pedal for leads

[badjohnny]

So I spent some time using the Burn mode on Channel 2 as my lead sound. Loved it and it was certainly great to have a dedicated channel for solos. But using the Crunch mode in Channel 1, I was never happy with turning down my guitar volume to get a clean sound. Or using different pickups or anything. Seemed like too much of a compromise, especially because the Express has such good cleans. So I'm back to using the Blues mode with the gain turned down for my clean sound and keeping the Crunch for...crunch rhythm, which I love.

So it will be back to pedals for a solo boost. I have a Bad Monkey from years ago. It's OK. What other pedals would folks suggest for a nice thick distorted lead sound, maybe similar to what the Burn channel used to give me? True bypass would be nice. Thanks.

Johnny

 

[Wolfboy1]

Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. Pick up one used on fleabay, I think you will like it. Also the Valve distortion (SC-2 I think) from the new digitech Hardwire line is sweet. That whole line of pedals is really decent.

 

[soundchaser59]

CMATMODS has some great drive pedals.

Barber Direct Drive is the best one I've found for my Express.

Damage Control Womanizer.

EHX has a high voltage tubepreamp pedal that rocks.

 

[vbf]

I use a simple Boss OS-2 pedal. I don't care much for the distortion but the OD sounds good with all my guitars (Fenders, Gretsch, Gibby's). I don't turn it much past 11 to get some very nice, clean OD sounds.

 

[floaty83]

+1 for the Digitech Hardwire SC-2 Valve Distortion

It is a very versatile pedal with lots of different great sounds.

My setup is my Japanese Fender Strat with a Dimarzio DP-182 stacked humbucker in the bridge, going into a Boss TU2 tuner, Dunlop original crybaby, then the SC-2, then the Hardwire Chorus pedal into the amp. I use Channel 1 for cleans, 2 for gain sounds.

I've got the channel 1 set to a nice brilliant clean, and the SC-2 on a lower gain setting to get a slight crunch, but will act as a boost for Channel 2. Really nice setup.

 

[badjohnny]

I should mention, if it was not already clear, that the pedal will be pushing the Crunch mode of Channel 1 into lead territory. Not necessarily making a new distorted sound on the clean Blues channel. That's another story for another day.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Johnny

 

[Newysurfer]

So I spent some time using the Burn mode on Channel 2 as my lead sound. Loved it and it was certainly great to have a dedicated channel for solos. But using the Crunch mode in Channel 1, I was never happy with turning down my guitar volume to get a clean sound. Or using different pickups or anything. Seemed like too much of a compromise, especially because the Express has such good cleans. So I'm back to using the Blues mode with the gain turned down for my clean sound and keeping the Crunch for...crunch rhythm, which I love.

So it will be back to pedals for a solo boost. I have a Bad Monkey from years ago. It's OK. What other pedals would folks suggest for a nice thick distorted lead sound, maybe similar to what the Burn channel used to give me? True bypass would be nice. Thanks.

Johnny

Johnny - if you like high gain Marshall JCM tones then this MI-Audio Crunchbox can't be beat.
It's Marshall in a box, true bypass and costs $100.

http://www.mieffects.com/cbinbrief.htm

check the reviews and youtube for lotsa clips

 

[J.J]

The Fulltone OCD is a good and versatile pedal worth looking at. You can use it as an almost clean boost which will beef up your sound for solos, but not add to much of it self.

 

[thunda1216]

EH Nano LPB-1

 

[mikeller]

Also recommend you look at the Barber Dirty Bomb. It really is very versatile, lots of sounds and inexpensive

 

[wizard333]

If you are pushing a semi-dirty channel, check out the Barber Direct Drive (set at a low gain setting) or the Barber LTD, which is a low gain pedal.

Barber just makes the best drive pedals out there, and they are well built and **** cheap for a "boutique" pedal.

Either way, remember gain staging; don't turn up the gain very high at all on the drive pedal or you'll just get mud and feedback. Once you start cascading gain stages, you dont need to add much distortion at any stage (and there ae good reasons not to) to end up with quite a bit of gain at the end.

 

[UKBoogieboy]

The Carl Martin Hydra boost is good for a volume boost.

As far as using an overdrive for a sudden boost I don't know because from completely clean all the way through to heavy gain my guitar is always solo level.

 

[richpjr]

If you are pushing a semi-dirty channel, check out the Barber Direct Drive (set at a low gain setting) or the Barber LTD, which is a low gain pedal.

Barber just makes the best drive pedals out there, and they are well built and **** cheap for a "boutique" pedal.

Either way, remember gain staging; don't turn up the gain very high at all on the drive pedal or you'll just get mud and feedback. Once you start cascading gain stages, you dont need to add much distortion at any stage (and there ae good reasons not to) to end up with quite a bit of gain at the end.

I am using both a DD and a LTD with my 5:50 and am very happy with the sound. I just picked up an Xotic EP Booster that I am running in front of both of those and it is really adding a nice sparkle and thickening my sound - highly recommended.

 

[wizard333]

If you are pushing an already over-driven channel, you want to stay away from high again pedals like Crunch Box, Barber DD probably (which whoops up on the crunch box as a Marshall in a box) etc; since they are high gain pedals. When you are gain staging, you dont want any particular stage to do all the work, and you dont want to hit an already over-driven tube channel with a whole lot more gain. I use a couple Barber DDs and have owned but sold the CB; but I'd consider them more as stand alone drives for a clean channel than I would for pumping an already over-driven channel.

I'd go with a Maxon OD820 which will do anything from dead clean to crunch if you like the "tube screamer" type of mid boost; or a Barber LTD, which is a low gain pedal that is more even in the eq and doesnt have so much of a mid hump. You can of course turn the gain way down on a DD or CB and use the, but the above 2 pedals are designed for low gain and will have more usable range on the knob and be easier to dial in a tone with.