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willlin wrote:Are there actually amps that 'take pedals well'? I've no idea if this is true but I would have though that in the majority of cases the variables of guitar/ pedal/ how the knobs are set/ amp/ how the amp is set will have the most effect on overall tone, and establishing whether this is down to one amp taking pedals well would be difficult to prove?

This is pretty much how I feel about this. I assume an amp that "takes pedals well" implies it sounds subjectively "good" with overdrive/distortion/fuzz smacked into the front end of it, but there are an incredibly high number of variables in that equation with which to play around.

Based on the number of times I've seen this discussion come up here and otherwheres, the general consensus seems to be OD/dist/fuzz pedals making use of a particular type of clipping don't work well into amps that make use of a particular type of preamp gain stage. Oranges seem to be the only amps consistently and massively crapped upon every time during these discussions, but I find it impossible to believe that there's not a pleasant setting available with some combination of amp and pedal settings. (I'm hoping dearly, anyway, as I have an AD30 on its way to me now for evaluation and possible purchase!)

I may be slightly unique in the way I've used my long-time main amp, because it's a '73 Vibrosonic (Twin with 15" instead of 2x12") that offers virtually no preamp or speaker breakup without first sterilizing everyone in the blast radius. I almost always have some kind of OD pedal on to offer some light breakup, then smash a harder distortion or fuzz into that when necessary.

Based on my experience and what I've seen and heard from others I've played with over the years, I feel the best amp one could ever choose for OD/dist/fuzz pedals is some kind of relatively clean, high-watt (~80W or higher), master-volume tube amp. Experimenting a bit with several of these kinds pedals together and playing with gain staging is incredibly useful, and the making proper use of the master volume allows you to boost the sweet spot once you've found it. It's not enough to just dime everything and hope for the best, as there may only be one or two really sounds among the infinite knob positions.

Willin & avj one of the reasons I asked was to see if this was a myth? And if there was no consistent answer of sterile cleans being the best and I also wondered whether when people said amps don't take pedals well they mean only dirt pedals. I have to say though I love having some break up already in my amp most of the time when using pedals, unless I want crystal clear delay tones which is where having more than one channel can be a godsend or a set up like you describe avj

lorez wrote:Willin & avj one of the reasons I asked was to see if this was a myth? And if there was no consistent answer of sterile cleans being the best and I also wondered whether when people said amps don't take pedals well they mean only dirt pedals. I have to say though I love having some break up already in my amp most of the time when using pedals, unless I want crystal clear delay tones which is where having more than one channel can be a godsend or a set up like you describe avj

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was harping on you for asking the question and I hope you took no offense. I was more speaking to the legendary status the topic has received, not directly at you or anyone in particular in this thread—if that makes sense.

I feel it's not so much a myth that some amps simply don't take dirt pedals well, but more a massive, sweeping generalization that seems to be based on extreme subjectivity and personal emotion rather than extensive testing and Science. Not that each person's experience should be immediately dismissed without merit, but perhaps accepted only as a single data point. I certainly wouldn't want anyone to buy or not buy a sound-shaping tool on my lone recommendation—barring severe manufacturing defect.

I'll hopefully have a bit more insight into this when the Orange arrives tomorrow, as that'll be the first non-Fender amp I'll attempt to use for something outside of the home. I'm even more intrigued because of the overwhelmingly negative reputation that Oranges seem to have for taking dirt pedals. I'm actually hoping to ditch the several drive and fuzz pedals I use now for a single one and let the amp do some of the drive work for the first time in my life.

It's also entirely possible that I'll return to this thread in twenty-four hours time to add a very passionate, subjective single data point.

I never considered your response in any negative way avj

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I have a JC-120, and the HRD definitely has a better clean tone and takes pedals better (read: takes Fuzz pedals better)

this is gonna piss some people off and give Watts an ego boost......

Peavey Classic 30.... its the best amp that I ran across for pedal use...but I have never owned a Fender amp

I'm of the opinion that you need good overdrive behavior for an amp to truly take distortion pedals well. That's where JC-120 fails, IMO. For the JC-120 to work well with a distortion pedal, I needed to then run it through a good overdrive pedal like a Boss OD-3. It never really made a DS-1 sound like a convincing dirt box, which I think is a basic test for an amp. So yeah, it's true, you can get a great sound on a JC-120 with a dirt pedal, if you then shape it a little bit. But if you're going that route, my QSC K10 powered speaker with its 1000 watts of Class D power takes pedals better than any guitar amp.

johnnyseven wrote: Don't take pedals well:

Orange Rocker 30
Orange Tiny Terror
Peavey Windsor

Did you ever try the Rocker's clean channel with OD/Dirt? I don't think I've actually ever tried to see if it made much difference. I guess you'd be working with a clean slate as it doesn't have any EQ... That way could you just use the drive channel as your main OD setting. Saying that, I've always felt like the clean channel was a bit lifeless and didn't really show the amp's true character.

Meh. I might see what it sounds like.

I assume I would have done, but I don't really remember to be honest. I sold the amp quite a while ago now. I just remember that it didn't like some of the pedals I had at the time so I ended up selling them, in the end I realised it was the amp not the pedals that was causing the problem.

johnnyseven wrote:I assume I would have done, but I don't really remember to be honest. I sold the amp quite a while ago now. I just remember that it didn't like some of the pedals I had at the time so I ended up selling them, in the end I realised it was the amp not the pedals that was causing the problem.

Yeah, I think I remember you talking about it a while ago. I think they're worth the money for the OD channel alone to be honest. It just comes down your personal taste. I fall in and out of love with that amp, depending on what type of music I'm into at the time. The Blues Junior tends to see more action at the moment as it's far easier to get a decent tone from at lower volumes in the house.

The problem I have is that I more often than not don't use my own amp for gigs and practices due to the hassle of transporting it 10 miles across London, therefore I can't rely on an amp for my dirty tones. Therefore I need to have a clean amp and use pedals for my dirt, the Bassman 50 is great for this. I sold the Rocker 30 and bought this with the proceeds (via a Bugera V55HD on the way), however i'm now on the lookout for a smaller amp that I can transport for gigs easily as i'm a bit sick of using crap in-house amps.

Don´t know what´s the best but my AC30 C2 sounds amazing with a Proco Vintage RAT.

71Smallbox wrote:Twin Reverb takes all of them well, except for the Hotcake.

My twin hates pedals. I've spent hours trying to dial shit in, but it's like the amp is saying "fuck you, you piece of shit, I'm a fucking Twin Reverb! I'm the best sounding amplifier ever made, you don't put fucking pedals into me! If you try, I'll just make them sound like shit so everyone will know what a fucking jackass you are for trying to use pedals on me!"

I only really use fuzz, (and reverb if it's available). so I dunno if this'll really help, but my peavey studio takes pedals really well, and it's pretty loud. got it for free outta some dude's trunk at a party.

Sounds remarkably like theft.

Fender Amps for me, both the Bassman and Princeton are superb.
Though to be fair my JVM took pedals really well too (never tried any dirt pedals through it though).

I use a Marshall EL34 50/50 rack amp with a GT-8 for preamp/delay and, recently, a couple of drive pedals in the 8's loop. To my ears, it's a great combo and more than once guitarists have come up to me after gigs to ask how I make my guitar sound. These amps have a ton of headroom, are really flexible and pretty cheap secondhand (I think mine was ~£300 of eBay) for what they are.

Even if there is some negative comments about how the JC-series takes pedals, I would still recommend it. It recieves both fuzz and distortion excellent (at least in my ears). For fuck's sake, it is one of the main selling points for that particular amp series.

Simon wrote:

johnnyseven wrote: Don't take pedals well:

Orange Rocker 30
Orange Tiny Terror
Peavey Windsor

Did you ever try the Rocker's clean channel with OD/Dirt? I don't think I've actually ever tried to see if it made much difference. I guess you'd be working with a clean slate as it doesn't have any EQ... That way could you just use the drive channel as your main OD setting. Saying that, I've always felt like the clean channel was a bit lifeless and didn't really show the amp's true character.

Meh. I might see what it sounds like.

i agree that oranges generally don't take pedals that well. maybe something simple like a tubescreamer would be fine but i've got tons of pedals and have/had several orange heads. i have the rocker 30 right now and even through the 'natural' channel, dirt pedals like the rat and big muff just don't sound right through it at all.

in comparison my vox ac30 sounds great with my dirt pedals but only through the normal channel (never did the bright cap mod)

benecol wrote:Sounds remarkably like theft.

lolol nahh, the dude who gave it to me was my neighbor who I grew up with. used to use it in his band until he got a Mesa boogie. was just sitting around collecting dust and I needed an amp so he just have it to me.

edit: might as well of been though, such a great amp and he just gave it to me. now if only the reverb worked...