OD pedal boost for 5150

[Seth Schwiet]

so, i understand that the tubescreamer is good in front of a dual rec. I have a single rect-o-verb, would the tubescreamer still be a good choice for it? my amp also has the solo boost; has anyone had experience with this amp?

 

[JBroll]

Its purpose doesn't apply specifically to one amp; provided you're not using a modeler like a Roland Cube that expects to see pure, clean signal or a solid-state not prepared to accept higher outputs than normal guitars.

The solo boost, if I'm not mistaken, voices the upper end a bit differently and adds more gain; the TS wouldn't conflict with this.

The rhythm sound on the vast majority of amps (any that aren't pure mid already) gain a lot by having the lower end tamed and the upper end smoothed over. I'd say to just grab a TS-7 or SD-1 (if you can't find someone to let you borrow one, they're $40 USD, can't go wrong) and shove it in front to see how it cleans up your sound in front of a mic.

Jeff

 

[Seth Schwiet]

would you use the TS as well as the solo boost? I scoop the mids out almost completely, I want to keep it crunchy, but also allow notes to stand out and clean up the low end. Am i going in the right direction to get that sound?

 

[JBroll]

I don't think you'd need that for soloing - the Mesa should have more than enough gain; unless you wanted to just reshape and further compress the TS sound (which I would recommend if you've scooped the mids all out, as solo tones typically need some midrange to stand out) you wouldn't need it as much as you would for your rhythm sound.

As for the solo boost on your rhythm sound, I'd say no because (1) live, you've lost a LOT of dynamic control by using all of your tricks in one place and (2) in the studio, you have ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for that much gain in a rhythm sound - you shouldn't record rhythm guitar with more than 75% of the gain that sounds good in the room if you plan on multiple tracks. That's fizz, loss of clarity, and ear fatigue zone.

Jeff

 

[Seth Schwiet]

thanks, I think I'll try out the TS...