themetallikid Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 On this front, I've always been an Amp sound guy, maybe a drive pedal to tighten it up or boost a bit for leads..... I've never been good at creating a drive pedal sound going into a cleanish amp. Can anyone share their favorite type of drive/amp settings? I play a range of rock covers using clean to higher gain type stuff. I'd like at least one or two fuzz sound choices (these are like trying to nail jello to a tree for me, impossible) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuhajla Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I've never been good at creating a drive pedal sound going into a cleanish amp. What are your current favorite amp models that you use? Also, what you consider "good" may be different than mine, so your question is kind of impossible to answer. You don't have to be "good at creating a drive pedal sound going into a cleanish amp". There are generally only three things to adjust on an overdrive: drive, tone, level. Generally on clean amps that don't really break up (Fender Twin, Hiwatt, etc) you want your overdrive/distortion to come from the pedal so you will crank the drive up and the level down, tone to taste. On an amp that does break up, you can use the overdrive to push the amp a little harder into distortion by setting the pedal drive low, but the level higher, tone to taste. I generally use two overdrives in front of the amp, and will use one or the other or both at times. My current favorite combination is the Minotaur>Timmy>Litigator. There are no hard and fast rules... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themetallikid Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 Thanks for the input, and I agree (as with my other thread about delay/reverb) no one cup is right everyone. However, being that I've never been a drive pedal guy...other than the 0 Gain, 10 Level kinda boost pedal into an amp....was looking for what others do use so I can test out and hear what others consider good. Everytime I try to set something up, I think it sounds like junk and just move to find a 'useable' amp sound, when I know others are using the drive/amp setup to get the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
di0sys Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 I was using a high gain pre as my main drive like a pedal into the voxac15 model for a while that was my jamm. Sometimes a ts808 before that to tighten up the high gain pre. Example, guitar>808>angl or archeon pre> voxac15 amp and cab model or> dual cab/IR> delay verb etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Personally I'm prone to using the amp's gain in most cases and distortion pedals for leads. It makes the gain feel more natural and gives better definition without adding much volume for leads. However I have found the HiWatt combined with the Teemah has a very natural mid gain sound with the HiWatt gain at about 3 and the Teemah gain around 5.4. I then layer a TubeScreamer on top of that for a nice difference in tone for leads. That's a perfect recipe for a classic Joe Walsh sound by the way. A little less gain on the Teemah combined with some moderate compression up front in the signal chain works pretty well for Rolling Stones, The Who, and even early Doobie Brothers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuhajla Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Personally I'm prone to using the amp's gain in most cases and distortion pedals for leads. It makes the gain feel more natural and gives better definition without adding much volume for leads. However I have found the HiWatt combined with the Teemah has a very natural mid gain sound with the HiWatt gain at about 3 and the Teemah gain around 5.4. I then layer a TubeScreamer on top of that for a nice difference in tone for leads. That's a perfect recipe for a classic Joe Walsh sound by the way. A little less gain on the Teemah combined with some moderate compression up front in the signal chain works pretty well for Rolling Stones, The Who, and even early Doobie Brothers. The Timmy has become my favorite OD in the Helix. It is very versatile. 3-5 gain for some push/crunch on the front end of the Litigator is my favorite. The tone adjustment get get you anywhere from edgy to buttery. You can also cut out some bass if you need it to. I tend to only use the Timmy, Minotaur, and TS808 models. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 The Timmy has become my favorite OD in the Helix. It is very versatile. 3-5 gain for some push/crunch on the front end of the Litigator is my favorite. The tone adjustment get get you anywhere from edgy to buttery. You can also cut out some bass if you need it to. I tend to only use the Timmy, Minotaur, and TS808 models. Yep...exactly the same for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lelik Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 The Timmy has become my favorite OD in the Helix. Yep...exactly the same for me. And I add myself to the list... but what is your favorite switch position of the Timmy? I generally set it in the middle; it seems the position I prefer, but I don't know what it does and am curious about your favorite choice. My second choice is generally the Minotaur, and I don't use any other od pedal modelled by Helix, even if with the real stompboxes I loved the DOD250. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuhajla Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 , but I don't know what it does and am curious about your favorite choice. The switch is for different clipping settings. If I remember correctly I believe I have my set for v2 with the clipping switch in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 I think sometimes people tend to use overdrive in a non-optimal way... Putting an OD pedal in front of a totally clean amp isn't generally the best way to go about things. Overdrive pedals work best when pushing an amp that is at edge-of-breakup or slightly dirty already. Pete Thorn give examples here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themetallikid Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 I appreciate that and will check out those examples. I'm currently building a bank of 'useable' tones for each amp. Creating snapshots for clean, amp drive, full drive, and boosted type sounds to help create the colors on my palette. I just don't have experience with the drive/amp combos in regards to good sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelstringer Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 I was using a high gain pre as my main drive like a pedal into the voxac15 model for a while that was my jamm. Sometimes a ts808 before that to tighten up the high gain pre. Example, guitar>808>angl or archeon pre> voxac15 amp and cab model or> dual cab/IR> delay verb etc. This ^^^ Wow. I just tried the plexi bright pre into the AC 15. Very nice light overdrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zooey Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Amp preamps give you much more tone and drive control than just about any pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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