using a tubescreamer

[brettchinery]

noob question - I hear everyone gushing about driving an amp with a tubescreamer

 

is it best to use a tubescreamer with the gain and tone down and volume up or do you use some gain from the pedal too

 

On my set up, with the gain down to 0 and the volume up, it still doesn't quite get me to the gain level required for leads

 

cheers in advance  

[telemudcat]

I tend to use it with the volume close to full, the gain around 20%, the tone about halfway, maybe a tick towards treble.  I used a real one into a Marshall that way for years.  

[ADBrown]

I usually have the tone at between 5-7 when dialing in a tubescreamer, and usually prefer a lower gain with a higher volume. You will need to have some gain though, so try bumping the gain up from 0 until you get the desired result. I'd also recommend checking out how players like SRV and Trey Anastasio setup their tubescreamers. 

[MakeItShredNo1]

With a real tube screamer:
In front of a high gain amp, I run a tube screamer

Level 10, Gain 0 and Tone generally right of 12 o'clock

In front of a low-to-mid gain amp that's breaking up a fair bit, I like to blend a little tube screamer gain with the amp so

Level 9~10, Gain around 9 o'clock, Tone to taste (generally more extreme than in the above example - depending on if the amp is naturally bright or dark)

In front of a clean amp, set to break up only if I /really/ dig in
Level 10, Gain 0 and Tone right of 12 o'clock. see first example.  

I think it's really intriguing that Texas blues guys and super heavy metal both use the tube screamer in much the same way - knock off bottom, push the mids and effectively tighten up the amp.  Just with the gain of the amp in radically different places!  I tend to think the tube screamer is not the best tool for the job into a mid gain amp, but sometimes it's the tool you have for one reason or another.  

On the helix, I struggle with getting the tube screamer "clean" enough.  It tends to add more distortion at 0 gain than a real tube screamer (at least my tube screamers, into my amps - YMMV).  So I have gravitated to the Minotaur model for much the same jobs as I would use a real tube screamer.  

[zooey]

At the risk of telling you what you already know, try stuff!!!

 

There aren't any right or wrong answers, just what works for you, with your instruments, fingers, imagination, and taste, in the musical contexts you're in or want to be. Not to mention that there are a ton of amps in Helix, which will all respond differently, and further differently depending on how you set them up.

 

You already have your initial answer -- you didn't have enough gain. So turn up the drive, or output level, or both, and/or any of the corresponding amp controls, and see what happens.

 

That's what all those famous users of similar gear did :)

[DunedinDragon]

The thing I like the best about the Tube Screamer (as well as some of the other pedals like the Klon or Minotaur), is I can use it without a whole lot of gain or volume and use the tone control to get a nicely formed solo sound without having to add much, if any, volume to the overall sound and  still stand out in the mix.  It makes for a much more professional sound than a solo suddenly jumping way up in volume.

[erniedenov]

On the helix, I struggle with getting the tube screamer "clean" enough.  It tends to add more distortion at 0 gain than a real tube screamer (at least my tube screamers, into my amps - YMMV).  So I have gravitated to the Minotaur model for much the same jobs as I would use a real tube screamer.  

 

Same here! The Minotaur has been my most valuable discovery in Helix since day one.

[willjrock]

Depends what you want. For fatter sounds gain down volume up. For tighter sounds gain up volume down. Add another screamer for more gain or a volume block before or after the screamer depending on what your ear says.