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 UA-cam 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 🙏🏽
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
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 👌🏼
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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!
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'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.
I play through an old Carvin MTS. I use an MXR Prime 69, both through the clean channel with pedal disto cranked for low-volume practice, and through the gain channel as a boost. I actually like the amp's slightly saggy low-end, so I turn up the amp gain all the way, and the pedal volume at 1-2 o'clock just for that little extra grunt and to tighten things up a tad without losing the low-end growl.
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).
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.
If I absolutely had to, I could use my Revv MKIII Generator 120 without a boost, as it sounds great on his own. With that said, I do boost the red channel, which is the channel I use for high gain leads, because it definitely helps with the sustain, especially when I am doing anything with legato. Using a boost on the red channel also lets me roll the gain back quite a bit on the amp, which keeps the noise at a minimum. That’s important to me, since I don’t use a noise gate on lead tones, because I can never dial in a gate how I want it for lead stuff.
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!
Hey just fyi, in that GT-OD you showed theres a secret switch hidden in the upper left hand corner on the front side of the board. The GT OD uses the same circuit board as the Zakk Wylde pedal, if you flip it it adds a little more gain and compression. All you need is a paper clip to slide the switch over.
I knew those EVH amps were were pretty awesome, but I didn’t realize people weren’t even boosting them . Kinda makes me a little sick , I could’ve bought a 50 watt stealth for what I have in my Rectoverb 25 . I stubbornly refused to use a boost for too long . I finally bought an OCD and had that aha moment . Then I kept seeing the SD1 for 40 dollars to nothing and figured it can’t be good right it’s too cheap . I finally picked one up and it instantly my gear snobbery was kicked square in the balls . The SD1 is the first pedal every guitar player should buy especially since there’s free tuning apps. I would even recommend an SD1 even if you want to play but don’t have a guitar yet. Actually I think every home in America should have an SD1 or two lying around because they are cheap and yellow. Yellow is nice and people should have nice things . Yellow is in fact so nice that Ferrari eventually decided to put it on some of their fine automobiles. I had a screaming yellow Mustang GT and I don’t care if you believe me or not but that yellow paint added at least another 15 horse power , and that’s way more than the 5hp and impossible to avoid water spots from the factory fake hood scoop on the 2004 I had . Just imagine what some tasty Autozone racing stripes would do to a Boss SD1 .
I have a 50 watt EVH Stealth and the red (lead) channel already sounds boosted and tight like in the video. However, the best sound from that amp is from the blue (crunch) channel with gain cranked and a boost in the front. It rolls off the highs off a bit and boosts the low end for some killer chugs. So again the boost wins lol.
Yeah I hear the blue channel boosted is where it’s at . I don’t know of any amps that will get the percussive clank without a boost out front or an eq in the loop or something. I went from never using a boost the amp pickups and pick attack should be plenty, but my right hand ain’t what it used to be or I’ve gotten lazy. Anyway to boost always on player . Like I said a SD1 should be automatic required starter gear .
I bought my first SD-1 in 1997 and I still have it! Hands down best "bang for buck" pedal on the market! Only wish I would have grabbed a Bad Monkey when they came out.
@@shuster1921 of course you should’ve ate two if the doctor says only take one of these things as needed , well better start with 3 of them because you never know when they might be needed and 2 is better than one 3 is better than 2 . I’d be willing to bet that your bike wasn’t yellow though ? Yellow bikes routinely jump 8 lane highways toting riders who haven’t touched a banana in years .
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
I have found the MXR Micro Amp boost pedal to sound amazing straight into my Marshall Mini Jubilee. Slash has been using one in his rig for many many years. 🤘
Great video. The biggest reason I use the SD-1 in front of my signal (output all the way up, distortion way down) is because I can usually take my hand off my strings with it on. Otherwise, I get all kinds of white noise and squealing. I play with my Les Paul or Jackson Pro through the SD-1 in my GT-1000 pedal to a Peavey JSX amp and Marshall cabinet. I can get the same tone running straight into my amp, but my rig loses it's shit if I stop playing with any kind of volume. I am always chasing clarity and sustain (lush crunch instead of mud). This type of pre-gain is the secret sauce to get your sound to cut through without downing airliners with volume. The SD-2 was even more awesome because with a remote switch, it could boost your solo. But they quit making them - probably because I relied on them. Keep up the great work - one of my favorite channels.
My old 2203 was punishing and would have been useless without smackin' the front end hard. Now that it's gone and I don't need to worry about gigs, my current favorite combination in my collection is the ZVEX Box of Rock into a Blackheart Little Giant.
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.
@@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
i run a TC Spark Booster into an Engl Savage 120 MkII but whether I have the boost on or not depends on which guitar i use. generally speaking the Engl has a super tight bottom end but with a LP tuned to C with really heavy strings the boost keeps it from getting too "boomy" and brings back the full hellacious "CHUG". btw that 800 sounded fucking incredible! what a great amp!
Great video. I´m no hardware geek so I never learned how to properly dial in an amp. My amp sims all sounds the same. A boring flubby distorted tone with no "omph". After testing different boost pedals it starts to sound a lot better.
I've tried a lot of different drives in front of my Plexi, and nothing sounded better than this TC Electronic Spark Booster Pedal. It's got this toggle switch that has either a mid-boost, clean-boost (doesn't color your tone), and my personal favorite fat-boost, which needs no explanation. Strat players will love this pedal. The treble and bass can really EQ you where you want to be, and the gain knob has tons of gain on tap if needed. I usually turn the gain up to where it start bring in some low end, and then volume knob past unity gain into notes ringing into harmonics type Territory. Last, put it before or after a ts9 or Klon style drive for interesting combinations.
Thanks for watching! What’s your favorite boost pedal??? And which amp tone did you like the best?
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!
Several pedals doing a little is a Timmons secret, too. Good call.
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!
Uncle Ben progressively stacking amp heads higher and higher is one of the best things I've seen in a long time.
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?
Absolutely, great idea!
@@BenEller Thanks Uncle Ben!!
...how the eff do I upvote this suggestion more than once ('cause I would love this, as well)? #joking #notjoking
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.
My step-dad says boost pedals aren't for real players, good thing I'd rather listen to my uncle
Depends on type of music your doing
It was a joke, Holmes. Lol
I actually always had monster gain amps and didn't think I needed a boost pedal.... Many years later after UA-cam 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.
@@nordicguitar8395 in the words of Yngwie "more is more".
I have a Fender Champion Solid State and it even makes a worth while difference with that lol
Literally me.
I had a similar experience but it was people pushing me to try it on my own channel that led me to it
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
The "don't tell anybody" when referring the the Bad Monkey is absolutely hysterical after what happened with the JHS video
You think we can get a "Round and Round" full lesson? Awesome vid Ben!
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 🙏🏽
Was very happy to see the Digitech Bad Monkey, has been my boost for years and I love it.
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
Erik, I LOVE Carter Vintage! Best shop in town. I’ll totally stop in next time I’m in town!
Thanks to you I now have to get a deluxe! That guitar is so sweet, doesn’t help that I’ve been band crushing on The. Darkness… great vudeo.
As an OD/Distortion addict, I must say... Great vid brother!!! 🤘🏻😁🤘🏻
Great informative video, I've never heard this explained so well and in depth before.People like me need this kind of video to fully comprehend.
Wow! Ravishing Rick Rude in a Uncle Ben video.....Most impressive!
Smooth operator...
@@Guitarnivore Accompanied to the ring by his manager, Percival Pringle the Third.
I love how boost pedals make lower tunings actually audible. Also that Rose Of Sharyn riff holy shit it's so nice.
Best guitar based channel on UA-cam, great advice, humour, awesome playing and easy too watch 🤘🏻
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 👌🏼
Great video again Ben.
Wow, that EVH!! Good lord!!! Thanks uncle Ben!! I loved the Friedman and Revv amp tones as well. Killer tones all around!
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.
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.
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.
Uncle Ben Suhr you always have the best content
Unky B is the best teacher a student could have. Thank you sir!
Damn , there’s that gorgeous guitar !
Thanks, Just picked up the Ibanez Tune Screamer a couple weeks ago . Great timing, I needed that tutorial .
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.
@@craigharrison5406 yup. The + mode is where its at
Great video! Thanks, that Dirty tree sounded killer, they all did, but that dirty tree!!
Great video. Really makes the case! Good flow in the vid, never got boring, yet wildly informative!
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)
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.
That amp is seriously unbelievable
Excellent content, Uncle Ben!
Love the Pepers pedals stuff. Go Kiwi!!
My old 27 fret Xiphos was named Shreddy Krueger!
Dude... I can't believe you're the first gear channel I've watched that went into a Britny Fox riff! SUBSCRIBED! 🤘
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.
Cracking and informative article Uncle Ben thanks heaps 🙏
I just got the Tony Iommi signature treble booster from Laney. Don't know if you'll like it but I'm very pleased with it.
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
Came for the boostin', stayed for the Motorbreath fun. Love warming up with that riff.
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
4:05 -- Queen - Hammer to fall 🤘
Could have used this video 30 years ago. Honestly didn’t know what an OD did back then. Now it’s all I have DT for the Win!!
It’s funny this video pops up in my feed the day my new SD1 gets delivered. Super happy with 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.
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!
Just bought my first proper boost pedal today (SD-1) and i love it.
Because!!!!
I’m a parent because is all the reason I need.
And more is more!
MT-2 is my favorite boss boost! 🤘🏽
The Dad riffs here are God tier.
Cool vid Ben.
Awesome video and demo!! I own a JCM800 like that one, amazing tones!!! Cheers from Portugal.
My first pedal was my Boss OD-1X and is still one of my favourites and my go-to for my distortion/drive tones, it just sounds go good
I always carry a Boss SD1 with a fresh battery in my gig bag no matter the occasion or gig. When you need one you need one period.
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'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.
Nice, you snuck in a meow at 12:30 haha
A Boss OD-1X in front of my Mark IIC has been the best in my experience. Also putting a BD-2 in front of the OD-1X works great..
I play through an old Carvin MTS. I use an MXR Prime 69, both through the clean channel with pedal disto cranked for low-volume practice, and through the gain channel as a boost. I actually like the amp's slightly saggy low-end, so I turn up the amp gain all the way, and the pedal volume at 1-2 o'clock just for that little extra grunt and to tighten things up a tad without losing the low-end growl.
Man, I love those “flubby and tubby” Korn tones. :D
Simply ravishing
Absolutely loved how you threw Motorbreath in the riffage!!!!! It truly made my Wooly Mammoth
Killer riff and video by the way!!!!
If you remember the Krankenstein....definitely needed a boost, at least the early models did, too clean up some mud.
RAT pedals set to low gain make for a pretty nasty and underrated boost for Marshall amps!
Yes they do!!!
Yes! I think Metallica used them in Kill en all
@@enriquenavarrete1810 it was RTL i think, since the stuff they had got stolen they had to use that
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).
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.
Man, I love that Ratt riff. Thanks for the info and insight!
This was an eye opening video - Thanks much!
The "yeah, I'm doing it" shrug at 9:35. 😂
If I absolutely had to, I could use my Revv MKIII Generator 120 without a boost, as it sounds great on his own. With that said, I do boost the red channel, which is the channel I use for high gain leads, because it definitely helps with the sustain, especially when I am doing anything with legato. Using a boost on the red channel also lets me roll the gain back quite a bit on the amp, which keeps the noise at a minimum. That’s important to me, since I don’t use a noise gate on lead tones, because I can never dial in a gate how I want it for lead stuff.
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!
Ha! I mainly play bass and I do this too (with a compressor pedal, which can also boost depending on how it's set).
Great video uncle Ben. Would love to see similar videos for other popular pedals, like delay for example.
Thanks for the breakdown...and for throwing in the big riff of Round and Round so I can watch your handfingers doing it right 😆
Hey just fyi, in that GT-OD you showed theres a secret switch hidden in the upper left hand corner on the front side of the board. The GT OD uses the same circuit board as the Zakk Wylde pedal, if you flip it it adds a little more gain and compression. All you need is a paper clip to slide the switch over.
I’m intrigued by the walrus audio that you put through the rectifier. Thanks for showing that one.
I built my own TS-9 clone from the one at tagboard effects and it sounds great.
I knew those EVH amps were were pretty awesome, but I didn’t realize people weren’t even boosting them . Kinda makes me a little sick , I could’ve bought a 50 watt stealth for what I have in my Rectoverb 25 . I stubbornly refused to use a boost for too long . I finally bought an OCD and had that aha moment . Then I kept seeing the SD1 for 40 dollars to nothing and figured it can’t be good right it’s too cheap . I finally picked one up and it instantly my gear snobbery was kicked square in the balls . The SD1 is the first pedal every guitar player should buy especially since there’s free tuning apps. I would even recommend an SD1 even if you want to play but don’t have a guitar yet. Actually I think every home in America should have an SD1 or two lying around because they are cheap and yellow. Yellow is nice and people should have nice things . Yellow is in fact so nice that Ferrari eventually decided to put it on some of their fine automobiles. I had a screaming yellow Mustang GT and I don’t care if you believe me or not but that yellow paint added at least another 15 horse power , and that’s way more than the 5hp and impossible to avoid water spots from the factory fake hood scoop on the 2004 I had . Just imagine what some tasty Autozone racing stripes would do to a Boss SD1 .
I have a 50 watt EVH Stealth and the red (lead) channel already sounds boosted and tight like in the video. However, the best sound from that amp is from the blue (crunch) channel with gain cranked and a boost in the front. It rolls off the highs off a bit and boosts the low end for some killer chugs. So again the boost wins lol.
Yeah I hear the blue channel boosted is where it’s at . I don’t know of any amps that will get the percussive clank without a boost out front or an eq in the loop or something. I went from never using a boost the amp pickups and pick attack should be plenty, but my right hand ain’t what it used to be or I’ve gotten lazy. Anyway to boost always on player . Like I said a SD1 should be automatic required starter gear .
I bought my first SD-1 in 1997 and I still have it! Hands down best "bang for buck" pedal on the market! Only wish I would have grabbed a Bad Monkey when they came out.
@@shuster1921 of course you should’ve ate two if the doctor says only take one of these things as needed , well better start with 3 of them because you never know when they might be needed and 2 is better than one 3 is better than 2 . I’d be willing to bet that your bike wasn’t yellow though ? Yellow bikes routinely jump 8 lane highways toting riders who haven’t touched a banana in years .
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
I have found the MXR Micro Amp boost pedal to sound amazing straight into my Marshall Mini Jubilee. Slash has been using one in his rig for many many years. 🤘
Great video. The biggest reason I use the SD-1 in front of my signal (output all the way up, distortion way down) is because I can usually take my hand off my strings with it on. Otherwise, I get all kinds of white noise and squealing. I play with my Les Paul or Jackson Pro through the SD-1 in my GT-1000 pedal to a Peavey JSX amp and Marshall cabinet. I can get the same tone running straight into my amp, but my rig loses it's shit if I stop playing with any kind of volume. I am always chasing clarity and sustain (lush crunch instead of mud). This type of pre-gain is the secret sauce to get your sound to cut through without downing airliners with volume. The SD-2 was even more awesome because with a remote switch, it could boost your solo. But they quit making them - probably because I relied on them. Keep up the great work - one of my favorite channels.
I use the Blackstar dept. 10 tube boost. Paired with Soldano SLO pedal, just amazing. The valve response gives it such a smooth but powerful boost.
My old 2203 was punishing and would have been useless without smackin' the front end hard. Now that it's gone and I don't need to worry about gigs, my current favorite combination in my collection is the ZVEX Box of Rock into a Blackheart Little Giant.
Great video, man. Much appreciated.
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.
Yeah, a little Britny Fox to start the day. Awesome!!!
Yup, I picked up on that “Girlschool” too.
@@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
Badass Vai riffage on the 800 and the Whitesnake as well
This is exactly what I’ve been searching for Ben. Thank you sir. Been looking for the right boost for my JEL20’s glorious plexi channel.
My favorite overdrive is the Airis Effects Savage. Best boost pedal I've ever used, even beating out the venerable TS808.
Damn Uncle b mad respect you're the tongue master appreciate the content 😂🤘
Always great tone when you plug into a Rude…Rick Rude
I applaud your sick Britny Fox riffing.
Always in the Boost Team! 🤘🏽😎
i run a TC Spark Booster into an Engl Savage 120 MkII but whether I have the boost on or not depends on which guitar i use. generally speaking the Engl has a super tight bottom end but with a LP tuned to C with really heavy strings the boost keeps it from getting too "boomy" and brings back the full hellacious "CHUG". btw that 800 sounded fucking incredible! what a great amp!
Great video. I´m no hardware geek so I never learned how to properly dial in an amp. My amp sims all sounds the same. A boring flubby distorted tone with no "omph". After testing different boost pedals it starts to sound a lot better.
man I'm in love with that first Super Bass take
12:35 "Meow it's also worth mentioning"
My concentration is now shot for the rest of the vid
That's why I love the Mesa Mark V. It's pretty much its own boost pedal.
Forget the boost. Your outro music was the Never ending story!
I've tried a lot of different drives in front of my Plexi, and nothing sounded better than this TC Electronic Spark Booster Pedal. It's got this toggle switch that has either a mid-boost, clean-boost (doesn't color your tone), and my personal favorite fat-boost, which needs no explanation. Strat players will love this pedal. The treble and bass can really EQ you where you want to be, and the gain knob has tons of gain on tap if needed. I usually turn the gain up to where it start bring in some low end, and then volume knob past unity gain into notes ringing into harmonics type Territory.
Last, put it before or after a ts9 or Klon style drive for interesting combinations.
Know what? I have one, and I haven’t really used it. I’ll give it a try!
Spark booster is my favourite pedal, that active eq is really helpful