My favorite is gain stacking low overdrive SD-1 Waza on the C setting, into very slight compression from a Kelly compressor, into a very low distortion JHS mod rat on the lead mode. Stick that into the front end of any amp and you have a great high gain lead sound. I've always preferred multiple low distortions over just turning up the distortion on 1 pedal, or the amp. Really like it into a cleaner brit style amp like an older Marshall or Orange. That being said, straight into the EVH amp was great.
I bought a Bucket Seat from Analog Alien after watching your video on it, and it sounds fantastic in front of my Orange. I sound Iike Iommi except without the talent!
The friedman Rocks, but then again so do you,I liked them all but the friedman stuck out to me, Do a video on how much time,dedication and persistance with patience it takes to become a pro level player, some of this comes naturally quicker for some,not so much for others, but I dont feel like a beginner understands the hours put in to acheiving a pro level staus, some things are taking me a while,but I have still developed my own style and my tone, which is a job in itself.Thanx Ben for all the great knowledge you have passed along. great work always. Shade Hope.Knoxville Tn..
George Lynch's guitar tech showed me the tube screamer boost method in 1990, I was setting up my rig at sound check,69 JMP 100 head, turn the gain off,level high, tone to suit, said this is how George sets his, fuckin awesome,never went back!
This was great Uncle Ben. I never understood why I couldn't get a good tone using a boost pedal. Turns out, I was doing it wrong. Would you be able to do a similar video on compression pedals?
I would love to see how to use compression in a metal context!! Been trying to understand it for months at this point but still don't think I completely know what I'm doing. Plus, the controls on compression aren't as "intuitive" as other pedals/effects. A tutorial on it would really help.
@@anime5h_m1shr4 I think all of us have thought that for years. Weve all watched every video called Compression Made Easy but it wasnt easy and we left knowing less than when it started.
I actually always had monster gain amps and didn't think I needed a boost pedal.... Many years later after RU-vid guitar channels took off, I thought "well, everybody is using them" so I tried one.... And instantly thought "I've wasted my life". Even if your amp doesn't "need" it, you dial back the amp gain and use the OD on zero gain and....life changing. Can't live without one now.
Oh yeah me too. A couple of years ago I found all kinds of new, glorious textures by using a couple of different boost and OD pedals with my Mesa amps.
Uncle B I watch off and on for probably 7 years but son I got to give you credit that $1 a month patreon was ingenious even if you only have 6,000 viewers that's $6,000 a month I f****** love it cherish your friend
Man that Rose of Sharyn riff on the EVH gave me goosebumps! I was a “core-kid” growing up and just very recently got back into Killswitch and have been LOVING their music again
Thanks UB! Perfect timing as always. I just picked up a Mesa Dual Rec Solo Head and TS pedal. I'm going to try the other pedals you mentioned. Volume control is a huge issue so I bought an attenuator to keep the peace in the neighborhood. 👍
Boosts are a must in my opinion. But this video really confirmed that a boosted Recto is my favorite metal tone by a long shot 😬 Dig the way you explained the slight tweaks in choices that can make our sounds unique. Definitely agree. Nothing wrong with emulating your favorites but all the options that actually sound good together nowadays is amazing for variety 🙏🏽
wisely spoken uncle Ben 🙌the opportunity to shape your own tone sounds like a really good idea in times where everybody seems to stick to the tried and trues (such as the V30 speakers)
The last statement makes sense! I also thought ‚why should I put a pedal in front of an expensive tube hi gain amp?‘ Well, after some testing, I completely changed my mind and have found the tone I was chasing for 👌🏼
As always, what a great vid and demo. I can’t tell you HOW MANY SD-1s I sold during the “heyday” of ‘85 to ‘05 when I was working at Gelb Music back in Redwood City, CA. It *literally* was a game-changer. Although we mainly used them as a lead boost for solos, doing everything you demonstrated: Adding a touch more gain, more “vocal” mids, and tightening up (losing) some of the bottom end. Pure Gold. Thanks again for another great video, keep ‘em coming! And make sure to come by and say “hey” anytime you’re in Nashville, as I now work the weekends (Fri, Sat, Mon) at Carter Vintage Guitars… Cheers! 🥃 ~ Erik
This was my favourite video on the topic of using OD pedals and boosting amps, very good! Great to see the consideration of different amps as well as musical styles and goals, and putting it all into context with examples.
That was a cool little conversation man. The pedal in front of a higher gain amp thing was something that I learned. I can totally hear that in a tone I was trying to get.
@@nordicguitar8395 Yes, The Lead guitarist and drummer were in Cinderella , The story goes that when they got signed, it was" suggested that they be replaced
Some amplifiers also "fall apart" or get overly fizzy if you turn the gain or volume up too high. Tim Pierce made a really good video on boost pedals and overdrives for pushing tube amplifiers. I'm a single coil player, always amazing to have a Klone, Tube screamer, or both on your pedalboard. On some overdrive pedals like a tube screamer or a klon/klone, with the volume cranked and the gain set at 0, yes you are still adding gain to the amplifier(it's a common misconception to say that you're not adding gain when boosting. Volume IS a form of gain, you're just not adding the pedal's own clipping to the signal path. With a Klon style pedal being a hard clipper with the diodes being located far out into the circuit, you don't get any real pedal clipping until you push the gain past noon), the pedal is simply put not adding it's own clipping to the signal rather than just pushing the front end of the amp and adding some of it's EQ curve.
I'm glad you showed the EVH amp and how boosted the signal sounds plugged straight in. I played an EVH 3 6L6 one time and bought it on the spot. Now I just use a reverb and delay pedal and gate the loop. Good video..thanks.
The turbo ts9 is great. Doesnt suck the low end out. Thats the main reason i dont use the boss super overdrive or the regular ts9. I love the way they distort, but i like retaining that low end.
Ya man, I have one and use it with my Marshall DSL 100 which is a little light in the bottom end. The 2nd mode on the turbo knob thickens it up perfectly.
Since I boughtit in 2006, never played w/out the TS9 in my pedalboard. No matter with kind of amp/distortion, the TS9 in front of it just makes the sound much more round and full! Love it!
I agree completely about the sonic thumbprint point. Different overdrive pedal circuits are going to help people get their own sound. But also, an amp that needs an overdrive is, in a way, more versatile than an amp that doesn't need an overdrive. Which makes an amp more appealing to more players. I think the reasoning behind amps being built to still need an OD is not everybody is a metal head/not everybody plays exclusively metal.
Wow Ben! I’ve always used a boost and I have a 5150 EL34. I used a boost with it just out of habit but I turned it off and it sounds so much better. Doesn’t need it
Watching this makes me realize (again) how amazing the Peavey Invective is. One clean channel and 2 separate gain channels, each with enough gain to melt your face off (especially the second one), AND a boost for each channel to make everybody's head within a mile radius explode. Oh and on top of that it has a noise gate to clean it all up too. Add some Fishman Fluence moderns on your axe and you've got killer attack and tight decay and sustain for days while keeping your tone clean as a whistle. Seriously check out the Invective, it's an absolute monster.
Try a 120 watt Bugera 333XL INFINIUM amp head connected to a Line 6 320 watt cabinet with a Sentry noise gate and a boss ME-50 with the OD boost turned on. It’s a beast, specially if you turn the volume up.
The 7-string example was really fun, and while I can deffo see the advantage of the boost, the part without it gave me really gnarly dirty old death metal-y vibes as well as the Korn sound you mention!
I'm a few months late to this party; I wired an Alembic Blaster clone into my Carvin DC-135s (neckthrough strat) - I LOVE that thing! Very simple boost circuit, very easy to install. It adds a fantastic boost that increases harmonic distortion as you raise the gain on it. The coolest thing about it is that you can play through an old Fender Twin - the ones that had no overdrive capability - and still get just the right amount of growl or shred tone you need and it's super easy to adjust the gain on the fly to match the music... Even from a pristine yet geriatric amp that can only produce clean tones - unless, of course, you completely dime it and deafen anybody within 200 yards. The fact that it's inside the guitar means no extra pedal to carry if you're trying to keep things simple.
Airis Effects makes my favourite boosts and drives. I got the Burger Boost, which is a Carnage Boost limited edition housing, and I love it. The Savage drive is the best drive out there.
Before the sd1 and tube screamer came out players would use a treble booster on a plexi to get more gain. The extra high frequency content bypassed via the filter cap in the first preamp stage and drive that into distortion. The surplus on hi frequencies could then be toned down to taste with the tmb pots
For a clean heavy boost I like the lpb 1..tons of volume and thickens tone up w single coils...for color boost I love the spank mini...20 DB of gain and perfect amount of distortion with single knob control... always on tail end boost it's great..also use od petals w gain down as clean boost...many drives accomplish this..love the sd1 too
Goddamn, son... that is a real beaut of a guitar. (EDIT: didn't even get passed the LP Custom before I thought to submit this comment... otherwise I would have clarified the guitar AND said awesome flashback on that Erotic Nightmares riff!)
Great vid. I've been going down the OD/Boost rabbit hole a bit lately. I've got the Horizon Precision Drive, an MXR Custom Badass OD, PRS Horsemeat and just picked up the Revv Tilt Boost Kind of going through a shootout right now to see which I like best. The Tilt is feeling like the winner because it just heats up the amp without coloring or severely altering its natural tones and is easily tweaked, though the MXR when set properly adds some creamy goodness and smoothness for leads. I'm doing this with a Revv G50 and a Mesa. They have enough gain, but there's something about that little extra attack before the amp that really inspires.
Interestingly enough I’ve just been going over this myself. And since you threw the “Bad Boys” riff in there I’ll bite haha I’ve been on a savage quest to get the Sykes sound. I always ran a boost but never understood how he could get such a clear attack with so much distortion. His trick was power tube distortion with a power soak. The notes are still clear for chording but that’s how he got that hang time from hell with enough juice for all the “woo woo WOO”’s he did. I started doing the same and it’s SO different from running a boost in front. You have to fight it out of the amp a little more but the results are much more reactive. Practically everyone I know has their boost of choice with great results but unless I find something that sounds better than this, I’m sticking by my Hot Plate haha
I love my bad monkey. Makes the polite and sophisticated tone of DS-1X into something more crunchy I prefer. One reason I haven't bought a new amp forever.
I get great results using a Boss GE-7 graphic EQ as a boost into my Revv G20. The pedal has a lot of clean boost available and way more tone shaping options (my chosen EQ curve is a fairly aggressive high-pass filter).
my favorite example of a boost being integral to a sound is the meshuggah tone, without the tc electronic integrated preamp, that tone just would not be crushing
