The joys of pedal stacking

[la szum]

As an addendum, I have also found some pedals to be a bit stiff and not always a great match
with a squishy amp. All about what we are aiming for, and what kinds of tools we have on hand
to help get us there.

 

[DrewJD82]

I predict I'll eventually end up with an amp that has enough headroom/completely clean platform just for running dirt pedals into. The gritty Plexi thing is great to stack shit on and there's a million tones to be found in there, but I briefly saw the appeal of high headroom and dirt pedals running stuff into the Shiva's clean channel when I had it.

 

[EOengineer]

I predict I'll eventually end up with an amp that has enough headroom/completely clean platform just for running dirt pedals into. The gritty Plexi thing is great to stack shit on and there's a million tones to be found in there, but I briefly saw the appeal of high headroom and dirt pedals running stuff into the Shiva's clean channel when I had it.

*cough* Mesa Mark V *cough*

I’ve noticed a number of very cheap Fender Twins recently though. I suppose it depends on how big you want to go.

The Mesa would be overkill if you ONLY want the cleans.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I ran my Smash Box into the clean channel of the Multiwatt the other day. Similar experience.

 

[la szum]

I predict I'll eventually end up with an amp that has enough headroom/completely clean platform just for running dirt pedals into. The gritty Plexi thing is great to stack shit on and there's a million tones to be found in there, but I briefly saw the appeal of high headroom and dirt pedals running stuff into the Shiva's clean channel when I had it.

Ampeg SVT!





Life's too damn short to get hung up on one way of doing things. Diversity
and a plethora of options and possibilities are there for us to explore and
investigate. Why would anyone not want to do so?

All kinds of great tones are possible with all kinds of different setups. Just a fact.

 

[metropolis_4]

I stopped stacking pedals when I went digital because it just doesn’t work there. But now that I’m back using amps I’m loving it again!

My favorite approach is to have a fairly warm and full clean base tone (not too clean), then have a first layer overdrive that brightens it up, adds top end sparkle, and cuts/tightens bass (like a BluesBreaker). Then have a second layer overdrive to stack on top of the first that adds gain and thickens up the sound again.

So I have fat warm cleans, tight jangly “British” low gain drive, and thick full distortion.

There is such a great array of textures you can create that you just can’t get out of any amp on its own. I see amp overdrive and pedal overdrive as two totally separate things. Both do things the other will never do as well.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

This is the main reason I miss my A.man sunface

Which sunface did you have?

 

[Eagle]

Sir David Gilmour on line 3 would like a word with you.

Dave sounds great though anything.
This was in the studio last time I saw him;

He played on my friends charity single.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I stopped stacking pedals when I went digital because it just doesn’t work there.

Hm, I think it works quite well using some pedals of the HX-verse.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Which sunface did you have?

I had a BART (bigass russian transistors)

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I had a BART (bigass russian transistors)

Never played one of those or had any of those transistors to mess about with. Would love to try one. I built a sun face with some really old bc183LCs which I love. My favourite three fuzz face versions are my sunface bc183 clone, JHF1 and a Thorpyfx Tacit Blue clone.

 

[metropolis_4]

Hm, I think it works quite well using some pedals of the HX-verse.

I’ve personally never liked it in HX, Fractal, Boss, Kemper, QC, or any other digital device I’ve used.

It never sounds natural to me. The two pedals don’t blend they way I expect, instead they always sound like one is sort of layered on top of the other

 

[the swede]

It’s interesting, especially with several pedals. I only have a ODR and a Carcosa, but I discovered that finding good lower gain sounds in each pedal makes it easier to combine them. So I’m really happy about just making two pedals sound good on their own as well as together. That’s a huge achievement personaly.

And that sums up what I’ve read about this but never understood. Those who make this an art form is truly good at choosing pedals and pair them… damn science bastards… it’s the right circuits and the right combinations and it’s all so… weird.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I’ve personally never liked it in HX, Fractal, Boss, Kemper, QC, or any other digital device I’ve used.

It never sounds natural to me. The two pedals don’t blend they way I expect, instead they always sound like one is sort of layered on top of the other

Hm, dunno. Here's some quick noodling (just playing with the patch right now, I really like that one, so I pressed record):



Kinky Boost into Top Secret OD into Voltage amp (which is yet another overdriven stage). I think it sounds quite nice, getting wooly and fuzzy with the guitar turned up and cleaning up nicely when taking the volume pot and picking back.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Never played one of those or had any of those transistors to mess about with. Would love to try one. I built a sun face with some really old bc183LCs which I love. My favourite three fuzz face versions are my sunface bc183 clone, JHF1 and a Thorpyfx Tacit Blue clone.

I really liked the EQD dreamcrusher I had…. It seemed to have way more output/gain than other FF varieties I’ve tried. Thing definitely doom’ed

 

[FuzzyAce]

I've always enjoyed stacking. OD-3 into a TS9 (or Green Rhino MK4) is a fun one. Amp50, DOD250, RAT, all can sound cool stacked with other gain. The only hiccup can be when one pedal from the stack is disengaged, the other might not being at its optimal standalone tone. It's often a compromise.

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[EOengineer]

Never played one of those or had any of those transistors to mess about with. Would love to try one. I built a sun face with some really old bc183LCs which I love. My favourite three fuzz face versions are my sunface bc183 clone, JHF1 and a Thorpyfx Tacit Blue clone.

The JHF1 is really a modern classic that flies under the radar IMO. It’s so close to my favorite Ge fuzz with none of the characteristic instability.

 

[JasonE]

I have played pedals into a clean amp more than I have used amps with drive in them. I have played most of my gigs in the last decade through an amp that is a hand wired version of a Vibrolux Reverb. That amp sounds fantastic clean and has great reverb in it. It takes pedals well. I also have a 65 Fender Twin reissue that works great for this.

I also have one of the first Peavey JSX 2x12 combo amps that came out. I used the crunch channel in this amp for my drive sounds and hit it with an OD for some extra push and for solos. This amp also have a great clean channel that you can't make break up at all. That is because Joe has always used pedals for his dirt so they made the clean channel on the amp stay clean and take pedals well. I have a Triple XXX that got some stage time for a while as well. I like the clean and crunch channels in this map too. They are similar to the JSX.

These amps have been my go to amps for probably the last 25 years or more. They have all held up really well for me.

 

[DrewJD82]

I could live on the Normal channel, volume on 5 of the Ceriatone Plexi50; stacking a Lovetone Tchula and Vintage/Modern on top of it. There's also the Lovepedal Multi-Tap in front of the amp, reverb and reverse delay from my AxeFX.



The Tchula is first (0:43), then I know I go through the Vintage Modern on it's own before combining it with other stuff. I can't wait to get back into a vacant office to crank this up, knowing a bit more about how to dial this amp in.