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Boosting a Dirty Amp for Leads.


bubs_42

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I need roar, loud, take no prisoners.. I have been rapping my brain I figured two options, either get a string clean boost with a whole lota dbs or and EQ Pedal to shape my lead tone so it pokes out with more cut. The amp is already compressing and running hot. 

Any Suggestions?

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Does it have an effects loop?  Pushing the front end of an already-dirty amp isn’t going to give you much more volume, just more dirt.  

For clean boosting purposes I’ve always liked the Boss GE-7.  I ran one in front of a JCM800 for years.  Tons of clean boost, plus the ability to shape the tone.  

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Depends how your amp is set up.  As Rich posted above, if you are getting distortion from the amp, pushing it harder won't make it much (possibly not any) louder.

I modded my amps to put a solo boost in.  Basically just add more master volume when it is engaged.  Nothing else i tried really did much good, aside from relying on the sound guy to boost you during the solos.

 

If i were buying a new gigging amp, a solo boost would be a requirement.

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3 hours ago, veatch said:

Depends how your amp is set up.  As Rich posted above, if you are getting distortion from the amp, pushing it harder won't make it much (possibly not any) louder.

I modded my amps to put a solo boost in.  Basically just add more master volume when it is engaged.  Nothing else i tried really did much good, aside from relying on the sound guy to boost you during the solos.

 

If i were buying a new gigging amp, a solo boost would be a requirement.

Nail on the head Jeff. I was messing around tonight and the only thing that really worked was adjusting the master. Because I don't want to add gain, I just want more volume. I could back the volume on the amp back but then i'll be back to using more pedal gain.

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Treble booster will do it as it will excite the right freqs resulting is more cut and the perception of more volume which it should give you. Regardless, it will give the boost you want.

If the amp is dirty but not maxed, I would try the eq or a Klone or a Colorsound Overdriver clone with gain low and volume to taste...or an MXR 78 Badass Distortion with the gain low. That simple, non-boutique pedal is amazingly transparent and it has plenty of highs on the tone control to cut through. I picked up Up recently and am amazed at the versatility of this pedal.

Anyway, you have choices.

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I've tried everything in order to "cut through the mix".

By far (and I mean it), the most reliable and straightforward option out there is the treble booster, as some have already pointed out. Clean boosters are loud, but your guitar will end up fighting for a place in the frequency spectrum against all the other instruments --and that means muddiness. On the other hand, eq-s and other devices would require some work to find the sweet spot.

So, that's it. +1000 on the treble booster. Brian May, Tommy Iommi and Eric Clapton (and many many others, including myself :P:lol: ) got that one right.

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BB Preamp. Its four controls are very versatile and you can make it a clean boost, dirty boost, solo boost, treble booster, whatever, based on how you set those knobs.

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19 minutes ago, zorrow said:

I've tried everything in order to "cut through the mix".

By far (and I mean it), the most reliable and straightforward option out there is the treble booster, as some have already pointed out. Clean boosters are loud, but your guitar will end up fighting for a place in the frequency spectrum against all the other instruments --and that means muddiness. On the other hand, eq-s and other devices would require some work to find the sweet spot.

So, that's it. +1000 on the treble booster. Brian May, Tommy Iommi and Eric Clapton (and many many others, including myself :P:lol: ) got that one right.

I feel this Treble Boost Worm Hole starting to pull me in. 

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6 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

Yeah, the BB is a great unit. If you’ve not checked out the Xotic RC Booster V2, it’s pretty amazing, and will do what Shawn is looking for very well. I’ve both and really dig them. The RC V2 is a better fit for his Fuchs rig, from experience.

The RC was awesome with the Fuchs. I totally dug that one and it currently resides close enough to me to try it again with this amp. 

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I just bought a Nu-X (New Cross) Drive Core pedal and it's cheap and great! It has boost or drive options and you can have both on at the same time using the Mix position on the 3-way switch (Boost | Mix | Drive)! Great little pedal. Mine cost around $19 delivered (new)...

 

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I really think Veatch hit the nail on the head. I reached out the 3 Monkeys to see if we can add a foot switchable Master Volume. I had already talked to them about making a closed back for it and they were concerned about having heat issues. Now that i've gigged the amp I can tell you that this little bugger gets HOT. Must be why it sounds so damn good. ;) 

 

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10 hours ago, bubs_42 said:

I really think Veatch hit the nail on the head

He most certainly did. I will say the mid boost setting on the TC Electronic Spark Boost is somewhat effective for what you're describing.

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The treble booster worm hole is a great option no matter what else you get. The Rangemaster circuit and its clones just excite all the right guitar freqs. Plus it records great and the good ones clean up with the guitar vol knob.

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Tone Bone Big Shoot booster & buffer, great for what you want: http://www.tonebone.com/bigshotpb1.php

Or a good compressor set with a very minimum of compression dialed in, and with the volume knob set to boost the volume. 

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Well after messing around today with it, the only way i'm going to get a PEDAL to boost the amount I need is the bypass the Master Volume. With the MV engaged and the gain up I just have to much compression that the built in boost or pedals have almost no lift. I turned the amp down and turned the master all the up, that gave the boost function full range of "ROAR" mode. Not the way I would use but the way the requester is asking for. Gig in two weeks at the smallest place we will play so we will see. 

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If i recall correctly, all i did was add an additional pot in series with the MV that would be shorted out in "normal" mode, and in the circuit in "boost" mode. 

 

Implementing it in a way that the amp doesn't "pop" when you turn it on and off is the real trick.

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3 hours ago, veatch said:

If i recall correctly, all i did was add an additional pot in series with the MV that would be shorted out in "normal" mode, and in the circuit in "boost" mode. 

 

Implementing it in a way that the amp doesn't "pop" when you turn it on and off is the real trick.

Mod a guitar, tweak and amp I can do. Mod an amp I have not tried yet. We may be enlisting the Fuchs for the next gig and i'm heading out tomorrow for a true boost pedal. Which means I have to rework the #(*$(&% board again. I envy the other guy, he has his board in a road case, probably pro wired and has gigged so many hours (years) on it without swapping out a damn thing. This playing live thing is whole other trip that is for sure. 

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21 minutes ago, bubs_42 said:

This playing live thing is whole other trip that is for sure. 

It’ll be worth it once you reach your destination.

Don’t dick around with with adding a MV, bruv-bruv. Treble booster. 

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I like to use an Xotic AC Booster on my Krank Nineteen80 Jr. amp head to boost for leads. I like the way it overdrives the amp and the 2 band EQ is cool for shaping its tone. I also use it on the clean channel of my Marshall 6101 combo amp as low gain drive channel since my amp has clean/crunch/lead channels already. 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Guitar George

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Somebody needs to design a booster that goes between the amp and the speaker with a really long cable and a switch to mount on your pedalboard. Solves all problems.

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