Hudson Broadcast to boost a Vox?

danlpt

Has anyone had much experience/results using the Hudson Broadcast in low gain mode as a clean boost to push an amp? Particularly an AC15. Hudson say it can work as a clean boost but most demos I find are using it's gain.

In all honesty I just think it looks cool so now I need to justify one taking up space on a board other than looks so I can get one!

I quite like the look of the Sidecar 808 too but have always thought TS types just don't suit Vox amps. Although the treble and bass EQ might help dial in?

I love the tone from my amp's top boost channel with the volume around 3 o'clock, just thought one of these might push a little more gain and give it more bottom and thickness for a 'big' distortion. 

CloudNine

Tim/Timmy is a tried and tested solution for what you are talking about. Hard to beat for clean boost, low gain, with an amp where a TS will ruin things with the mids.

GavRichList

Crowther Hotcake is always the answer 

Cirrus

AC style amps absolutely love clean boosts, I think it would be very hard to go wrong with any of them. I think when God made the rules of tone, he decided that since Vox amps are so picky with pedals they would have superpowers with clean boosts to keep the universe in check.

danlpt

GavRichList said:

Crowther Hotcake is always the answer 

 I had one of these and didnt like it. I was really shocked because these seemed to be almost made for vox.

uncledick

I tried a Tubescreamer with an AC15 and it was terrible.  My Blackstar HT Dual - particularly on the low gain - setting works very well.

danlpt

has anyone tried the blues driver with a vox? I know they don't cut bass and bump the mids like a TS. Think something with a gain control to go along with a clean boost would be good, the micro amp always on and the OD to kick it up a level.

wayneirie

I had the bluesdriver with an ac15 and the results were pretty good. The wazacraft one is meant to be good. I'm not really a fan of overdrive from pedals. I prefer boosts and fuzzes. But my naga viper clone works well with the vox. What guitar are you using? Is the other thing to consider I struggle to get amp drive at all with my tele, but my casino pushes it really well. I feel your pain because it took me ages to find a fuzz pedal that played ball with my vox.

danlpt

wayneirie said:

I had the bluesdriver with an ac15 and the results were pretty good. The wazacraft one is meant to be good. I'm not really a fan of overdrive from pedals. I prefer boosts and fuzzes. But my naga viper clone works well with the vox. What guitar are you using? Is the other thing to consider I struggle to get amp drive at all with my tele, but my casino pushes it really well. I feel your pain because it took me ages to find a fuzz pedal that played ball with my vox.

My main guitar is a Baja Tele, the broadcaster bridge pickup is already fairly meaty.

I am running the vox at around 1/2 oclock on the top boost channel, play soft and you get a gritty clean, dig in and its a light crunch. I use my micro amp for my main crunch. 

In my band i tend to play verses just with the dirty vox, and choruses and middle 8 parts with the micro amp. But we've got some new material where i'm going to need that extra gain and thickness...... 'heavier'
Our sound is similar to Against Me, Gaslight Anthem....

wayneirie

The blues driver will probably suit you well, if you want even more drive. My tele pickups are definitely more of a vintage wind. They're oil city's of some kind. The guy from tame impala used to use 2 bluesdrivers so it might be worth some youtubing see what you think he uses an ac30 live.  It can get quite fuzzy as well. There's a fair amount of gain on tap as well as the clean boost option from the blues driver.

danlpt

wayneirie said:

The blues driver will probably suit you well, if you want even more drive. The guy from tame impala used to use 2, so it might be worth some youtubing see what you think.  It can get quite fuzzy as well. There's a fair amount of gain on tap as well as the clean boost from the blues driver.

Thanks, I'll check that out. 

DesVegas

Try a boss ge7?

danlpt

So I picked up a BD-2W second hand today and after about an hour of playing at a loud home volume i think I might be sold, the amp is set just beyond breaking point, the micro amp as an almost always on to put it into crunch, and the BD-2W as a higher gain sound.

simonbeckwith

Bit late to the party but i had a Vox AC30 Cream edition and ised it in a similar way. Pedals that worked really well for me were the Bearfoot Honey Bee, Baby Boost and Red Rooster Booster and also the Suhr Koko Boost. I was playing slightly heavier stiff than what youve stated above but i was running the oedals harder to achieve that, they would all certainly do the job if you dont get on with the bd2

danlpt

simonbeckwith said:

Bit late to the party but i had a Vox AC30 Cream edition and ised it in a similar way. Pedals that worked really well for me were the Bearfoot Honey Bee, Baby Boost and Red Rooster Booster and also the Suhr Koko Boost. I was playing slightly heavier stiff than what youve stated above but i was running the oedals harder to achieve that, they would all certainly do the job if you dont get on with the bd2

Thanks, the Honey Bee was one of my considerations so i'll try that next if i decide the BD isnt what I need. Very happy at home volumes but still be be tried at a rehearsal or gig.

thermionic

I sold my Blues Driver precisely because I didn't like how it sounded with my AC15. The scooped into a middy amp thing didn't sound good imho, despite the fact that the converse (middy OD i.e TS into a scooped amp i.e. Fender) is so successful. I went back to my trusty OD-1, I feel the drive character of that blends with the overdrive of the amp much better.

danlpt

thermionic said:

I sold my Blues Driver precisely because I didn't like how it sounded with my AC15. The scooped into a middy amp thing didn't sound good imho, despite the fact that the converse (middy OD i.e TS into a scooped amp i.e. Fender) is so successful. I went back to my trusty OD-1, I feel the drive character of that blends with the overdrive of the amp much better.

I've found I dont like the BD-2W in standard mode, like you said, a bit too scooped but the custom mode seemsto put back what is taken away by standard. To my ears anyway. I'm not using the gain, just pushing the level. It took a while to find the right point on the tone knob though.