5150 and a Tube screamer?

[KhaosMonster]

Ok heres a question, I just purchased a Block letter 5150. Loaded it with jj's all around. It sounds very dry to me so i was thinking about adding a Tube Screamer or another OD pedal. So to the question....... Do i run the pedal with low gain or the head or both or what? I dont want to lose the tone of my guitar but the sound needs smoothed out abit. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[MetalMatt]

On the OD... Level high, Gain low/off, Tone to taste. I'm not familiar with Peavey, but on my RK I need to turn down the gain some on the amp, when adding a OD so It won't overload the preamp.

 

[SuperD]

Congratulations on the 5150!
Dunno what you mean by 'dry' exactly, but no matter, I think you'll like what a tube screamer does in front of that amp. Of course with so many variables ( guitar, pickups, amp channel, cab/speakers, music style etc...! ) I don't want to sound arbitrary, so I'll pass on my settings and you can tweak to taste...I'm making an assumption that you didn't buy a 5150 to play bluegrass, so here's my metal settings.
settings are clock...red (lead ) channel
pre 11 o'clock (ish...! )
bass 2 o'clock
middle 11-11:30
treble 11
post 9:30-10 o'clock (!)
Res 2 o'clock
Pres 9 o'clock (yup)
TS ( or sd-1, OD808 etc ) Level set for unity ( about noon ), tone 10 o'clock, gain off ( 8 o'clock )
Like so many guys I use the screamer to tighten up the bottom, punch the mids and it seems to act as a low and high pass filter/compressor/good thing. And lets not forget the other channel can sound wicked good too...crunch and bright IN, pre 2 o'clock, bass 1 o'clock, mids 9 o'clock, treble 1 o'clock, post 10 o'clock, Res 2 o'clock, Pres 4-4:30 o'clock, TS level noonish, tone 10-11 o'clock, gain 9 o'clock.
I never turn off my OD...sorry for the long post, hope it works out for you .

 

[Rampage]

Congrats on the new amp!

First things first with a boost, is the right selection. I personally didn't like a stock Tubescreamer infront of the 5150 that much. I experimented with some Maxons though and they sounded great. I would really suggest a Maxon OD808, a Bodenhamer Bloody Murder (Bodenhamer-electronics.com; going to order mine tomorrow), or a Keeley modded Tubescreamer. They get the amp very saturated at low volumes and they are not as hissy/spitty.

The thing with overdrives that I didn't like with the 5150s I had was that the bottom end and sustain really suffered (mainly with my TS-9). The Maxons and Keeleys definitely helped that when I tried them, but they weren't perfect. The Bodenhamer Bloody Murder supposedly tightens the amp, saturates/smooths the tone, and retains the bottom end. I haven't been able to try one in person, but clips I have heard blow me away. The Bodenhamer is a true bypass OD that can act as a clean boost and also get mean which makes for a very versatile pedal.

 

[KhaosMonster]

Thank you all for the advice, you have helped me alot and givin me some homework to do which is even better!