Overdrive/boost pedals question (Page 1 of 2)

Thanks for the suggestions. I had read that post you mentioned, which is where i heard about Joe mostly cranking his amp for the sweet tone. I wish I could do that. The Carl Martin pedal is something i'm going to check into along with the Keeley BD-2. ust curious if Joe or anyone else had a pref. or had tried both.

Didn't see the search tool at first, but I found a good thread where Joe recommended using a power soak and getting the amp hot for that sweet tone. I've never experimented with that, but I'll be trying it out!

thanks again

Also if you get a chance give the Fulltone FullDrive 2 a test.  It does that thick sustained distortion really well.  I as well have a Bassman and switch between the Fulltone for lead tones and a TS-9 Tubescreamer for dirty rhythm sounds.  I feel like the Fulltone really provides a full and smooth distortion sound.  Give it a try if you get a chance.

Hoodoo - I'd be willing to help any way I can.
How big of a fan are you? I might be able to send you some live shows after the new year.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping.

I don't even have a TS9. I have the TS7 Tubescreamer. I love it.

I should actually explain my home practice low volume rig..  I live in LA at a condo complex.  Very Hollywood types live here.. They have no interest in hearing the bluesboy crank up the jams late at night so I devised a rig for my house ..
1.  1987 Marshall Silver series Marshall 50 watt 1X12 combo..
2  1965 Fender Princeton Reverb or a 1957 Fender Vibrolux with a Kendrick reverb unit
3 THD Hot Plate ( for Princeton Only)
4 paired down pedal board (spare)
   AB/Both switch, Vox Wah , TS 808 RI , Fuchs Audio prototype "Creme " pedal and A boss DD-3 delay.
I get a pretty good approximation of my big rig at TV volume.. You know  watching a Law and Order Marathon and playing guitar at the same time  kinda thing. Can hear the TV and guitar at the same time.. No Broom sticks from below..( been there done that). 
Anyway.. There is always another way to get your tone..
joe bonamassa

Yeah Patty, Id be saying "Hey, Joe, turn it up man....I can't hear it"

Thanks Joe and guys! I've had quite a few gigs under my belt since trying a few things you suggested and i'm going back to the basics. I've played a few clubs that I could just crank it with a shield (using the HRD) with a Keeley TS9 and a DD3 and it's been killin'. That HRD can actually sing when cranked!

I ended up changing out the stock speaker in the HRD for the EVM12L(it was suggested in another thread) it got rid of all the mushiness when cranked, also much more of a "vocal sound". I also got some "beam blockers" which took out a lot of that harsh fender ice pick sound when cranked. I haven't tried the THD Hot Plate, need the moola first. I've decided to stay with the TS9 and DD3(didn't like the Keeley BD2, not smoove enough), if Joe says all I need is a TS9 and DD3, i'm gonna make it work! I still go back and forth between trying the Fulltone pedals, everyone seems to love em....maybe I should try em instead of the TS9? I guess that's what MF is for, try and return it;)

I also want to get that MXR clean boost, i played the none modded verison and it was very cool. Glad to hear you like it to Joe.

Oh, I also tried the turn the amp backwards thing, that was hee-larious! It was nice to get back  at my drummer for all those crash fills he likes to do. You know the drummer gets excited-lets drown the rest of the band out with my John Bonham fills! Yeeahhh!

thanks again

Hey - my first post - I stumbled upon this discussion from Google and I had to add my 2 cents. There has been some really good advice so far, but I must say that every overdrive pedal I have used significantly alters your tone. Don't get me wrong, they can sound really good (of which the Fulldrive and Keeley pedals mentioned are excellent) but they are not your amp's tone.

If you are looking to play your amp more than a pedal, you are left with attenuation. I know the THD and other power soaks have been mentioned, but I don't think any one has talked about a more natural sounding and, in my opinion, better method of attenuation. Instead of resisting the load from the power amp, there are attenuators that use a dummy load from an actual speaker motor to provide a reactive load like your power amp wants to see. This yields a safer more pleasing attenuation and costs a lot less too (sometimes). I believe the Bad Cat and Koch attenuators works on this principle, but I use Ted Weber's   ---    http://www.tedweber.com/atten.htm

The price depends on the wattage you are looking for, (double your amps wattage to be safe - you are selecting the wattage of the speaker not your amp) but you can get one for 75 - 150 and they sound great and give some EQ control.

Other than that, I know the Fulltone GT-500 was mentioned at the outset, then dismissed because the poster felt they must crank it to use it. Thats not the case! That pedal can boost the snot out of your front end, but you can also run them at unity gain and crank the OD or Distortion and get the most amp like clipping you will probably ever hear from a pedal. Very harmonic, musical and colorless. It sounds exactly like your amp. The GT excels at clipping and harmonics and doesn't compress much. So you may want to run that with a good compressor (after the GT if the compressor is quiet enough) and you are in power tube land.

However, one last word of advice. Great OD / Distorted tones are usually a mix of both preamp and power amp distortion. So to get the creaminess you seek, power amp saturation alone isn't the end all, but it is likely your missing ingredient.