Give me the dirt on your dirt settings

[wankdeplank]

Really interested to see how you guys dial this stuff up from the touch sensitive OD to the creamy saturated distortion/fuzz. Do you have different set-ups for your humbuggies, singles and P90s? Are you a pedal pusher or a tube cranker or both? Do you have designated pedals and or amp settings for each and every type of dirt? Interested in the opinions of you hobby horses as well as the weekend warriors. There's obviously an art to this stuff and you Dirt Ninjas (you know who you are) have been withholding it from your Harmony Homies for far too long.

 

Obviously I'm not all that well versed in the art or I wouldn't have asked. I practice on a couple of old SS amps, one a Bandit with transtube technology and just hit an amp setting to get dirt (not always the most agreeable). I do own a pedal board with two OD pedals on it (just ordered another one) and a fuzz pedal for the occasional blues jams with friends. In which case it's guitar into the board into the front end of my amp (clean setting). As for the Overdrive pedals, one's a Delta Lab Tube Overdrive (TS-9 knock off) and the other a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive (TS-808 inspired). For light OD I use the Sparkle Drive pedal, medium I use the Tube Overdrive pedal, light distortion I use both and heavy I use both plus the fuzz. Love to hear how you guys are doin it. C'mon spill you Ninjas!!!

[Old Fart Rocker]

I like to dial in my sound with HB equipped guitar. I prefer somewhat clean, maybe a bit of hair if I dig in. From there, I use a couple of dirt boxes for different flavors. I have an OCD clone I use to get a little bit more dirt. I also have a Crunchbox clone for my full on rock tone. When using SC quitars, I run a compressor to fatten things up a bit. Then, for even more options, I'll stack a couple of pedals for solos or more of a metal tone.

[t_e_l_e]

my secret weapon is an EHX LPB-1 into a TS9-reissue

 

depending what amp i'm using, the settings vary

e.g. my sovtek midget50h on the high input you almost need no gain on the ts9, the input gain on the amp is fairly low

so the lpb-1 boost it into nice break up tone alone, the ts-9 alone brings a nice overdrive and both together is plexi overdrive heaven

 

with a tweed deluxe type amp set pretty clean, the ts-9 gets more gain and the combination works differently

 

then i have different fuzz pedals which go on and off the board frequently

i love my ehx little big muff, basically it can do two different types of sound, the nasty fuzz fuzz and the santana singing lead and anything in between, both are great and are used for different things

i have a hcfx octophant, which is a fuzz with sub-octave, a project done by hcfx forumites

i rarely use my zvex fuzz factory

and my latest acquisition is an earthquaker devices hoof fuzz, which i like for the scooped mids, for the brutalz, but it is very versatile and go from a muff based sound to anywhere and back.

 

currently not used much are an ehx graphic fuzz, a orignal marshall shredmaster and my self built boyc fuzz face and tonebender clones

oh and i have an original roland beebaa stored in the closet

 

edit: yep i come from hcfx and they all have a lots of fuzz pedals and my collection is rather small compared to the others

[wankdeplank]

Yeah I was gonna say you don't like fuzz much do you? I have a similar problem with Overdrive Pedals, seems like the knockoffs are so cheap these days, very durable and they all have a different sound. I have the Delta Lab, the Voodoo Lab and I just ordered a Joyo Sweet Baby (sounds like a sex toy right?). And I don't even own a proper distortion box - that Ratt has got me intrigued. Nah, sounds like you guys are getting by without a Ratt type pedal.

[wankdeplank]

Thx for weighing in fellas. Just the kind of detail I was looking for. Old Fart, thanks to you I'm gonna try a bit of gain from the amp with the pedals and see how that works. I acquired a Mesa Heartbreaker a year back and I still haven't really run it through its paces. It's got coasters but it's still a beast to move and my back friendly magnatone gets the call whenever I jam out somewhere. That Mesa's gonna be a game changer I think when it comes to this stuff. Oh yeah, good stuff - Dirt Ninjas all the way!!!

[WRGKMC]

Live, its depends on what amp I'm using, guitar pickups and what material I'll be playing. On smaller rigs I may use channel switching for drive and a bare minimum of pedals. I get my drive tones from the amp and use a couple of effects and maybe one drive pedal.

 

On my full rig I may switch between several. I have clean, compressed clean, low gain drive like a TS, High gain with a Marshall Governor pedal, Saturated with a Big Muff or Silver Dragon. I have the option of using different pedals for different amps too. The whole idea is to have a series of steps up in gain so I can meet whatever needs the song requires without having to bend over and tweak things.

 

If I want to get crazy I may use different combinations. I usually switch between different pedals for different parts of songs and different songs all together. Many times the chords may be cleaner with light compression for sustain, and rock chords I'll add the TS.

 

I do use a dual loop pedal to switch to the gainer pedals instantly so I'm not doing a dance switching one set of gain pedals to another. I can leave a set running and kick one loop off while turning another loop on at the same time. Or I can shut both off and go clean with a single tap.

 

When recording I have many more options to use. Some are hard to find items like rare rack preamps or tube preamps, rack preamps with effects, amp/cab emulators and multi effects pedals. I even throw in some hand built boxes I've made. I use a variety of tones and gains all depending on the songs I'm doing.

 

I usually dial gain back allot more then I record because I've learned less gain makes for much bigger sounding guitars. Many times I'll only use a compressor and add a little edge with some plugins. If I want big AC/DC type amp sound I may use hardly any gain at all. Recording is often more about using EQ and compression properly over a light gained guitar and you can wind up making it sound like a full stack on 10 so long as some clean comes through.

 

Many find this out when they first start tracking with their regular live rig and wonder why their guitar sounds like a small mosquito buzzing around. With a mic so close to a speaker you have to completely rethink the tones you're making when you finally get it sounding right it makes for better live tones as well.

 

Backing the gain down to at least half clean seems counter intuitive but its actually great for a mix and for live. It winds up being a balance between comfort playing and clarity but any time you can lean towards clarity those notes come through out front and be heard because peoples ears have a natural tendency to block and ignore drive noise. If you want to be in the background unnoticed, just gain it up.

[wankdeplank]

Hey WRG, thx for weighing in. Dude your posts are always pregnant with good ideas - really dug the stuff about tracking. Kinda lost you on the dual loop pedal thing, but it's all good. Blackbelt Ninja FO SHO!!! Dig.

[jtr654]

I go more for sustain then dirt and as clean articulate as to taste.I run my amps at a volume to get the sustain than back my volume control ( on the guitar) for a cleaner sound.I use all tube amps and most are only one channel at a time Old School amps 60's -mid 70's Marshalls, Fender Pro Junior, PR,& Pro amp and a Fuchs ODS100 (my only channel switching amp).

[wankdeplank]

Man that's a can of Old School kick ass. Another Ninja option fo sho, thanks brother.

[1001gear]

Gain structure is difficult to describe without a blueprint so I'll just say I stage it for the minimum push that will create the zone. This can also vary between single note vs double stops as well as the note range. Kinda like micro orchestrating. A treble bleed circuit on the guitar is imperative so the guitar vol doesn't change the treble content. These days though I just fire up the rig and worry more about content. I should also mention that while this is "A" list stuff my playing isn't. Big surprise...

[wankdeplank]

Sounds like you've given this some serious thought - never really considered the treble bleed thing. It's really so fascinating to me, and you're absolutely right "A" list stuff, and yet everybody seems to have a slightly different approach to it. It's cool getting a conversation going about tone and see how important it really is to serious players. Tone junkie, ninja, it's all the same. You've definitely given me more to think about, grats.

[soundcreation]

Personally I think the vast majority of a great distorted sound comes from the amp and how it's made. If the amp sounds like poo then it sounds like poo. It all starts there. Buy an amp that you love the distorted sound of. Everything else is tweaking.

[WRGKMC]

Hey WRG' date=' thx for weighing in. Dude your posts are always pregnant with good ideas - really dug the stuff about tracking. Kinda lost you on the dual loop pedal thing, but it's all good. Blackbelt Ninja FO SHO!!! Dig.[/quote']

 

A loop pedal is like an effects send and return on an amp. You connect some effects in its send and return and when you hit the switch it bypasses/removes the pedals from your pedal board. When you kick it on it puts those pedals back on your board. The cool part is those pedals can be running when you bypass them and they are running when you turn the bypass off.

 

You can add as few or as many to the loop and bypass all pedals if you want. I built myself a double loop with the switches close enough to where I can press both at the same time. For example I can have the left loop on, the right bypassed. I press both switches at the same time and they reverse. The left gets bypassed and the right turns on at the same time. Or I can just kick one on at a time or both.

 

This makes for allot of flexibility running different pedals. I use the loops mainly for my drive pedals and leave things like chorus and echo out of the loops. I can use the pedals to cut them on and off when needed. I can gang up a comp and drive pedal in a loop or a drive and EQ.

 

I can make changes to the individual pedals while they are bypassed and you don't hear that change being made. Then I kick the bypass off and those pedals are active. Very handy item a loop pedal. Its the old school version of a programmable pedal except its all right there in front of you.

[thatsbunk]

hmmm... I've always put my boost after my overdrive pedal. I'll have to try it the other way around to see if i like it.

[wankdeplank]

Hmm, interesting, thought at first you were talking about a looper pedal. Have to use it with an effects loop from the amp I guess.

[wankdeplank]

Thx again fellas for sharing your expertise on this important tone topic (for most of us anyway). Hopefully others are learning with me.

[WRGKMC]

Hmm, interesting, thought at first you were talking about a looper pedal. Have to use it with an effects loop from the amp I guess.

 

No actually its just a passive effects pedal with a switch and jacks that rewires your pedals in and out if the chain. Its super easy to build. You just need a switch and some jacks mounted in a box. You can build them with an LED and battery and

3PDT switch too, but you really don't need to have a light to tell you its on or off if you're hearing those effects.

 

I built one like this except its got two loops. You basically chain two in series by removing the output jack on one and the input of another. This eliminate those two jacks and connects the two together. (Or you could build two complete ones and place them in different parts of your chain, but like I said, having them in one box lets you trigger both loops at the same time)

 

You can also buy them pre made at a much higher cost. Some of them are priced ridiculously high. I think paid $20 for 6 jacks, 2 switches and metal box including shipping.

 

Its truly a simple build and its a good project for a guitarist to develop some basic soldering skills because he's always going to be repairing guitar cords to save a buck. The only trick is to heat sink the switch contacts so you don't overheat them and melt the plastic. These cheap switches can easily be damaged by a soldering iron. I use a set of hemostats and clip them onto the contacts and leave the tip exposed for soldering. This prevents the heat from getting past and damaging the switch.

 

 

 

[WRGKMC]

You can add as many loops as you need and again the LED circuit is optional. Pedals don't need to be on your board either, you can have them raised up so you can get to the knobs or stashed where you cant see them. You get into some of the bigger loop assemblies its better to go digital. You'll find many of the advanced switching setup in pro stage rigs where guys have all kinds of rack and pedals working together.

 

 

 

[wankdeplank]

OK cool, I got it now. Your diagrams with the jacks make it perfectly clear how it all works. For a gigging musician looks like a Godsend. Thx.

[wankdeplank]

Makes sense to me. I don't think anything breaks up like a tube amp for that optimal sound - at least from my experience. Beyond that, the last time I jammed with friends, the other guitar player played most of the leads through a VHT Special 6 which is a budget type tube amp. Not only was it plenty loud enough to be heard over the drummer, most would agree that his tone was very good as well. Dude has lots of expensive gear and better amps but favors that little amp for informal jams for its convenience.

[WRGKMC]

Yea allot of people use them when they start getting a bunch of pedals. The main reason I switches is because my chain started getting too long and I was beginning to hear a drop in my signal gain. Even though most of my pedals are true bypass, when you add up all those jumper cords, connectors, switches and wiring there's a good deal of capacitance and resistance added and your signal gets weak by the time it gets to the amp.

 

Add to that I like using vintage wind pickups with lower outputs and it was either add some buffers to bring the gain back up or shorten the chain.

I went the buffer route and it works, but you also loose something when you do that because it is another step of amplification, even if its only designed to maintain a 1:1 ratio. This is really splitting hairs when you get down to one or the other making any big difference to an audience. a quiet buffer doesn't add any notable noise but I can tell a difference in the way the instrument performs and find you do get a little more Air in the sound. Its allot like switching from a 500K pot to a 1 meg.

 

I also wanted to be a bit more creative and combine some pedals together as pairs working together. Being able to kick them on with a single tap made things allot easier. I'm about due to try something new and I'm likely to run two separate chains and split my signal in the beginning. I already run a pair of amps and run most of my effects mono and split the sound with a chorus and echo. I'm probably going to run and entirely different set of effects for each amp for awhile.

 

I may even run a stereo jack on one of my guitars so each pickup run a separate chain and goes to a different amp. I can then use the toggle switch to switch amps or blend the two together. I used to do that many years ago and it was allot of fun especially when you had different echo's going on each pickup.

[wankdeplank]

OK, I just learned something concerning the output of true bypass as opposed to buffered. Got rid of a Bad Monkey pedal I used to have in favor of some with the true bypass cause I felt it was messing with my clean a bit. So I guess that's another concern when your chain gets too dang long.

[Bucksstudent]

I started out with a Fender Frontline 10 Watt Amp when I was 12 or 13. I remember the disappointment I had when I asked for a Marshall, and it didn't matter what kind, for Christmas from my grandmother. Since my uncle plays, she let him pick the amp, and he picked a Line 6 Spider II instead. However, over time, I learned what I want from an amplifier from experimenting with that modeling amp. I learned that good tone comes from good playing most of all. I figured early on that I didn't like high gain settings, despite using them on later recordings, and I actually preferred the drier, broken-up sound heard on AC/DC, Sex Pistols, and early Clapton songs. When I finally got a Marshall, I actually used a pedal for most of my dirt, which was an MXR Dist +.

 

My pedalboard has my Hoof Reaper and a Tube Screamer TS-9. On the Hoof portion of my fuzz, I have the gain up all the way, but on the Reaper, I have it around one o'clock. On the TS, I have the gain maxed out, which isn't much. With my amp settings, I generally like the gain all the way up on a Plexi style amp, but don't like any gain when I'm playing clean.

[jtr654]

I would go the for a amp that sounds great clean you can always add gain or distortion or boost and eq with pedals ect.

[wankdeplank]

Cool, thanks for weighing in Buck. Your thread was kind of the inspiration for this thread anyway - just thinking about how much we guitarists like to add the dirt for max sustain and breakup on our leads and riffs. I'll be googling that hoof reaper now that you are the second one mentioning it. Appreciate the detail on the pedal settings and assume you're playing your LP with hummers. Breaking out the board and doing some experimenting thx to you ninja dirt farmers.