Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

[JRTME]

Re: Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

backing that off should have no effect on the EQ. I can't think of a wiring that would actually do that.

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

Boss distortion pedal through the dirty clean (R2) on a Mark III will give you David Gilmour tone like it isn't even funny anymore!

So it definitly has its merits!

[jgcable]

Re: Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

A Boss MT2 Metal Zone through the clean channel of a Peavey Supreme head will give you classic scooped death metal grind. Actually, the Metal Zone will take you into death metal regardless of the amp its in front of.

[lerxstcat]

Re: Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

The ART Xtreme is one of the lesser-known yet cool-sounding distortions out there. It has a halfway decent digital effects section too, all presets and not tweakable, but most usable. The fact they didn't include a tuner or phrase trainer when other multieffects did probably killed them in the market, but they're much easier to use than other multis too. Real knobs mean realtime tweaking which eliminates headaches. 3 distos in one box (Xtreme is like a MT-2, Scream is like a Tube Screamer and Retro is like a fuzz box) cover the range most need. And they are dirt cheap on the Bay.

[DonP]

Re: Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

[ QUOTE ]
"Does lowering the pre gain on a tube amp affect the frequency adjustments provided by the amp's EQ?"

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say yes. Everything interacts with everything else. When you have a weak signal hitting the EQ, it will be impacted differently than a strong signal hitting the EQ. And when you overdrive a signal, diffent frequencies get modified depending on how the signal is getting distorted.

[Inazone]

Re: Head distortion vs. pedal thru clean channel?

I spent a couple of hours last night tweaking all the settings and doing an A/B comparison of the VTM-60 against the old Peavey Classic 212 (solid state preamp, 6L6 power tubes) that I have gigged with for the past two years. Both are single-channel amps, but the Classic doesn't have any overdrive beyond the AC/DC realm, while the VTM is capable of high gain. For my purposes, I tested both amps with pre gain at around 3 for a clean base sound, and plugged my usual ART Xtreme > ART Tube EQ > Rocktron Hush > Boss DD-2 pedalboard straight into the amp. (The Classic has no effects loop, and the VTM's loop seems to muffle the sound of anything in it.)

Using my standard live settings on the amp's "Normal" input, the Classic sounded very warm, and reacted well (no hiss or harshness) with the digital delay in front of it. I usually run a light chorus/reverb/delay preset on the ART pedal for a Chuck Schuldiner vibe, and it sounds fine.

To get a similar tone out of the VTM, I had to dime the midrange and bass, zero the treble and presence, and flip on the Low 1, Low 2 and Mid mini-switches. Digital effects sounded like garbage. I tried every combination I could, and nothing sounded decent. In contrast, if I used just the amp distortion (no clean option), the amp sounded great.

Then I had a revelation - [img]/images/graemlins/idea2.gif[/img] - I moved from the high gain input to the low gain input, and that harsh tone was transformed into EXACTLY what I'd been trying to dial in all along. The digital effects sounded the way they should, not tinny and processed.

I've always used the high gain input on other amps with no problems, but always with solid state preamps. For whatever reason, using the low gain side was the key. My nearest neighbor was gone, so I was able to raise the volume and stand across the room to make sure the results held at higher levels. Life is good.

(And the EQ sensitivity of the two amps is still wildly different, even with the pre gain at the same setting.)