Dick Brucinson
Dave Sustaine
Depends on what your goal is. So what's the exact aim you're trying to go for?
Guitar Pedals
- Thread starter MrKnickerbocker
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- gigs guitar guitarists live music pedals
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
My goal is to be able to record good-sounding guitars at home. Doing so with a real amp has proved challenging because I can’t crank it (not only because of neighbors but my own ears start to hurt) and the cheap attenuator I have sucks some of the tone out of the amp. However, I don’t like tinkering with software on screens, so I’m hesitant about Torpedo-like products that are fully virtual. Probably the ideal product for me would be Universal Audio Ox Top Box but it’s way too expensive. On that note, Two Notes Torpedo X would be helpful too, right?
Dick Brucinson
Dave Sustaine
Yeah, should do the job that way. I myself was facing more or less the same situation and was solving it by getting me the Kemper Profiling Amp which is a brilliant piece of gear, really. You might wanna consider that option too.
daan
Educated Fool
You need something like Captor X. With CAB M+ you still need to connect the cab, otherwise you can blow your amp. Captor allows you to do silent recording. Suhr Reactive Load would by a more premium device of this type.
I had a very bad experience with CAB M+ and Two Notes in general, I guess. Their app didn’t work on my computer and for months the support wasn’t able to help me, it was ridiculous. Ended up selling my unit.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
What benefit would Suhr Reactive Load (or equivalent) give me over the amp’s own DI? The DI is decent for demoing purposes but it doesn’t give very natural tube tones. I don’t have plugins to manipulate DI sound in the box and I’m not too interested in that anyway. Maybe I’m looking for a thing that I don’t need in the first place? The Kemper profiler looks like a good piece of gear but it’s expensive. Probably it’s the closest to what I actually would like to have.
daan
Educated Fool
Most amps that I know usually feature an "emulated" DI out, which means it has a speaker simulation on it. And usually the simulation is not that great. The point of devices like Suhr Reactive Load or Captor X is to replace the cab, so you're able to send raw speaker out signal directly to the device and from there send it to your audio interface and apply a speaker simulation of your liking in the recording software. Good cab IRs are pretty cheap and sound basically indistinguishable from the real deal. Well, in the case of Captor X you get some cab sims inside the device, so there's no need for third party stuff if you like the sound.
If you want the easiest way to record at home and get great results - go digital, man. Take a look at HX Stomp, POD GO or Neural DSP plugins. These things sound great.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
I appreciate the advice but I think this is not my style. I tried the JP Neural DSP trial once and the guitar sounds I got were all super-processed, no matter how I tweaked them. It didn’t sound convincing to me, although it did sound huge. I know that’s the way most guys do it nowadays, but it’s not exactly my taste.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
On a different topic, has anyone used the Maxon OD-808? I’m thinking of getting this classic TS style overdrive to have an extra gain stage. Going from clean to distortion doesn’t always yield great results.
How about this chain?
Guitar -> compressor (always on, subtle setting) -> Maxon overdrive -> MXR distortion…
How about this chain?
Guitar -> compressor (always on, subtle setting) -> Maxon overdrive -> MXR distortion…
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Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
I have. Used to run my Blackstar on a crunchy tone with either an OD-808 for tighter, aggressive sound or a Fulltone OCD for a more Marshall-y, old-school sound. Sold the OCD after I got my Friedman, kept the 808 for a bit but replaced it last year with a Plumes by Earthquaker Devices. It's a TS-style overdrive too, but with a 3-position switch for different "voices" and overall I found it a little less harsh sounding than the Maxon.
Over here they're near enough the same price, this might help you choose between the two:
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
I’ve watched this video before and the thing with it is that he uses the pedals to boost an already overdriven amp but I’ll never get that amount of OD out of my amp. The setup I’m considering is to have three different gain stages: 1) clean amp; 2) TS-style OD into clean amp for crunchy tones; 3) TS-style OD into hard-clipping distortion for beefy metal tones. I’m not sure how the third option would work in practice, if the pedals work well together etc. Or if a hard distortion pedal works with an overdrive in general or gets too saturated in a bad way. I’ll probably head to the guitar shop to try out the Maxon and Plumes some day. The reviews I’ve read about both are very good but some people described the Plumes as being harsh and trebly in character. This worries me a bit since my amp is very bright to begin with, so perhaps the Maxon would complement that better. The Plumes does seem very versatile though.
Maturin
Sköldpadda
Nice setup @Saapanael !
Yes. This is what to do. Especially with older style distortion pedals, and then I'm talking about Boss DS-1, MXR Distortion+, RAT etc. I do this for my setup into a clean amp with the two former pedals.
Modern pedals with enough gain in themselves might not like an OD in front. An example I've tried would be the Friedman BE-OD. But then even the Boss MT-2 sounds better this way, so it's not only about how much gain there is in the distortion pedal.
Yes. This is what to do. Especially with older style distortion pedals, and then I'm talking about Boss DS-1, MXR Distortion+, RAT etc. I do this for my setup into a clean amp with the two former pedals.
Modern pedals with enough gain in themselves might not like an OD in front. An example I've tried would be the Friedman BE-OD. But then even the Boss MT-2 sounds better this way, so it's not only about how much gain there is in the distortion pedal.
Dick Brucinson
Dave Sustaine
The Empress Effects Heavy pedal is a great one I can recommend.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
Thanks, mate. A guy was selling his old pedalboard today and was happy to bring it to me right away. So I put the board together. The power supply barely fits underneath, I think it’s literally flush with the floor on the lower half.
Getting my guitar back from the luthier sometime soon. Having the frets filed + general setup, I’m looking forward to it. Things are progressing in the gear realm, just in time for a small gig in early April. I didn’t expect to have a pedalboard ready before that, and this sure beats having the pedals separately on the floor.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
I recently bought the JHS AT+ distortion pedal and took it to the rehearsal room where I got to play it through a Marshall full stack. Ran it at 18V on the 100W mode (most headroom) into the Marshall’s clean channel and the result was glorious. At home, through my Marshall Origin 20H it’s not quite the same, but the full stack really made that thing roar. Even though the amp’s master volume was at 2.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
@Maturin I think you mentioned owning an ENGL Fireball amp? I’m wondering about the Ironball and Fireball amps. I know ENGLs are used for metal but how good are these two at cleans? Does it only make sense to look at them if you’re interested in playing high-gain most of the time? I wonder how they compare to Marshalls in the sub-1000€ range.
Maturin
Sköldpadda
I've got the (now discontinued) Screamer 50 Combo. Great, great amp. More aimed for the "classic rock" crowd than the usual offering from ENGL. Built like a tank.
I think it makes sense to look at ENGL if you want the best (over)built, sturdy, dependable rock machines out there. Never tried the Fireball, but the cleans on my Screamer are glorious (it's a 4 channel amp).
If you want a comparison on ENGL builds, just look at Marshall 412's. The 1960A is 36,4 kg according to the specs. A similar ENGL 412 weighs 50 kg!
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Dick Brucinson
Dave Sustaine
Got me also two new pedals for my pedalboard last week, I'm planning to do some changes & will build an updated version with a few modifications done to it.
The Empress Heavy is a great Distortion pedal, two channels (Ola Englund did a great YT review on that one btw), featuring a built-in Noise Gate, and the JHS Haunting Mids is probably the most unique pedal I own now. It's a mid booster. And my recording studio is almost built up now.
The Empress Heavy is a great Distortion pedal, two channels (Ola Englund did a great YT review on that one btw), featuring a built-in Noise Gate, and the JHS Haunting Mids is probably the most unique pedal I own now. It's a mid booster. And my recording studio is almost built up now.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
Anybody have experience with the Fender Bassbreaker 45 head (or combo)? There’s one being sold for half-price (~500€) and I’m looking to upgrade from my 20W Marshall. I’ve been eyeing Oranges, ENGLs etc but I don’t have much money to throw around. Looking for a pedal platform but decent overdrive on the amp otself is a plus. Gonna look at Bassbreaker demos when I get home.