parkinthepark

And we're sorted. The mixer gave me enough boost to get my Blackface patches up to the level of my external preamp. Attenuating the preamp (either using its physical controls, or tweaking the return level in the HD500) results in not enough volume to drive the power amp to rehearsal levels. Now with my amp's preamp volume at around 40%, and the amp's master volume at 50%, I can get to rehearsal volume by setting my HD500's Master at 50%. Perfecto. The manual is a bit spotty. I've tested that the Master does indeed control the send level (it has no effect when bypassing the preamp), and checked the amp's schematic- the Master is located before the send. In some ways, though, it is nice to move my overall Master control down to the pedalboard.

For a clean mid boost, I like the Q-Filter set for band-pass, with a fairly wide Q. This will give you plenty of cut without a lot of extra db's.

Works fine for me using the 4CM into a high-gain amp. I do the "Max level/Min gain/Max Tone" thing to drive the input, boost highs, and cut bass before distortion, which is what most high-gain guys do. It does those things. At performance volume into a high-gain amp, I doubt you could tell the difference between it and a physical 808 clone of reasonable quality- but I've never been an overdrive cork-sniffer. Keep the Bass & Treble controls set to 50% for "stock" sounds, boost and cut to taste.

Based on this video, Trower plays his Fulltone Deja 2 in Chorus mode, with the Intensity set at about 60%, controlling the speed with the expression pedal. To mimic that, here's how I'd start setting up a patch: Speed: Expression Pedal Depth: 60% Feedback: 50% Volume Sense: 0% Mix: 80% Adjust from there. Keep in mind that setting the Mix to 100% initiates Vibrato mode, which is not how Trower sets his Vibe. Trower sets his Vibe up first in the chain, so you should start there as well.

This is probably the best way to tweak your patches, because you can focus on what you're hearing, not what you're playing. Always put the looper in "Pre" mode Make sure that your looper playback is set to full, especially when dealing with amps, compressors, and distortions. Make sure your loop has a good mix of high and low, loud and soft notes. Remember to switch out of looper mode (playback will continue) when you want to hit your footswitches. Remember to save your changes before moving to a new patch.

The OCD (like most overdrive pedals) is designed not just to add some distortion to your signal, but also to make your signal louder, which will cause the amp to distort more. The Volume knob on your OCD shouldn't affect the tone at all, just the overall output level of the pedal, so you shouldn't worry about setting it low. From the OCD manual: You should be able to get unity gain by running the volume knob low, but if you can't, try running the OCD in your HD500x's effects loop, and adjust the return level to get it where you want it.

I'm using my HD500 with the 4cm to use my amp's preamp for high-gain sounds, and the HD500 for overdrive sounds, clean sounds, and all effects. I'm then using my amp's power amp and cabinet for reinforcement. Here's the trouble: I get my clean (Blackface Vibrato, full amp) patch sounding just the way I want, and max the channel volume (it's the quietest patch). Then I adjust my OD patch (PhD Motorway, full amp) to match the Blackface. Now I adjust my amp's preamp to get its level to match the clean and od patches- by dropping the preamp volume/master volulme. Doing this, I'm getting a lot fewer dB's at the speaker than I would get if I was running my amp without the HD500, there's so much volume drop that I'm having trouble getting back up to rehearsal/gig volume, even with the HD500's Master maxed. Setup/testing notes: The amp is a Genz Benz El Diablo 60TS head, which has a serial, post-master FX loop. GB's documentation is unclear if this loop runs at +4dBu or -10dBv. I run the HD500 FX loop in "line" mode, with a -7dB send and a +8dB return, per perapera's research. [updated Link] Before using the HD500, keeping the amp's channel volume at about 50% and the master volume at about 30-40%, I was able to get good rehearsal/gig volume. I'm matching patch levels using the HD500's looper (pre-processing) and an iPhone dB meter at bedroom and rehearsal volumes. Solutions I've tried: Running an Xotic EP-booster (maxed, for about +20dB boost) between the HD500's output and the amp's FX return. This provided adequate levels, but I prefer to use the EP-booster before the HD500 (not maxed). Using the "Tube Comp" model after my clean and OD amp models. This provides adequate levels, but I'm unsatisfied with its effects on the clean patch's tone. TL;DR version- My clean patches aren't loud enough to drive my power amp to rehearsal/gig volumes. Does anyone have advice on getting a squeaky-clean patch to match the level of a physical high-gain preamp? (no, I'm not interested in a new amp or a frfr solution)