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Topic: Before or after Volume Pedal |
Larry Weaver
From:
Asheville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 28 May 2007 4:45 am |
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Looking for opinions on where everyone has their distortion effects in relation to the volume pedal, and why you've set it up that way. Currently, I go straight from the guitar, into either a Black Box or Steel Driver, and then to a chain of overdrive pedals. From there into the volume pedal and then out to a G Major unit providing all of the time based effects- reverb, delay etc.
This seems to be the easiest setup to deal with in a live situation, but I find myself missing the control of the volume pedal dynamics and attack when the distortion is set up after the pedal.
Curious as to what you guys do!
LarryW |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 28 May 2007 7:38 am
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Larry, I always put "all" effects other than what's built into the amp before the volume pedal, especially distortion or compression. They don't seem to work right, and you lose some control, unless they're before the volume pedal. What's also nice is if you have an effect pedal that may be a little noisy you usually won't notice it during a song so between tunes you can back off your volume pedal which is nice.........JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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Mitch Druckman
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 28 May 2007 5:50 pm
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I normally put overdrive or distortion pedals before the volume pedal to give a consistant distorted tone regardless of the volume level.
I have also put a distortion or overdrive pedal after the volume pedal. When you do this the distortion increases as the volume increases (or the distortion decreases as the volume goes down). If you set the pedal right you can be playing clean and get a nice overdriven solo when you turn up the volume. |
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Jonathan Cullifer
From:
Gallatin, TN
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Posted 28 May 2007 11:03 pm
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| I always set it post volume pedal (using a Pod for distortion). I got used to doing it that way from playing a guitar. For me, part of the effect of the distortion is to be able to vary the amount of distortion with the volume pedal. |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 29 May 2007 3:38 am
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same here. tone shapers (overdrive, distortion, chorus) before volume pedal.
and time effects after volume pedal.
I like having the biggest signal coming from my guitar going into the tone effects.
my guitar is set volume full on.
I can control output with the vol pedal. |
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Jim Walker
From:
Headland, AL
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Posted 29 May 2007 4:15 am
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Another sign times have changed. I wonder what Tom Brumley's answer would have been in 1966. Ha!
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Show Pro D10, Session 400 |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 29 May 2007 5:28 am
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| I have a queston. The G-Major (and I have one) is a "line level" device not an "instrument level" device. It shouldn't even be in the low level instrument level chain as the Signal to Noise ratio will be terrible (noisy). |
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Darvin Willhoite
From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
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Posted 29 May 2007 7:14 am
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I put my overdrive pedal between the guitar and volume pedal, all other effects after the pedal or in the effects loop of the amp.
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro. |
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Larry Weaver
From:
Asheville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 29 May 2007 8:48 am
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Thanks for all of the replies guys! I'm going to experiment with some of the distortion/OD's before and some after the volume pedal. I like the idea of both.
Jack, interesting question. I have tried the G Major in my rig along with a line mixer, from the effects loop of my Bivalve, and also in the signal chain right after my distortion setup--which is routed through a Ground Control switcher. By far, for me the best sound was with the unit in the signal chain. Aside from the noise inherently produced by some of the high gain pedals, the unit is practically noiseless in any of the configurations I've tried. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 29 May 2007 9:42 am I Disagree
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I don't use stompbox distortion very often, but when I do it has to be after the volume pedal. Otherwise it would get the full volume attack of the steel all the time.
An essential element of good distortion is that the effect is cleaner at low volumes. As you increase the volume, more distortion is heard. This is how a tube amp works, and it's what a good distortion pedal should do as well.
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 29 May 2007 9:50 am
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| I agree with b0b. Except that I never use distortion on steel at all. But I consider the dynamic response essential in any overdrive or distortion circuit. Any distortion device that "doesn't work right" if the signal strength into it varies is, to me, unacceptable. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 29 May 2007 9:58 am
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I definitely prefer a distortion/overdrive box before the volume pedal. This makes it "pick sensitive," so I can play clean or dirty according to how hard I pick. To me this is the way a tube amp works. In fact, my favorite distortion/overdrive unit is the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube, which is really a small tube preamp. The volume pedal then controls only the overall volume with no effect on distortion, the way a speaker attenuator does on a tube amp. This way I can get any amount of breakup I want at any volume level. And I can use my volume pedal to set the overall volume and to get sustain, either clean or distorted, just like I normally do with the volume pedal.
If the distortion box is after the volume pedal, you can only get distortion playing loud. I found my POD distortion unusable, because it had to go after the volume pedal. Some distortion/overdrive pedals don't sound good before the volume pedal. My Duncan Twin Tube sounds great that way. It all depends on whether you want to control the distortion with your hands or with your foot. I just found controlling distortion with my foot very foreign feeling and could never get use to it. All I want my foot to control is the overall volume and sustain, just like when I play without distortion. I want the distortion to be sensitive to my picking fingers. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 29 May 2007 10:47 am
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| When I want distortion to be be controlled by "fingers only", I take my foot off of the volume pedal. This is the same whether I'm using amp distortion or a stomp box. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 29 May 2007 12:00 pm
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| Larry, If I use my G Major with an amp, such as a Nashville 112 or 1000, I connect the G Major into the Post EQ effects loop as that is a high level effects loop and eliminates any noise. |
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Archie Nicol R.I.P.
From:
Ayrshire, Scotland
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Posted 29 May 2007 1:36 pm
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My old `Bosstone` plugs directly in to the guitar. I have a DD3 and an RV5 which I set up after the volume pedal, for no other reason than it was neater on the floor the first time I set them up(I like them to my left). I don't normally use the delay and reverb together, but tend to switch between the two.
Arch. |
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Souderton, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 1 Jun 2007 8:07 am
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| Jim Walker wrote: |
| Another sign times have changed. I wonder what Tom Brumley's answer would have been in 1966. Ha! |
my guess is something like "Dist- or.. distortion.. what? What are you talking about? I have one cord goes from the guitar to the volume pedal and the other goes from the pedal to the amp..." |
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