Overdrive/Distortion from Amp or Pedal?

[Dave L]

I like to push my overdriven amps a bit with pedals... I mostly use pedals from the Tubescreamer school of tone (now it´s a Visual Sound Route 66 or a Voodoo Labs Sparkledrive), but I also use some clean boosting from a CAE/MXR MC401 for certain tones. The Route 66 and the Sparkledrive add some serious scream, like "tubescreamers" tend to do, and the MC401 is great for smoother, more balanced gain since it doesn´t cut any bass and doesn´t have the aggressive mid kick the other two have.

I don´t know why, but for the last five years or so I´ve really gravitated towards medium gain amps with a little extra juice from a pedal. There´s just something in the feel and tone that I prefer over using high gain amps.

But as for using distortion pedals thru a clean amp... well, I haven´t found anything that would work for me. Some of the offerings out there are pretty cool (like the Blackstar stuff and what not), but I´ve yet to find anything that I would pick over my current set-up.

[TheAmazingBlob]

If I had to pick one or the other I'd say amp distortion all the way.

I do like hitting the front end of my Mark III with an overdrive pedal, though (I use a Bad Monkey). Makes it even tighter and punchier!

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i use amp distortion myself.

but i also like the sound of an overdrive pedal with the distortion channel of the amp. there is something about it that just really sounds good to me.

[themisfit138]

I just use my Mesa Mark IV

[scotty]

I also like to use as much amp as I can and I use a GE-7 (eq) for a little shaping and a bit more gain.

[SEAN RAF]

I like to get most of the gain from the amp and add just a little bit with my SD-1. For some reason I like that tone better then just turning the amps gain up more no matter what amp I'm using - even a modeler.

Totally agree. No matter what amp I've owned or tried, an overdrive/distortion makes everything more liquid. I'd rather back off on the amp gain and make up the difference with a pedal.

[GodWentPUNK]

I don't use any thing with my JSX. And to be honest, I've got my JSX footswitch and my midicontroller in front of me and I find that too messy. I've been on some stages where these two items take up much of my space. Plus, I HATE all the extra cables running around..I'm always tripping on them...for that reason, I went wireless. So you can put my vote as NO and not for reasons of tone but for convienence.

joe...

[TheAmazingBlob]

I don't use any thing with my JSX. And to be honest, I've got my JSX footswitch and my midicontroller in front of me and I find that too messy. I've been on some stages where these two items take up much of my space. Plus, I HATE all the extra cables running around..I'm always tripping on them...for that reason, I went wireless. So you can put my vote as NO and not for reasons of tone but for convienence.

joe...

I'd agree with that. I really want a wireless, but they're so expensive

It'd be great just to have a guitar and a MIDI floordboard and that's it.

[Learn Guitars]

Im running my Fender Supersonic at full gain it is more than enough for great lead tone and fat tight rhythm playing. I use the Tube Screamer to take it up abit. I recently added the Boosta Grande to get rid of sound men who cant adjust lead levels. I just control the volume level from the stage.

[hippietim]

It just depends. There is no one true sound - much goodness can be achieved either way.

[akoch]

Depends on a day. Most of the time it is direct (no stompboxes) into an amp. But then one day it just feels 'right' to put a Maxon OD, or Ibanez OD, or even a DS1 in front and it sounds killer! Then a few days later....

[vondran]

I used to use a tubescreamer to kick in extra gain, but found that I was just using it as a boost to drive the amp harder on the distortion channel. I've since switch to using an EQ (MXR 10band M-108) in front of the amp that allows me to better shape the tone when I want to push the amp's raw distortion further. The one issue is I needed to use the EQ last before the amp because it overdrove the other pedals into clipping if I put it earlier.

[UFORocks]

I use both. I usually set the gain between 9 and 12 o'clock on the amp and use an Ibanez MSL (metal screamer) for an extra kick when I need it. It get's as dirty as i've ever needed with that setup.

[HiOctane]

This is a really interesting question...and it seems that both schools of thought are equally well-represented here.

I have always preferred the tone of the guitar right into the amp- nothing in between. My theory has always been if you have a killer high-gain amp, why bother mucking it up and losing signal with a pedal?

Yet many put a pedal in front, particularly to kick it in for some extra gain/boost for leads. Two guys that pop into my mind that do this are Lynch and Gilbert, so there must be something to it.

Maybe I need to loosen up and try it sometime!

[JZ06]

both. there isn't an amp on the planet that has enough GAIN for me to use by itself.