Channel switching in the 1980s was somewhat primitive and often compromised, but by the time of the Mesa/Boogie Mark IV, Bogner Ecstasy 100 and Marshall Anniversary in the early 1990s, guitarists genuinely had a selection of all-singing, all dancing workstations available to them.Р”В«y the introduction of Bogner's Ecstasy 101 in the mid 1990s, it was beyond any reasonable doubt that from this point on we could have our cake and eat it too. Ever since the advent of the Mesa/Boogie Mark II in 1978, manufacturers have been packaging together a clean sound and one or more distortion sounds. This can be the most maddening and simultaneously the most rewarding route to great tone. Always carry spares and always have a backup plan in case a pedal or power supply fails! Simply keeping things as neat, tidy and clean as possible can go a long way to avoiding pre-gig headaches. It's well worth researching various cable types, power supply solutions and fixing techniques building the perfect board is part of the fun, and reliability is paramount in a gig situation. The only real disadvantage with a relatively complex pedalboard is that it can be fiddly and maintenance-intensive. Additionally, certain pedals are now so amp-like in feel and tone that the case for buying their amplifier equivalent can sometimes be difficult to see! Stack a clean boost in front of a mild overdrive, try a mid-boost like the ubiquitous Ibanez Tube Screamer into a high gain pedal-even change the order of these components and you find a whole new set of sounds without spending the Earth. As a pedal user, your main source of distortion and tonal character resides on the floor if you get bored of one pedal you can simply swap it out for another, or even keep three or four in rotation.

The final advantage of this setup often tends to be overlooked. Even one-box solutions like TC Electronic's Nova System are now combining analogue distortions with rack-quality delays and reverbs so you can look into replacing some of your pedals with something of this nature maybe supplementing it with a few choice drives or a tasty germanium fuzz! If you are running several pedals you might notice a little 'tone suck', but these days there are solutions to this problem ranging from a simple audio buffer to a full-blown programmable pedal switcher. With vintage fuzz or modulation effects you can experiment with placement for the most authentic response. Simply place your compressor and wah pedals first, your drive pedals next, and your time-based effects (chorus, delay, reverb) last in the chain before the amp's input. projection in the room.Р”В«ecause you are placing all your favorite drive pedals in front of a clean amp, you don't even particularly need an effects loop (unless you're bringing the amp's drive channel into play). You then have the choice of open, closed, or a hybrid cab to tune the feel and response under the fingers vs. Although I've nominally called this the 'pedal and combo' section, you can get all the same results with a medium-sized head and cab, which may prove to be more portable. Some of these amps have a great distortion channel as well, which you might stack with pedals of your choice. Z amps, a Mesa/Boogie Lonestar, or maybe an inexpensive yet effective Peavey Classic.

Simply choose your brand and wattage/breakup characteristics-Fender Deluxe, Fender Twin, one of the delectable Dr. There are so many advantages to working this way, not the least of which is that very little is required of the amp other than to function as as a clean, loud, reliable platform for the pedals of your choice.

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