Do you hear only pedal tone when boosting? Or, just a better version of the amp boosted?

[DanTravis62]

On the Mark series amps, I'd say the EQ serves as the boost/cut at various frequencies, so they really don't need another one in front. Plus all the pull/push knobs and it's totally unnecessary.

That's a good point. The only reason the Mark series doesn't need a boost is that there is already functionally one built into the preamp.

Apparently the 99.999% of amps ever made that don't offer this feature (especially marshall for some reason) are all complete shit, because DiODeZ or something. I'm definitely curious to hear some clips of some hardcore palm muted metal tones on a plexi, recto, SLO, or similar that don't fart out though.

If just one of these holy anti-boost Paladins offers us a crumb of their sacred knowledge, it will change the guitar gear world forever!

 

[stephen sawall]

I always thought it was kind of odd that adjustable LPF are extremely common and adjustable HPF are fairly rare. Both are extremely useful.

Turning up seems to fix a lot of issues. Some sounds it's just a lot easier to achieve.

I have seen a Les Paul with both tone controls always on and one of the LPF is replaced with a HPF. One of the guys in Blackfoot had one. Basically to tighten the sound. That was in the 70's.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Yeah that's not the reason anyone uses a boost with those types of amps AFAIK. The "amount" of gain isn't the issue, and it isn't the reason people use boost pedals; it's the way the low end farts out on palm mutes playing heavy music. That's the entire reason people use that method. They aren't even using the "dirt" from the pedal OR pushing the amp into additional gain.


While yes with a plexi you are pushing the preamp to add gain, you aren't really adding the pedal's dirt when you are using the standard method, you are clean boosting and using it to cut the bass into the preamp to keep it from getting flubby. The gain is from the clean boost pushing the preamp tubes.

I honestly think this is just a lack of knowledge about high gain tones and how they work. Rack man has stated multiple times about how he hates heavy music and blah blah.

This would be like me joining the telecaster country forum and telling them they are retards for using a compressor with their clean chicken pickin because who needs a compressor amirite?

And the truth comes out. Half of us hear high gain and think high gain. The other half hear high gain and think anything with more gain than a fender...

Yes, if you are playing long sustained cowboy chords, you don't need to tighten anything. When you learn how to play big boy high gain, then show us hiw amused you are by needing to tighten up an amp, lmao

 

[BlueParfait]

tbh I will confess that I rarely boost my amp either lol

I just play with the bass no higher than 10 o'clock then cut at 110Hz in post anyways

But even then for some sounds, boosting just sounds better

Edit: wait that's not fucking true. I have a mid boost pedal that's been always on since 2024 lmao I FORGOT I had it on all the time

 

[DanTravis62]

And the truth comes out. Half of us hear high gain and think high gain. The other half hear high gain and think anything with more gain than a fender...

Yes, if you are playing long sustained cowboy chords, you don't need to tighten anything. When you learn how to play big boy high gain, then show us hiw amused you are by needing to tighten up an amp, lmao

Yeah i would love to hear one of these guys, just one fucking time, do a close miced clip of high gain playing without a boost to demonstrate for us peons how real tones are created.

There are a handful of amps that can do this, for sure. But they are few and far between, even now in 2026.

The fact that they think a boost is so stupid, superfluous, etc, is either proof they have no fucking clue what they are talking about, or they are secretly a fucking genius who's figured some solution out that none of the millions of guitar players the last 40 years have thought of. And the clip (it would have to be through a recto, SLO, 2203, etc) would prove it one way or the other.

I just love how every jackass on the internet is convinced they are soooo much smarter than the entire electric guitar and recording/engineering community for the past four decades. As if they have some secret knowledge that no one else has.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Yeah i would love to hear one of these guys, just one fucking time, do a close miced clip of high gain playing without a boost to demonstrate for us peons how real tones are created.

There are a handful of amps that can do this, for sure. But they are few and far between, even now in 2026.

The fact that they think a boost is so stupid, superfluous, etc, is either proof they have no fucking clue what they are talking about, or they are secretly a fucking genius who's figured some solution out that none of the millions of guitar players the last 40 years have thought of. And the clip (it would have to be through a recto, SLO, 2203, etc) would prove it one way or the other.

I just love how every jackass on the internet is convinced they are soooo much smarter than the entire electric guitar and recording/engineering community for the past four decades. As if they have some secret knowledge that no one else has.

I see the disconnect in theory. You get a lot of clips where people have their gain turned up way too high on the amp and at that point, the amp is going to sound bad with or without a boost. But if you let your master be the gain and only turn up the gain to fill in the low end and mids, then you have the ticket.

Sometimes you can get a useable sound without boosting in the room. But the mic is thirsty, and that clean boost often fills it

 

[DanTravis62]

I see the disconnect in theory. You get a lot of clips where people have their gain turned up way too high on the amp and at that point, the amp is going to sound bad with or without a boost. But if you let your master be the gain and only turn up the gain to fill in the low end and mids, then you have the ticket.

Sometimes you can get a useable sound without boosting in the room. But the mic is thirsty, and that clean boost often fills it

Oh 100%

But the amount of gain isn't the reason for the boost - the reason for the boost is that once you turn the gain up enough to get the right amount of saturation, every palm mute farts out completely. It does it on every 2203, recto, slo, et al, that have ever been cranked up.

That's why people successfully do it with a HPF, EQ pedals in addition to overdrive pedals, and the same reason why a C+ or a mark 3 doesn't need a boost - because youre turning the bass down and then turning it back up with the GEQ.

If you just crank the gain up on those amps, its still going to fart out AND be a complete mess. And either 1. Rackman is full of shit and doesn't know what he's talking about or 2. He, like chug, has come up with some novel solution to this problem that has vexed every engineer on planet earth since 1985, and is secretly a genius who doesn't want to share this solution with the world.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

Germane only to tube pre-amp.
If the amp isn’t operating near its peak potential then I hear pedal. If the amp is at peak then it amp, and I’m not pushing into insanely high gain level, just enough to get the natural breakup to saturate. If the amp sounds good then just clean boost it.

 

[rsm]

responding to another thread, I just realized when I use my JTM 45 or 1959HW; besides playing them loud, I usually use guitars with higher output pickups.; humbuckers. Ibanez PS10 with Duncan '59, and Custom 5; Gibson LP Standard with DiMarzio SD/Super2, or Jackson Rhoads with Duncan Blackouts,...

When I use my Fender Strat, I use my Hendrix board, with a germanium Fuzz Face always on.

So I'm boosting with or without pedals.