GET MORE FROM YOUR DRIVE PEDALS
This is the oldest tone trick in the book. Tube amps sound best when they’re being pushed. Using a gain pedal in front of an amp results in additional breakup and compression. This works best with smaller tube amps, as they run out of headroom quicker, and trip into power tube saturation. For higher-wattage amps, add some preamp gain at the amp, too.
Most of the time, distortion and overdrive pedals don’t sound great when maxed out. Start at a low setting, and gradually raise the gain until you’re happy with the sound. Even for metal, most bands are using less gain than you think. As discussed above, into a tube amp, the level control is the one you want to push as high as possible to thicken your sound.
Overdrive pedals add compression of their own, as well as a distinct EQ profile – and the Ibanez Tube Screamer, with its mid hump, is excellent placed in front of a high-gain amp. With a valve amp on its drive channel, turn the Screamer’s gain down low, then bring up the level until it djents. Many other companies have Tube Screamer type pedals in their catalogues.
So far we’ve only discussed tube amplifiers, but what if you’re going into a solid state piece of kit, or an audio interface? Simple – you don’t want to push the level, as that will result in audio clipping of the kind you don’t want. Instead, always push the level up to the point where clipping occurs – usually the red light on an interface, then back off the input trim slightly. This will give you the thickest sound.
For players that remember ’90s albums like Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, fuzz is the thickest distortion tone. Right? Well, even a lot of fuzz-obsessed bands – including SP – recorded using other gain devices in studio. For extreme saturation, RAT-style distortions and flatter-EQ pedals often record better. Open the gain right up, and it can sound pretty close to a fuzz once recorded.
Most gain pedals have a tone pot, but there are many different types. Some are tilt, some are low-pass filters, and some pedals have more than one. If the pedal has a single tone pot, make sure you’re not making assumptions.
Try it at the limit of its range to figure out its operation, before pulling it back to a place that works for you.
The trick to thick, rich guitar tone is higherorder harmonics. These are most easily added with gain stages. Ever notice why a distorted signal sounds louder and punchier? This is why. Even low-gain amplifier stages will add additional harmonic content and richness. Managing your gain stages – boosts, overdrives, distortions, fuzzes and amplifiers – is the key to great tone.
The true bypass revolution that came along with boutique pedals was a necessary correction in some ways. Before that, most pedals were buffered, and long chains of buffered pedals could have an adver
