Lead boost for single channel amps

doombuggy · Post by **doombuggy** » Fri May 26, 2006 7:03 pm

If I end up with an AC30 or single channel Im going to need some suggestions on what pedal I can but to boost leads...I have used distortion boxes in the past to do this and they really only fuzz up the sound and only boost leads a tiny bit and Ive tried the roll the vol on the guitar trick and it just gets too complicated trying to get it back after the lead...

ideas???

t

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Fri May 26, 2006 7:31 pm

It depends on how loud you'll be playing. With the AC30, quiet it will be rather clean, but still very touch responsive. As you get the amp halfway up or more, it grits up and sounds great, but if you add a pedal to the mix, you won't notice a whole lot of difference as compared to when the amp is quiet.

The rolling the volume back and forth is the best approach for use with vintage amps, and you find that rolling it back down after a solo isn't all that hard to do if you want to get it close to where it was before. All professional players (myself included) that I've ever seen roll the volume back and forth for leads and clean.

Having said that, the rangemaster style booster pedals can work very well, as does the big muff, Vintage Rat, Boss DS1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Vox Valvetone, etc. The Valvetone is not available new anymore so you would have to find one on ebay.

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:48 am

If the amp you end up with has a effects loop you can build a circuit to do what you want.

doombuggy · Post by **doombuggy** » Sat May 27, 2006 3:16 am

greg,
I know thats prob the pro way to do it but when you have a few beers and switch guitars or yatta yatta yatta....I can only juggle so much...thats why I need a magic button that does it for me.lol
;>

ken,
Im pretty much a simpleton when it comes to tech stuff...

how would you do that??
is it a pedal you can hit?

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:13 am

You would have to build it. It is a fairly simple circuit but the amp would need to have an effects loop. If you were to do this between the guitar and the amp it would change the tonal character of the guitar.

Mesa Boogie "Rectifier" series amps have a built in solo feature that does exactly what you want.

rob · Post by **rob** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 3:15 pm

Instead of rolling the volume on the guitar, how about using a volume pedal? I have one of those Visual Volume pedals with the red lights to see where my volume is at. So, it's great for dark stages.