what makes a good pedal platform amp

Tosin Abasi is getting pretty phenomenal tone out of one as a pedal platform, My favorites are the clean channel of a mark iic+ and a vintage vibrolux reverb (my favorite blackface amp). Fender for example still making good tube amps that interact incredibly with pedals. This serves as having your perfect rig at your feet rather than relying on your amps natural distortion and effects. Treble boosters were designed to push the amp harder and brighten up dark amps. Are Stratocaster and Telecaster Pickups the Same? When I hear that term, I think of an amp that has a tone stack that plays well with pedals, especially overdrives. You want an amp that has a clean sound not heavy bass or high treble or all mids a balanced clean sound then you want to be able to go as high in the volume as you can before it starts to lose the clean balanced sound. This ultimate guide is your resource to pedal platform amps. So, what are the best settings for a pedal platform amp? For the latter, having a solid pedal platform amp is a must, since they still need a medium to get soundwaves in the air. They may have used pedals, but the amp wasn't clean. We disclose that we earn commissions based on referring traffic and potential customers to these companies. Do they sound best into a dirty amp? i say a good class a amp with headroom is a great pedal platform. BF vs SF? I love the clean channel of my mesa rectoverb combo, amazing clean and sounds great with any pedal. David Gilmore is an example of a guitarist who used a Hiwatt amp very clean and added gain with a Big Muff. Better still, each model of drive pedals brings forward a different spin and sonic signature. But it sounds like for you a lower wattage amp might be in order. The Gear Page is the leading online community and marketplace for guitars, amps, pedals, effects and associated gear. These amps are known for their versatility to stay clean and articulate at high volume without breaking up. If you were to do so and put a delay in front of the amp, the delay repetitions will be distorted. Plus it's light weight. Next would be Ampeg VT-22/V4. I've had guitarists come to me inquiring why their tone is thin. Adam is the founder and author of Tone Topics and dedicated to providing the best guitar content for like-minded gear nerds. Voicing - Some amps are purposely voiced to yield more overdrive or more clean headroom, depending on the design. You must log in or register to reply here. But, it's a recipe. Revisions? The promotion that pedalboards plugged into pedal platform amps sound better is misguided. This means that you can shape and sculpt the exact sound of the distortion you want to hear from your amp. Its like a blank slate for your pedals. The guitar, the pedals, and the amp. Others, like rock players, want amps that drive very quickly so they can play lead solos at high gain. For example, during a solo, it is impossible to engage an overdrive pedal, reverb, or any other effect to let it jump out in a band mix during a live performance. + Allows your rig to completely speak for itself tonally. Some of these include Amazon Associates, Reverb, and Rakuten Affiliate. It has a lot of tone shaping options (eq, hi/low boosts, contour), it has an effects send loop (which I don't always want, but is nice to have as an option), it has a master volume, it has a spring reverb (the one effect where I don't want to use a pedal), is quite compact (which I liked because I was always lugging around a medium-sized pedal board), and of course, it sounded wonderful. Meaning you have to kiss the amp with a dB or two when using an overdrive or distortion pedal. Find a cab you like. You play your modeling pedal or amp in a box through it. A clear, colorless voice booming from your amp allows pedals to shine and show-off their unique tonal qualities. Vibrolux Reverb. And the biggest reason for that is, theyre trying to get the ambient effects after the gain stage. A requirement for the perfect pedal platform is one that can remain clean and distortionless at higher volumes. Squier Lines Explained: Which Is Best for You? A 15 watt amp that still has a good amount of clean headroom and is made to be used as a pedal platform is the Blackstar Artist 15. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. That always has worked out better for me than trying to find amps/speakers that make my overdrive pedal sound better (and I have done that too). Solid-state amps possess a naturally colored and somewhat processed tone, offering minimal room for pedals to squeeze through. Solid-state amps are beloved by many guitarists. For example, from the vast selection of distortion pedals, each distortion pedal brand and model sounds inherently different, varying from aggressive, subtle, smooth, or mimicking the tones of specific amplifier brands. My personal favorite clean amp/pedal platform is a vintage Ampeg V4. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Nice cleans, and good lower gain crunch, but I love it with just about every type of dirt I've tried with it; fuzz - muffs, tonebenders, fuzz face, high gain distortion, medium gain crunch, etc. I found an Allen Old Flame amp to be a great pedal platform. This guitar amplifier packs a punch and delivers a great tone in a compact package. JavaScript is disabled. Most beginners will be happier playing a solid-state (or modeling) amp. If youre a pedal guy, you can build a board that works fairly uniformly with nearly any clean amp - a big plus when using foreign backline at studios, rehearsal rooms and festival stages. Most players will agree that tubes amps are the best for taking pedals very well. Whether certain pedals are to your tastes and worth including in your rig is up to you. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Enjoy all the free information on the site. I have a couple and they handle pedals really well. It surprises the difference it makes. Modelling amps are similar to solid-state amps. Speaking of the clean channels when determining a good pedal platform, a good place to start is usually the clean channel (if its a dual-channel amp.). WebOverall, the 1970RK is a fantastic amp that will make your effects pedals shine. All rights reserved. link to Where the Highest Quality Fender Guitars are Made. It sounds like upgraded fender twin reverb and has rediculous dynamics. I just don't see it as a "pedal platform" amp. Players who want a detailed and custom rig with pedals. Furthermore, tube amps are pricey, as they should be. Do guitar pedals sound best into a clean amp? Musician Jobs: 7 Reasons Why AI Is Not a Threat. WebTo me, a pedal platform is something that gonna be very loud, with at least 100 watts because high-wattage amps offer huge power and clean headroom; qualities that give pedals that are routed through them more room to breath. This is because the voice of an amps distortion is determined by the pre-amp section. (Gibson QC issues). John Suhr, the founder of JS Technologies Inc, started building guitars in 1974 and created the first Suhr Custom guitar in 1984. Probably worth a search. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Here we bring you the top-rated options from Strymon, Blackstar and more Included in this guide: 1 Strymon Iridium Check Price 2 Universal Audio Woodrow 55 Check Price 3 Clean amps can stay clean as you turn them up and stay clean until cranked. The pedal platform concept is using a clean amp as a PA for your pedalboard. I'm biased, but a LG Jose, ala CCV channel 1 is super flexible. A lot of people want to use an effects loop to run the reverb or delay and time effects. Since there is no universal definition for 'best', I will say Mesa LSS. JavaScript is disabled. Hence why distortion, overdrive, and fuzz pedals react incredibly well to a tube amps organic signature. A great method for doing so is by setting all the EQ controls to 12 o-clock and going from outside in. But what about their selection of bedroom amps? JavaScript is disabled. It might be loud for the P&W stuff though. The first is that, where tube amplifiers use valves, solid-state amps use electronic transistors as their amplification source. There is a careful dance of gain staging when pairing your pedalboard with an amp. They can be unreliable because you never know when a tube will blow out. Every amp ever made is a good pedal platform. The pre-amp section will color your modulation and time-based effects which is unwanted. While attempted to copy the achievements of their contemporaries decades ago by using similar parts, modern-day technology and advancements in digital realms have made modeling amps so authentic that its frightening. IEC socket replacement for BF Fender convenience power receptacle? Hence, the ideal pedal platform amp typically has a wattage of 40-100 watts of tube power. An amp with a naturally heavy colored signal essentially masks the true sound of your pedals especially gain and distortion-based pedals. This means, that the amp doesnt add or subtract too much from the signal thats entering its input when passing through. (Gibson QC issues). The tweed (read: circuit Marshall Plexi was based on) sound gels well with hitting the input stage hard! The reason I created Tone topics, was to infrom and educate all players out therewith a range of helpful articles from my personal experince. Does someone want to get into a time machine to tell Hendrix he should only plug his Fuzz Face into a clean amp? If you love the Plexi tone, there are other more fruitful paths to travel. In a nutshell, the term headroom is the amps threshold or ceiling until crossed, begins to break-up, distort, and saturate. Bright, bold, British, and famed for brilliant crunch tones. First, its helpful to know that pedal platform amps are not a new innovative type of amp technology. The path led to using pedals solely for gain and not cascading them with amp gain staging. Headrush vs Helix vs Kemper vs GT1000 vs AX8: Which is best? Before you know it, youll have spent a hefty sum of cash, thanks to your quest for additional tones as an individual pedal can range from. I see it as an option. This is arguably one of the biggest advantages of building a sound comprised of individual pedals as some solid-state amps can present very little in terms of intricate tone tweaking. With seamlessly unlimited tones on offer, it means you can get super detailed to the exact individual sounds that make up your dream rig.. WebMy own experience with this is limited unfortunately, I own a blackstar series one 10 watt with a KT88 in it (which I guess gives it a lot of headroom for the wattage?) Modulation and time-based effects respond remarkably well, thanks to a clear and colorless voice for allowing them to shine brighter. As these effects sound better with a clean and colorless signal. But I guess my question is how do I know it's a good pedal platform? All work perfectly for that role: Hot Rod Deluxe for me, but I upgraded the tubes to JJ's 6L6's and the speaker to a WGS Reaper HP. Pedal platform amps are units usually with a very transparent sound, and lots of headroom. If you are happy, then go for mids. Of course, you can get great sounds with these interactions, but those are unique explorations and not pedal platforms. Guitarists searched for ways to get a big sound at a lower volume. Dr. Z Maz 18 NR and the Carmen Ghiaboth excellent clean platforms. No every amp is a pedal platform good is relative, a champ is not necessarily a good pedal platform is you play loud. They generally sound the best, even aside from being the best pedal platform amps. With that said, there is no right or wrong to this approach. Pedal platform amps are often kept completely clean, so they have the least influence possible in shaping the tone, and only work as a means of amplifying it. A pedal-friendly amp or a pedal platform is an amp that reacts very well to the sound of the pedals that are plugged through it. Here's a stricter interpretation - Assuming you get all your distortion/OD from your pedalboard, a good pedal platform would be a very clean amp without breakup, mud, uniqueness, or coloration. Not necessarily pre guitar pedals. And some people like to use the amps gain instead of boost and overdrive pedals, so they can run their time-based effects in the effects loop. If I had to pick one, it would be the Marshall Super Lead 100. Their tone is almost exactly the same as the tone they were modeled upon, meaning that you wont have that blank slate to paint your own picture. So, forget pedal platform amps and learn about guitar, pedal and amp pairings that work for the style of music you like to make. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Amazon and other companies linked to on this site. Oct 17, 2020 #3 swervinbob Friend of Leo's. TDPRI, short for Telecaster Discussion Page Reissue, is the leading online community and marketplace for Telecaster guitars. Unfortunately, they make poor pedal platform amps for a few reasons. It will mostly depend on taste and how your amp works. And I just can't roll with the new Supro line. Phone: +1 786-755-8158. A Fuzz Face will sound better into a driven amp then into a clean amp. Is there a poor pedal platform? Tube amps work harder when their pre-amp tubes are driven with either drive pedals or more volume. Looking for a new amp. As soon as you see the impact one pedal can have on your amp, youll probably start to wonder what a different effect will sound like. Now, an amp without the FX loop feature cannot route signals away from its pre-amp, meaning that it simply amplifies whatever is sitting in front of it. But I like lots of clean tones too, and to have enough clarity to be able to play Strat position 2 & 4 tones, and to use the 12-string sounds, acoustic models, and synth-based sounds from my GP-10: so for me the JC-40 is the better pedal platform, because you can use it to play every sound at any volume level (well, Im sure it breaks up sometime, but Ive never needed to turn it anywhere near full volume!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxNh4pGPjPo, What Makes an Amp Great for Pedals? I prefer the tone of a Maestro FZ-1A into a Blackface Fender. Learn More. Learn More, We understand the importance of online privacy and are committed to complying with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. FX loops are useful when you get your distortion or overdrive from the preamp. Theyll already have various integrated effects and presets to experiment with and enjoy. Perhaps it will just take more trial and error though. That may be reverb, boost pedals, fuzz pedals. Currency: And unlike multi-channel amp users, you can opt to change just a single pedal - rather than the entire amp - when you tire of your main gain sound! Where the Highest Quality Fender Guitars are Made. From the compact clean tube options like the Dr. Z Maz 18 NR and Supro 1695T Black Magick to vintage favorites like the Sovtek MIG 100 and Hiwatt DR504, these amps will deliver plenty of breathing room for everything on your board. KC said: I'll go along with the liassez-faire approach here and say that any amp is a pedal platform if your pedal sounds good through that amp to your ears. The secret is a high headroom clean amp, which has been available since the early 1960s. The pedal platform concept is using a clean amp as a PA for your pedalboard. Some guitarists have been doing this since the 1970s. The effects on them must exist to not play them with pedals. It has lots of clear overhead and tone controls that actually change the tone. They're spikey and harsh. After you've spent some time thoroughly experimenting with amp saturation and compression, add in one pedal at a time. What Do Tone Knobs Do on Amps and Pedals? It has high headphone. Fender amps still a good pedal platform if youre looking of a clean base tone. Players that dont like the core sound of most solid-state amps. Saying that modeling amps are heavily colored is a huge understatement. My experience with pedals is if something is a bad pedal platform, it is the pedal not the amp. This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The Myth of the Pedal Platform Amp Anatomy of Guitar Thread starter reingarnichts; Start date Oct 17, 2020; Oct 17, 2020 #1 R. Wampler makes a dedicated pedal platform amp. Now even if you get an amp that will do that you must consider the type of speakers you are using not all speakers are made for high volume clean sounds some will start breaking up before you get to the very high volume point. No. This translates to less unwanted color, resulting in a more organic and pure representation of the pedals tone. More specifically, you can only activate/deactivate one pedal at a time. A lot of "pedal platform" amps tend to be based on Fender circuits. Often I find a few similar traits. The familiar observation is that pedals tend to sound unreactive, lacking a frequency response, and are somewhat flat. To me, a pedal platform is something that gonna be very loud, with at least 100 watts because high-wattage amps offer huge power and clean headroom; qualities that give pedals that are routed through them more room to breath. I'll go along with the liassez-faire approach here and say that any amp is a pedal platform if your pedal sounds good through that amp to your ears. I say that as a person who has shelves of pedals. Widely considered one of the core features of all pedal platform amps. Try not to change guitar while you are tweaking until you found out your tone, then you can write down or take a picture of the knob positions, switch guitars and start all over again. Some people want no distortion from the amp at all so all dirt comes from their pedals. Before I dig too deep into that, let's discuss what the belief behind a pedal platform amp is. What are some alternatives to a pedal platform amp? For me, I like to use my pedalboard as a base for all the different sounds I use. Good effects loop too, and it features a boost for both channels. What are the best settings for a pedal platform amp? I have a Morgan SWR50 that totally does the job. Theres probably a lot of amps that handle pedals well but if youre pining for a Milkman than go for it. The rule of thumb usually is sending overdrives, distortions, fuzzes, wahs, envelope filters, and any other fundamental tone-shaping effects in front of the amp, while leaving modulations such as choruses, flangers, phasers, and ambient effects like delays and reverbs for the FX loop. However, the age-old problem with a pedalboard crammed full of pedals is that efficiently switching to different tones requires some tap dancing. Mods for using microchamp as pedal platform? Not sure if its best but a 50w Bassman Head is an excellent choice. No matter what guitar and pedals you use, you have to pair with the right amp, Which is whyI have so many pedals. Hence, the advantages of pedal platform amps are that you can cherry-pick your favorite tones from each pedal. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. I do. Same theory in the Trinitron monitors that used to be in every broadcast control room, or the MDR-7506 headphone, some things are just standards. 11 Ways to Save Your Settings in a Guitar Pedal. So what is a pedal platform? Start by plugging straight into the amp and slowly turning the volume up. You may be home, ready to replace the broken part at a moments notice, or you may be playing the gig of your life, hoping that wont be the case. Once you have dialed it down, its a good idea to start going through your pedals one by one and also tweaking them. I have always heard this called a, clean pedal platform and to me that means a high head room amp that will stay clean, and that has a good clean sound. Because of this, pedals do not respond as well with solid-state amps. Each pedal provides its own tonal twist and stand-out features. Modern solid-state amps are now delivered with effects on them, so you dont need the use of pedals. An amps clean channel is naturally more compressed than drive channels, allowing tones to sound more articulate and organic, offering the perfect base to build a sound with an army of pedals. Czechia, His method was a bit more complicated than that, but you get the drift. GearAficionado is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, and the Sweetwater.com Affiliate Program, two affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a way for websites to earn revenues by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and Sweetwater.com. And used they can be found for around $400. Vibrolux Reverb. Tube-powered, plenty of headroom, pristine tonal clarity, and high wattage are some of the main characteristics of a pedal platform amp. The second is the type of tubes used in the amp. Tone Topics is a member of multiple affiliate advertising programs designed to earn us fees that support the growth and future of the website. I keep mine on the "American" side of the ISF and I like the sound but have no idea what the amp is really trying to be. Using a pedal platform amp is the best way to do it, as they will shine their brightest when plugged into one. Some tube amps get dirty very quickly as you turn the volume up. I wonder what makes it so? Oops, looks like you forgot something. Some pedals work better with my Marshall SV20H Plexi. WebWhat is a pedal platform amp? It means it's not good for much else. The higher headroom the amp, the less you can push it into saturation. For example, if you do not like the core sound of the onboard effects (lets say chorus effect in this example), well, unfortunately, you are stuck with it; unless you supplement with an outboard chorus pedal. In my ignorance, it always seemed that one could put a string of pedals between any guitar and any amp. You will learn everything, including their characteristics, function, pros, cons, and the top reasons to diverge towards one. Look no further! But, I'm not delusional about where tone comes from for my style. You must log in or register to reply here. ), Just another of the many classic internet BS. Sounds killer with a VH4 pedal, Suhr riot, and OCD!!! But keep in mind that all amplifiers will add a bit of color to the signal some more so than others depending on the brand, pre/power tubes, speakers, and notably how the amp is voiced. The perfect pedal platform amp is typically valve-powered with a near-colorless tone. When some people think about pedal platform amplifiers, its whether or not they have an effects loop. Youll need pedals to make their tone your own. Or Kemper Profiler. There are countless arguments regarding which guitars are the best in the vibrant and passionate world of guitar Musicians. Is it a pissed off marshall? If someone's selling an amp, it seems to be like saying a guitar is good for slide. And used they can be found for around $400. You have to know the requirements of the gig or session to answer these questions. Youll need that your base sound to be as clean as you need to go, and then you can boost it with some dirt pedals. I had an AC10C1 with barely any headroom and my pedals sounded great through it. love my twin but have to crank the mids to make it pedal friendly (unless one uses a tube screamer or similar). I tried many, many amps, and for that purpose my favorite was a Two Rock Studio Pro 35. Because of the 6L6 and 6V6 tubes, they produce a powerful headroom. You see, for tones that are crafted exclusively with pedals, its better to get an amp with a transparent sound. Thinking of picking up an 80s Roland Cube 60 for 500 CAD - is it worth it? While some pedals obviously play great with certain amps and not as well with others, as you said you can still use basically any amp as a "pedal platform". A pedal platform amp functions as a blank canvas; the paintbrushes are your pedals to paint a unique tonal picture creating your perfect rig masterpiece. For example, a 20-watt tube amp will begin to break up sooner than a 60-watt tube amp on identical volume levels. In this article, I will go in-depth about how to set up your pedal platform amp to get the most of out it, Ill give you some recommendations, and even alternatives. But, before pedalboards were the core of a guitarist's tone. The Bella is a KILLER amp. For instance, if you try running a Rangemaster into a Twin Reverb, you will have quite a surprise. As for volume, some people like maxing the master volume and controlling loudness with the gain knob, or the individual channel volume. Or lets say that youre more going for an ACDC classic rock tone where the clean tone is actually pretty distorted, or you want to set your amp to that.

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