New high gain amp or pedal?

[Stijnson]

Greetings,

I have a dilemma regarding my next purchase in my pursuit of tone. I know the old, small, high gain tube amp threads are getting boring, but my case is slightly different.
I already own a small tube amp, it's a Fender Vibro Champ 77' silverface. So the old model.
A 7 watt all tube, one channel, beautiful sounding amp. But it only really does cleans, slightly overdriven if pushed really hard. Since this amp was a heritage gift I wont sell it.
But I play mostly high gain stuff, most kinds of metal, some shred stuff, you know...
So I've been running a GT-8 straight into it, (it has no FX loop) which is pretty ok, the fact that the amp is all tube definitley makes it the GT-8 sound much warmer. But playing dynamics are basically non existent with it, none of this beautiful, breaking up overdrive either.

So forever I've been wondering if to buy another amp which can satisfy those needs, I'm leaning mostly to the 6505+ 112, I know it can get the gain I need from it, and I already have a nice amp for cleans so. I am mostly a home player, but would like to have something I could maybe gig with, considering I am looking for a band.

But I'm also considering maybe running a very good pedal in front of the amp to give it the gain and overdrive I need, it would be cheaper than a new amp, so my budget is quite high considering a pedal. I heard a demo of that carl-martin Plexitone for example, and I love the sound of that. It doesnt need to be extremely high-gain, I have an EMG equipped guitar. I do love smooth, high gain, saturated lead sounds, and I play alot of high gain metal, but also really love that overdriven marshall esque sound for leads. So I still need some versatality.

Sorry I'm rambling on! Just wanted to explain my situation.
Have you guys got any suggestions? Would it just be better to buy a new amp?
Thanks in advance!

[markD]

i have a 64 vibro champ. i run an old roland GP-8 in front of it and get a KILLER tone. it is one of my main recording rigs. in your situation, i would look at getting one of the new bogner distortion pedals.

http://bogneramplification.com/products/bogner-pedals-amps

i am thinking of going this route as well. it seems as if it could be a cool thing...

[Larz]

Check out some Wampler pedals too

[Hellbat]

Yeah, I was going to suggest Wampler or the new Bogner pedals. If you want "Teh Brootalz" the Uberschall pedal should do the trick with a good clean amp as a starting point. The Ecstasy Red is the next step down on the gain train.

[Stijnson]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I have actually been youtubing the Wampler pedals, I have to admit they sound great! Very real sounding, dynamic, and I can run the Gt-8 after it since i dont have an fx-loop on the fender. My choice would probably go to the Triple Wreck one, good high gain tone and what I've heard it seems you can dial it back a little for some good crunch sounds. Because I do want a bit of both. The Bogners also sound great, the Uberschall is in my tone area, but it's not as versatile as the Wampler it seems. Although the Ecstacy Red looks good too.
Anyone have any experience with any of these?
Thats also the thing that the digitalness of the Gt-8 just can't do, its either clean, or high gain, nothing in between sounds good.

It would be cheaper than buying a 6505+, although that would be a bigger upgrade, speaker wise etc. So confusing!

[Devotee]

Why not get the best of both worlds and go for the Taurus Stomp Head SL4?

http://www.taurus-amp.pl/guitar/stomp-head-4-sl.html

[VitaminG]

how about the Megalith?

[markD]

....a 6505+, although that would be a bigger upgrade, speaker wise etc. So confusing!

not really. just ask yourself if you can or will use the 6505+ in a setting where you can turn it up a bit. they are rather loud and move a lot of air. if you gig or plan to gig, then it makes sense. if not, then getting a killer pedal makes sense since the vibro champ sounds so good and performs excellently as a pedal platform.

[Devotee]

Fuck that Bogner Uberschall pedal sounds great! I've never played on the amp version so i don't know how they compare, but damn!

[javert]

Speaking of pedals, has anyone tried the new Mesa ones?

[Stijnson]

not really. just ask yourself if you can or will use the 6505+ in a setting where you can turn it up a bit. they are rather loud and move a lot of air. if you gig or plan to gig, then it makes sense. if not, then getting a killer pedal makes sense since the vibro champ sounds so good and performs excellently as a pedal platform.

Well thats also a big reason for my doubt. I'm not currently in a band, not looking for one extremely active either and therefore am mostly a home player. Who btw lives in an apartment. But I'm kind of scared of limiting myself by just getting a pedal. Say I find some people to play with then suddenly my gear might not be loud enough. Although a 7 watt tube amp with a boost in front gets pretty loud.
Thats why, I always thought, better to have the extra wattage/volume and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

But just wondering, what do you guys think. Could an eg. Bogner Uberschall pedal at a home volume, through my amp, sound just as good (or better) than say a 6505+ 112 at the same volume? Because thats what it would come down to.

[markD]

the only time i ever lived in an apartment, i had a 100 watt rivera tube combo. it was too loud to get it to where i liked the sound to be - which wasn't really too loud, just more than 1 on the master. during that time, i spent most of my playing time using a line 6 pod because it sounded better.

having said that, in your case i think you'd get better sounds with the fender/pedal combo.

BUT....there is NO way on God's green earth that the vibro champ will sound good doing high gain music in a band setting. if you were going to do blues or something, sure - you might be able to make it work. but, if you are thinking 6505+ you don't want to play blues!!!

your thought of "it's better to have extra wattage/volume and not need it, than to need it and not have it" is good. the problem is, only you can solve that dilemma. i (or anyone else here) can know of the music scene, or how badly you may or may not want to play in a band. only you know that. i am sorry i can't advise you any further.

[Hellbat]

If I was in your current situation I would get the pedal. If you get in a band situation you should be able to flip the pedal at a minimal loss and get a bigger more suitable amp then.

[Devotee]

If I was in your current situation I would get the pedal. If you get in a band situation you should be able to flip the pedal at a minimal loss and get a bigger more suitable amp then.

+1

If you're not happy with the pedal then you could sell it and get a 6505+ 112 or even one of the newer EVH 5150III combos.

[Devotee]

Here's a pretty good demo of the Uberschall pedal played through a Fender Supersonic: