You NEED To try Stacking Drive Pedals

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Someone asked me about what might stack with a Boss Blues Driver well...And it made me think about how much you can get from stacking Drive pedals you already have - it's not always super easy to predict what the behaviour might be, but reliably I prefer the sound of stacked drive pedals to what you can get from any one pedal.....
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[@Johnherold121]

I think stacking Boss pedals works the best, since they all have roughly the same surface design which allows the pedals to be stacked quite easily. Don't try stacking them too high though... there's that one biblical story about the tower of drive pedals that someone built and, well, it didn't go so well. Takes me back to childhood days, playing with legos and such.

[@MiguelGuitars]

😂

[@sirdarrel2923]

😂

[@jorgemartinez42069]

ha

[@MooCow2X2]

I always though dual drives stacked better. That wider footprint and all that.

[@christopherjbutler]

LOL

[@davidlavin4774]

I never tried stacking overdrives before I went searching for the EJ "violin" tone. Then I learned how he stacked the Tube Driver into his already driven Marshall and it was an epiphany on how to get a nice, thick, compressed tone without using tons of drive. I never went back.

[@nedludd3641]

That's amazing! I asked John a couple of days ago in YT Comments about pairing overdrive pedals. This is just what I struggling with. Bless you mate! This is the answer to my comment. You really did me a solid

[@nedludd3641]

I love the Blues Driver with the BD-2 - I wrongly assumed they were basically the same pedal

[@nedludd3641]

I think John mentioned a Timmons Pedal (made by JHS?) - I need to try that out in a store with my DB-2, as well as the JHS Charlie Brown?

[@john808welk]

I'm always stacking pedals. Having three gives you the option to use the middle as your main tone, hitting the front for more gain with the first, or slamming the amp harder with the third.

[@thisdyingsoul76]

I never considered that before. I usually put my primary before the amp, then boost into it with 2 other pedals for progressively dirtier tones. Lately it's guitar-klone-bluesbreaker-ZenDrive. Maybe I'll place the klone last before the amp.

[@thisdyingsoul76]

Basically, set the pedal closest to the amp for a light to medium crunch. Use it as the primary dirty sound as it's character will be the most obvious. Then place the secondary dirt pedals between the guitar and the primary dirt, set them for a boost with low to moderate dirt and use in different combinations for crunch, saturated crunch and lead tones.

[@erinmylungs8711]

I needed this video so badly. Been messing with stacking overdrives a lot lately and I wasn’t quite getting it, but this was simple to understand. Thank you! ❤

[@587583922]

Yup. This is also why people say that tube screamers work as boosts. Because a distorted amp gives you the same kind of thing. Funny story, the blues driver would have been called an amp in a box if it were invented later. The clipping is different, but it's very much a fender black panel tone stack with the bass cranked into a bunch of clipping that kind of kicks in and collapses all at once. You can stack anything into it that you would run into a fender amp on the edge and it kinda just works out.

[@89ji76]

The DS-1>BD-2 was an insane high gain tone. Gonna have to cop those settings with my strat and see how it works for me.

[@TheFeatalion]

A Bluesbraker-style pedal into an OCD-style pedal is one of my favourite stacks. Also, I use a Bluesbraker-style pedal on low drive level right after fuzz to "round" its tone a bit, in addition, to make it more "wooly" is as easy as turn down the tone knob (filter high frequencies out).

[@joetoe9207]

I think your content is consistently interesting and well reasoned. Along with great playing. With appreciation! Tx.

[@benink5690]

I've been doing this forever and LOVE watching others do it to steal ideas. Thank you!

[@BrandonOutside]

I’ve always wondered why that is, that two drives often sound better than just one cranked. I think you’re on the right track toward the end where you mention that it’s creating a more complex signal. Whatever the science is behind it, I agree it sounds great!

[@nickcelej7201]

Same reason why people like amp gain where it's gain stages into each other. Check out Jim Lill's video where he makes an "amp" out of a fishing tackle box with just gain/volume/eq going into each other.

[@Diax1324]

The best combo I've found for a "modern" very transistor-ey pedal-derived lead tone is a bluesbreaker copy going into a Klone. I'm actually using a Snouse Blackbox pro stage mod at 18 volts with a tiny bit of presence (Very clear, bright drive without a considerable midhump - I often use it when I want "generic" gain that doesn't stand out too much on its own in a mix). The Klon adds tons of mids, but the lows aren't scooped out, so you can still get a nice chunky feel. Snouse is set with gain at 12 o'clock, tone at 1 o'clock, and volume set to a very slight boost above unity. Klon has gain at 2 o'clock, volume at slightly above unity, and tone at noon, maybe pushed a little further if I need more brightness.

[@rossbulcock552]

7:00 The quintessential guitar tone statement. I couldn't possibly disagree even if the statement made sense. Cheers John! your my hero.

[@skidmarkjohnson8452]

In the past month, my go to lead tone is a mid gain OCD into a low gain BD2. Used separately I've felt they were both lacking, but together the tone is sweeter than any setup I've ever played through on a gig.

[@mickymalibu]

That Pedal Show have a great video on this kind of thing, I got into this about 7yrs ago through them demonstrating this. I’ve got 4 overdrives on my board and although I never stack more than 2 at a time it gives me lots of tonal options and also I find some combinations suit the Strats and others suit the LP. You can also find huge differences in the sounds depending on which order I.e. distortion before or after overdrive,,,,,

[@ariffzainal2602]

I've always had 3 ODs in my chain, with the softer one in front and the harder one at the end. I'll try to switch them around and see how that'll sound.

[@nickcelej7201]

Have you ever checked out Jim Lill's video on where tone comes from? I think what you're talking about here is what he stumbles across in his amp video with the fishing tackle box.

[@GoPro_Matt]

Dude, this is amazing! Thank you

[@JakeHerrick]

Took me years to appreciate the blues driver! Also how to properly stack drives and/or drives and distortions. Great video so far.

[@stevejarosz8136]

The Keeley mod will 10 X that blues driver

[@zoomzoom3950]

Back when I was using a TC Electronic G-System, I also had the TCE Nova Drive which had an OD and Dist in a single pedal, and you could select the routing OD into Dist, or Dist into OD and program settings into patches, switchable from the G-System. It worked great; the Nova Drive was underrated IMO, it was an analog drive with digital control IIRC, but allowed for interesting gain staging options. These days, I do gain staging in my HX Effects, or in the PolyChrome DSP McRockling Suite plugin. I normally have a transparent (i.e., full range) od first, to push a clean amp the edge of breakup; next up a drive with some mid character to push it into medium gain without losing clarity; and finally a distortion to take it to high-gain / lead. Each pedal is usable alone or in different combinations, the first two together get me to mid/high gain, JCM800 territory of gain; first and third get me to the high gain. The HX Effects makes it easy to experiment with different drives and combinations to find what you like. Cheers!

[@jakeah1175]

Liked the TS but also loved the openness of the blues-breaker stack sound. Kept wondering throughout what this would sound like into a clean amp sim

[@ChrisHawkins_73]

Something I have been doing a lot lately is going from my (mid 80's) Boss DS-1 with a low amount of distortion into my TS9 (with little gain). Love that tone.😎

[@keithtrask4235]

Great chops and tone!

[@McMillanScottish]

These pedals all seem to have a fairly subtle sound. For "rowdier" distortions, parallel is the way to go - split the signal, send dry guitar to each pedal, then rejoin the signals afterward. I did this for years. Amazing results. You can run NASTY distortions side by side, with no hugely overblown sound. I did this on my acoustic guitar, and it allowed me to go crazy with the distortion without worrying too much about feedback.

[@dektrimusic]

Hey, what’s up? I’m pretty new to pedals and your comment is really interesting… I might say something stupid but you described how I see my chain on for instance, Bias FX… my question is what exactly I need to do this split?

[@lancenunez8252]

You might consider an episode on using the stomp as a parallel mixer for drives. Put one drive in the left loop and the other in the right. You can further blend in some clean signal or put a 20ms delay on one side and get some really cool results.

[@graysongerni]

That is a cool idea

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

great playing through those sounds.

[@emtbwulf9215]

I like to use pedals like how I eat pancakes.🥞 I think this mainly works best with a clean to edge of breakup amp. A cranked amp works for me with just a boost or an OD pedal since I am now stacking the cranked preamp of the amp. Klon type> Kilt V1>Tilt pedals. Love that I have two great boost circuit in that setup I can also use.

[@jakollee]

Your rhythm playing here is reminding me of Keith Richards! Agree that stacking drives can give great lead tones.

[@andersg9451]

The TS10 wins. Now I know that the "weak" main drive shall be no.2, not first.

[@robwebb9413]

Great video, John! Like this video, Tim Pierce talks about the secret to stacking is to use just a little bit of gain to push the next one. I love a Dod 250 preamp in front of - insert drive pedal of choice - rinse and repeat.

[@DrProgNerd]

It took me years to figure out that two or three drive pedals - with the gain lower on each - always sounds better than one with the gain above 1:00. More note clarity and note separation.

[@Milessongs]

Nice test, John! I'd say - simple seems best; the BOSS pair was great. Blues Driver with the DS-1 seemed to blend really well. After that, I'd say the BluesBreaker 'as an exciter' sounded really transparent.

[@jamesprice6381]

Stacking my #124 OD LOW gain w/LOW gain EJ Fuzz, and LOW Gain TS-10, It does what the amp alone can never do unless sent to ear splitting volumes, and me behind bars :)

[@CraigCrider]

I discovered one of my favorite stacked combos on the BOSS OD-200, the BD-2 as a boost into the DS-1. It sounds MASSIVE. I've got a Drunk Beaver Distortion (modern take on DS-1 circuit) and I should have a Keeley Super Phat Mod in the next few weeks so I'll see how it works with the two pedals outside of the OD-200. The only downside of the OD-200 is that you can't run the boost on it's own, so not as flexible as two separate pedals, but I think it is a highly underrated dirt factory.

[@aaronbeverly4711]

The real star of the show is that Tokai! The lick 12:10 was out of this world. Quite pleased by the humble DS-1.

[@stephenbedford1395]

Gidday mate, your instrumental pieces at the start of each video are really quite superb and I think I speak for many who follow you when I say; you really should think about recording an instrumental guitar album. If it was similar to the inumerable pieces you've done then it would be superb. I just finished one which I did entirely on my iMac using Cubase, Guitar Rig, NI Studio Drummer and Toontrack's EZ Bass and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I've seen many comments on your channel from others suggesting this so give it some thought, cheers from Brisbane, Australia.

[@allanwallace3538]

The DS1 into the blues driver really surprised me with just how articulate it can get for a lead tone. Another tally in the “buy a Blues Driver” list

[@progpogs]

I was surprised by the ds1w that was a cool sound that I wouldn't have considered on my own, but the bb was probably my favorite combo.

[@orryfishburne5326]

A stacking combo i didnt think would work but sounds fantastic for lead tones is the right side of the King Tone Duellist into the right side of the Toxic Twins. Never thought it would work cause they are both based around tube screamers and thought it would be too mid pushed, but it sounds fantastic. I highly suggest trying the Toxic Twins. It's extremely touch sensitive. Its the most dynamic drive ive ever tried and can handle putting drives in front of it really well without getting too compressed and flubbing out. Amazing headroom! The Duellist sounds fantastic, but i find it doesnt like drives going into it all that well. At least in my experience it doesnt. I also love putting the left side of the Toxic Twins into the left side of the Gladio. Klon type circuit like the Tumnus or the RYRA Klone sounds really good into a Blues Breaker type of circuit or Tube Screamer type of circuit as well. I should note that i like to set my drives to a mild gain setting and start stacking them to achieve a higher gain tone when needed. I find using higher gain when stacking tends to get too muddy too fast. I havent tried the Blues Breaker into a Blues Driver though. Big fan of the Blues Driver, but i always had it before my pedals with a Blues Breaker based circuit in them. Definitely have to give that a try.

[@johnnathancordy]

Any idea what the Toxic twins is based on?

[@orryfishburne5326]

@@johnnathancordy yea its a handmade with nos components dual overdrive by Kasleder Fx. The right side is based around a vintage 808 tube screamer and the left side is based around a blues breaker. The blues breaker side is really close to a king of tone.

[@thebudgetguitarist9721]

Stacking drive pedals?? Maybe I’ll give this a try 🤙🎸 thanks!!

[@ewljr]

When you played one pedal it was dry and without reverb/delay but when you added a second pedal there was an obvious addition of delay/Reverb. I do combine two paddles plenty of times and it does work to make them sound better in Fuller but not what your portraying at the beginning of the video

[@cameronlesley2428]

Popular taste has come full circle for players of pedals as boutique has priced i5self out of the market . Boss has had it covered since the beginning. The boss combo was definitely the best. Maybe boss pedals are our guilty pleasure

[@DaveElwoodCutter]

I think it depends a little on what you want/need. For standard modulation and drives boss is hard to beat at their price. However once you want some more eccentric sounds boutique pedals are the way to go (like EQD or chase bliss) because you simply don’t find these type of unique sounds in more mainstream pedals. Think of a EQD Afterneath for example. No other pedal I know does that. I agree tho that for the vast majority of uses Boss has you covered. (Or TC as the other big brand in that price range).

[@davidwalker41]

Excellent demonstration. I'm never sure when I watch these sorts of videos, however, if the results are primarily applicable to tube amps, where part of the sound may result from driving the tubes, or if the results would be similar with a solid state amp (in my case, a Fender Champion 20)

[@DifrantDrumer]

My favorite of these is the BD2 & DS1. I just got a hotone ampeg one and my favorite so far is OCD into OCD.

[@JoseG-2023]

Great topic!

[@redcomn]

I have od20 (just bc of 5e weird fuzz) into compressor into od200 and then into od3 (which always on)

[@josietran2003]

Any recommendations for placement of clean boost in your pedal chain? Especially if you are stacking

[@bigkev705]

Could you apply the same concept going into an amp modeler like the Helix, Iridium, or Dream 65?

[@ksharpe10]

This is why there are so many Dual pedals out there now. The best one I personally have heard SO FAR is the DSM Humboldt Silver Linings, it seemed to have the MOst flexibility, and quick to set it, the Pedal does alot with the 2 sides. THE DUELIST is good too, and what Peach Guitars uses in most demo's. The Andy Wood Wampler is another really good one, I think the signature Allan holdworth pedal is a Dual pedal too. Talk about a Musician that liked Playing with Effects, Allan was the 1st guy I ever knew of who Had the RACK effects Rig back in 1982, I think he liked playing with alot of DIALS, He had all those ADA items going on back then. That would be a COOL History item to check out WHO WAS the 1st PLAYER to have RACK EFFECTS rigs?? Might be a cool History Video to do for you John.

[@jasonweidner3274]

Just got a silver linings and I'm having a hard time imagining ever turning it off again. Such a wildly underrated pedal

[@ksharpe10]

@@jasonweidner3274 The one thing Brett kingman brought out about the pedal was it was too bad it did not have preset capabilities so you could toggle the Different Tones it produces.

[@jasonweidner3274]

@@ksharpe10 for sure, with presets it would be the only pedal I ever needed. Maybe they'll do a v2

[@the5chord]

I need to try this

[@michael_caz_nyc]

He can play thru a cheap $20 Overdrive-pedal, and make it sound tasty, melodic and phenomenal. JNC needs to drop an album (you are too good brother). I'd bet you'd love a Barber Gain Changer SR = Amazing Overdrive Pedal. (my current favorite)

[@IsaacUlbrich]

Do you get the same results inside of the helix/hx/pod go? Something I'm going to have to explore now on my Pod Go

[@dan_kay]

I tried it but never made it beyond 3 pedals. The pile becomes so unstable that it just collapses. So, I go back to having them next to each other on the floor.

[@edlicari3909]

Sorry to change the subject here but I have a question about an older post and figure I have a better chance of you responding on this new post. I was just curious which would you say is the overall better quality guitar, Sterling JP150 or Schecter Nick Johnston? Thanks!!!

[@chapmanfx8104]

Blues driver with a ts or blues breaker 2 pushing it is my set up

[@bartnettle]

I like fuzz, octaver, screamer and or ds1 Fuzz is set low as can go; Octaver is mostly direrct low and high to taste. Try it into stacked drives

[@kyzor-sosay6087]

Stacking compression pedals sounds good too.

[@mikmiklicayan4483]

How can i play like you!!? Do you have a course on patreon or true fire??

[@picksalot1]

Stacking OD Pedals can produce excellent results. Fortunately, we can also do that in Modelers, such as the HX Stomp. Though it does not have a Blues Driver, it does have something close. Here's a link to a fascinating video I just watched on to get it much closer. It also demonstrates a method on how to see the EQ Curves of hardware pedals and the Line 6 Helix Effects. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2Kwf5mjrMSFipY

[@Zappabain]

Thank you! I've learned a lot about what an overdrive really does to each frequency, that it can saturate only certain freqs etc and how to do tone matching. Only downside I imgine is one would change the eq for each parameters chosen in the real pedal, but may be just a little bit so not needes.

[@Mr.Steve-O]

Try the BD-2 into a DOD 250, it's heavenly, especially into an AC15 !! Btw- The Bluesbreaker into the BD-2 was awesome

[@PuRe_AdDicT]

JB-2 -> Green Russian (switching BD-2 and JHS>BD-2 option)

[@alfredsuazo4824]

I prefer a Boss SD-1 in front of a BD-2, than a Tubescreamer. Much tighter and less nasal sounding.

[@CharLessMajor7Music]

It makes tone even fatter. That’s why I’m into it.

[@uberspiff]

exotic EP boost -> TS-808 --> KoT ftw!

[@seanclarke4875]

Xotic SP > SD-1 > DS-1 4A

[@rockstarjazzcat]

👍🏼

[@perryrice6573]

Instant 4 channel amp.

[@jhonfelo]

"This is the way..."

[@svenzia]

I am stacking 🇸🇪

[@andydjalali]

I do this to compensate my cheap amp 😅

[@felixbrunidor9294]

Hey man..wish you tried tubescreamer into blueabreaker.. anyways nice video

[@Ihsan-vo6uc]

I was thinking of buying a bluesbreaker stack it with my sd1waza, what do you think? Since the sd1 is a tubescreamer type pedal

[@felixbrunidor9294]

@@Ihsan-vo6uc yeah man.. i think that would be great.. it is good for comparison

[@scottanderson4175]

The only pedal I own is a tuner 😐

[@lancenunez8252]

Boss is still boss. Hard to beat them.

[@kane6529]

John is it true your not a Hipster unless you have a minimum of 3 drives stacked 😂 and frequently use the word transparent

[@JediCrackSmoke]

Very Incubus-esque riff, Crow Left of the Murder era... This would've been a cooler vid had you done this within Helix as well.

[@user-fb2jb3gz1d]

I used to do that and you can stack and stack and stack and stack but then your pedal board or rig just ends up looking stupid..... Just get the right amp and pickups...... And learn how to get the tone from your HANDS Stop relying on pedals to cover for you lack of........ But of course............to each his own