Tube pedals

DropKick74 · 05-26-2010, 01:18 AM

So I'm not sure if this would go into the effects of amp page. So i recently discovered the beautiful clean sound you can get out of a guitar by plugging directly into the poweramp of the amp.

I'm not a big fan of my amps preamp stage so i'm wondering if I could in a certain way "build" my own amp by taking a pedal such as the twin tube classic and going straight into power stage of my tube amp and using an EQ pedal to really eq the tone.

Do these pedals funtion like a normal tube preamp such as can i use a boost pedal to drive the front end of this amp or can they clean up by rolling back the volume knob. Also do these pedals even sound good like this or do the sound better running into the amps input like a normal pedal.

Even more so, does this allow me to purchase say a tube poweramp and a cab and get all my tone from a one of these tube pedals. Does it sound as good as a standard amp?.

I once had a line 6 x3 live and i heard of people doing something like this, Is this basically doing the same thing except i'm using an all tube preamp.

If you guys could help me that would be great because i am intrigued by the possibilities of this kind of setup but if really depends on if these pedals function and sound like a real tube preamp.

Thanks guys.

**thesteve** · 05-26-2010, 01:28 AM

I'm not sure if the Twin Tube Classic will do what you describe, but it'd be worth a try. You are correct that people use amp modelers like the X3 in this manner.

DropKick74 · 05-26-2010, 01:35 AM

I also know radial makes pedals like this maybe they are better than SD either way the question still remains the same.

Also one more question. If you can run a guitar straight into a power amp why do amps like the fender champ and other one knob wonders even have preamps??

Maybe i am confused as to what a preamp actually does if not all of them include built in eq's

one more question, could one of these pedals be used as a glorified direct box to go straight into the sound system or will it sound thin and buzzy, if so is there any dedicated cab simulators out there,

anther thing, are the above mention pedals basically the same thing as a rackmount preamp like the marshall jmp-1 or something.

sorry for all the questions but now the wheels are turning and I'm not sure if this will really even sound good. I guess my goal is that if the preamp pedals sound good by themselves straight into a poweramp that would allow me to build a setup great for recording and live situations and get a good tone at low volumes with the ability to place my delays between my preamp and pweramp like a real fx loop. does this make sense. For the most part i don't have the cash for a good small tube amp and i don't like the tone of alot of them anyways so could this be a viable solution???

**thesteve** · 05-26-2010, 10:20 AM

I'm going to try to approach this question by question...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DropKick74

I also know radial makes pedals like this maybe they are better than SD either way the question still remains the same.

Also one more question. If you can run a guitar straight into a power amp why do amps like the fender champ and other one knob wonders even have preamps??

Maybe i am confused as to what a preamp actually does if not all of them include built in eq's

Beyond EQing, the preamp serves the purpose of elevating the guitar's signal and allowing you some volume control. The vast majority of guitar amps I've used, when you bypass the preamp, are quiet and offer no level of volume control. This is where something like a POD or some other EQ/volume device becomes important.

Quote:

one more question, could one of these pedals be used as a glorified direct box to go straight into the sound system or will it sound thin and buzzy, if so is there any dedicated cab simulators out there,

anther thing, are the above mention pedals basically the same thing as a rackmount preamp like the marshall jmp-1 or something.

There are pedals that will allow you to go direct to the board. Tech21's Sansamp products are designed this way. Also, pedals like the Digitech Bad Monkey have a speaker simulator that allows you to go into a direct box and direct to the board from there. The quality of these pedals gets debated back and forth as some folks swear by speaker interaction.

Quote:

sorry for all the questions but now the wheels are turning and I'm not sure if this will really even sound good. I guess my goal is that if the preamp pedals sound good by themselves straight into a poweramp that would allow me to build a setup great for recording and live situations and get a good tone at low volumes with the ability to place my delays between my preamp and pweramp like a real fx loop. does this make sense. For the most part i don't have the cash for a good small tube amp and i don't like the tone of alot of them anyways so could this be a viable solution???

It's certainly a possibility. It's non-conventional, but it makes sense. Whether or not it's something that will get you great tone isn't something I can tell you though. You'll have to try it out yourself.

**nbfan** · 05-26-2010, 11:21 AM

I use a Vox Tonelab into a Carvin 200w power amp and a cab, but before than I just went into my amp's 6L6 power amp and it worked great. I know you can also do the same thing with something like a Frenzel DP tube preamp (or any of their other preamps actually) and Mr. Frenzel told me it will sound just fine direct into a PA system as well.

DropKick74 · 05-26-2010, 12:52 PM

thanks guys, I might give this a try. so does a pedal like the radial hot british, will that push enough power to get volume into the poweramp of my classic 30 or will i have to put it through the amps preamp first.???

I appreciate your answers.

**thesteve** · 05-26-2010, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DropKick74

thanks guys, I might give this a try. so does a pedal like the radial hot british, will that push enough power to get volume into the poweramp of my classic 30 or will i have to put it through the amps preamp first.???

I appreciate your answers.

When it is engaged you will probably be able to get a good level boost to work with the power amp. When disengaged, I'm not sure what the balance will be like.

Stratopastor · 05-29-2010, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DropKick74

Also one more question. If you can run a guitar straight into a power amp why do amps like the fender champ and other one knob wonders even have preamps??

Just to back up thesteve, it's a simple question of how big the signal is. A passive electric guitar (i.e., most of them; if it doesn't use a battery in the guitar then it's passive) doesn't stick out enough signal to get worthwhile performance from most power amps. An active instrument (e.g., a synth) probably DOES put out enough to drive a power amp, but few people will try this because, as already noted, there's no eq.

The Twin Tube Classic approach might well suit you. According to the spec sheet it certainly has a big enough output. If you hit the other footswitch for 'bypass' then that's going to act almost as a 'mute' 'cos then you're back to guitar --> power amp. I note it uses unusual tubes which can't be changed by the user, though.

DropKick74 · 05-29-2010, 08:32 AM

Oh, I get it. So is that all the preamp does is bring it up to volume. okay. and also i didn't know about that tube pedal having special tubes. now i understand. thanks guys you've been a real help.

**thesteve** · 05-29-2010, 11:37 AM

From what I've seen, the tubes can be replaced by the user, it's just not a simple swap like most.