kinda tone, this pedal sounds quite good:

Or Mark's video of the Suhr Riot shows that a dirt pedal can do the job:

Myself demoing the AMT E1, it's recorded direct but does an awesome job into a clean amp too:

 

[dstroud]

Lotsa dirt flavor out there, pick according to your budget and taste:

Pete does a good demo of the Plexitone here, I think it sounds very good for a dirt pedal:

Or for a EVH kinda tone, this pedal sounds quite good:

Or Mark's video of the Suhr Riot shows that a dirt pedal can do the job:

Myself demoing the AMT E1, it's recorded direct but does an awesome job into a clean amp too:

I think it's easier to make a pedal sound good on recording as opposed to how it feels standing next to it. That's just my experience with the various pedals I've tried. However, my Sansamp GT2 into a 400 watt solid state power amp into a 4x12 was pretty rocking!

 

[BenoA]

I played all of these pedals I posted above, but not side by side though (I wish I could have).

To be true, the Riot, Plexitone and Pinnacle sounded pretty badass and very convincing. They were all very dynamic too. I think if matched with the proper clean amp, they can do a very good "dirt" job as the OP asked for.

As for the AMT E1, I played it for a few minutes at band volume into the FX return of my 6505 and it sounded very good. It was a short test and I plan trying for the full rehearsal time next week with my band.