The Beard Files: Good Metal Amps Shouldn’t Need Boosts...Right? 

To quote some Swedish guy, "How can less be more? More is more."

There are no rules, except "make it sound good."

0:26 felt like I had stepped into a Finn Mckenty video for a sec

4:20 "Maybe I want a Fullto- oh wait, not you." *John Browne has marked you for death*

I usually say the overdrive pedal is an EMG simulator. It boosts the volume and sculpts the sound. People who bag on OD pedals usually swear by active pickups, so that logic tends to work.

What’s wrong with the OCD? The sound or the company owner?

What if I scream real loud at my amp?

A good metal amp doesn't "need" an od. It comes down to preference really. Anyone is more than welcome to just plug and play if they want. There's no rules.

Not to be too literal here,but... "need" is a strong word. 5150's, SLO-100's, lots of Mesa Mark series & Rectifier series, and many, many more do not NEED an Overdrive. All of those amps can produce crushing tone without any kind of boost. That's a matter of personal preference and your picking hand. For example, I play in a death metal band, and while I use a 1994 Peavey 5150, and only use my Ghoul Screamer for solos, my other guitarist plays through a 1997 Rev G Triple Rectifier and runs an MXR GT-OD in front at all times. The amp itself definitely does NOT "need" the boost. He just prefers the response he gets with it. An amp "needing" an overdrive is not the same thing as an amp that can occasionally "benefit" from one. Just like "Good Metal Tone" and "Modern Metal Tone" are not the same thing. A good metal tone can be many things. Modern is just one of those things.

Personally I don’t like to use ODs, I’m a fan of higher output pickups. But of course it’s all about the individual

Once I got my Hughes & Kettner Grandmaster 40 I pretty much stopped using all my drive & distortion pedals. So I sold them and bought a Marshall DSL20HR head. Now I can play with a stereo rig. No regrets on that.

I use a GE7 always on for this purpose! Cut a little of the LOW lows, nice boost in all mid range freqs, small high cut and then some volume boost! Works a treat 🤘 Keep up the good work Fluff, love the channel!

Knowing that for high-gain metal tones, most people use a tube screamer (or similar boost) to tighten up the amp's response, I think its reasonable that amp manufacturers build this functionality into their amps since this is what guitarists are wanting. Its really not difficult to build a TS9 circuit into the front end of an amp AND have it be switchable.

Back to my 5150, an amp infamous for needing a tube screamer in front of it, lol

"Fulltone...no not you" xD....I have so many od pedals for, boosting, my personal favorite is the ghoul screamer

I agree with what your saying. I think it’s a matter of perception, as I like to think of the pedal adding to the amp, not completing it. That said, there is some validity to the idea that a “new” amp that cost $3,000+ shouldn’t need anything. In as much as say spending $2,500 on a Les Paul should mean it doesn’t need a set up to stay in tune and not fret buzz. But perhaps in that situation your buying the wrong amp. Seems like a lot of us keep buying 30+ year old amps expecting them to have that modern metal tone. Not to mention that the tone a lot of people are chasing is on an album made in a studio, with tones of post production, and then compressed to an mp3 format. There’s a reason engineers listen to a playback, to see what the “perfect track” sounds like through the monitors

Generally I agree with Fluff on stuff. Here’s my take on this one. I don’t like double switching when I need to hit the drive and go heavy. So I bought an amp that did the tone and feel I wanted on it’s own and learned to use that amp. Do I use ODs? Yes. On my clean channel. I don’t need it on the dirty channels because they already do what I want them to. I saved and got an Oni and a Diezel. If I need a different EQ going in, I’ll use an EQ. When I got my Oni, for giggles at practice, I turned the boost on just to see what kind of difference it made. Me and literally everyone there agreed it got too brash sounding. With two different drives. If I have to change the amp settings, then I’d need the boost to sound right all the time. I don’t like gritty cleans. So that leaves me with an expensive MIDI pedal loop situation that I don’t really want to mess with. The Herbert does just fine. I’ll continue to use boosts on my clean channel for my bluesy and mid gain tones. If you want to dance to get your tones live or got one of those pedal loop things, do you. I have no issues with people doing it. I have issues with marrying yourself to the idea that you need one for good metal tone. That’s false. You may want one for stuffer feel or to high the front end harder, but again, I get enough gain and cut to play almost any style necessary sans boost. This is a flavor/seasoning thing, not a need thing.

I would even say, that you don't need a "metal amp" to get a great metal tone. Im playing through a Highes and Kettner Tubemeister 36. In the lead channel with an overdrive in front i can get a nice agressive and tight tone. One pedal gave my amp another dimension without the need of investing a lot of money.

Just depends on what tones you are going after. I personally never use boosts.

Thank you! I try to explain this and never end up doing such a good job of it. Thank you!

“Maybe I want a fullto- nope not you” 😂

To tweak the car/tires analogy: the amp is the car with radial tires and the overdrive pedal is a set of sticky ass summer performance tires. Yeah, you can drive it on the OEM tires just fine, but everything handles better with stickier tires.

You're literally describing signal gain. What I think you mean is that the overdrive or boost doesn't necessarily, itself, need to add distortion (saturation)

Boosts are like spices and herbs to a wholesome dish.

"Maybe I want a full toe.. No not you" drops OCD pedal 😂🤣😂🤣 hilarious!!

I almost always use a tube screamer to brighten up my sound and to tighten it. Bonus tip. Track one without and one with to get a clear full sound

A tube screamer/tube screamer style circuit also add's a mid hump to your guitar sound which works very well with high gain amplifiers and helps you cut through a mix better. Some amplifiers however do not like tube screamers(Vox, Matchless) and prefer more "transparent" circuits such as a klon, timmy, hotcake or bluesbreaker style circuit as a boost.

"Does it need tires? Because I should be able to drive a car without tires. "😆

I missed the beard files. A welcome return!

I peed a little. Ryan bringing back the guy humor = perfect boost

Fluff you HAVE to try squirting one of those mio flavorings into a topo chico, it changed the way i see the drink and it doesn’t add any sugar or anything.

I think a razor blade counts as "The Beard Files."

Great video man. Happy Saturday.

Hi Fluff, I like this video and agree with you. I have a question tho, about overdrive pedals and probably many of us would benefit from your answer as you are experienced in this field. As you have said it in the video, lot of them work differently and add different flavours to the tone. Can you give some ideas to us, just vaguely, which pedals give which characteristics to the soundscape, or at least where, in which direction we should start our journey in experimenting with them? What do we have to look out for? Thank you in advance.

Mr. Fluff, I can only assume that this video is likely in response to the comments you got on the Mesa Badlander Demo. Personally, I think that anyone should play with whatever amp config they want..whether it has an overdrive in front of it or not. It's all subjective and preferences will obviously vary from player to player However, I do not believe that an overdrive should be used when doing an Amp DEMO. At least not right away. You've got a great channel and a lot of followers (like myself) that I'm sure would like to hear the native sound of the amp. I'm not at all suggesting don't use an overdrive altogether, but maybe demo amps first without a boost / overdrive.....and then make a second pass with one so everyone can hear the difference. Just a suggestion. I think that would cover all the bases and make everyone happy....but what do I know? It seems the current trend or motto these days is "We're not happy until your'e not happy". Lol. At any rate, love the channel. Keep rippin'!

TBH, I don't realy like the sound of amps when they get boosted. Of course some need that like some rectifiers (2012 ones I think) but I feel like they sound better and are more recongnizeable without a boost.

I keep hearing this for years: overdrive pedals are for level boost and some tone shaping. Nobody is ever using the drive knob, right? So WHY NOT use an EQ pedal then? For those purposes, boost and shaping they are WAAAY better and more versatile. What do I miss here?

great explaination. It sound different with a drive in front, sharper maybe and less flubby.

Well at least all their complaining seems to have spawned the Peavey Invective

The comments I see the most are on 5150 forums saying "5150s don't need and overdrive, just turn up the gain there's already too much of it" without realizing that the gain is not the point

Hey man, I used to be one of those guys that thought that way. Thanks for this explanation. Very informative.

AMEN Brother!!! I always play thru 2 different full Marshall stacks(even at bedroom levels). Like you said, I don't turn the gain all the way up, and a simple BOSS OD1 with the gain to 0 and Level to 10 makes it turbo like. REALLY sounds ridiculous as far as rich harmonic distortion. Some reverb, and delay and it's a done deal. You are my favorite channel and yes I love your humor. Look forward to next...

Been using my Analogman SILENT Boss GE-7 to boost the signal and shape the tone before entering my Bugera 333XL Infinium. It allows me to get the "chug" I want and also sort of "balance" different guitars with different PUs in order to get the tone that I want (basically around the Bridge PU, Neck PU being the accessory option). So I can achieve some sort of consistency, no matter which guitar I use. I found out that although the Flex EQ7 is more "practical" as it stores presets, it isn't as silent as the Analogman EQ, so I got used to keep a little note on my pedalboard with the various EQ settings depending on the various guitars I play.

I recently put a tubescreamer type pedal into my favorite high gain amp and I was kinda blown away. It made the sound more modern, less thrash metal ish. But that was with gain 1 /10 on the pedal. And it really helped these dark OEM pickups. Probably not necessary with actives.

Two guitar players in our band. We use a Tube Screamer when ever we have Solo’s but for the most part we use the Amp only. But to each their own.

I would like to see someone do a full review of using a mxr 10 band eq as an boost, between the eq section and gain I think there are many possibilities out of one pedal, I do it into a hx stomp but it’s not quite the same as going into an amp

I have only ever used an OD with the green channel on my revv g120. Never really felt like I was missing anything otherwise. Tried a few different ones a few times, and I just like it the way it is.

Agreed. I use to agree with those guys. I got the Revv 100p because it was tight sounding and didn’t need a boost, I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed it sounds better boosted. Got a tube screamer in front now.

For those guys who don’t want to buy an additional OD pedal There’s this German amplifier company called Driftwood where you have an inbuilt TS-808 circuit in that amp Also fluff great video as always I think the right OD is like choosing the perfect sauce for your steak 🤌🤌🤌 Not everybody likes it, but everyone’s got a different taste

What are your thoughts on amps like the Hughes & Kettner Grandmiester Deluxe 40 that have a boost button (built in OD)? Is it doing the same job as an OD would do or is it better to ignore the boost and get real OD? Just curious. Yout channel rocks Fluff.

Great video 👍I personally put an EVH OD in front of my 6505 Peavey head, not all the time , or I will use the TS , sometimes I don’t want my standard amp to sound like everybody else’s standard amp, also when I buy high quality chocolate ice cream I always put extra chocolate topping on top, enough is good, more is extra good 👍🎸

Love the jab at fulltone 🤣

Deadass tho, the only amp I ever tried that I thought had an absolutely perfect gain section (within moderation) was the EL34 Bogner Uberschall

We use tub screamers into a duel rec and archon and they sound incredible with it. Helps with the tightness.

The one word that you said that could sum up this video...FLAVOR.

I see a 42.99 Beringer OD on your Amazon store. Is that the one? Didn't see a $30 one. Also, do you have a vid on how to use it. I've tried using an OD in front of a Marshall JCM 900 and the amount of noise was ridiculous. Thanks

It’s like saying “Why do the Amps have EQ”.

Good video Fluff. My Mesa Triple Crown definitely doesn't need the Maxon 808 i own, but it sure does sound good with it on lol. Any amp that doesn't play nice with pedals typically isn't a amp worth buying in my opinion.

Thank you, I am the same way. Sometimes I turn my clean boost on my soldano or splawn because I enjoy the tone! Sometimes I don’t want it to be super tight so I turn it off and get that gooey melted sound. It’s like saying I don’t need a reverb pedal because my amp already has reverb.. sometimes you do!

I always use a boss sd1 for a clean boost just to tighten up my tone. Recently got a mxr 10 band with settings like Kerry king with the volume up and gain off and turn down the amps gain and I get a nasty gritty aggressive tone. I just learned about using the 10 band in the effects loop. Along with those two pedals I got a bbe sonic stomp maximizer and that pedal adds punch and note clarity

That Topo Chico product placement though 👌

If you just don't like how a Tube Screamer cuts the low end, try one of the following: Nobels ODR-1 Marshall Guv'nor Way Huge Green Rhino Any EQ pedal (graphic or parametric)

Great topic man! I agree.

Ridonculous! Liked and subscribed. I thought I’m the only one who uses that phrase!

That’s because it would be ideal to have an amp that doesn’t need anything else. There are probably people that still use a boost in front of amps that already have a boost integrated. Simply because that’s the norm. But it would be awesome to not have to use one. The least amount of gear to haul around, the better

Cool video. I have found that super hot active pickups don't need an overdrive as much

I enjoyed this video, I think some people complain just to complain. You’re right on point.

EVH was one of those dudes who was pretty adamant about not needing an overdrive

yo so I got this expression pedal hooked up to the compressor of TD NOVA dynamic eq ánd at the front position got a low pass auto filter. It's the coolest effect I've ever had and I can set it up however I want it's so cool.

Hey Fluff, I was wondering if you've seen Glen's (SMG) video in regards to swapping tubes.

I have never used the Drive knob on a Tubescreamer. Basically I use the pedal for the Tone knob (and just crank the Level to full), the way it tightens up the sound and makes it more spanky and aggressive is exactly what I like, and i like how it makes the amp react more to my picking hand. Whenever I hear amps without it, they always sound softer and more "wooly". Basically what i'm saying is, I want a Fortin Grind or 33, since they're basically Screamers without the Drive part and with a gnarly EQ,

Imve been considering doing a video on using an overdrive in front of a high gain amp for awhile. Still might, but after seeing some of the reactions in some groups to this video, idk, haha

You couldn't have said it any better fluff I strongly agree👊

Nice video, an overdrive pedal is essential for me.

Great channel man

I always put a tube screamer in front of my jcm900 hi gain dual reverb, because it pushes it to chug more even with no gain on the tube screamer

I have a 5150 III. I use a OD! It sounds extra juicy :)

On an EVH 50W III only the blue channel seems to be benefited from boosting. On red channel I had to put gain on 0.5 and still didn't get any significant improvement. All in all I have the impression that your pickups need to be lo to med with this amp to utilize a boost to its fullest. Unless I am missing something. Cheers!

Thank you for putting that Fulltone pedal down 👍

Exception: Rich Ward Modded Marshall Stuck Mojo tone! Haha!

When you add an OD you’re changing the wave form in to a square wave, much like a solid state amp wave. But it does sound badass.

For anyone thats boost/overdrive averse for guitar amps, I think a good option is the Mesa Mark amps. I like the thing of the eq section as a basic Graphic EQ boost section, and the actual graphic eq section sliders as the actual amp EQ. I think its a good in the amp representation of the powerful effect of using some kind of boost and sculpting tool prior to the amp.

All to taste, or simply not observe-but the pickup output should inform how one might proceed... Will an EMG 81 into a Diezel VH4 definitely yearn for additional squaring off, by adopting a boost method?...

Ha , love it. Its fun to use different OD pedals , like multiples.

Fluffs favorite OD, Behringer TO800 😉 🤘🏼🤘🏼

As popular as it is, it should be implemented in the amp to be able to turn on or off. (for newly designed amps) And some amps do have it. A clean boost + tone is basically what's needed. From a different perspective, it's should be more commonly equipped than reverb.

The Tons Wars dude said the same thing about preferring to have the flexibility of tightening an amp with his pedal of choice. In this Mesa Roadster demo.

you won't catch me turning my tubescreamer off. ever. ever ever. the filter is part of my sound.

totally agree ! every amp ive owned in my opinion needed boosted. ive had all sorts of od pedals, the fortin ones too, right now im using the ge7, much more tunable than a one knob od. my rev f blackface triple is totally lost in my bands mix at rehearsal, needs a clean boost or od to get the tightness, articulation and that mid cut to be heard.

I like the way OD pedals shape the EQ.

Yup. Couldn't agree more. Own a number of amps, Egnater Armageddon and Laney Ironheart as call outs, both are perfect with od's.

I personally like my EVH 5150iii (EL34) 50watt with the KHDK clean boost! It sounds magnificent!

While I do use a TS style pedal in front of a high gain amp id prefer demos on the amp to really showcase the amps pure tone and perhaps a small section with it boosted

You said you would post a link to an Overdrive pedal on Amazon, but it's not there. Can you please post a link?

The funny thing is, the 5150ii/6505+ is the only amp I like the sound of without a boost lol

I think the shred feature in the jp2c is like a built in overdrive, are you saying jp2c needs an overdrive or could use one? that's like putting an overdrive on top of an overdrive!

In regards to adding more gain, just use the BOOST button on the amp's footswitch. That, or hit the channel switch button, and go to your "lead channel." Now, the way I have always used Tube Screamers or Klons is to cut out some of the low frequencies, because most "metal" amps tend to get flubby in the low frequencies. But, of course, you could just turn down the amp's bass knob to get rid of the flubby sound.

I've always used an OD in front of my amps, because it helps me get the sound I want. Without it, I find it difficult for me to find a good sound that I like, and it always feels like somethings missing without it. In this case, I use an OD to add flavour. Don't get me wrong, there are times where I'll turn it off, and go without it, but in the end I always got back. Because it's what I like. Btw I use Bias Fx/Jamup. Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm able to get "my sound" from it and it's highly versatile for my needs and a tube amp/pedal setup is simply to loud for my living situation.

you hit the nail on the head...an OD pedal will add extra flavor to the amp...I haven't used any OD's that add a flavor I like (JCM 800 is only exception, that amp has to be boosted to sound good & just about anything works)...so i don't use OD's as i want to retain the original flavor of the amp..if i wanna push it, I'll use an EQ pedal & keep the tone & add/subtract frequencies i want/don't want

So how do you go to a clean sounds, hit two switches on your pedalboard? Use a boost and then lower the gain on the amp? seems counterproductive in theory sometimes less gain is more though