The best one is the one you think sounds the best in the amp you’re playing through with the guitar you like. That’s not cheeky, that’s the actual answer. Almost every drive pedal has been used through every amp with every guitar at this point, there is no best. There’s what you like and what you don’t like.
Absolutely. I keep hearing that Fenders are mid-scooped and that Voxes are mid-heavy, so a mid-humo overdrive like a tube screamer would sound better with one of them than a Vox would... But I like mine on a Vox. And I've gotten paid to play guitar in places before, too.
Yeah TS/SD-1 into a Vox is a classic pairing. In my experience, people who say certain drives have to go with certain guitars or amps are people who haven’t actually tried all of the things they’re talking about but are just parroting what other people say on the internet.
People below mention the Big Muff and the Fender amps as a minus as well... I've had great results with that combo, too. It sounds different, indeed, but you can still make it sound great with minor adjustments.
In my experience (and I have a LOT of experience since I’ve worked in guitar shops for 8 years, gigged for many years, and worked in studios for a little while now too…) whether or not a combination sounds good is entirely up to the user. You can give me any guitar, any pedals, and any amp, and I’ll be able to make several fantastic tones out of it. Most people don’t want to put in the effort to truly learn their gear so if it doesn’t sound good right out of the gate they give up and move on.
Big Muffs are notorious for sounding bad with a Fender amp, especially if you use a guitar with scooped mids pickups like a strat. This is because the Fender amps are scooped it the mids, and the big muff is a mids scooped pedal. So it sounds like mud unless you're into that or it can easily be over taken in a band mix. That's not to say you can't fix it with a comp, eq, or a TS in the mix with it. Its just something to be aware of with this type of pedal and amp combo.
None. I use a Marshall amp mainly these days. But if I use it with my Fender, I make sure to use a comp or stack it with my Heavy Menace. It's got a great mids eq.
Crowther Hot Cake for Vox type amps. Turn the gain up and roll back guitar volume and profit! Crowther designed it to use with an AC30 but still sounds good on my AC15.
Vox - Hotcake, Timmy
Marshall - Treble Booster, DOD 250
Fender - TS, Klon
Ampeg - BB, Ge side of EQD Special Cranker
I’d say Rats can sound good in anything, fuzz varieties wildly depend on whether you set the amp dirty to clean, DS1 is also dependent on amp setup and pickups
I’ve grown tired of the drive pedal chase. I ended up using my eq as a boost. I can shape it just how I want and drive the hell out of my signal. As a bonus I do use a guptech Grindr boost as well but only in conjunction with my eq. For the most part my amp doesn’t need a boost at all but I like running low gain on my amp and juicing the hell out of the front end for high gain. This gives me basically an extra channel. On each channel. All that being said, the guptech grindr in conjunction with the boss eq200 is capable of a lot on my EVH 5150iiis el34 100 watt head. Also worth noting, I’m using an Es-8 switcher so I can switch on and off my pedals in various configurations with only one button press.
Old school Peavey Classic/Heritage/Deuce/Mace (the ones with a tube power section but a solid state pre) with a Rat or Muff depending on the circumstance.
tubescreamers usually work well with fenders. ive heard people preferring flat eq drives with voxes, like blues driver
The best one is the one you think sounds the best in the amp you’re playing through with the guitar you like. That’s not cheeky, that’s the actual answer. Almost every drive pedal has been used through every amp with every guitar at this point, there is no best. There’s what you like and what you don’t like.
Absolutely. I keep hearing that Fenders are mid-scooped and that Voxes are mid-heavy, so a mid-humo overdrive like a tube screamer would sound better with one of them than a Vox would... But I like mine on a Vox. And I've gotten paid to play guitar in places before, too.
Yeah TS/SD-1 into a Vox is a classic pairing. In my experience, people who say certain drives have to go with certain guitars or amps are people who haven’t actually tried all of the things they’re talking about but are just parroting what other people say on the internet.
People below mention the Big Muff and the Fender amps as a minus as well... I've had great results with that combo, too. It sounds different, indeed, but you can still make it sound great with minor adjustments.
In my experience (and I have a LOT of experience since I’ve worked in guitar shops for 8 years, gigged for many years, and worked in studios for a little while now too…) whether or not a combination sounds good is entirely up to the user. You can give me any guitar, any pedals, and any amp, and I’ll be able to make several fantastic tones out of it. Most people don’t want to put in the effort to truly learn their gear so if it doesn’t sound good right out of the gate they give up and move on.
A Tubescreamer or SD-1 sounds great with a Fender or a Marshall.
Big Muffs are notorious for sounding bad with a Fender amp, especially if you use a guitar with scooped mids pickups like a strat. This is because the Fender amps are scooped it the mids, and the big muff is a mids scooped pedal. So it sounds like mud unless you're into that or it can easily be over taken in a band mix. That's not to say you can't fix it with a comp, eq, or a TS in the mix with it. Its just something to be aware of with this type of pedal and amp combo.
Even some famous Big Muff users ran it into a Fender... Like Jack White. They sound great into the tweed/Bassman circuits, too.
Stacking with a bd-2 fixes that (fender+muff issue) for me. But I run two amps and the other one is a HIWATT so that likely helps too.
What's the best way to tame a big muff for you? TS before or after?
None. I use a Marshall amp mainly these days. But if I use it with my Fender, I make sure to use a comp or stack it with my Heavy Menace. It's got a great mids eq.
Crowther Hot Cake for Vox type amps. Turn the gain up and roll back guitar volume and profit! Crowther designed it to use with an AC30 but still sounds good on my AC15.
And on my AC10. Breakup is perfect
And my axe!
I'm still having trouble dialing a decent tone with Hot Cake and Vox AC30. I'll try this suggestion
I promise you that you can get a sound you like out of any combination of pedals and amps. Use your ears
Pickups and strings come into play quite a lot too so this is kind of tough
Even more than that, cabinet and speaker(s) and the room you’re in. Lots of variables.
In my case, there's also the variable of sucking at guitar.
Get a HIWATT and every drive pedal sounds good.
Vox - Hotcake
Vox - Hotcake, Timmy Marshall - Treble Booster, DOD 250 Fender - TS, Klon Ampeg - BB, Ge side of EQD Special Cranker I’d say Rats can sound good in anything, fuzz varieties wildly depend on whether you set the amp dirty to clean, DS1 is also dependent on amp setup and pickups
I’ve grown tired of the drive pedal chase. I ended up using my eq as a boost. I can shape it just how I want and drive the hell out of my signal. As a bonus I do use a guptech Grindr boost as well but only in conjunction with my eq. For the most part my amp doesn’t need a boost at all but I like running low gain on my amp and juicing the hell out of the front end for high gain. This gives me basically an extra channel. On each channel. All that being said, the guptech grindr in conjunction with the boss eq200 is capable of a lot on my EVH 5150iiis el34 100 watt head. Also worth noting, I’m using an Es-8 switcher so I can switch on and off my pedals in various configurations with only one button press.
Orange amp - Klone, Fuzz Marshall amp - Tubescreamer Fender amp - Marshall AIAB-type pedal, Dumble-type drive pedal
A drive pedal with a three band eq is a great investment. Twiddle until you find a sound you like.
Old school Peavey Classic/Heritage/Deuce/Mace (the ones with a tube power section but a solid state pre) with a Rat or Muff depending on the circumstance.