Do you ever feel let down by an amp that NEEDS a boost or OD to sound good?

Orvillain

Orvillain

Rock Star
Richard Cranium
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8,340
Is it just me???

I can't help but feel this way sometimes. Historically, I didn't like using boosts or OD pedals. I was a amp purist - if the amp couldn't sound hype as fuck without augmenting, I wasn't interested.

I can't think of the number of amps I flogged because I was being an idiot!!

I'm much more pliant when it comes to boosting amps now. In fact, I really enjoy it. It is quite fun to compare the SD-1, Tumnus Deluxe, and a tubescreamer.

Still.... I do look at how much my Diezel VH4 and Orange Rockerverb cost, and I feel this sense of entitlement that I know is not at all deserved! My amp should sound fucking epic without this godamn pedal! It cost way too much!
 
100000% yes. IMO people way overuse boosts these days. There's a time and place for it and sometimes the sound makes for something that's worthwhile. So often though, it's just the wrong amp and the boost just turns it into a different kind of wrong that's a bit more forgiving to play.

Just looking around my amps, and I think generally speaking, I've sold off any amps that "need" a boost. The 2203's definitely benefit them IF you want a certain sound but they do something worthwhile without. Things like the 5150, Bogner, Recto, Friedman, VTM120, JEL, Mark III, DSL, Vintage Modern, JMP-1, 8100 etc - all absolutely sick with no boost at all, and they can mostly take boosts really well to coax other tones with. I do find the Multi Watt feels like it wants a boost to me more than I ever feel with the Rev G which I usually play without a boost. Maybe I need to check the preamp valves a bit as it's not my amp..... Always find it odd when I see digital guys dialling in tones and they're instantly picking and amp AND boost together without hesitation.

I think it's dead simple for an amp designer to adjust their circuit so you don't need to trim off low end, or hit the front end harder, or add more gain etc.
 
Do you ever feel let down by an amp that NEEDS a boost or OD to sound good?
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Nope, I've accepted the fact that some very legendary tones are achievable only with a boost.
Cranked Normal channel of AC30 sounds like absolute shit, put a RangeMaster in front, instant Brian May.
Same thing with Normal channel on any Plexi, put a RangeMaster in front, instant Judas Priest, Blackmore.
JCM800 Zakk Wylde, etc.

Finding a fitting boost for a particular amp is part of the fun for me.
 
For sure. It always feels just a little bit wrong somehow? Like I spent all this money on a really nice amp except it doesn't do the sound I want without that pedal up front.

I know it's silly because good sound is good sound no matter how you achieve it.
 
I find adding Dive/Boost is a great way to the tones and tone shaper your looking for
IE a Boss SD Overdrive or TS in front of a Marshall
 
Honestly? No. I have never felt that way. I mean short of a Plexi or a twin I don't think that I've ever needed to boost (which I'd usually have a stomp box in front of) to such an extent that I couldn't get usable results out of an amp. I also really don't use that much gain nor play metal though.

Not generally trying to be contrary but the cats I kind of came up around we're always pretty light on gain if you were playing dirty just for clarity unless it was for some sort of special effect.
 
PLX said:
99% of the time the pedal is just tightening up the low end, not really boosting.

:rollsafe
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even still, no. i think why, though, is cause if an amp had a meh dirt stage, id run it clean and add what i needed. i mean.. there were like five available affordable choices when i started playing 😄
 
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I don't know if let down is the right term for me but I definitely know when an amp "needs" one. You can play the MultiWatt without one, but it has a SLOW response. The JVM "needs" nothing, though you can certainly dress it up a bit with outboard boosts and have it sounding KILLER. I do think we've become a boost addicted over the course of the last decade+. I never boosted anything prior to getting into digital for whatever reason. I do know the feeling of "oh; I have to goose this thing to get where I want?" and be a little disappointed.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I don't know if let down is the right term for me but I definitely know when an amp "needs" one. You can play the MultiWatt without one, but it has a SLOW response. The JVM "needs" nothing, though you can certainly dress it up a bit with outboard boosts and have it sounding KILLER. I do think we've become a boost addicted over the course of the last decade+. I never boosted anything prior to getting into digital for whatever reason. I do know the feeling of "oh; I have to goose this thing to get where I want?" and be a little disappointed.
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Damn right, JT

:cop
 
I don’t have an issue with an amp needing a boost, but I usually take issue with the notion that particular amps are useless without boosting.

I personally feel that a lot of the boosting craze is propagated through mysterious internet wisdom. People just assume they need to boost as a prerequisite for a responsive high gain tone because they read it everywhere.

In reality, many people are just using too much preamp gain and not enough volume to get the power section and speakers working, which I tend to find a requirement for a good crunch tone.

I do enjoy boosting sometimes though, mostly for textural changes more than tightening stuff up.
 
The Carvin Legacy was that amp for me

Ordered it without ever playing one back in the day and absolutely hated the drive channel by itself.

Eventually I just started using it as a power amp for my ENGL e530 preamp lol
 
I love having a boost, just to tighten it up the low end which I could do with an EQ. It's not for more gain - I'll usually turn the gain down on the amp to compensate, and there's always that sweet spot where my palm mutes are percussive and tight and have a growl I like.

Maybe I’m indoctrinated. Can’t go back now, same with using chorus.
 
Devin said:
The Carvin Legacy was that amp for me

Ordered it without ever playing one back in the day and absolutely hated the drive channel by itself.

Eventually I just started using it as a power amp for my ENGL e530 preamp lol
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Talk about incorrect assumptions I think most everyone had!
 
i never really understood the never boosting/no eq in the loop guys, it just seems silly to me to cut yourself off from any kind of tool to get better tone, especially when you have a bunch of guitars and amps where maybe they dont always match up perfectly. i boost my amps that dont need it just to get different flavors
 
I think a lot of it probably has to do with what kind of amps you grew up with. If you self-sorted into the multi-channel amp camp, you (rightly) expect more from an amp than someone who is used to throwing tons of pedals in front of something like a plexi or deluxe or super reverb.
 
I’d rather have the option to boost and choose the boost I like best than have an amp that tries to bake it in for me. There are so many ways to boost that all produce very different sounds.

Also sometimes I want the amp tone not boosted. I find amps designed to not need a boost don’t clean up or respond as well because of the extra gain staging baked in that I can’t turn on/off with a footswitch.

And some tones just aren’t achievable without the combination of an amp and something else in front of it.
 
JiveTurkey said:
you can certainly dress it up a bit with outboard boosts and have it sounding KILLER.
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Boost engaged. Coming from a very different genre -- for a long time I played a Fender-style guitar into a black panel amp with some sort of overdrive always on, even if the gain was at near zero. I finally realized that...maybe I was just using the wrong amp with those guitars. Now I typically only use black panel amps with P90s or hum buckers unless going for the spank.

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