Overdrive Pedal

Scoredog · February 2018

Howdy fellow Djangofiles.

So I'm sure a few do this while others may go what?

When not playing concerts I still often find myself in a loud room. I use a magnetic pickup to avoid feedback. Even if I could get a great natural sound at a high volume my guess is it would sound thin against the wall of noise at a bar. A simple solution is to have a nice tube amp but tube amps can be expensive and heavy. I like my AER but with a mag pickup it sounds bright and a bit brittle so i have started using an overdrive pedal just slightly getting it dirty to warm up my AER. Tone is similar to Tchavolo Schmitt's tone (not the one below in the forum..:)...).

Just wondering if anyone else is doing this and what pedal do you like. I am using a Route 66 which has an overdrive similar to an Ibanez tube screamer. My guess is any overdrive pedal that can slightly get dirt (not a metal pedal) will work fine.

wim · February 2018

Put me in the "what?!" category. Tube amps are not necessarily heavy - AER compact 60 is heavier than a tube amp such as peche a la mouche. And AER is more expensive too!
If you want the overdriven sound, don't approximate it with a transistor amp and a pedal - you can get the real thing more easily.

Scoredog · February 2018

Not if you already own an AER...a pedal is a simpler and less expensive way to go way to go. Having a peche would be nice but the price is

http://www.djangobooks.com/Category/peche-a-la-mouche-amplifiers

and in a loud room not sure you can tell the difference i you have a good overdrive.

Arcticguitar · February 2018

Makes sense to me. But I am solidly in the "just use a tube amp" camp. I built a small single ended 6l6 amp probably in the 5-10 watt range. It is perfect. I also built a stand alone power amp that is probably around 40-50ish watts. I use the power amp with a grace audio alix as a pre amp. I don't think magnetic pickups sound pleasant through acoustic amps so that extra grit is perfect to my ears. IF (and that is a big if) you enjoy tinkering putting together a small tube amp is a blast.

Jim Kaznosky · February 2018

I think Lisa gets a pretty decent tone here by "approximation."

I'd say if you like the sound, go for it. It's ok to try different things, in my book.

Buco · February 2018

I must say I was a "what?" when I read it. But not "what oh no", more like "what that never crossed my mind".
Well why not if it sounds right.
I got rid of all my pedals but still have a few tube amps from my rock days, one of which is Hughes and Kettner 20W/12" combo.
It sounds just so awesome but yeah, it's 53lb. I used it a couple of times and even got compliments for the sound but I switched to the ZT Lunchbox acoustic and saved myself 39lb.
If I use that with magnetic pickup then I'll add a tube preamp to the chain and that warms up the sound.
It's one of those cheap Art Tube MP and I swapped the tube for a little better one.

But now I'm really itching to pull the Hughes and Kettner from the closet!

jero · February 2018

Well, it's not really an overdrive pedal, but lately I've been running my Peche a la Mouche pickup into a "Jr Barnyard" pedal and then into a Quilter transistor amp. It very convincingly mimics the character and dynamics of an old octal tube amp, and the boost mode can get pretty gritty.

Might not be as authentic as a small tube amp, but I like it -- and it's pretty versatile.

Scoredog · February 2018

I’d love to be able to build my own amp, just not enough to actually do it.

I’ll check out that pedal, thanks for that! The Strymon above is a great pedal but probably more than is needed.

Jim Kaznosky · February 2018

That was really just meant as an example of who else might be doing what you suggest. I'd think that any low to mid gain overdrive would accomplish similar results.

klaatu · February 2018

David Barnes at Vintage 47 builds some wonderful tube amps that are replicas of Valco designs from the 40s and 50s. The prices are reasonable, and you can get a pretty gritty sound from them if you push them just a bit. I have one of his RIC Supremes. I swapped the stock tubes out because I wanted a cleaner sound, and David sent me a comprehensive e-mail about possible tube replacements and their effects, with a recommendation for what I was after.