Tube Screamers/clones and others with plexis

[rgorke]

So, what experience do folks have with the various Tube Screamer variations or DIY kits and ow well they may work n front of a Plexi? I love the tone of my amp dimmed or less and getting that great power tube break up....but are there ways of getting good tones using TS pedals or other OD rather than a distortion, per se.

I have been using my EP 3 clone pedal (cranked) as a clean boost that works well but just looking for some other options.

Thanks

[Tone Slinger]

It depends on the tone your going for. If you run a Super Lead wide open or with some attenuation, few folks open up the bass pot, due to flub. In many instances though, the sound would be improved to get more bass/bottom though. In this ex.alot of players would put a Tube Screamer up front, cause it would 'tighten' the bottom end up a bit. Its funny but the TS is a 'low/hi' bandpass filter circuit.It shaves off some top and bottom, making mids protrude.

Boss OD-1, Sd-1, etc, etc all share this circuit pretty much. I used to religiously put a Ibanez TS-10 tube screamer in the front of my amp back in the day. I remember reading How Jake E. Lee had the problem with his '78 Super Lead. He could only turn his bass pot up when he used a Boss OD-1, cause it shaved a bit of the wool off and tightened his sound.
SRV's big clean tone with mucho headroom was defined/sharpened in a good way with this circuit though.Incredible neck single coil sound, etc.
The down side to these 'lo/hi' bandpass filter circuits though is that they use diodes and are sort of too compressed and harsh. I think for new production you would be better off with a Boss GE-7 and goosing the level slider or maybe a Micro Amp ?

[Lefty Lou]

Hey guys, one thing to consider with Tube Screamers or Tube Screamer clones is what Tone Slinger has already mentioned which is a midrange "hump" that the TS delivers. Combine this with the extended high mid range response of a Marshall amp (due to design and parts selection) and it can be a bit too much. I think the reason that TS's sound good through old Fender tube amps is the fact that some of those amps have no mid range control.

I find myself using my Keeley modded Boss Blues Driver (BD-2) more often than not, especially with my Marshall amps. If you love the Gary Moore Les Paul through Marshall tone then the modified Boss BD-2 is your ticket to "that" sound.

I've fiddled with my Keeley modded Sparkle Drive and my Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet pedals (which are based upon the TS) through my Marshall amps, and I'm just not enamored with the tone and type of gain through the Marshall heads. I've never been one to redline my Marshall's or to even crank them to pre-clipping status however that shouldn't make a difference anyways. If I were to use TS's with a Marshall it would be with the Sparkle Drive before the Blues Driver pedal.

[Lefty Lou]

One thing I would offer up is for you to take a look at Joyo Pedals. They're made in China and are cheap in price, but not in quality (average price $40). Several of Joyo's pedals are knock offs of more expensive boutique and non-boutique pedals. Take a look at this Joyo overdrive pedal shootout video starting @ 4:12 into the vid:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8s66JIXY1A[/youtube]



JF-01 Vintage Overdrive = Ibanez TS-808
JF-02 Ultimate Drive = Fulltone OCD
JF-03 Crunch Distortion = MI Audio Crunch box
JF-04 High Gain Distortion = Marshall Shredmaster
JF-05 Classic Chorus = Boss CE-2
JF-06 Vintage Phase = MXR phase 90
JF-07 Classic Flanger = ?
JF-08 Digital Delay = ?
JF-09 Tremolo = Diaz Tremodillo
JF-10 Dynamic Compressor = MXR Dyna Comp.
JF-11 6 Band EQ - MXR 6 Band EQ
JF-12 Voodoo Octave (Fuzz Ultimate Octave) = Fulltone Ultimate Octave
JF-13 AC Tone = Tech 21 Character, Liverpool
JF-14 American Sound = Tech 21 Character, Blonde
JF-15 California Sound = Tech 21 Character, California
JF-16 British Sound = Tech 21 Character, British
JF-17 Extreme Metal = EHX Metal Muff
(JDI-01 DI Box)
(JF-30 A/B Switch)
JF-31 Noise Gate = ?
JF-32 Plexi Drive = Carl Martin Plexitone
JF-33 Analog Delay = ?
JF-34 US Dream = ?
JF-35 Pocket Metal = ?
JF-36 Sweet Baby = Mad Professor Sweet Honey
JF-37 Analog Chorus = ?
JF-38 Roll Boost = ?
JF-39 Deluxe Crunch = ?

[ezs]

Join this forum http://www.freestompboxes.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; youll have every diy boutique layout with any mod imaginable. Its addicting too.

[Lefty Lou]

Join this forum http://www.freestompboxes.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; youll have every diy boutique layout with any mod imaginable. Its addicting too.

When I build pedals, I use the http://www.freestompboxes.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; website in conjunction with this one:

http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

** If you look on the right hand side of the page partways down you'll see a long laundry list of pedals that have been reverse engineered. **

[mightymike]

The Gold Klon Centaur and the Marshall Shredmaster 2 are the only pedals that I liked with a Marshall. Taking out the v2 bypass cap can make the amp more pedal friendly. Dimed without a pedal is my favorite tone, but these pedals have their place. Good for the sweep pickers

[rgorke]

I keep having this voice in my head that tells me that the goal of many many of the pedals is to get that "cranked tube amp" tone, which I am getting already...so why do I need a pedal?

[Lefty Lou]

I keep having this voice in my head that tells me that the goal of many many of the pedals is to get that "cranked tube amp" tone, which I am getting already...so why do I need a pedal?

If I'd have really paid attention to your very first post, I'd have said maybe a clean boost pedal to give you more of a good thing especially if you're already running your amp(s) at higher gain levels.

[Tone Slinger]

A new Boss Ge-7 or a new MXR micro amp

[Haze13]

On the last week I saw a video of Michael Soldano who was speaking about his new amp. The idea of the power section he took from the amp of Van Halen or what he (Eddie) was doing with it to get his famous tone. I've seen some many "mods" of "HIS amp", but I also red that HE (Eddie) used a stock model. No mods at all. Michael Soldano say's same thing, IT was the same amp like many others of THAT Era, but when he plugged it the TONE wasn't there. So he used Variac (like Eddie sad so many times) and when the amp got only ~90 volts AC, the power of the power section has dropped (less volts - less volume) and the Volume control become more friendly (more gain on PI) and that's when THE TONE came. Soldano use this in his new amp. Normal Power section with 2 6l6 (if I remember this correctly) bigger OT trans, but with Internal voltage drop to power section.
All I am trying to say that if you don't want all those pedals, just the volume of the cranked preamp with power section distortion may be you want to try The Variac? Or if you tried what your thoughts on the subject?
By the way... I have only JCM 800 and the best pedal for me, with this kind of an amp is the clone of Maxon OD820 with opa627/opa637 (opa637 where the gain of that stage more than 5) IC's in there. IC's really can sound different all they need is more power and the clean way (audio caps, Metal film resistors).

[Lefty Lou]

A new Boss Ge-7 or a new MXR micro amp

FWIW and for those interested, Michael Casswell contributor at Lick Library recommends the new TC Twin Spark Mini (nano pedal) over the Xotic EP Boost (nano pedal) for a clean boost. I have a BYOT Klon clone, and a CAL (Creation Audio Labs) Mk.4.23 clean boost pedals, and of the two the CAL Mk.4.23 is the most transparent boost with at least +24 dB of gain boost. Unless one has money to burn and/or a desire to wear out or destroy an amp, just use a dummy load or variac on that vintage equipment. Rewinds of vintage transformers are pretty costly these days just ask Mercury Magnetics, CM, or Brian Wallace.

[rgorke]

Thanks guys, the boost I DO have and am using is actually the EP3 clone with at TIS58 JFet. Doesn't change the tone at all, just makes it more...

[Lefty Lou]

Because of the operational characteristics of JFET's comparative to that of tubes, JFET's have become more readily accepted by pedal (makers/designers) desiring more of a natural tube quality.

[Haze13]

Not at all actually. Not all Jfets behave like Triode ( like SemiSouth Power Jfet), more of them are Pentode-like (sk170, sk246).
All of them just more transparent then BJT. In HiFi world Jfets are very common in the input position.
If you know how to use them they can be very very good. The problem is that in guitar world they are not used as they should be, but even at this stage they show promises...