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

Riffraff said:
Decades ago my 1st Marshall was a '93 1959SLP.
I was kind of disappointed at first at how clean it was then I hit the front end with a SD1 with it's volume up 3/4's and it's drive at 1. Disappointment quickly became awe.
I miss that amp.
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The 4 hole Marshalls can cover an absurd amount of ground with a good boost. Awesome cleans, nasty mid gain crunch, and biting high gain all from your guitar’s volume knob and one pedal.

The Klon is my favorite Marshall boost this week.
 
Mikael Dez said:
I mean you have a point. My playing style might be so used to it that it’s a crutch 🤷
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It's not necessarily a crutch, it's just your preference.

Don't get me wrong, I LIKE boosts. I always have one on my board. But if for some reason, I don't have my pedalboard with me and I have to play a show with the average channel switcher or even an 800, would I be able to do it? Yes.

Pedals are fun though. Boost, delay etc. It's all good. I just don't think they're necessities, as much as they are extra flavoring.
 
GuitarBilly74 said:
Don't get me wrong, I LIKE boosts. I always have one on my board. But if for some reason, I don't have my pedalboard with me and I have to play a show with the average channel switcher or even an 800, would I be able to do it? Yes.
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That's a different thing though. If I had to get through a show, I could do it with any gear.

What made me make this thread is, I genuinely think my Orange Rockerverb and Diezel amps sound better with an OD acting as boost and tone shaper in the front end, and I pondered to myself, these amps were fucking expensive.... and to get the sound I love out of them, I need to augment.

Then I got to thinking... my Mark V, I don't need to. Except, the channel EQ's on the Mark V are pre-gain, so using them to shape the character of the distortion is very similar in concept to using a boost.

But with the Mark V, I don't have that instant kneejerk thing where I judge myself for using a boost. Even though in reality, it is the same damn thing.
 
It’s all just electronics. I don’t care if gain comes from a boost circuit in my guitar, a boost pedal, a JFET/SS boost/EQ with boost stage built into the amp, an extra tube stage built into the amp, or a digital boost built into the modeler.

All that matters is what it sounds like at the end of the chain.
 
Orvillain said:
That's a different thing though. If I had to get through a show, I could do it with any gear.

What made me make this thread is, I genuinely think my Orange Rockerverb and Diezel amps sound better with an OD acting as boost and tone shaper in the front end, and I pondered to myself, these amps were fucking expensive.... and to get the sound I love out of them, I need to augment.

Then I got to thinking... my Mark V, I don't need to. Except, the channel EQ's on the Mark V are pre-gain, so using them to shape the character of the distortion is very similar in concept to using a boost.

But with the Mark V, I don't have that instant kneejerk thing where I judge myself for using a boost. Even though in reality, it is the same damn thing.
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I find with my Mark V it's the 2nd channel that feels like it could use an extra kick from a boost. Its gain range ends up just a little bit short for what I'd like, or maybe it just doesn't get as saturated as I'd prefer. Meanwhile the Mark I mode has a ton of gain, but it's not usable because it has so much bass.

I get what you are saying though, that early knob EQ is very much doing the same things as many pedals. It gets even weirder with e.g the Mesa Triple Crown which apparently has a Tube Screamer circuit built in as a boost function. But because it's already built in, it feels like just another feature.
 
GuitarBilly74 said:
My hot take: most amps with gain don't need a boost. It's the player that does.
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Dick Wolf Burn GIF by Wolf Entertainment
 
HomespunEffects said:
Dick Wolf Burn GIF by Wolf Entertainment
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😂 well I said it was a hot take lol

To be clear, I'm not anti-boost. I have all the major boost flavors here (TS, Klon, SD etc) and I use them all the time. I don't think they're a crutch. But I see them more as an additional color than a necessity.


Orvillain said:
That's a different thing though. If I had to get through a show, I could do it with any gear.

What made me make this thread is, I genuinely think my Orange Rockerverb and Diezel amps sound better with an OD acting as boost and tone shaper in the front end, and I pondered to myself, these amps were fucking expensive.... and to get the sound I love out of them, I need to augment.

Then I got to thinking... my Mark V, I don't need to. Except, the channel EQ's on the Mark V are pre-gain, so using them to shape the character of the distortion is very similar in concept to using a boost.

But with the Mark V, I don't have that instant kneejerk thing where I judge myself for using a boost. Even though in reality, it is the same damn thing.
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Yeah I hear you. I think we're saying the same thing, which is, matching the amp to the player.
I'm sure you know some guys that use the Rockerverb or especially the Diezel unboosted and they're perfectly fine with it.

Now something like a Twin or Jazz Chorus definitely needs some kind of pedal to get heavy. But with amps with gain, it's more of a color thing.
 
GuitarBilly74 said:
To be clear, I'm not anti-boost. I have all the major boost flavors here (TS, Klon, SD etc) and I use them all the time. I don't think they're a crutch. But I see them more as an additional color than a necessity.
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Similar approach here where if I’m using a dirt pedal it’s usually for color or texture. I find that especially with Marshalls, a lower gain fuzz used as a boost can do interesting things to the shape of the signal while still keeping a lot of the OG amp flavor.
 
My Laney GH100s for instance.. on its own its cool, for 70s kind of sabbath rock its great, but for the thrashy and heavier stuff i mostly play its just too fat and loose on its own, with 81's and my klone and a few others it turns into a total beast and records great.
 
Orvillain said:
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!
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My pizza should taste amazing as a stock if I'm paying 20 bucks!

Do you like it with chili sauce or without it?
Your od/boost pedal is your chili sauce.
 
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