Solo boost pedals???

  • Thread starter Thread starter Serratus
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Serratus

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Hi all,
Just a question really.
The other guitarist in my band has just bought an Orange Rockerverb which sounds great, but is only two channel - clean and dirty.
So he needs a boost for solos, and we've tried a couple of pedals in front of the amp but they dont seem to give in much of a boost in volume. He's now got a Vox Saturator which should give a big boost, but although it gives more gain and a bit more 'cut' it still doesnt lift the overall volume enough for solos.
So what do other people do?
My amp has a boost feature built in that I can use to get a big lift in volume for solos, and I've not had an amp with only two channels before, so I dont really know how to help him.
My only other thought is to use the clean channel for rhythm (with the distortion pedal for gain when he needs it) and then keep the dirty channel only for solos, but it seems a shame not to be able to use the dirty channel for rhythm.
Any ideas anyone? Is this a common problem? It seems as tho I'm always reading about people using distortion pedals to boost a valve amp for solos, so we're a bit surprised that we cant seem to get enough of a volume lift?
Cheers,
Rich
 
Put an EQ pedal in the loop and boost the output slider.
 
Yea, this is an age old problem. Without a loop you can't put an eq or something to actually boost volume. An e.q. in front of the amp with the gain slider lowered works a little, turn it off for solo's but nothing is going to work like a 2nd master for soloing.
 
Or you could put a clean boost in the loop....... The other guitarist in my band uses a EH linear boost, I think its called the Lpb1 or something along those lines. He uses it in the loop of his 5150 and it works great....It doesnt change the tone much at all and it can boost the volume by quit a bit if needed. Its cost him $40 new and is a simple single knob pedal.

The Rockerverb does have a loop , doesnt it ?
 
Adding volume in front of a dirty amp only increases the amount of distortion. It will never raise volume.

You've got to put something in the loop.
 
It does have a loop, yes - we thought that most people put it in front of the amp so thats what we were doing. But I guess it would have much more effect in terms of volume in the loop? Presumably theres no problem with putting a pedal in the loop thats gonna boost the volume?
 
Serratus":34j2d1t4 said:
It does have a loop, yes - we thought that most people put it in front of the amp so thats what we were doing. But I guess it would have much more effect in terms of volume in the loop? Presumably theres no problem with putting a pedal in the loop thats gonna boost the volume?
Click to expand...

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... D=26018622

Get that, put it in the loop. Problem solved.
 
Be careful with pedals in the loop, some will suck the life out of the tone. If you run a non-line level pedal into a line level loop, you're going to mess up your tone to some degree.

This is a better alternative - run a little alligator pedal in the loop. It's an active volume, and you can either set it to work as a normal volume where the guitar can go all the way down/silent, OR you can set a minimum volume. Best solution I've found for several amps with effects loops.

Pete
 
I use an old mxr micro amp ( the one knobber) with a modded true-bypass in the effects loop. works perfect for me for volume boost with no apparent tone shaping.
 
Cool - thanks everyone - we'll try the saturator in the fx loop with almost no gain and just the volume up :)
 
a volume boost on a lead instrument is good, but many go way over the top.

A good way to combat this problem was explained by Steve Morse in a column a few years ago: the rest of the band- particularly rhythm guitar and keys- should play more gently, allowing more natural room for an instrument.

In hard rock this can be tough at times, but still doable- use heavy palm mutes on single strings, more stops in your playing, clean chords- not every backing solo section should be a full out rock out.

Master the art of naturally leveling and it is a thing of beauty- gives breath and life to a band. I think this might be a jazz technique from back in the days when everyone stood around 1 mic in a studio to record, stepped up for leads, and laid back when it was someone else's turn
 
stratotone":mz4nm0i5 said:
Be careful with pedals in the loop, some will suck the life out of the tone. If you run a non-line level pedal into a line level loop, you're going to mess up your tone to some degree.

This is a better alternative - run a little alligator pedal in the loop. It's an active volume, and you can either set it to work as a normal volume where the guitar can go all the way down/silent, OR you can set a minimum volume. Best solution I've found for several amps with effects loops.

Pete
Click to expand...
THIS ^^ it works just like it should
set the minimum volume for your rhythm vol, and punch up as much lead volume as you need. Tone change is minimal also
The sweep of the pedal is a bit narrow, but for a lead boost, its cheap and works
 
Code001":3paguebc said:
Put an EQ pedal in the loop and boost the output slider.
Click to expand...

+1 This is what I do if the multichannel amp has a loop. If its just a single channel amp I use a BYOC tribooster set to clean boost.
 
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