How to get clean tones from an overdriven amp: 7 methods

A demonstration of 7 different methods of achieving clean tones when you want the natural overdrive of your amp.
0:00 Intro
1:24 Using an Overdrive pedal "backwards"
3:25 Compressor pedal
5:15 Volume pedal
7:01 EQ pedal
9:15 Guitar toggle switch method
11:05 Riding the volume knob
14:15 AB switch (2 channel amps)
16:28 Summary comments

[@tonybroken6353]

this is great information. I have a related question though, this is a great way to use the dirty channel and footswitch to a clean sound, but what if the other pedals like fuzz don't sound good through the dirty channel, how do i go about using them. I don't want to just keep the amp clean to use pedals, it seems a waste not to use the gain of the amp.

[@fiveightandten]

Fuzz and other dirt pedals can be used into a dirty amp. You just need to balance how much gain you're stacking together. In fact, many Germanium fuzz pedals will clean up extremely well and give a nice clean tone when rolling the guitar's volume back. They do need to be connected first in line, directly connected to the guitar though. Fuzz Face type pedals are good for this, and some Tone Bender types are ok (MKII).
If you have a 2 channel amp with multiple inputs, like a Marshall or Vox, you can run an AB switch and use one channel for clean, and another for overdrive. You can separate your pedals and decide which ones feed into each channel.