Let's talk dirt boxes

[BoogieDown]

Ok, so I've been cozying up to my LSS for the past couple of months and I'm really enjoying it. Prior to getting this amp, I have to admit that I was a HUGE od/distortion/fuzz fanatic. Since I've gotten this amp though, I'm really enjoying the unaffected voicing of the amp. My favorite drive pedals are either mimicing the effect of the cascading gain or the solo boost with the exception of my fuzz. Outside of the everpresent ts808/9 (which I already have) and the Xotic Effects boosters (which all sound roughly the same to me), what other boost pedals work well with the LSS?

And for the record, I have an EHX English Muff'n, a Fulltone 70s clone, and a ts clone with a clean boost. I guess I have all the key areas of gain nailed down but at this point its about voicing and what plays nicely with the LS preamps.

 

[axman53]

I like the Xotic pedals alot, which you already mentioned. I have the RC and BB on my board. A recent addition which I was very pleasantly surprised by is the MI Audio Boost 'n Buff. I got this to serve the purpose of putting an active buffer in my pedal string because of the usual cable loading problems, but I was not expecting to use the quasi-treble booster part of the pedal much. But guess what, it's currently my favorite button to stomp! I had tried the Keeley Java boost which is an authentic vintage treble booster clone, but it was too harsh for my ears. But the Boost 'n Buff is just great and useful both on channel 1 and 2. For the record, I opted to get an 18Vdc power adapter for the Boost 'n Buff, cause it will run on anything up to 25V and I had read that the MI Audio stuff really shines on 18V. I'd have to agree! Also, I have the latest version of the Boost 'n Buff as it was recently redesigned.

Another recent addition is the Wampler Super Plextortion, which turns channel 2 into a cranked Marshall Plexi at the stomp of a button. I actually like the sound of the pedal better than I like the DRIVE setting on the LSS channel 2, but I am just now starting to use the DRIVE setting more now that I've made it foot-switchable. YMMV of course, but there are a couple ideas for you.

 

[thom]

I have a Hartman vintage germanium treble booster which really makes channel 2 shine for a bright Blackmore ish Burn type sound. I also have a Danelectro cool cat drive pedal, ultra cheap, that is great to push channel 2 into rich distortion, truly a great pedal for the silly low price.

 

[user 9654]

I use my Fulldrive 2 on Comp-Cut mode. It adds a bit of grit to the Mesa smoothness. I also use an OCD to mimic an 18W Plexi. Basically, between my FD2, OCD and LSS, I have variations on an AC-15/30, 18W Plexi, and a clean Deluxe Reverb.

 

[BoogieDown]

I like the Xotic pedals alot, which you already mentioned. I have the RC and BB on my board.

do you notice a difference between the two?

Also, how are you setting your amp when you use your Marshall in a box pedals? I'm tryin to figure out If I should get rid of my english muffn and grab one of the xotic pedals. I havent really gotten the whole Marshall crunch thing out of it with the lss. With my marshall that I had before the lss, I used it as a boost to saturate my leads to hell. The amp already has the Marshall character to some extent (even though I was going for more of a boogie sound through eq and compression) so it was just a little more of what the amp did already. With the lss though, it sounds either thin or flubby and there's not much texture to it like there is with the xotic stuff. Seems like there's a richer harmonic content to an xotic boost. The only thing I love about my ehx is how well it works with my gt8 when i'm recording direct. How much do the bb preamps go for on the used market?

 

[axman53]

I like the Xotic pedals alot, which you already mentioned. I have the RC and BB on my board.

do you notice a difference between the two? Also, how are you setting your amp when you use your Marshall in a box pedals?

Yes, the BB picks up where the RC ends. The BB is much more extreme and can be tuned to take the place of any 808 clone I've ever played with and that's the sound I use it for. And I only use the BB with channel 2 of the LSS. The RC I use mostly for clean boost on the clean channel, or maybe a little dirty. For example, on a tune like Wind Cries Mary, I'll use the RC to push the bass with a little dirt for the solo. On old Beatles tunes like I Saw Her Standing There and Can't Buy Me Love, I'll be using the clean channel and use the RC to push it for solos.

I have channel 2 of the LSS set as follows:
GAIN: 2 o'clock
TREBLE: 2 o'clock
MID: 12:30 o'clock
BASS: 9 o'clock
PRESENCE: 2 o'clock
MASTER: from 9 to 11 o'clock depending on where I'm playing

With these settings and my guitars, I have a great dirty rhythm sound that goes well all by itself or with some chorus if the song calls for it. I can hit the SOLO switch if I like the sound the way it is for the solo, or I can hit any of my dirt boxes depending on the song. Current line up of dirt boxes: MI Audio Boost 'n Buff; Xotic BB; Wampler Super Plextortion; Keeley Fuzz Head. Now that I also have the DRIVE function of the LSS on a footswitch I'm about to take at least one of these off the board, just haven't figured out which one yet. Probably the Keeley Fuzz Head, because, while I know the sound of a germanium fuzz, I don't think anyone in the audience would know the difference between that and the DRIVE kicked in using my neck PUP with the tone turned down. Sounds close enough for me. And we don't do enough Hendrix to warrant a box just for that sound. OK, I probably told you more than you wanted to know :roll:

 

[axman53]

How much do the bb preamps go for on the used market?

I typically set up a daily search for them on ebay and wait to find one for around $150 or so. Sometimes you get lucky and find one that'll go for a little less, but these boxes go fast and everyone knows their value.

 

[polishcomedy]

Digitech Hardwire Valve Distortion (SC-2). Transforms your Lonestar into a Triple Rectifier Full Stack. Huge sound!

 

[geng]

T-Rex dr. Swamp works great as distortion/overdrive. BB-Preamp works also great. Both of them let the guitar character shine through - exspecially BB-preamp.

 

[MrMarkIII]

M I Audio Blue Boy Deluxe. Less mid-hump than the BB, more transparent, more bottom end and gain available. Less coin, too. Sounds great stacked with a TS-9.

 

[axman53]

M I Audio Blue Boy Deluxe. Less mid-hump than the BB, more transparent, more bottom end and gain available. Less coin, too. Sounds great stacked with a TS-9.

Thanks for jumping in with this one; hadn't heard it before. Looks like you can dial in the famous 808 midrange hump if you want it, though. Is that correct? Looks very versatile, tonewise.

 

[BoogieDown]

Welp, I decided to break out all my boost boxes and look up their instructional manuals.

With the EHX, I found out that the controls are interactive like the ones on the LSS, which was a real eye opener. Through my Marshall that I had before this amp, all my boost pedals basically sounded the same (except the fuzz at extreme settings, which sounded like any other fuzz). The LSS lets the pedal character shine through so I was hearing a bunch of stuff out of my pedals that I didn't know was in there. I basically have to use very conservative eq settings on the EHX. I'm not sure which direction the signal is going through the pedal though. I know that if I turn the bass knob all the way down, there's no sound. I would assume that means that it passes through the bass pot first and then goes to mids and treble, but I could also see that working the other way around as well. Anybody have any clue about that sort of thing? In any event, I've finally achieved a hotrodded and boosted JCM800 sound. Its not a vintage plexi recreation, but it sounds good to me. Its more of a modern take on a classic sound.

As for my fuzz pedal, its pure heaven now that I've rebiased it from a trimpot on the inside.

My ts clone sounds ok, but perhaps I'm just not a ts guy because it's not been growing on me like my other pedals.