How do you get your growl?

[Caevan O’Shite]

Let's hear it, give it up for the bassists!

 

More bass, more growling bass, too!

[baronedo]

I get my growl predominantly from two pedals which I made from plans from the General Guitar Gadgets website (http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/jdsdiy.html)

 

The first is a clone of an Ibanez Tubescreamer TS 808 model. The second pedal is a boost pedal called a Stratoblaster. I made the Tubescreamer clone for about $50 and the Stratoblaster for under $30. I purchased the ready to soder circuit boards from General Guitar Gadgets (GGG) and the other components from Small Bear Electronics (http://www.smallbearelec.com/).

 

These are hand made custom quality pedals which I have wired for true bypass and both also have an LED on/off indicator light via a 3PDT switch available from Fulltone Electronics (fulltone.com). The Tubescreamer is a slightly distorted overdrive, while the Stratoblaster gives a cleaner tone with a little overdriven boost.

 

I also can get some nice screetch from using my Dunlop Crybaby wah in conjunction with the above effects.

[DC]

I pretty much hate distortion pedals. When I first started gigging in the 70s I went through a bunch of different amps and guitars looking for that elusive tone. The closest I could come to what I wanted was a strat into an LPB-1 into a Fender super twin. Thing is, those Linear power boosters kept crapping out, went through them like bic lighters. Then I found out about this company called Mesa Boogie. I got my first Boog Mk II around 1982 or so and never looked back.

 

Live I've been using Boogies ever since. Half stacks, combos and little 25 watters for overseas stuff.

 

I have used a pedal board for duo stuff but those things have no balls.

 

For recording I use Boogs, 60s Fender Vibro Champ, Cream Machine, Rockman X-100, Boss GT-3, and I just got this little Vox Brian May screamer which is pretty cool. Also throw a Cry Baby in there occationally.

 

For bass and acoustic instruments I use an Avalon 737 for direct or mic up with usually an AKG 414.

 

Boogies sing man, and if I need the ass end distortion, there's the little Fender on 9 or 10.

 

[Dennyf]

I currently rely on my Tech 21 Trademark 60 for all my basic tones. The only effects I use are a wah pedal in front of the amp, and chorus & delay in the effects loop.

 

I used to use a Jeckyl & Hyde pedal with my '68 Princeton Reverb, and two Tube Screamers in series with my Crate Vintage Club 30 into the clean channel. I think pedals into a clean tube amp give you the most versatility along with the ability to play at reasonable levels. But certain pedals sound better with certain amps, so ya gotta experiment.

[Guitarzan]

i am using a Dg100 yamaha amp, if you use the clean channel and crank it , it is sweet crunch. really responds like a tube amp. if i don't want to be that loud i use one of the crunch or drive channels. if i keep the pregain down and use the power amp it is sweet. the only time i crank the gain is at real low volume settings.

that being said, since i only use the fender like cleans and marshall like channels i am looking to get a tube combo or head and a 4x12. for sake of simplicity.

[J J]

i use the overdrive a lot on my deville for blues stuff, but when i need more i just plug in my dan`o overdrive

[Blue Strat]

Current gigging rig: (for church; distortion doesn't get used )

 

Fender Strat w/ JB jr. bridge pickup

Peavey Studio Chorus 210

10' cable

 

I've played with a band recently, and this does most of what I want, although I use a Big Muff Pi or Fuzz Face with it.

[Sauce]

right now i got my strat going to a tube screamer (for when i want it dirty) into my supro thunderbolt (only 2 dials and 20 watts of tube joy-gasm, they made some wonderful peices of equiptment in chicago in the 60's). for soloing i prefer the neck p-up with the tone around 6 and the volume cranked although sometimes i'll finger twang it on the middle p-up with the tone up. keep the tone dial on my supro out wide, all the time and because i'm only jamming at home and with friends these days i keep the volume on the amp at around 11 o'clock and that's plenty loud.

[mwestenberg]

I get my growl and grind and sparkly clean and warped weirdness from an ADA Mp1 preamp into a 80's vintage Yamaha power amp and however many Celestions I need for the gig. I used to do the modded and pedalled Marshall trip but just got tired of the inflexibility. Can I tell the difference? Yeah, but the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages in my book. I play everything from clean jazzy to metal, sometimes in the same song

[picker]

I have never heard a distortion box that sounded as good to me as the lead channel of my Boogie. After years of hearng Santana get that marvelous sustain and big fat tone, getting a Boogie was like finding the Holy Grail to me.

 

That being said, the tonal texture of a distortion box is more applicable in certain contexts. I often have a distort-o pedal to use for some songs, and the Boogie lead channel for others. I've also had good results pushing a compressor's output to slap an amp's front end silly. That's a really neat tone for some things.

[tiger85]

Fender Strat through Fender Deluxe 90 amp. Tried using pedals in the past but just didn't care for them except for an old purple Ibanez chorus box I use sometimes. Mostly I rely on the 3 channel amp and pedal. Very nice tone if I fiddle with it enough to tweak it just right.

 

[Tedster]

Basically I use my Marshall's overdrive. I do use a tube screamer, which adds a bit...but mainly I'm looking at that point for something to boost the volume of the solo. But sometimes I'll just ride the volume pot.

[BlueZet]

I usually prefer to go straight to my amp, but since "environmental" law bans anything over 90dB here in Belgium, I can't really go loud enough to get my Hotrod Deluxe growling in a decent way... in comes a VoodooLab Overdrive - backup is an OLD (some 20 years) Boss OD-1 - for some of the solo's (most are kept clean anyway)