Originally posted by JamesPeters I bought a Bad Monkey yesterday as a matter of fact, and plan to buy some more pedals. It's not the same as an amp's own sounds but depending on the setup it can be just as good.
It all depends on the amp and pedal in question. Right now, my "best-sounding" distortion tones ever are coming from three OCD pedals (setup for different gains and output levels) into a Dr. Z Maz 18 Junior NR head into a Jenkins H61 cab with British G12H-30s. I have been told by my bandmates and quite a few musicians in the house that this rig sounds better than my Bad Cat Hot Cat 30R and is probably the best sound I've ever had (although that's hard to tell w/o recent examples). In fact, the OCD/Maz rig sounds so good, I'm a little worried about the Herbert I have on order being able to keep up with it! No {censored}!
But, plug those OCDs into my Flexi and it doesn't sound that good. The Flexi sounds much better w/o pedals and cranked up into a good attenuator...but that sound still isn't as good as the OCD/Maz combo.
So, it's tough to make blanket statements about pedals and amps. A "magic" combination of the two (like the OCD and Maz 18) can be a lot better than many or most amps alone...and, that's exactly where I'm at right now. Let's hope the Herbert keeps up!
PS - I should also mention that, at least with the Maz 18, every damn tube, the cab, the speakers and even the speaker wire play a large role in getting a great distortion tone. I tried a different hardness EL84 (other than the GT #6) and it didn't sound as good. Tried endless combinations of 12AX7s and the Tung Sols sounded best, by a long shot. The wrong 12AX7s actually ruined the tone with pedals...just ruined it. Tried a JJ 5AR4 and it didn't sound as good as the GT/Sovtek 5AR4. Forgot my Evidence Audio Siren speaker cable one gig and had to use a 12 AWG cable I made with Radio Shack cable and was wondering all night why my low end was so indistinct. Plugged the Siren in the next day and did A/B tests with the Radio Shack and could not believe my ears. The Siren drastically cleaned up the low end when using distortion tones. It was so drastic, I rewired my damn cab with the stuff! So, yes, even wires make a difference.
