Should you run dirt pedals into clean amp vs. dirty amp? A comparison between the two

[@dannyharvey7398]

I love that Brian has a genuine interest in searching for what produces the tone we all search for, and not using KZbin as a platform just to peddle his wares or to attract endorsers. You have an amazing, well thought out range of products that engender confidence to us as consumers that we’re getting a quality product that will do just as they’re intended to do. Keep up the great work. I’m loving your great unbiased videos, not even afraid to use a “competitors” product to make a point - very genuine and refreshing. Also loving your use of the Orange RV50 and Tele. I use a Nash Tele through the same amp and think personally it’s a tone that’s hard to beat. Thanks for your great and inspiring videos.

[@wampler_pedals]

Thanks so much, I appreciate that!

[@lucarossi5133]

@@wampler_pedals do you have any tips on dialing in a pedal, im pretty new to using pedals and i was pretty good at dialing in tones exactly how i wanted them on my amp but with my pedal it just isn't right for some reason. I have a empress multidrive pedal and my amp is a boss katana mk 50, i run the pedal through i clean channel currently.

[@jimmynorris]

He is a True Tone chaser. His products are proof of that. Still Gaga for my Pantheon. It is at least one of the best overdrives I’ve ever used.

[@guitarvcsgearsanctuary]

Hey Brian I got one of your Belle OD pedals and I must say it's very transparent. When I used it with a Mesa Lonestar to give the amp just a little more gain and to tighten up the bass I found it worked beautifully on the bridge pickup of my strat with DiMarzio Area Noisless pickups. Not so much with the neck ( the TS9 is better for that, but noisier ) I was hoping yours would do it all. Am I missing something in the settings because yours is really noise free and I want it to replace the ts9. Any suggestions? I'm also considering a pinnacle or gear box and just using that with the low gain setting on channel 2 instead of how I'm running it now.

[@AmerikkkaGuitars]

Agreed, hate his boring ass blues playing but the man shares his knowledge.

[@LatakiaSmkr]

Pedal: Clean amp/Dirty amp Tube Screamer: 1:37/5:31 Tumnus: 3:10/5:52 Thirty Something: /6:39 Euphoria: 4:20/7:03 dB+: /8:31

[@brownie4032]

Thanks man

[@randyhase1475]

The cranked Orange amp sounded good just by itself.

[@TylerTNT97]

As they usually do

[@moustachio334]

With a compressor is really tightens up and sings. Highly recommend that sound.

[@shovelheadseven]

I have different over overdrive pedals and a Tube Screamer but they don't need to be used much if you using a high gain amp.

[@jeffreyp1855]

As pricey as Orange amps are, I would hope thay they sound good without the peripherals. Orange amps are pretty legendary for tone! I really like "stoner" and "doom metal", though! 🤘🏻

[@banjobones4190]

I found that when running the pedals into clean amp the different characters of the pedals came through more clearly, whereas into the overdriven amp they all sounded more alike. Cool video!

[@deependguitar777]

AGREED

[@markhammer643]

When the Klon Centaur initially came out, it distinguished itself as a booster that was intended to *precondition* the boosted signal to extract a more pleasing overdrive from a tube amp that was already set on the verge of breakup. In the more than 20 years since, a variety of pedals have come out that aim for the same general target. Klon-developer Bill Finnegan told me that his Treble control was really intended to turn *down* the treble when pushing the amp. You will note that, in this century at least, so-called "clean boosters" increasingly started to come with treble-cut controls, in order to push the amp so that they would generate less "fizz" The punch line is that dirt-pedals can do wonderful things, when run into both tube and solid-state amps. I test out my pedal builds with a Fender Champion 110 (= Frontman 25R with one jack-difference), and some pedals that sound humdrum on their own evoke wonderful things from the dirty channel. The trick is to treat the pedal as a signal preconditioner, so that it coaxes the amp into doing what it does, or is capable of doing...well..

[@martinthibodeaux4628]

So you're saying the Klon was designed to do what the TS9 did? No. Wait. It probably could even do what the 808 did. Or the Proco Rat? Damn. That's pretty unique. Ok. I'm being an ass. Just saying, what the Klon did, while electrically unique, wasn't necessarily musically unique. I'd take a gain- dropped Proco Rat over a Klon any day, and twice on Sunday.

[@shredhed572]

Well stated

[@Diax1324]

This strikes me as true. I run my Klon into an overdriven amp, and when the mix is slightly dense, *nothing* cuts like it does. Gives me more front-of-note compression, clears up the EQ but doesn't attack it like the Tubescreamer does. Clean it has a unique effect - definitely gritty, somewhat tweedy. I use it that way for a cutting dirty/clean lead sound that I pair with extra boost or compression to make it hold. Very good pedal.

[@markhammer643]

@@martinthibodeaux4628 Nah. Where one can generally easily identify any of those pedals, regardless of what you plug them into, the Klon has no particular sound of its own. Indeed, one of the nicest things a customer ever said about Bill's product (which he used in one of the few ads I ever saw for it) was that the result "sounded like (his) amp...only bigger". Like I said, in the past 20 years, apart from those pedals that steal from Bill's design, there have been other attempts to aim for the same territory that the Klon did. Here was my attempt: i17.photobucket.com/albums/b72/mmarkmm/Gallery/TheCrankSchem.png

[@martinthibodeaux4628]

​@@markhammer643 Are you THE Mark Hammer? Props if you are! But "A" doesn't equal "B" here. Your initial comment was that the Klon was unique in that it was "a booster that was intended to precondition the boosted signal to extract a more pleasing overdrive from a tube amp" That is part and parcel what a Tube Screamer does. Or a Proco Rat. While I don't think that either of those would be considered a 'transparent overdrive', I also don't think that anyone would argue that they 'boost the signal to extract a more pleasing overdrive from a tube amp'.

[@TheJstewart2010]

I know that this is an old video, but it just came up on my feed. You were the person who showed me how to actually use overdrive pedals correctly. Thank you! I had fumbled around and even ended up selling my pedals because I could never get a good sound out of them. After seeing your lesson about using transparent (or mostly transparent) overdrive pedals into an already-driven amp, everything clicked. To me, a boosted signal into a tube amp into or just before breakup was perfect. It makes the amp sound punchier and much more responsive. I've never been a big fan of any sounds where most of the distortion comes from the pedal (which is what I had been doing before).

[@Banditsalive]

Main difference is the amp responds very differently with volume - then pushed. Drive pedals can give you dirt at much lower volume thru the clean, but don't have the feel of an amp and speakers really working - that's when the magic happens. Great video Brian.

[@dahag414]

In my subjective experience here's what I've come to: If you want several different overdrives with various tone settings, go with a high-headroom clean amp. You will hear the unique tonal differences for each one. Hitting an already dirty amp or low-headroom amp with an overdrive ends up giving you more "amp tone" than "pedal tone." Meaning you're not really going to hear differences between different drives. You're mostly going to hear amp breakup. The amp breakup somewhat homogenizes the tonal differences between different drives. I like lots of different drives set to different EQs, gain levels, and compression levels, so I play into a high-headroom clean amp. My 2¢

[@johnl5585]

I was just thinking the same thing--honestly. I play a pretty huge range of styles. I have a Fender (solid state) Ultimate Chorus amp with amazing clean. That also has a drive channel on it which isn't the greatest, but it's still a gain that I can produce natively. Then, I run my pedals (some via FX and some to the front-end) and I actually have two "dirty" pedals... the Boss Metal Zone (which I love for the full EQ) and then I have a Keeley D&M which is a Drive, Boost, or both pedal. So basically I have a great clean and I have 4+ options to make it dirty.

[@Diax1324]

Gotta disagree. My dirty amp behaves *very* differently with various overdrives. My biggest discovery was the Klon Centaur. I can have a nice compressed tone and /then/ cut with the Klon activated, as it usually falls out of the mix.

[@KeepChessSimple]

Do we still have a typical 'tube' sound if we don't push the volume/gain on the amp itself?

[@Tsudkyk]

I like to get my amp to the edge of break up and dial back the volume on my guitar to get a clean tone. Then I’ll stack a boost pedal into a boss DS1 (low gain, mostly boost and tone shift), then into a tube screamer with the tone cranked, volume midway, and gain at 10:30. This gives me a tone of tonal options without things getting too fizzy or flubby. Yet, I get some amazing harmonics and attack from the tubes by pushing the front end of the amp. If you aren’t satisfied with your tone, maybe start experimenting with your current gear just to see what you can get instead of spending your hard earned cash on gear. Sometimes limitations force you to learn something new.

[@gryphon37]

That's excellent advice. I think there's a lot of people out there, that haven't taken the time to experiment, and find out how versatile their pedals are. Your "stompbox"s, are actually complex musical devices, uniquely designed to lend both flexibility and complexity to your painting. It's worth taking the time to figure out just how much, each one can do.

[@texrex4580]

Excellent as usual Brian. The Tumnus Deluxe has the benefit of a usable EQ section comped to the Tubescreamer. EQ is really useful, allowing little Bass cut when running an amp at higher volumes.

[@Steven-re3tx]

Perfect video as I just got my Tumnus Deluxe. My amp for this project is an 82 Hiwatt DR 504 into an Orange PPC212. Also bought a Keeley Compressor Plus and a Keeley Caverns. THANKYOU.

[@nickardasis4]

Will you ever do a shootout with (almost) all Wampler drive pedals, explaining their design, pros/cons and what they should be used for? I'd be really interested to see something like that because you already have over 10 drive pedals on the market and all of them are fantastic, so it'd give the players a small overview of what each one does. Great video as always, Brian.

[@davidratliff807]

Your pedals are the best I’ve played through, my Matchless and Fender Amps love them. I need to try your amp? Can’t say enough good about your products!!! You make TONE.

[@yngveskarphedinssons]

One things is making and designing pedals, but having an ear to fine tune! Always a pleasure to sit down and listen to your gear and advice.

[@rodneylucas2930]

Love this guy, would like to meet him some time. His videos are packed with good info and he has a no nonsense approach I love, a lot less talking and a lot more playing and yes it's awesome having someone do a demo that can actually play.

[@Xtianisms]

Love pedal builders who are amazing players too! Hope to own a Wampler pedal soon

[@CarnageNetworkUK]

Wow you spent a lot of time with pedals making it sound like my Orange RV50 mk1 driven hard with just a monotone squishing it. Love the videos!

[@hrjr2283]

+/- 10 minutes.... "that other pedal show" could have got an hour out of this. ypu dont even got a clown horn...Thanks for another useful video that does not feel rushed, but doesn't waste time either.

[@ParaBellum2024]

Brian's videos are very good value for time. I set the playback speed to +1.5 for lots of youtube videos, so they're even shorter! I usually go to normal speed to play back portions. Regarding overdrive permutations, I usually find that less drive overall is preferable, but after all these years, still can't decide whether to achieve that with just the amp, just the pedal, or both.

[@hrjr2283]

i keep wondering which one snagged it off of that poor child's bicycle.

[@jeroenleeuwerke6585]

I reckon this is the most recognisable comment I've read in a while. The 'other pedal show' that I assume you're referring to is indeed too much blabla. On top of that it is taking the whole pedalboard thingy way too far (lets use 29 different pedals to show how the one we are reviewing sounds).

[@shredhed572]

@@jeroenleeuwerke6585 Like the videos from that Store "across the pond" that demos an amp with dirt pedals and modulation...

[@brucemarie3059]

All substance and no fluff -- like every one of his pedals I have used :-)

[@petaralargic]

Great vid, great playing..loud tube amp is beautiful, but also are all the ODs used...Euphoria seems especially what stood out to me...!

[@brucearmstrong6838]

I think it depends on what type of player you are. If you are only really interested in playing with distortion then using amp distortion by itself or a pedal into a dirty amp works. However if you are someone like myself who likes playing clean and with distortion equally then using an amp set as clean as possible and a mid boosted distortion pedal gives you the best of both worlds.

[@tome1903]

Or a two channel, foot switching amp. Thats even better than clean and a pedal. The peavey classic series is a great example. Warm, rich Fender cleans on the rhythm channel, and a lead channel that has all the grit and glory of an old plexi, but with more gain on tap

[@TimOertel]

Being a 2203 owner, I think it's easy to see which way I lean. One stomp and a volume roll are enough for most.

[@JakeTerch]

Timothy Oertel Hard to beat the good ol’ boosted Marshall for the original high gain sound.

[@metamaggot]

Just chuck a distortion pedal in front with the vol full on and no gain..the amp does the rest

[@morais99]

TS really does the job into the dirty amp!

[@TheDogPa]

After 45 years of playing any and everything, I'd say whatever you need to make whatever you got work at the time. I've done it every way there is. With an unlimited budget I just want a boost button and could care less what it boosts as long as it sounds right. And, eventually, if I play anything long enough to tweak it out, it will always sound like 'me'. Even when I don't want it to.

[@robertevvers9493]

Great video. I feel like tube amp overdrive really shines at distorted rhythm/chord playing and chunking. You can truly feel it and is is more musical...Pedal distortion works well for single note lead work however

[@robertwood8605]

Very helpful, thanks! Love the Euphoria, “chewy but transparent”. I’m always looking for new ways to describe tone. I’m going to use that one. 😎👍🏻👍🏻

[@evanmiller2579]

Great video. For me, especially with the really nice pedals in the video (the Wampler ones) the distinctive sounds of each pedal can only be heard on the clean channel. Anything pushing the amp into it’s own overdrive ends up sounding nearly the same. I have noticed it on my Dr Z amps. Had to start to back down the amp volume so the real tone of a nice several hundred OD pedal shines through.

[@dahag414]

Evan Miller I've come to the same conclusion. It's kinda useless running a bunch of different overdrives if you're hitting a low-headroom or already dirty amp. All you end up hearing is hotter amp tone and you lose all the unique tone of the pedal clipping. Clean amps for me.

[@danceswithbadgers]

Pedals into a big, clean amp works for me. If you're already clipping the amp with just your guitar you've nowhere to go in terms of headroom if you need more volume to cut through. I don't use a clean sound much at all but it's the best starting point for versatility, with whatever pedals required in front.

[@kosmicwizard]

Your pedals rock, Brian!

[@LIHPIT]

Everytime I hear that Tumnus in your video or somebody else's it just sounds good will have to buy one

[@blastmastachem]

None of that doomed. What the hell? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@andredegiant3876]

Not enough people using Tele's for Doom!

[@DaisyHead666]

Exactly! Nobody uses the tele for doom enough! we need more telecaster doom players.

[@kevinklotz9398]

Found your channel last night. Love it! Keep pumping out awesome, informative videos. Love your stuff.

[@andredegiant3876]

I've always run the amp clean and used boxes for dirt. It works for me and there's no point in fixing something that isn't broke 🤘🤙

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

The new EQ is a mind blower 'MUST HAVE' pedal. Getting Brett Kingman in the loop is genius. When he does a review and it is good pedal you always know if it sounds good ...what are both it's strengths and weaknesses are. Best of all you know where and the topper is you know how to use it. Then best of all the guy has integrity and his viewers know it!!! Anyone reading this little epistle should check out his review. Then you can come back here and thank me! :-) Paul

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

I like using dirty amp and boost. But, I also use solid state amps, play 80s metal, etc. Would like to see you do this with a Plexi type pedal with lots of gain into a clean channel, vs a boost into an amp just breaking up. To me it would make sense with a one channel amp to use clean amp, distortion pedal and or boost. Boost for just breakup, and distortion for dirty rhythm sounds, then boost ABD distortion for really gainey leads. With pedals one can basically pick the preamp types. Example, clean amp with distortion pedal for 5150 gain, or Plexi, or JCM 800 / 900 Gain. Then use an EQ pedal or boost for leads. Like having a 3. channel amp. I am trying to make a pedal board with power amp, or quilter mono block amp, preamp gain pedals for preamp choices, delays and phasers and flanges for lead tones, wah, compressors, etc, and just 2 x 12 cab. Easier to setup, etc. I am also going to have to try an Elevin rack with something like the EHX 44 mag power amp right into a cab for live playing with a Midi floor controller. Can then setup song list in order, turn effects on and off, etc..

[@163388416]

Liked just because of the name

[@SaintsCheat]

Liked cause you play solid state and spewed bunch of tube amps and Mombo jumbo you won’t need from a Boss Katana or a Line 6

[@thechannelforeverything2170]

I feel like Tumnus sounded great going into both settings, the Thirty Something sounded great with a clean tone, of course the TS sounded great with the driven amp, and the Euphoria was just awesome.

[@bradmiddleton412]

I like to use my amps built in distortion channel and use an Ibanez Tube Screamer mini to boost it. I LOVE the mid range it adds. Though I do occasionally use a distortion pedal, currently using a Proco Rat for when I'm fancying a distortion pedal instead of my amps built in distortion.

[@Bingopete71]

I miss having a 2 channel tube amp. I like using dirt pedals on both. Depending on the flavor needed for the music at hand. Sometimes you just need clean. Sometimes it's layered OD pedals on the clean. Other times it's adding more dirt to my gain channel. A point not brought up is the sensitivity. Layered pedals do add sensitivity. But there's something almost magic when layering OD with a grinding amp. The sustain, and feedback that's totally controllable is just amazing. Even at lower volume. I'm saving to build a couple pedals myself. Otherwise I'd be saving for that Tumnus. Guess I'll have to build a centaur clone of my own along with the other projects.

[@tom434911]

Pete Lenox I just recently discovered my overdrive pedal into a my amp slightly-moderately dirty, with the pedal's gain down and level up... Wish I had known about this sooner!

[@paulkielt9301]

The Tumnus sounds the best to my ears before the amp. It has a lot of sweet midrange type of tone.

[@tungtobak]

Feels like the short answer to all of these kinds of videos with a question in the title is "depends".

[@oldgit4260]

Completely pointless in other words

[@tungtobak]

@@oldgit4260 Not necessarily, but the answer is seldom a simple one and it all boils down to what you want to accomplish. Putting not easily answered questions in the title is a bit click baitey though.

[@arnaudnoar3345]

When you play the Tumnus i have a 3d sensation! Nice Monsieur Wampler!

[@tonyfondacaro1980]

In yonder old days we used to run Metal Zone pedals into the clean channel of our amps and then declare “Man, this AMP sounds amazing!!”

[@relevantinformation6655]

For live versatility - Ego into a Tumuns deluxe into a hot clean head so your not constantly dealing the amp in a live situation. That way you also control the hiss from the pedals with a gate rather, than dealing with amp hiss. Add a third pedal between the Ego and Tumnus if you want to vary your grit. There, my 2 cents :)

[@williamthomson7624]

I guess you have to be in the room with you. I couldn’t detect much of a difference in sound when the pedals were added to amp gain. I will offer this: My TS808 reissue in front of an amp with a “modern” gain stage amp gets a much more vintage, and pleasing lead sound. It was a pleasant surprise and the TS808 is now on my pedal board, on all the time for both clean and gainey solos.

[@BretAmes]

Brilliant, Thank You. I've just run my Hughes and Kettner Deluxe20 on the distortion channel and added the Tube Screamer Patch in my Zoom G3Xn Multi FX pedal and played my Charvel San Dimas. (the best I could for a newbie). What a difference ! Love it. I wonder how much better a real TS Pedal would sound? anyone?

[@darwinsaye]

Personally I like to be able get tones from pure clean to ripping saggy fuzz, so I like to set the amp at just enough breakup that rolling off the guitar volume gets me the cleans. The tones may sound better into a dirtier amp, but then you have no way to get a pure clean tone.

[@TavaresProject]

That tumnus is beautiful... Great sound and no mud

[@axeslinger44]

Is it a coincidence that the coolest licks in this video tend to pour out when the tumnus is on? Probably not. That thing really does have magic in it.

[@bryanespino6882]

(this is before watching the video) but the way I see it can be both depending on the sound u want. Clean is if u want a deep sound whilst dirty amp is mostly used as a boost to the dirty signal

[@angusorvid8840]

In my experience mixing a little amp grit with the right pedal makes for a perfect recipe. I personally prefer to use a Fender amp as a pedal platform to a Marshall because I find they don't thin out as much as Marshalls, and I don't know all the reasons why. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. But some of the best tones I've ever heard are from pedal boosted Fenders, anything from a Bassman to a Hot Rod DeVille.

[@moustachio334]

If the amp is clean, I use a rat distortion. I use the TS to boost the rat. If it’s a two channel, I set the second channel to feedback with guitar volume at 10 then roll back to 7 and boost with TS. This way if I need a Santana-esque sustained note, all I do is roll the volume up to 10. I use P90’s and the rolled back P90 sounds sweet anyways.

[@Johnny-oy9fh]

Boost and fuzz and overdrive pedals were developed to help push a dirty amp over the edge for solos. To me they don't have the same fullness into a clean amp and you don't that sustain and feeling of stacking gain stages that really helps fatten up the tone and increase sustain...but it all sounds good really...whatever the music needs is what matters..

[@adamvigil8320]

I used to run a Boss SD-1 into a 60% cranked Crate G-60 with an '82 Les Paul Custom and WOW. I mean, OK, this I can work with.

[@tobyharris8890]

Haven’t read all the comments but I think it depends on the pedal.The Friedman dirty Shirley sounds poor through a pushed amp but kills through a deluxe reverb set on about 4....

[@WhiteWizzard]

Tumnus and the Klon thing are more in the frequency bump I think electric guitar should be in. Maybe more upper mids? Tube Screamer has to much muddy smear in a lower mid range that also gets in the way of where I like say a jazz bass to really cut. Not a fan of TS ….but that Tumnus is damn nice. Cool video.

[@greggromano1285]

Everyone seems to do these type of comparison videos using tube amps. But, what about a solid state amp like a Quilter? How does that affect the sound?

[@thedisciple1764]

Would of been nice to see some examples with humbuckers.

[@1thess523]

I run a Walrus Audio Voyager on the dirty channel of my Marshall JCM 2000 TSL because it tightens up the sound. I am a drummer first, bassist second, and guitarist third and i couldn't understand why I would see people using overdrive pedals on high end amps known for their dirty channels, coming feom the 90's skatepunk scene everyone used JCM 900's or Mesa Duals and no pedals to be found (outside of the channel switch) but it wasn't till my aon became a worship guitarist that i started to learn about them and the good they can do for humanity 😉😀👍.

[@SidBonkers51]

Of course its all down to personal taste and the sound your looking for but personally Ive always been in the clean amp and add dirt with pedal camp as theres nothing you can add to a dirty amp to get a clean tone.

[@marijnroerade7704]

You can turn down your guitar volume knob

[@Pinkybum]

The way Hendrix did it.

[@alanswanson7515]

You could use your footswitch for the clean channel

[@christianentertainmentoutdoors]

I use solid state amps (Peavey Bandit at the moment), and like a really hyper clean clean channel. The Bandit has channel switching, and decent to really good dirt options, but the momentary mute between switching makes it a real pain to use properly if you are switching between clean and dirt. I use it's dirt channel on music that is all dirt. Three options covers just about anything I need there. For stuff where I need both clean and dirt, pedals come into play.

[@allancrow134]

Those Bandits are a great little Amp. The clean is awesome.

[@danielkongmusic]

I gigged with a bandit for a few months but they're too loud for my application, switched to an envoy which is the 1x10 version; smaller sound but you can dial it in at lower volumes. Peavey dirt channels sound really great but I've been getting great results on the clean channel running an always on clean boost (TC Mojomojo), with an SD-1 running into the boost for dirty sounds. I'm also setting the SD-1 kinda low so both my clean and dirty sounds are at unity gain. You're right about that momentary mute by the way, used to drive me crazy when I didn't have a pedalboard and had to switch between the channels.

[@allancrow134]

My friend...who's a frick'n virtuoso, uses the 1x10 version. He uses an old MXR comp, a Rat, and a good DD. I can't believe his tone. He's got an older Tok Strat with some kind of coil tap on the neck PUP. Cheers.

[@vintagesounds5150]

Hey Brian you came up with a great idea Flavor of the day 🎶🎶🎶

[@davidainscough1051]

Hi Brian, Really like your videos and your way of not talking down to your audience when you explain things. Do you think you might be able to add more of the "what I was after when I designed this pedal........" explanations as sometimes it is difficult for me to pick out the minor differences in the pedal demos. I don't have fabulous sound reproduction on my laptop. Oh and could you perhaps let me have your opinion about using a tube screamer after a Tumnus as a boost for a solo tone. Especially good if you would use a Blackstar amp with your Les Paul Studio. Clean, Boutique and Dirty channels. I think it could be a good '2 in 1' pedal but could it, would it work? Regards Dave A.

[@quibster]

I think the best way to run dirt into the front end as far as running single pedals, or one at a time, is to have the amp verging on clipping and then use the pedal to push the volume and any additional required gain. I think it's hard to disagree that it's the best sound generally speaking, as long as the amp is capable. But if you have a switching preamp or dual overdrive, there are usually enough controls to facilitate that being used with a clean amp. With a regular toggle overdrive you have the aforementioned two modes of play, slight clipping from the amp and overdrive. The dual overdrives allow you to set your amp clean/high headroom, and get those two modes of play purely from the pedal, allowing you access to the amp clean sound when the dual is turned off. The thing with the clean sound is having access to it for other effects, because usually for the sake of playing, unless you want to use a compressor for cleans, it's nicer to have that hair of gain and the compression that comes with it. Let's be real, the best clean tones are the ones that have a high headroom, but still a good amount of gain. Not everyone can play it, it's very hard to play cleans that clean. Everything goes through. That's why we love Mayer, he plays hard amps and he plays them hard. Low key one of the best clean tones is a dialed BD2, then wind down the volume on your guitar. It's so transparent you can just roll it back in for leads. Buffered fet/jfet drives are just so much better at this than anything else, in my opinion.

[@wampler_pedals]

How do you define best though? It’s subjective 😉

[@quibster]

Good question Brian, For me, it's not remotely about the sound, it's about what settings work on most amps. I don't care about the intricacies of the platform used to get to the drive sound that you want. As long as what is conveyed is correct in comparison to what people actually do. Which was good to see you mentioning the TS and blues players, because they do love it. Strat players, tube screamer, gain off, tone at 3o'clock and volume a hair into boost territory, now you are playing the blues. Additionally, as long as it's not a pedal that suffers a problem relating to amp distortion, such as a pedal designed only to work into a clean amp or similarly any pedal that wasn't designed with a specific purpose or is experimental. It's completely correct to say to most players, a clean sound _isn't_ a clean sound, as many come to realize, the most used clean sounds are actually 'wound down' from sounds with more grit, or crunch, or body. Or in some cases, there is a load of crunch there, that you simply aren't hearing, like with many Marshall amps, which just have some of the most beautiful, thick cleans when you plug in a particularly weedy guitar (or just lower a single coil pup temporarily) and play around with the impedance between the amp gain and guitar volume pot. Ultimately this is just full circle, because the whole point of the gain pot was to make up for a lack of impedance in older guitars which had rather weedy pickups. The description of 'warm cleans' or 'round sound' is exactly what I'm talking about, or using a buffered fet drive like a BD2 or a Klon or whatever and backing it off at the guitar. Cleans like it is in the mind of some players would be something like a 5150 clean channel, plinky, low gain, too much headroom, too much attack, no sustain or body to the notes. Like plugging into a desk preamp with nothing else. There's a lot of people who consider this a 'clean' signal, I don't call that sort of signal 'clean' I call it 'dry', because it sounds exactly as if you plugged straight into a mixing desk. The thing for me is, a channel with a drive attatched to it or anything that compresses the signal, is just always inherently bad at adjusting the impedance. But you always have impedance control from the guitars volume pot, or an analog volume pedal. Impedance is equally and especially important when talking about cleans, as it is in the larger discussion about impedances & fuzz.

[@ReidStefanMusic]

It’s hard for me to grasp the differences in tones when every guitar example is a super shredding blues solo lick. Can you play more of a variety of musical expressions in these demos?

[@wampler_pedals]

What would you rather me play for examples?

[@jonathanfarmer5458]

Wampler Pedals show him how you got all djenty last time. Lol. Nah for real though, some sustained chords maybe?

[@ReidStefanMusic]

Wampler Pedals some sustained or arpeggiated chord progressions, Expressions that sound like the beginning of a song, rhythm guitar parts, finger picking, palm muted... I personally suck at guitar and I’m sure many of your viewers are on my level. Simpler musical examples would surely help all your useful information about tone be clearer. Thanks for all the videos!

[@JohnZeeX]

I thought his examples were just fine given the tones he's using.

[@maxonmendel5757]

Reid Stefan literally just insulted a bunch of his viewers bruh

[@shredhed572]

No right or wrong.. I use the middle option Amp medium crunch, gain at 12:00. Sometimes higher Dirt pedal (Plexi Drive) gain also at 12:00'ish. ATM marshall dsl 40 combo. The pedal makes the marshall tone so harmonically rich it blows my mind, and at a volume that won't make the neighbors call the cops. The plexi drive being a Marshall type tone go together like pb&j. Using it this way, I always have the option to kick the pedal off if I want that level of crunch.......rolling guitar volume to taste, I never mess with the clean channel.

[@AdamGotheridge]

Food for thought, something to ponder. Assuming the recorded presentation is done with IR's, I've found that the sonic print of what they put on the signal kind of can gives things that sound drastically different in the "real world', a certain "sameness" to the recorded or IR sounds, much more so than what a mic does. You can hear all the differences demo'd for sure, but I kind of felt the differences were less dramatic than I would have expected, which led me to think IR's were in use. I could be completely off, but that's what I hear in this video. BTW, love the Tumnus and Euphoria. Every time those are off my board, they are really missed and always wind up back on in short order. They are special. Thanks.

[@jimcamp2423]

I'm finding my metal distortion pedal sounds better with the amp's crunchy setting (OD & higher gain), as an enhancement to the amps crunch. I think it matters as to what type of music you're playing. Rock & Metal can go dirty/borderline filthy pedal on crunchy amp. Other genres where a more subtle distortion, a crunchier pedal on clean amp works fine.

[@coachcleats13]

Great work, great examples everyone a critic!

[@DanieleNasutiComposer]

Hi, do you have some video on how to set 2 guitars for playing together in a song? For example when one plays Gibson and another the Strato how do you set the sounds for fit together in the song without doing a mess?

[@blakjack3053]

I only use distortion and fuzz pedals in the clean channel and clean boost and Overdrive only in the dirt channel.

[@clintn6677]

I've put the Tumnus in my online shopping cart at least half a dozen times this week. It will be mine but I've bought way too much gear the past couple months.

[@wampler_pedals]

15% off this week with Black Friday sales 😉

[@MrKarim989]

MR Wampler i have plexi deluxe and I want to buy velvet fuzz ; to play hendrix and pink floyd zz top; but with this pedal can i play kiss and smashing pumkins songs? Maybe with EQ....thanks a lot for yr work

[@ladyjulia4038]

I always find it funny when people say "oh ya this pedal or amp sounds like a dumble". The reality is very few people have played a dumble. I know I never have.

[@danedgar1539]

Ive heard one played in person...not blown away, same as the klon, nice sound but theres definitely better out there

[@lolobuggah2670]

What about when I'm running an overdrive pedal into a low Headroom amp slightly dirty and my sound is a bit flabby and farty? Is there any way to rectify this?

[@tom434911]

Da Guvna Try running the overdrive with the "gain" turned way down, and the "level" way up. Essentially, use the overdrive as a slightly dirty boost pedal.

[@lolobuggah2670]

Tom4349 i already do that.

[@tom434911]

Da Guvna Hmm... Maybe some EQ tweaking? Too much bass, not enough mid and treble?

[@MarderExplorer]

Have you tried using a Tubescreamer or clone vs a "normal" OD? The TS would boost the mids a bit (as mentioned re: mid-hump in video) and cut some of the bass going into the input, thereby tightening the whole thing up. Works well on Fender blackface amps to counter-act their typical slightly scooped mid sound.

[@lolobuggah2670]

Anthony Gross yes, i have several od pedals including that one.

[@douglasrobertodacosta]

I have a question: I want to use Catalinbread SFT on all the time, simulating an amp (Stones vibe). Is the Fender Champion 40 a good amp in this case? I'm a guy from Brazil, so I have few options at a good price.

[@GuitarSolosInc.]

You're the best guy!!!

[@adamgreene8407]

Sweet video man

[@06szymonszymanski]

Great video! Thank you. By the way did you use your Two notes captor to record it?

[@blanejohnson9045]

I have a wampler dual fusion that I have to have on my board, mini ego, badcat siamese drive, tuner, mini pog, tc Hof, and wampler faux tape.. out of those, what are safe to Daisy chain???? All I have is iso 5 voodoo for power.

[@williamjacobs1312]

I have heard that tubescreamer-type overdrives sound bad on British amps like Marshall's and Oranges, and that you should really only use them on scooped mid amps like Fenders and Voxes, and that you should use fuzzes and flat EQ overdrives on Oranges/Marshall's. Is this true???

[@wampler_pedals]

Nope! Not true 😊

[@williamjacobs1312]

@@wampler_pedals thank you! 😁

[@theslayerofgoblins849]

Damn that's about the best sounding rig I've ever heard

[@WhatsUpWhitey]

Euphoria is one of the best drive pedals I have played. One I got my hands on was one of the older “ecstasy” versions.

[@wowomah6194]

Hey Brian, I tried to follow the links for "Audio used in this video" in your description section but they both led to dead end pages!

[@InTheSh8]

That Euphoria, man!

[@SorenAraujo]

Love the EUPHORIA! Gotta get meself one of those ASAP.

[@content-appreciator]

7:03 Best of the bunch.

[@davidainscough1051]

Hi Brian, Does running the preamp on full and then boosting it mean changing valves more often?

[@bradt.3555]

Interesting, I use a Soldano HR50+ n find I just plug in my guitar n play. Great crunch, cleans up nice by rolling off guitar, Killer lead channel. I found by doing it this way and eliminating the time I spent diddling around with pedals aloud me more time to play.

[@daddyosink4413]

I really thought that I loved my tube screamer(and i do)... but i think i need a Tumnus as well.

[@justinprince8761]

Nice playing man.

[@mattmanley7118]

All right so I'm really new to pedals and I just found the channel I live in an apartment both my neighbor and I play guitar but my amp is significantly louder than his so I am unable to crank it he has a little 20 watt solid state amp with my inability to crank the amp due to the small space I play a bedroom level what would happen if I used a tube distortion into a clean tube amp? Does that kind of defeat the purpose of a tube amp? If I were to crank the amp and use a tube distortion on top of it how would that sound? It's my assumption that a tube amp obviously would pair well with a tube distortion and I literally mean that there is a tube inside the pedal.

[@montag4516]

A tube pedal into a tube amp is just fine, I do it often. It's like adding a whole other tube gain stage to your amp, and from there giving you more gain/overdrive choices. Tubes have life in them once juiced up. Just keep in mind than any tube pedal or preamp will require a/c power, as 9v battery operation is not an option with them.

[@reylopez4050]

Good all the way around on all your vids.

[@hlron]

Is the loadbox there just for recording purposes? no speaker / mic ? When I use the captor, my amp tends to breakup earlier. Cool video, thank you Brian.

[@oldgit4260]

Most distortion sounds the same, they're just branded differently, marketing. But we all fall for it

[@draganbalzic4493]

I use 12AU7s in the V1 and V2 positions of my Plexi and let my pedals do the work as I dislike the results achieved when running dirt pedals into an overdriven amp.

[@AaronStark1993]

I much prefer a clean amp with a dirty pedal. My Blackface Bandmaster with a MXR Super Badass Distortion is as good as it gets.

[@larrylynch8113]

dude i love your job what an amazing guitar ... what pickups are theese?

[@DrunkDuckXD]

Tumnus was my favorite

[@maxonmendel5757]

I play mostly punk and blues. my amp is an Orange 35rt. anybody else have the problem where when the dirty channel is cranked it's great but as soon as you add a distortion to the front it gets muddy?

[@darwinsaye]

I’ve looked closely at that amp, thinking of getting one. Not sure why you would even want to add more distortion than you get with the dirt channel cranked. That’s one of those amps you can get everything from good cleans to ripping sludge, without even using pedals.

[@frankardos4211]

Hey there Brian! Hope all is well bro. Could you just go ahead and design your version of an all in one unit to completely allow 2 tube amps to run in buffered stereo even with only basic fx loops that don't have stereo returns. I love the Orange Rocker 32 idea but would love your amp head with REAL STEREO fx loops!!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! PLEASE Brian!!! Help us!!!!! Thank you buddy. Love what you do.

[@mortachaiepstein3584]

I gotta say, when you were playing that Tele and you hit the TS-9, it just felt like *home.* Don't get me wrong, your pedals rock: the Tumnus is a genius rendition of the Klon circuit, the Thirty Something is something I want really bad as a wanton Vox fanboy, and the Low Blow (not in the video, but I love it anyway) is my second-favorite bass distortion, second only to the Ibanez PD-7 Phat Hed... But something about a Tele with a TS-9 just sounds and feels wonderful. The treble of the Tele gets wound down, the mids get accentuated and a little bit of symmetrical-clipping gets added... It's the sound of blues rock.