How do you get your live dirt?

Hootsmon

A wonderin' if anybuddy used both methods for dirt live......OD pedals into a clean amp platform or boosts/light overdrives into an already cookin' overdriven amp?

hyperben

I use edge of break up clean tone from the amp then for dirt drive the front end with an OD pedal or germanium treble booster. I like the amp to have good headroom though so I can kick the volume up if needed rather than getting overly compressed.

Hootsmon

wots your TB?

ICBM

Hootsmon said:

A wonderin' if anybuddy used both methods for dirt live......OD pedals into a clean amp platform or boosts/light overdrives into an already cookin' overdriven amp?

Yes.

All my pedals and amp sounds are chosen so I can use them in any combination - even when I had three dirt pedals and a two-channel amp... although I never normally used all four at the same time, it was just too much - except for the comedy set-ending-howling-feedback sound .

Roland

Yes, both. For already overdriven amps I use a TS-9 model because it tightens up the sound. For clean amps I use a model I’ve set up myself with a less nasal EQ than the TS-9.

hyperben

Hootsmon said:

wots your TB?

It’s a DAM Supa Rooster, which is essentially the same as Range Master but with a range control which thickens up the tone. I find the typical Range Master type circuit to be just a little too subtractive in the bass/mids. On the Supa Rooster you can still get the Range Master sound with the Range control fully counter clockwise if you want it, but so many more options too.

hyperben

I also love a Proco Rat to kick the front end.

Danny1969

Depends what band ... for classic rock I will use a Marshall with delay in the loop, for other stuff a Fender HRD and some pedals. 
I think for clarity on whole chords, as in contain a 3rd rather than just roots and fifths a pure valve amp distortion is nice. For leads, riffs and less complex chord voicing's pedals can do a great job

TTBZ

Single channel master volume amp set to the highest "rock" gain I want from it, then control how dirty it is with the guitar. Tubescreamer in front for heavier stuff to tighten it up/give more mid presence. Clean boost/EQ and a delay in the loop for solos. Nice and simple but still versatile.

I've never really got on with channel switching amps, or pure clean amp tones. Exception being something like a JVM where I can have a crunch instead of clean, but generally I still find it more intuitive to use the guitar volume. 

Barney

I use the amp for all drives and a delay pedal in the loop 

merlin

Things have changed since no gigs, I have been rehearsing though. Tend to kind of do what @TTBZ does but go a fair bit cleaner from the amp and use (at the moment) a @ThorpyFX Heavy Water and a nice germanium fuzz (Retroman Nü Fuzz with NKT275s) in front of that.

So much variety is available from two pickups, two volume and tone controls a double boost and a decent fuzz. 

roberty

I use a cleanish amp with pedals. Just habit from years of kit share on the toilet circuit in London. I use an EQD Life clone and a Zander Foxxton Woods for dirt atm, set for contrasting sounds so one is bright and the other is fat

Hootsmon

to the both methods guys with no FX loop....do you have two different delay level settings if you use amp's own OD sound and delay pedal in front?

warhead

Drive from the amp head. Sometimes there's a tubescreamer in front of one of the amps, but it is not really needed.

rze99

Classic valve amps. Attenuators. Guitar volume and some boosts. That is it. 

slacker

EL84 amp on the edge of breakup. Hit harder for gain and/or use a klon with gain at 9 o clock.. The pickup type makes a difference at these low levels of gain. 

jeztone2

I started with a Marshall Guv’nor into a clean amp. Had an awful rack experiment in the mid 90’s. Then by 99 went back to pedals into a clean amp.

I went 4CM in the 2000’s with a channel switching Marshall & an SD-1 for solos. But on the toilet circuit it became a nightmare changing gear over. So I abandoned it. 

Nowadays I use pedals into a clean amp. I've found running my favourite JFET drive at 12vDC gives enough cabinet thump to make it sound amp-like. 

p90fool

Three different drive pedals set to lowish gain but different EQs into a pair of clean HRDs. 

The pedals are all stackable for different levels of drive and they're EQ'd differently so I can have anything from warm fatness to bright, scooped jangle. 

My default pedal is a Drivemaster, I could get away with that for the whole gig if I had to. 

Lestratcaster

I've always used 2-channel amps to switch between clean and dirty. I only add pedals if I'm doing a solo or need that clean boost on the dirty channel (most notably a TS9 in front of a 6505+)