Is a tube amp a pre-req to using an overdrive pedal

[malaclypse]

you can use it with a solid state amp too, but it probably won't sound as good.

that being said, i've never really used a solid state amp before, so i cant say for sure. try it out.

you know come to think of it, several years ago, one of my old bands opened for Yellowman, and i think his guitar player was playing a roland jc 120. he had one of those Radial Tonebone pedals and he had a great sound with that setup.

[Dervish Riff]

It depends on the amp and the pedal--if you get a combo that works well, you're set.

I like to set the amp up for a crunch sound that'll clean up with the volume control on the guitar with an overdrive for leads, easy to control.

[texasguitar903]

I use a Hughes and Kettner distortion pedal on the clean channel of my JSX half stack. This amp has two awesome heavy channels but the overdrive pedal creates a real "metal" tone...giving me a 4-channel setup.

[eschoendorff]

Not all amps (tube or solid state) play nicely with pedals. I've had both tube amps and solid state that wouldn't take pedals worth a shit. Maybe it was the amp, maybe it was the pedal, but certain combinations just don't seem to work for me.

Then again, I've used OD pedals with both tube and solid state amps - hell, I've even used OD pedals with modeling software - and had decent results.

It really comes down to you, your personal tastes, your guitar/playing style and the amp and pedals you choose.

The only way you'll know FOR SURE what works is to give things a try.

[sound_music]

depends on the OD pedal... there are alot of them that are designed to emulate the sound of tube amps...

[kennybro]

No such thing as a pre req. Do it. If it sounds good, do it again.

[wxyz]

Not if you're Frank Zappa

[drbob1]

Yup, depends...

As an example, a Peavey Transtube or a Marshall Valvestate sound pretty good with a lot of average OD pedals. A jazz Chorus is a little fussier, but there are still some that'll work fine (often the ones that use tubes at real voltages like the Tonebone, SIB or Matchless stuff).

[Depressionman]

If u never used a tube amp u have to try it.It may actually change your life as it does almost everyones after they try.First u are horrified where all that terrible treble harsh high end disappeared but after a while u will be glad u did transition.
I do recommend u to use tube preamp and tube amp as well.
Doesn't matter what style u play.

[kennybro]

Originally Posted by Grandma Gertie

what's this i hear about needing a tube amp to really utilize an overdrive pedal

In many cases, if you're utilizing a tube amp, you won't be needing an OD pedal.

[psychedelictrip]

I think so even though an overdrive pedal is designed to simulate an overdriven tube amp...hmmmm Houston we have a problem. All you really need is a good tube amp. However for crunchier sounds a booster is often in order. Where solid state amps fail is in you are take a device which simulates an overdriven tube amp with transistors which are often nasty. You've got one harsh thing going into another that is sterile at best. To mellow out those booster/overdrive pedals you need tubes.

In the words of Eva Manley Tubes Rule! Well they do even if I can't afford one of her pre-amps.

Many affordable tube amps on the market. They get even cheaper used. Fender Blues Jr. is a great little amp. Great amp to add some pedals.

[thekknees]

Originally Posted by Grandma Gertie

Hey guys,

what's this i hear about needing a tube amp to really utilize an overdrive pedal ?
do you have to use a tube amp or can you use it with a solid state amp ?

There's a difference between a distortion and overdrive pedal,
Overdrive pedals are usually analog and their purpose is to boost the signal going into your tube amp(Analog, Lo-Fidelity) to produce a natural overdrive which you would also achieve from hotter pickups eg. Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer

Distortion pedals are mostly digital(Hi-Fi) pedals emulating a valve overdrive such as a boss metalzone.
Hi-Fi is by no means better because of the name it's in fact the opposite, low budget amps are solid state and low budget pedals are usually distorion pedals and I only know of one artist who has succeeded with a solid state amp and that's Dimebag Darrell of Pantera who used Randall Amps.
Hope this brings across the message clearly. If you're still unsure just wiki Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi, and I oinly know about the pedals because I've owned it all in the past, digital pedals do not work in valve amps well at all. Either Budget or the whole shebang in my opinion.

[DerekJ]

Originally Posted by Grandma Gertie

Hey guys,

what's this i hear about needing a tube amp to really utilize an overdrive pedal ?
do you have to use a tube amp or can you use it with a solid state amp ?

No "have to" to it, if you like it, it's good. With this in mind, solid state amps pass less of a given harmonic range than tube amps at any degree of clipping/saturation, and the clipped sound can be harsh with less sustain than their tube counterparts. Also, tube circuits will sustain the decaying note due to the voltage/current relationship in the biasing of the tubes in most circuits circa 1950-1970 as well as those used by "boutique amp" builders, which are usually small variants of classic tube circuits.

Howard Dumble (one of the greatest distortion-focused tube amp builders ever) said more electrons can pass through a vacuum than a silicon crystal. He's right.

My overdrive pedal is an electro harmonix LPB 2ube (2 x 12AX7) into a number of handwired (some by me) amps (Fender, Gibson & Marshall circuits) both vintage examples and copies. Nice tube pedal, nice tube amps, nice tone with very high harmonic richness at all levels of saturation/distortion.

If you want a harmonically rich tone that starts at your guitar and comes out your amplifier's speakers, the prescription above will please your ears.

[sgRED]

Rangemaster, Tube 12au7 boost pedal and a solid state MosFet 2x12"
Dallas RangeMaster clone & Valvecaster tube boost DEMO - YouTube

[Silent Sound]

The only problem with using a distortion or overdrive pedal with a solid state amp is you don't want to clip the input of the amp. If you clip the input of a tube amp, you can often get a very pleasing sound, but with a SS amp, it's going to sound harsh and very unmusical. So you can use most pedals with a SS amp, but just make sure to keep the volume knob turned down so that the input doesn't clip.

The only pedal I would never consider using with a SS amp is a clean boost pedal. Because the purpose of those is to clip the input, and like I just stated, that's not usually a good thing on SS amps.

Now, keep in mind that not all pedals are going to sound good with all amps, or all guitars. You'll just have to try it out and see for yourself.

[qvplite]

You don't need a tube amp to use a good OD pedal. I had the OCD for a while and used it through a solid state 2x12 combo, and it sounded pretty killer. Actually gave the thing a shot at sounding like a tube amp.

Putting an OD in front of a tube amp might have its own benefits, though, since it's going to drive your preamp section (most like 12AX7's / ECC83's) a bit harder than your raw guitar signal would. This can have good or bad effects depending on what you're going for, how your individual tubes respond, etc.

Generally speaking, most people tend to agree that really good tube saturation happens in the power section, which is often EL34, 6L6, EL84, or one of the many other types of power tubes. This is why it's sufficient for most people to get a very low wattage amp, but crank the thing hard to maximize their tone from the power section (as opposed to getting a 150W monster and leaving the master on 1 the whole time).