i HATE my lonestar special's distortion!!

[thinskin57]

that's right, i hate the LSS's distortion. totally mushy! however, i absolutely LOVE the cleans that it produces. to me, the LSS cleans are to die for. does anyone out there have any experience with this model using a distortion pedal in front of the clean channel? i'm talkin' distortion, NOT overdrive. i'd like to find a pedal that can sound tight, defined, and amp-like. something that has two channels would be ideal so i could have a rhythm crunch sound, and then a lead sound to switch between. i've only tried a handful so far- a dano wasabi distortion pedal, a metalpedals screaming *****, and an ibanez ts9. these all sounded mushy to me. no better than the amp's distortion. no tightness/definition. i'm hoping that these pedals just weren't a good match and that there's something out there that'll allow me to get a good modern hard rock sound with this amp. suggestions?

 

[Elpelotero]

Lonestar was never intended to have any sort of distortion...Perhaps a Road King or Roadster are more suited for you? They use the preamp of the Lonestar.

 

[srf399]

What's your Stiletto Ace used for? An ash tray or a drink holder?

Sorry to sound a little sarcastic but if I saw someone hammering a nail with a screw driver I would suggest a hammer would do a better job.

If you decide to continue hammering with the screw driver... I'd suggest trying an Xotic BB Plus.

I'd keep using the LSS for the cleans though.

 

[thinskin57]

What's your Stiletto Ace used for? An ash tray or a drink holder?

actually, a foot rest.

really though, i use it for distortion but there is NO WAY i'm lugging two mesas to a gig. there's a ton of people who use a fender twin for it's great cleans with a pedal for the distortion w/great results. that's what i'm trying to do here w/the LSS.

 

[thinskin57]

Lonestar was never intended to have any sort of distortion

not if you read their catalog write up for this amp. or the owner's manual for that manual. to me, they talk about something that simply doesn't live in this amp. oh well.

 

[gonzo]

a Barber Direct Drive SS pedal, is a great way to put grind into a clean-ish amp (think pushing a mildly overdriven blackface, into near-marshall ville)

 

[SabuJSE]

Retubed with JJ's, have drive at 1:30ish and gain at 2:30ish and I love the OD sound on channel 2. No issues here with single coils or humbuckers. Hit a OCD or polysaturator and sustain for days.

YMMV

 

[srf399]

Or just plug into a BB Preamp then into the clean channel and forget about buying new tubes and using an OCD. Seriously.... If you can't get a fantastic Marshallish overdrive with a BB into the clean channel on the LSS it can't be done.

 

[srf399]

Okay...I'm stirring the pot a little but seriously.... try a BB

 

[SabuJSE]

The retube is a necessary thing, imo. And I only hit the OCD on occasion - I do not leave it on all the time. OCD, BB, whatever... they are not an all the time thing with me.

With a retube, channel 2 becomes quite espressive with zero pedals.

 

[Rocky]

I plugged in a Satchurator pedal yesterday and was very impressed. Vox has a winner on its hands.

 

[jdurso]

Lonestar was never intended to have any sort of distortion

not if you read their catalog write up for this amp. or the owner's manual for that manual. to me, they talk about something that simply doesn't live in this amp. oh well.

i think you may have misinterpreted the write up and manual. alone even with a tube change your not going to get into the higer gain territory without some help. The BBs and OCD are great overdrive pedals but if you want distortion look into the MI Audio Tube Zone. It can cover medium gain all the way up to recto high gain through amps like the lone star, fender blackfaces and even a JC120.

 

[vonscott]

I use the gain channel on my amp set for overdrive and use a Visual Sound Jeckyl and Hyde.

With the Jeckyl side (TS Clone) I boost the amps overdrive into a classic rock type distortion and I use the Hyde side on the clean channel for more of a hard rock distortion. Not an expensive boutique pedal but it works very well for me.

 

[fishyfishfish]

Try cranking the treble knob to about 3:00, and if that don't give you enough gain get a "High Gain" 12AX7 for V1 from Eurotubes, did the trick for me. As for the tone, good luck there. The best pedal that I have tried is the Plexi-Tube from Radial. My LSC turned into a metal beast from hell if I wanted it to.

 

[jab]

I liked the Xotic line best of the many I tried (although did not try Barber or Fulltone). The AC+ and BB+ give you those 2 pedal options in one unit for versatility. Quite frankly, their distortion sounds a heck of a lot like the amp's itself. Also liked MI quite a bit but it changed the character of the amp so stuck with Xotic.

 

[Mizati20]

Actually the Lonestar is geared more toward a clean sound, thus the reason they are "to die for" however I have spent quite a bit of time at the local Mesa dealer here, a couple hours actually, and after about 20 minutes messing with the EQ I actually got a very very nice distortion out of it. I don't know how the LSS's respond to overdrive pedals, but I believe if they are compatible that it would have easily been a tone that could dip into the Metallica region. How long have you had the amp? Maybe something is wrong? Because I can definately say I have experienced otherwise...

 

[thinskin57]

How long have you had the amp? Maybe something is wrong? Because I can definately say I have experienced otherwise...

i don't think anything is wrong with the amp. you're right, it was designed to be more strongly routed in the clean camp. like most people, i just wanted my 1 amp to be able to do EVERYTHING! LOL ...is that too much to ask? anyway, long story short, i found a distortion pedal that i like if front of it very much- the Boss OD20 twin pedal. i tried quite a few pedals ranging from $20 to over $200. go figure, the boss won?! no true bypass, but i don't think boss' buffer sounds bad at all.

 

[Mizati20]

Oh cool. I had a feeling this is the LSS would respond well to some OD pedals you would get a great distortion out of it....glad everything worked out for you man!!!