Tube Screamers

gball said:
It's a great way to boost. I use the built-in EQ in my Mark 5 to do the same thing. Most people use them to get that scooped midrange sound but that doesn't work for me, I like a lot of mids, so I set it to cut bass, stay flat high, and boost the upper mids. Cuts through anything.
Click to expand...

Mids do cut through, that's for sure...

I think my tone on this recording was probably my best overall:

Listen to Road To Hell - Rory Gallagher Cover - 02/25/2019 by Von Herndon on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/id%3Drobert-h-herndon%252Froad-to-hell-rory-gallagher-cover-02252019%3Btrack_id%3D581453793
 
I find anything with a Tone control to ne too limiting for me. I have a Bad Monkey OD that I set Level way up but gain at zero. I never push a clean amp. It has 2 band EQ.
I also got a baby mini Keeley Red Dirt for one board but it jist sounds too thin to me. Meeds a basw control
I also now have an MXR Super Bad Ass Distortion on my main board. 3 way EQ.
 
Jethro Rocker said:
I find anything with a Tone control to ne too limiting for me. I have a Bad Monkey OD that I set Level way up but gain at zero. I never push a clean amp. It has 2 band EQ.
I also got a baby mini Keeley Red Dirt for one board but it jist sounds too thin to me. Meeds a basw control
I also now have an MXR Super Bad Ass Distortion on my main board. 3 way EQ.
Click to expand...

Exactly why i switched to 0.01uf, because it gives you full use of the tone control, even when rolled off to zero, it is still clear...

I also run a pair of 7 band EQ's on my live board...

20190720_054835-1032x581.jpg
 
Robert Herndon said:
Exactly why i switched to 0.01uf, because it gives you full use of the tone control, even when rolled off to zero, it is still clear...

I also run a pair of 7 band EQ's on my live board...

View attachment 47607
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I find they lose low end. That was my issue. I have EQ as well but don't want to have to run it every time i use an OD because the OD loses lows. These multi band ones really work well for me.
 
Jethro Rocker said:
I find they lose low end. That was my issue. I have EQ as well but don't want to have to run it every time i use an OD because the OD loses lows. These multi band ones really work well for me.
Click to expand...

Its taken a lot of work to get this board as lossless as possible. EQ #1 is on all the time. EQ #2 is in the FX loop for solo boost without increasing gain.

I find the TS-9 enhances the low end greatly...
 
Jethro Rocker said:
I find they lose low end. That was my issue. I have EQ as well but don't want to have to run it every time i use an OD because the OD loses lows. These multi band ones really work well for me.
Click to expand...
Some of it may be that the designer wanted to stop low frequency from distorting compressing, could sound muddy overloaded farty.
Some of it may be that they try to roll off lows to stop power supply hum from being amplified.
But a lot of Marshall amps are built that way too.
They try to get the highs to crunch but they keep the lows cleaner by rolling off the frequency response.
Then Fender/ Boogie is just the opposite, they let all the lows go through. But then the potential to get that overloaded / subsonic / bottom end over-compression mushy attack type result.
And so you will see a lot of boost pedals with the lows rolled off intentionally just for those reasons.
Once the low frequency overly- compresses, the highs are muddled and no longer crispy crunchy.

A solution would be multi-band compression which protects the highs, instead of the usual typical mono compression principle.
 
hi guys

i got nuwb question for you.

I've got new TC mini spark boost, how do i boost sound without changing tone?

I'm already boosting front end it with Mxr Gt-Od or Boss SD1 i just want vol bump for solo.when i hit booster it dose not boost sound it saturates more.

i'm sure i'm doing something wrong :confused2::confused2::confused2::confused2: i put booster after od on chain.

thanks guys.
 
Ramo said:
hi guys

i got nuwb question for you.

I've got new TC mini spark boost, how do i boost sound without changing tone?

I'm already boosting front end it with Mxr Gt-Od or Boss SD1 i just want vol bump for solo.when i hit booster it dose not boost sound it saturates more.

i'm sure i'm doing something wrong :confused2::confused2::confused2::confused2: i put booster after od on chain.

thanks guys.
Click to expand...
I also have a Mini Spark...Try it before any other dirt pedals in the chain. It does the clean boost thing ok for me, but the knob is touchy, and the Spark will drive my amps in to saturation with the level knob set beyond a certain point...it varies by the amp/pedals in use.
Best of luck!
 
Ramo said:
hi guys

i got nuwb question for you.

I've got new TC mini spark boost, how do i boost sound without changing tone?

I'm already boosting front end it with Mxr Gt-Od or Boss SD1 i just want vol bump for solo.when i hit booster it dose not boost sound it saturates more.

i'm sure i'm doing something wrong :confused2::confused2::confused2::confused2: i put booster after od on chain.

thanks guys.
Click to expand...
You want a clean boost between the preamp and the power amp.
In other words, an effects loop.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
Yes! This! Definitely! If you have a loop. I do not have a loop in a couple/few amps that I use.
Click to expand...
You can install an effects loop in pretty much any amp.
I have done it with a Fender Bassman. The board was originally intended for Marshall heads like a Plexi.
But it takes bravery, and skill.

Metropoulos Amplification Store

store.metropoulos.net store.metropoulos.net
Your ability to tweak the levels by changing resistors, etc is a big plus.
Let's face it, the design is only "ball-park," it's not perfectly matched to all pedals and all signal levels. But with some fine tuning you can get it dialed in pretty good.
I also added a series / parallel mix control which allows using the loop either way or bypassing.

I would have used a much better adjust pot than the one that comes stock...
I would have used Cliff UK jacks instead of the knock-off China jacks that come stock on the board.
But there ya go - project fun. I had fun with it and it sounded pretty sweet once I did all the tweaking to dial the levels in just right.


1598212320810.png
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
You can install an effects loop in pretty much any amp.
I have done it with a Fender Bassman. The board was originally intended for Marshall heads like a Plexi.
But it takes bravery, and skill.

Metropoulos Amplification Store

store.metropoulos.net store.metropoulos.net
Your ability to tweak the levels by changing resistors, etc is a big plus.
Let's face it, the design is only "ball-park," it's not perfectly matched to all pedals and all signal levels. But with some fine tuning you can get it dialed in pretty good.
I also added a series / parallel mix control which allows using the loop either way or bypassing.

I would have used a much better adjust pot than the one that comes stock...
I would have used Cliff UK jacks instead of the knock-off China jacks that come stock on the board.
But there ya go - project fun. I had fun with it and it sounded pretty sweet once I did all the tweaking to dial the levels in just right.


View attachment 47726
Click to expand...

Hold on!!!!!

You say that you can put that in something like a 45 watt British amp kit build????

Tweaking??? Please expound. I have only EVER owned one amp with an FX loop level control - the Marshall Valvestate VS265 2x12 stereo chorus combo.

I'm curious now...
 
Robert Herndon said:
Hold on!!!!!

You say that you can put that in something like a 45 watt British amp kit build????

Tweaking??? Please expound. I have only EVER owned one amp with an FX loop level control - the Marshall Valvestate VS265 2x12 stereo chorus combo.

I'm curious now...
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, yes.
I tweak a lot to get the levels just right. This achieves an ideal signal to noise ratio.
1. input level to pedals (send level)
2. Output level from pedals (return)
the levels must be optimized to the ideal result.
(hiss, buzzing, hum etc drives me verifiable insane)
The series parallel control (I personally find) seems to allow many more variations of tones that I was never able to obtain with a plain old effects loop.

B. An infinite sustain mod that would give Dumble a run for the money...however it is (nor intended to be) "NOT a Dumble clone or copy," it is my own proprietary design.
also adaptable to Marshall and Fender circuits. (this mod is very mysterious and mere mortals would not comprehend it)
But this type of mod is only for very experienced lead guitar players because a student would not be able to control it.
It would also probably work well for slide guitar, provided the player knows how to mute the UN-played strings while picking the notes. etc...definitely not for beginners.
 
Robert Herndon said:
So, that device is just soldered into the turret board??? Something a mere mortal could do???
Click to expand...
Here's my old JCM800 that I completely rebuilt. The Metro Zero Loss FX loop is installed at the upper left corner of the chassis in the pic:
20200823_165432.jpg

Three holes needed to be drilled: 2 for the jacks, and one for the toggle bypass switch. 2 shielded wires for signal are added and connected to the volume and treble pot. A voltage dropping resistor and one wire carrying DC power is added and connected from the main circuit board to the fx loop board. That's it! All you need is in the kit except for the surgical tools needed.
 
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