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Non ADA Gear => Effects => Topic started by: Soloist on May 12, 2017, 01:09:05 PM

Title: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Soloist on May 12, 2017, 01:09:05 PM
So last night we went out to check out this other band. The guitarist was running into an A/B box, A went to a Carl Martin Plexi tone and B went into a Marshall Gov'Ner directly into a Marshall dual mono block. The tone was amazing!!  :headbanger: I couldn't believe my ears, this guy had tone for days.  :metal: Using those pedals like preamps. Anyone ever tried this type of setup? I might have to give it a go just for shits and giggles to see what I can come up with.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 12, 2017, 05:40:42 PM
   I had a Gov'Ner pedal a long time ago, when they first came out. I didn't care for it. It made any amp you plugged it into sound like a JCM800. That's all it does. I got rid of it after a month.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Soloist on May 13, 2017, 11:17:26 AM
Good to know Harley. I don't think I would use the Gov'Ner. I was thinking of using a Tonebone Plexitube or Trimode and nix the Pirhana.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 14, 2017, 07:44:53 AM
Hey Soloist,

    There are a lot of different types of overdrives/distortion, and fuzz pedals out there. So many in fact that you couldn't go through all of them in a month if you used a different one every time you plugged in. Basically, all of them, no matter which you choose, is a preamp in it's basic form. So any of them will work as far as driving a power amp. You could even take the new ADA APP-1 and do that or the MP-1 Channel, or both. It all depends on what kind of tone you are after.
  Have you checked out any of the Wampler pedals, or the Earthquaker Devices? They have a huge selection of all kinds of these types of pedals that can go from very subtle to over-the-top modern.

Harley 8)
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Soloist on May 14, 2017, 09:33:53 AM
Hey there Harley,
 I have not tried any of the earthquakers yet... I did have a a wampler plexitortion awhile back, maybe 3 years ago very decent sounding pedal. I wonder what the hell I did with it? (Probably still sitting in a box from the move. :dunno:)
My thinking on trying the plexitube is that it's tube driven, and you have alot of control over the voicings in it. I might have to research this a little deeper. Thanks for your input! :thumb-up:
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 14, 2017, 05:38:38 PM
Hey there Soloist,

   Keep in mind that what sounds good on paper may not work out as well in application. (Remember the Chandler Tube Driver by B.K. Butler?)

   I've tried a lot of the Earthquakers since they are made here in town, and some of my favorites are Palisades, Talons, Monarch, and Speaker Cranker. The first three are very versatile with a wide range of tone options, the Speaker Cranker is a boost that gives me what I have with more "Air."
   Wampler has some interesting ones in the Pinnacle Deluxe, Plexi Tube Deluxe, and the Tumnus. All of these have a great range of tones too.
   The newer technology may be a lot better with the Plexitube you are referring to. I remember the Chandler Tube Driver had a very wooly tone when you tried to get the sustain that you'd expect from the overdrive. I've tried all of the above pedals either through my old Fender Vibrolux or Twin Reverb, on a clean setting. I never tried any directly through a power amp, or through any of my ADA rigs. (I don't see the point since I get all my overdrives and distortions from the ADA preamps anyway).

Harley 8)
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: rnolan on May 15, 2017, 02:55:50 AM
If you were going to go the stomp box way, the ADA APP-1 with the MP-1ch in its loop makes allot of sense IMHO  :dunno:
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 15, 2017, 06:29:05 AM
Hey Richard,

     It all depends on the kind of tone he is looking for. The band he went and saw had a Marshall Guv'Nor pedal into a Monoblock poweramp, which tells me he had that JCM 800 tone going there on the "B" side of his A/B switcher.
   I doubt if Soloist is looking for that same tone, as much as he is curious about what kind of tone he'll get by plugging a stomp into the front of a power amp. The suggestions I threw out there are more or less possible candidates that I believe might actually sound good like that.
   The APP-1/MP-1Ch would undoubtedly sound good in that application since that would be the core of a good fly-rig. ;D
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Samuraipanda on May 15, 2017, 09:11:38 AM
I got one of these in a CL package deal and it sounds great as a preamp directly into my Mesa 295. Good range of gain and nice tones too. I'm not using it so I'd be willing to sell it if you were interested.

https://carlmartin.com/hot-driven-boost (https://carlmartin.com/hot-driven-boost)

Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: rnolan on May 16, 2017, 04:51:56 AM
Hey Harley, I don't know if anyone has tried the App1/MP1ch combo but it has interesting possibilities, as you say great for a fly rig  :thumb-up: . The AD/A seller in Oz is in Melbourne (8 hours drive  :facepalm: ), though I keep telling my daughter I'll take her there sometime (I know what I'll be checking out  >:D )... Another thought would be to A/B A+B them and take their mono outs into a decent Fx (L/R) > amp > cabs (so many ways ...)  I like the idea that the App1 and MP1ch are new.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 16, 2017, 08:56:09 AM
Richard,

    For the price, those two units better make one HELL of a good fly-rig! There are so many others out there that are affordable for that purpose. Still, in keeping this subject related to the topic, It would seem kind of strange to go to a gig, and ask the sound man;
"Hey! Would you happen to have a spare power amp I could plug into?!?"
   On the other hand, that isn't such a practical approach. Myself, I'd probably want to try it out through a B200S and a pair of Split Stack cabs just to see how that sounds. Still not really a practical rig to consider, but I'd bet it would sound pretty decent.

  Harley 8)
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Soloist on May 16, 2017, 01:11:22 PM
Ok gentlemen,
after alot of testing and trial and error I came up with a great tone. I removed the Pirhana from the equation. ( getting old and a bit too noisey)

I am running a Radial Hot British tube distortion as a preamp into a gsp1101, 4 cable method using the hot brit as my only preamp and none of the crappy amp sims but utilizing the effects from the gsp and some of the cab sims. Great modded super plexi tone! :metal:

So all my live tones are now coming from that and my MP2. MP1 is a back up for the MP2 and the JMP is a back up for the hot brit.

There were other pedals which sounded good but with my rig, to me the hot brit sounded the best.  :whoohoo!:
No hiss, no noise gate needed even if I crank the gain all the way. Note clarity is stellar even at blazing speeds. Some other pedals would lose alot of clarity on high speed runs.
The hot brit sounded great directly into my MT200 as well.

I thought about the MP channel and APP 1 but I got this up and going for under $100. Now I can stash the cash I saved for my Les Paul fund! :headbanger:
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 16, 2017, 05:28:59 PM
Hey there Soloist,

    Are you using an A/B switch between them?
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Soloist on May 16, 2017, 06:38:03 PM
Hey Harley,
I am actually using a voodoo labs 4 channel amp selector. It's like an A/B/C/D switch. I can use 1,2,3 or 4 at once. Sometimes I do 2 at once but only occasionally, never more than that. So each pre has its own selector switch.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: rnolan on May 17, 2017, 04:52:46 AM
Go Soloist  :thumb-up: :whoohoo!: .

Hey Harley, yeah me too, and I recon it would sound very good. Part of me contemplates running that App1/ch1 combo into my Marshall (and I now have a direct to poweramp input  >:D like MJMP uses), or I could run it/them into my mixer > B200s > cabs
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 17, 2017, 08:07:17 AM
Hey Soloist,
    I remember seeing that several years ago. That has to work better than the Ground Control/GCX setup. At least, I hope it does. I tried using the GCX for amp switching the way the manual described, but it caused a hum which as I found out later was due to the way it cut an amp out of the signal path, which is by shorting the ground on that loop.

   Richard,

    I believe that is the point of a fly-rig, to be able to plug into any amp anywhere, and get your tone right from the boxes at your feet.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Soloist on May 17, 2017, 09:39:42 AM
Hey Harley,

I get no hum with the amp switcher.
I use the GCP for my midi switching and to turn on and off effects in my G Major 2.
I do not use a GCX. Most everyone complains about tone sucking or other issues with them so I opted to stay away from that headache.
Title: Re: Anyone ever tried this?
Post by: Harley Hexxe on May 17, 2017, 05:38:39 PM
Hey Soloist,

   I use the Ground Control when I'm using different brands of MIDI effects, because it saves time when you are programming for a set list. I can also plug in two passive volume pedals and program it for CC functions to any unit that has it.
    The GCX was originally designed to be a loop switcher for your stomp box pedals, and can be controlled from the Ground Control. It has a buffer in the Instrument input so that is probably where the tone-sucking complaint is from. The loops can also be set up to act as remote foot switches to cut on/off effects, which is how I use them on my ADA delays.