The #1 Most Common Overdrive Pedal Mistake!
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- The number #1 most common mistake a lot of people using overdrive make is explained in this video. One of your instincts when setting the level for the perfect lead volume is to essentially tweak the controls on the pedal rather than turn the amplifier up! You get a much better sound using the amp's volume rather than the pedals volume. You can of course set it however works best for you. In my experience, I have found if I need more volume rather than turning up the pedal, I turn up the amplifier. This gives me a much warmer, rounder, fuller sound with more dynamics and less compression. This tip on how to use and set up your overdrive pedal and amplifier should give you better tone instantly. 😎
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I was taught as a child just learning about pedals to always run my pedals at unity with the amp. That way when you turn the pedal on the volume doesn't jump from 0 to 100. Set the pedal for unity then worry about your gain and tone. I think it's a lot easier that way, too.
^ Yep. Same here. I never thought doing it any other way made any real sense - it just seemed logical to me. Then again, despite decades at guitar, I'm still quite ignorant so who knows? ;) :D
Still, useful info here I think!
cheers!
What's the point of having a tube amp if you don't push it?
A very good point, but there's quite a few valve amps that don't sound good having their pre-amp stages overloaded. It's the power valves you really want to drive. :)
Tube amps are often pushed with great results. Tube Screamer types are often used with the "overdrive" knob low and the "output" volume knob higher as a relatively clean boost to overdrive the first 12AX7 in a tube amp and let the tubes do the clipping instead of an opamp. In this example a Peavey Transtube SOLID STATE amp is being used. In general, solid state amps don't take a punch to the face well. This video is good advice for solid state amps, as well as good advice for anyone with any amp as a starting point in setup.
Jed Knight What's the point of having ears if you're going to wreck them with tinnitus?
The other guitarist in my band sets the vol on his amp for lead, then uses an o/d with reduced vol for rhythm. I always thought it was weird to switch off the pedal for a solo...but it works.
J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr does this too!
Shane....This has NOTHING to do with this video it's simple to say THANK YOU.....I have been a fan of yours for YEARS and Years. You're a guy I could hang out and have a BEER with, a guy who is just a extremely nice guy doing something he LOVES and you pu THAT back on us HELPING us make our musical lives much better.
BOTTOM LINE....You are one of the VERY BEST as WHAT you do if not THE BEST.....THANKS.
Thanks so much for the kind words I really appreciate it and the support. Thank you. :)
If everybody has fun playing and has found their own style and tone that they just love, let's just leave it that. Everybody does things differently . There are lots of ways to do the pedal thing. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. If you like the way you sound, then Rock On, bro!!!
Miss my Bandit a lot! Exceptional amplifiers!
TLDR; Turn your amp up more so you're working the tubes and transformers enough instead of just slamming the front end with volume boost. Make sure enough character is coming from your amp, relying only on pedals usually sounds cheap. Well demonstrated in video.
I find these videos more more useful than a "how to". It's best to know what not to do before you learn what you should be doing. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I thought Australians played guitar upside down, not back to front! 😜
Reviews of overdrive pedals need to also discuss how they set the guitar volume knob. I rarely play at 10 on my guitar, usually around 7-8 is enough.
Shane did a video about that previously, it demonstrated that although V10 might give the most volume, it did not produce the best tone, that's was best around V7-8. Guess it's a bit like the change in EQ when a volume pot with no treble bleed is set low, that attenuates the higher frequencies.
The amp is still 'working' harder.
Great video!
Well it would seem that people are enjoying these type of videos so with that in mind - expect some more to follow. 🙂 Thanks folks 🙇
intheblues - We would all appreciate that. Great vid and lesson on pedal basics.
Please, do one pushing the dirty channel of the Bandit with a TS pedal!
I probably should have posted my other (long) comment here, if I expected you read it. I
Or better yet, on a recent video... Maybe I'll cut n paste... If I don't see any signs of response in a few, I'll C&P.
F/X Loop Tips & Tricks. Plus what not to do when doing so.
Try this out with distortion pedals also people! really makes the difference in clarity and dynamics. Thanks for the tip Shane!
Ok. Thanks. But as long as you turn up the amp volume more hum noise what is undesirable. However if you turn up the volume padal instead of amp volume there is less hum noise.
I want to thank you for this video , this changed my sound for the better at the last gig and can't believe I haven't been doing this before . ive been playing with digital boards for years but I'm fairly new to analog pedals !! keep the awesome videos coming .
I totally agree. Giving the amp more volume help it breath. The problem with this though is people say your too loud. They never seem to get your volume effecting tone. Guitar player problems.
That's why you turn the volume level down on the pedal, at least that's what I got from it.
I was actually watching this video to see if it was okay to have lesser volumes on your pedals and run your AMP higher safely. I have a fender hot rod DeVille and it does sound sweeter with more string dynamic and sensitivity with the pedals turned lower than the amp I run it on about 3 in #2 input . In front is Boss CS-3 and a TS 9 then a Boss NS-2
It sounds great ..... Really good when more than one note is played
Great vid Shane! Never thought of it like that, but so obvious when someone else points it out! Thanks man.
I might have done this intuitively but this was a good clear explanation and advice thanks
Thanks for a very helpful tip. It does make sense to turn up the amp more than the pedal.
For me i prefer to set my guitar volume between 6 to 8. I make sure my amp and pedal volume are in unity so when pedal is off or on the volume level stays roughly the same. If I need to take over lead, I just push down my guitar volume to the max. If I need my bassist to have louder sound, I just pull my guitar volume up. But hey that's just me.
On a serious note, this is a really good lesson, I know it sounds like practical tips on Pedal and Amp settings, but it's really promoting the notion of tuning your sound with your ears rather than your eyes. A Ge fuzz face is a really good example, run it flat out and it sounds crap, back off the fuzz just 2 notches at the pedal and use your guitar volume to go from clean to bliss between 7 and 10 on the knob.. I thought they sucked before someone educated me.. it's all about finesse.. Thanks Shane
Cheers Michael :-)
Some seem to be taking the idea too literally. I just tried this, and by turning the amp volume up a little (no significant impact on clean), and the pedal volume down a little, it did give a warmer, more natural sound, as Shane says, more bloom from the amp. It's a fine line though, as that bloom can sometimes get in the way. Good tip from Shane 👍.
Good advise. I'll try it. Also, I appreciate that you're not a tube amp snob. Solid state or tubes? If you can play, you'll sound good through either one.
Great video. Well explained. I also love to see a left-handed Aussie like me!
I will definitely try this, I use my volume knob for everything. Thanks for this great tip 👍🏻
Great advice, being a newbie to pedals I have always struggled to find a pedal that did not over process the sound, awesome channel love all your stuff, I also play a Bandit and a Blues deluxe👍
Has taken me 40 years of playin (slow learner)- to get my sound ok for me- now using a preamp - Giggity + Mosfet Fulltone 2 + Hall o Fame reverb + T/ screamer- gunna swap out the screamer for a Boss Blues Driver- 2006 USA Strat with Texas Specials- Orange 35 Crush ( yes- love the distortion feel) - rich, warm and smooth sound- sounds like my Firebird
This video was great. Please do some more of these videos on similar topics in the future.
shane you make a great point, but your left handed and i cannot trust you
Just watch his videos in a mirror. It will b ok.
it is easiest way to copy what Shane plays because I see it like in the mirror...
You're :)
Your arm went into the amp!!
I don't have a problem with transtube, that is something Peavey definitely got right. I have a Delta Blues (II) 115 and used to own Peavey Rage 258 and they are both a delight to play, it's just my adorable niece wanted an amp... So she plays through the rage, now. I will say I am against modeling amps, though (personally, my ears snd feelings aren't yours. I've heard some bomb playing through modelers.) They just don't feel right to me. This was definitely helpful and am about to try it with my JRAD Blue Note and Bad Monkey. Thanks a lot, Shane.
Thanks Shane, very helpful advice. If you ever have the time could you do a video on the expression pedal for the Mustang amps? There isn't a whole lot of information available on it.
Really like the approach and hands on informative videos Shane puts out. It's 2 steps above those UK Beavis and Butthead blokes. Sponsored idiocy I call it. Thanks for keeping it real for us man
Thanks mate I appreciate that. I can't stand those dudes either. 👍
Transtube Peaveys are underrated. I have a Rage 15 I paid $40 and I love it as a practice amp much more than when I tried practicing on tube amps. It almost responds to my OD808 like a tube amp which is really nice. I love that little amp. Mine has an eminence speaker but I forget which one.
Love your videos Shane, keep up the good work!
It all sounded good to me!!
exactly. people get to hung up on details.
Well yes, but this is a maxon OD-820, a mix of klon and TS. If you use an OD pedal to push your amp, you need to cranck to volume of the pedal and put the gain on lowest. Usually this is done on a tube amp, but I did it on a Bandit as well. Depends on what sound you want. Its the logic of the unlogic: AMP tone -> cranck the volume of the pedal. Pedal tone -> use the volume of the amp.
It just makes since to me, too. Like I said before, that way when you hit whatever pedal it doesn't go from low volume amp to super high volume pedal. When you run pedals at unity the effect is heard on top of or through your base tone. It seems to me like every thing is working hard and running like it is supposed to when pedals are run at unity.
It should be added that you have to be careful that you don't just squash the signal within the amp by turning up the pre-amp in there, because that will always be like "gain", even on a clean channel (unless it's just super clean).
Also, how much you can increase your pedal's output before compression depends on the headroom available.
For example, I have an amplifier that's super-clean and it doesn't even really go overdrive well, all it mostly does is amplify and go louder. So in that case I can pretty much turn up a pedal's level all the way and not get much compression. And yes, the pre-amp lower will still hold back the signal an possibly compress it to some extent, but I didn't notice a "flatter" sound, because it's a very "open" amplifier overall. - I think there's more risk to getting a "squashed" sound with amplifiers that are a lot more sensitive with gain and drive and so forth. - In the end, it's all about the interaction between different pieces of equipment.
I used to run my amp about halfway up so it was crystal clean then add an OD pedal set to unity and a clean boost after the OD set for an intentional volume jump. Then I discovered that my solo boosted level was pretty much the same volume as my amp on 10, so now I crank the amp and use my volume knob and picking dynamics to get different levels of gain and volume. I still use the boost, but set it really loud and clean to drive the power tubes even harder (doesn't get much louder, just more compressed)
I love how at 1:15 in the video, it looks like he's reaching through the amp :)
Wow, a Peavey... this dude must really know his stuff.
that's true, too. like a Dumble. I probably wouldn't want to put just any ol' drive pedal on that amp.
I don't use a pedal, amp, or guitar this way, which is to say that I just don't step on the pedal to give the effect or not give the effect. I use the volume control on the guitar to give me gradation instead of just on/off via pedal. I NEVER play unity gain with any overdrive or distortion pedal.
hey Shane nice vid. I have to say your tips are all real deal, I've been playing close to thirty years an love to see a solid state, especially the bandit, I've owned more peavey equipment than any thing from guitars to amps, tube an solid state, I love the remark of tube sound on the amp, I've played 60 's transistor amps like magnatone or supro an they have better breakup an compression than some tube models,,.... IMO. only I own both but with tweaking behind the curtains I can simulate tube like tone if you want to call it that safely... lol.. any how your guitar is very bright an chimney I like it. it sounds very resonant....
Thank you!
Real lesson of this video - V1 is critical
Right about the volume pedal. But, make sure you put volume pedal after your drive pedals. That way you can turn your volume down without losing your gain. If you put you volume before your drives, then when you use your volume pedal, it'll be like turning the volume knob down on your guitar if you were going straight into an amp. You would lose gain and volume.
Will Wetherington ... does your comment about placement of the volume pedal also apply to a boost pedal if I'm using it primarily for volume?
great video shane! great advice!
This is good stuff for beginners. Pros have their game on already don't worry about us. I personally prefer tubes over ss. Vintage tube amps can't be beat. Solid state amps are great for videos the audio is already highly compressed and solid state so he amp really doesn't matter. It matters to the player that takes his craft seriously.mone of the greatest ever played SS amps dimebag Darrel.
So true.
Half the kids on YT use way too much gain,and too much low end,and over-compressed..
u can tell the gain on the amp is dimed and the pedal as well..
a simple TS9 set correctly is killer..makes a squire strat w single coils sound like metal if u do it right,
less is more. A so so Marshall can be crappy on it's own but a simple TS pedal does so much, so many fancy pedals now...everyone overdoes it. The TS used correctly,and a good amp,with tubes..Marshall,Vox,Blackstar..and not too much GAIN,!. Great channel,thnx.
Thanks mate, many thanks. :-)
very true. they tend to scoop the kids way too much
Honey, I Scooped the Kids.
Lol not true. It depends all most entirely on the amp or distortion pedal. No OD is going to give you a medal tone if you have no form of distortion, OD does not give you distortion.
What about if you use your overdrive pedal for your lead boost? I've been using my faithful boss super overdrive with level at max pushing a crunchy DSL for years and it sounds killer.
Drooling over the Tokai.....
4:04 Yep...I can see the amp 'woring harder.'
Interesting Shane, thanks! Are there recommendations in terms of Preamp Volume/Gain vs. Master Volume level? Presumably Master is the one to turn up last?
It depends. I often will turn the master up to 8 or 9 and use the preamp to control the overall volume. I get a much fuller sound that way. This is with smaller amps, of course. 20-40 watt solid states or low wattage tube amps with master volume. You wont get alot of preamp gain by doing this, your tone will be clean to slightly dirty. You'll need a pedal if you want more gain and saturation. The overall tone is much better though because the power section is fully engaged and pushes the speaker better with much richer frequency content.
Thanks!
Thanks Shane. Yes it was helpful.
Good advice, thanks mate!
Great video Shane but why do we, and I include myself in this, all pay so much for pedals to get the best sound when the best sound is often just a guitar and an amp, so many great rock & especially blues players just plug straight into amps with nothing else in the chain. Ive just been listening to Tab Benoit and he sounds amazing with just a Tele Thinline and an amp.
Sid Bonkers - Agreed on Tab's tone. I have seen him live and he just plays and sounds awesome, no messing around.
Because not everyone plays rock and blues. Dude.
Thanks Shane great video as usuall.
this is very usefull ^^
and i don't even use od
and i like how you slided in the screen xD
I didn't know that. I used to think since it's a digital amp to make it sound more forceful like tubes that I needed to turn up the pedal more. The only question is will this work the same on a modeling amp?
I am a fan of you, so
I experimented that way with my fender princeton reverb reissue and TS9 clone, and
I nearly blown up my amp and my ears...
This Tokai has a sweeeeet tone!
But what if the amp is already at 10? How to get that just a little bit louder? Lol. A bit of Spinal Tap. Good tips and +1 on including the tips in the text box below the video.
I'm using a dod fx50 b overdrive plus that I got for 5 bucks because they didn't know it needed a reverse polarity cable and the battery leads were cut, which I resoldered on a new 9volt plug. Sounds great but it's too much if I turn it past 12 o clock. Guess I'll get a tube screamer clone. I can't remember the brand but they make the same board.
This guy is quite helpful
Great need more tips like this!
Thanks mate! Check out this playlist - ua-cam.com/play/PLNYCekIbACISf-JERUDiYW_uBk_NVh5Pz.html
Thanks for the tips, mate. I can surely hear a difference! But why does every article say to use the OD tube screamer at max level with the drive at 0?
nobody ever said that. that is not good advice.
Thanks Shane really helpful
Nicely done.
I run my boost as kind of a stage 1 OD and then stack the next strongest gain and then so on. All before my volume pedal. I use a Soul food (kind of a Klon clone) as a always on kind of thing then when I need a boost I stack my next drive on top of that.
Hey man, cool video. I have a question that's not related to pedals. I'm just a beginner so I was wondering where to start, who to listen to for the bluesy licks you did in this video.
You are pushing the amp still, but running the pedals at unity just adds the effect of the pedal. Like I said, there is no really big volume jump when you turn your pedals on.
I play out many times a week and most of the songs are done with solo's several times on each song. I can't turn around and turn the amp. volume up for each lead; I use my pedal to increase the volume on the lead breaks.
Thank you Shane 😈!!! You rock 🤘!!!!
You need a FIR plugin on your microphone (personally I use Reaper ReaFIR).
Great video!
This depends on the amp too tho. I feel like Marshalls like pushed pedals.
Awesome as always, Shane! I have a Silver Stripe Bandit with a Sheffield speaker and I'm trying to dial a better sound on it. I play metal, so I use the dirty channel. As you may know, the silver stripe doesn't have all those fancy voicing switches. My question is: would this tip benefit me also? I'm using a Nux Drive Core (TS clone) to push it, and I usually set the drive all the way down on it and volume all the way up so I can get a better tone out of my amp. At first I was using just as a boost, but it seems to sound so much better with the Drive Core that I'm leaving it always on when using the dirty channel. Would it be better to set the post gain higher and lower the volume on the pedal? I never use the post gain past 2 when playing with my band, it is as loud as I'll ever need that way (pre gain is somewhere between 6 and 7).
Cool tip.
Very useful information, thanks! I was wondering... is there any technology available yet to precisely achieve unity gain? Or is still based on the individual's hearing by turning the pedal on and off?
like the wah opening most...
I run my Maxon OD9 with the gain almost zero and the level maxed into my Marshall. I am guessing you didn't do it that way since you were using a solid state amp?
suppose you turn the amp and pedal up?
What about the volume on the guitar,,pushing the pickups...?
that's one sweet tokai!
Guitar is backwards
i understand your point but this really is only properly effective when you are using a tube amp as it interacts with how the power tubes are being pushed instead of just the preamp tubes. Doesn't have the same effect with a solid state amp (ignoring the effect of speaker volume and movement of physical air volume)
That's mythology. Solid state clean channels are indistinguishable in blind tests from tubes. I 100% agree with you if the scenario was pushing an amp into breakup, but if you just want the pedal drive louder like here, this effect does not come into play.
But he is using a solid state amp
Peavey Bandit
Works great with the Bandit as well. :-) The louder the amp the better it sounds. hehe.
Matthew B try one with tons of headroom and you'd think differently. But I agree. Nothing beats tube amps
Forgot I watched this already haha well twice now
I have an amp where anything above 0 is too loud for my room. And sounds awful of I don't turn it up some. So if I get a pedal and turn the amp up so it sounds good, but turn the pedal down, I'll get the decent sound without pissing people off 3 doors down the road?
Is that a solid state amp?
i have a question. i recently bought a mini distortion pedal (budget) and it did not sound distorted at all. i then put the volume up (by a lot) in order to get my sound to be distorted and it worked. how do i make it distorted without cranking it up so high? it’s extremely loud but that’s the only way the effect will work.
How about using a clean boost after your drive? How does that compare to cranking the amp?
That also works for getting loud quickly but I would usually take cranking an amp louder and using the guitar volume control to turn down when needed.
Obviously, that works, but is the difference similar to the one shown here? Suppose the clean boost is, in fact, a good transparent clean boost.
A clean boost is different to an overdrive. It's kind of like turning your amp up but in some situations it can also saturate the preamp and create overdrive if your amp is close to clipping. It depends on your rig and how you run it. I used to run a clean boost after my overdrive for ages and it's great for a kick :-) Just watch out you might have to paint your walls again if you turn it up too loud. hehe. :-) Give it a run and see how you go.
I use a clean solid state amp with considerable headroom for pedal tones. If I was driving it on its own, I'd turn the volume down. :)
which pedal u recommend to get fat tone...
What's that LP you are playing in the clip Shane? It looks the part! :-)
hi Shane, can we apply same method if we go direct? I use preamp pedal amt v1 and cab sim amt cn1. Can I treat the amt v1 as the amp to use your method? thanks.
the biggest mistake is paying more than $100 for a fucking od pedal.
SERIOUS QUESTION: how many OD pedals is too many on your pedal-board? I ask this because OD is the pedal I have the most difficulty to use just one.Some I like to boost others, some I like the overall quality of the cliping , while others seem perfect just to color the sound.
5
When you run out of board, man. You're the musician, you call the shots. Drives used to boost other drives don't even count. :P
But if you spend more time thinking about tone than what you're playing, you have a problem. If not, that's great.
I don't like to ride my volume knob, prefer 3 different drives and a boost at the end. Could work a fuzz in, but after that, I'm prob done... so there's your 5!
nah, I don't go after the ever elusive tone, what some ODs do to it in terms of sound coloration is what I find interesting.
interesting, I don't ride the volume knob either.
So true!...
Why in the pic of the video you show a klon centaur and then you do the demo with a 80$ pedal?