Advice on Solo Boost pedal please

BilliBob

Hey guys,
I know there is someone here who can help.
I dont use pedals, I play lead guitar but have never needed to mess with them, I use Line 6 Flextone II XL with the floorboard so everything I have ever needed is already in there.
My Rhythm guitarist is going to be playing the solo from whiskey in the Jar.  He also has very limited experience with pedals as he has never played lead before ever.  We need something he can hit to give him something that boosts him over the rest of the band for the solo part.  He is using a peavey bandit combo, it sounds really good.
Can anyone please give a little advice to a pair of pedal virgins as to how we might achieve this?
Many thanks

JayGee

Electro Harmonix LPB-1 Cheap, easily available, and Just Works.

Works even better if you can put it in an effects loop...

mike_l

Boss SD-1, seems to work well with every amp there is (certainly with the ones I've tried it with).

It's also cheap, readily available, and almost indestructable.

not_the_dj

If the amp has an FX loop then a boost pedal in the loop will give you a volume boost. Whereas up front the same pedal will also increase the gain (dirt) as it hits the front of the amp harder. It might also give a volume boost depending on how cranked to have the amp already. If the amp doesn't have the headroom then a boost up front will just give a grittier tone, not a louder one.

not_the_dj

....at this point I should also mention the Blackstar LT Boost pedal I'm selling (oh look, a handy link in my signature just down there \/ )

newi123

As above, its all really about the placement of the pedal to get a volume boost. There are many clean boost / eq pedals out there to make the signal louder, and most should be ok, but you get different results depending on where you position it.

If you put the boost pedal before the drive (either before the amp if he`s using the drive channel on the amp, or between his guitar and his drive pedal if he`s using one) then all the boost pedal will do is increase the level of the signal going into the drive. This typically gives a dirtier sound, but not much increase in volume. So for standing above the band for a solo, it may not work.

What he needs to do is position the boost after the drive (so if he`s playing with a drive pedal into the clean bandit, it`s fine to have the boost pedal after the drive pedal but still in front of the clean amp. If he`s using the amp for the drive he`ll need to put the boost in the amp`s effects loop so it`s boosting the dirty signal from the Bandit`s preamp) Now when he he steps on the boost pedal it boosts the already driven signal into a clean amp, giving the required volume boost for the audience to hear his note perfect rendition of the Whiskey In The Jar solo.......... :-)

Hope that makes sense!

In addition to the other recommendations, I have used a boss EQ for doing this - works great.

 

mike_l

I didn't think about the pedal in the loop. A clean boost will work well there, my preference is the MXR MicroAmp.

Don't use an overdrive pedal in the loop, it can damage the amp.

EricTheWeary

Bandits are a good base for pedals ( unlike some SS amps) but if you hit it with a clean boost it won't neccesarilly scrunch up in the way a valve amp would, just get louder ( assuming it has any headroom left). Something that's a one knob clean boost is the simplest option but some form of eq ( just a tone knob) and probably some distortion will make it possible to fine tune the sound, just a louder version of his rhythm tone might not quite work.

EricTheWeary

mike_l said:

Boss SD-1, seems to work well with every amp there is (certainly with the ones I've tried it with).

It's also cheap, readily available, and almost indestructable.

+1 to this. You can use it as a clean boost or add some grit as required and there is a useful tone knob.
There seems to be a lot of interest in Klon type pedals at the moment and the EHX Soul Food is the level entry version. Same knob set up as the SD 1 but it will sound a bit fatter. Possibly not as indestructible in the long run though.
IIRC the SD 1 is a modified Tube Screamer type circuit. Tube Sceamers are the classic answer to the 'what boost' question but they can be a bit nasal sounding through a 1x12 like the Bandit. So a TS type with better eq might work, like the Digitech CM 2 which is also pretty cheap.

viz

I use a tube screamer in the front to give me more dirt, and a volume pedal in the loop to give me more volume.

If my rhythm sound is quite clean (for sets with Long Train Running etc), then when I go to solo, I use the tube screamer only.

If my rhythm sound is already quite dirty (eg for Livin' on a Prayer-type sets), then for solos I either use the tubescreamer alone or both together if it's not cutting through.

If my rhythm sound is already very dirty (eg for Van Halen-ish sets, where I might have the tubescreamer on for the rhythm parts anyway), I use the vol pedal for solos.

The pedals I use are a Keeley Ibanez Tubescreamer 4x2 Turbo and a Morley Little Alligator volume pedal, they're really high quality, don't affect the tone negatively, are infinitely adjustable, and bomb-proof.

mike_l

@viz That reminds me, you still want to try the Satchurator?

viz

Yep for sure! One of these sundays

ICBM

Does he use the channel switching on the Bandit, or stay just on one channel?

Even if he's using the dirty channel on the amp, for Whisky In The Jar I would avoid anything too complicated* like a boost pedal in the loop - the sound you need is barely distorted at all, so if the amp is set for the rhythm sound, an overdrive pedal in front will give both the right sound (it's a very middy/fuzzy tone) and a slight increase in volume.

The first pedal I'd look at is the Boss SD-1 - it has the right type of middy overdrive with the tone control set low, and is very good for pushing the amp a bit harder.

(*Yes, I know it's not very complicated! But still more so than a pedal in front of the amp. NB - don't put an overdrive pedal in the loop, that could cause trouble.)

Danny1969

Attenuator pot in the loop is the easiest and cheapest solution, you switch out the attenuator pot and there's your boost. 

TheCount

mike_l said:

Boss SD-1, seems to work well with every amp there is (certainly with the ones I've tried it with).

It's also cheap, readily available, and almost indestructable.

Japanese ones are best

But seriously, they are good but won't lift the volume if the amp is already overdriving. If that's the case it might be better to run it clean and get 2 pedals, one for crunch and one as a solo lift placed after. Or do the effects loop thing, but that means more cables

2 pedals is always better than one also >:D<

ICBM

TheCount said:

But seriously, they are good but won't lift the volume if the amp is already overdriving.

Yes they will! Unless the amp is driven so far into saturation that the extra amount of drive from the pedal is inaudible anyway.

I'm really not totally sure how it achieves this, but it works - it even does if you stack the SD-1 into a DS-1 too, you would think that the DS-1 would totally limit the volume, but no… the SD-1 still boosts the volume too.

TheCount said:

If that's the case it might be better to run it clean and get 2 pedals, one for crunch and one as a solo lift placed after. Or do the effects loop thing, but that means more cables

2 pedals is always better than one also >:D<

Definitely agreed there, although I'd put them the other way round, for exactly that reason . SD-1 for boost, into DS-1 for crunch - and you can buy *both* for £50 second hand and you get three great sounds.

robinbowes

mike_l said:

Don't use an overdrive pedal in the loop, it can damage the amp.

Eh? How?

R.

ICBM

robinbowes said:

mike_l said:

Don't use an overdrive pedal in the loop, it can damage the amp.

Eh? How?

By making the amp self-oscillate outside the audio range and frying something.

Not common, but it does happen. I have repaired a few where that was the cause.

More usually it almost always sounds crap, too.

mike_l

TheCount said:

mike_l said:

Boss SD-1, seems to work well with every amp there is (certainly with the ones I've tried it with).

It's also cheap, readily available, and almost indestructable.

Japanese ones are best

But seriously, they are good but won't lift the volume if the amp is already overdriving. If that's the case it might be better to run it clean and get 2 pedals, one for crunch and one as a solo lift placed after. Or do the effects loop thing, but that means more cables

2 pedals is always better than one also >:D<

Funny, I was using an SD-1 into a dirty amp on NYE, when engaged the volume went up.........

TheCount

Funny, I was using an SD-1 into a dirty amp on NYE, when engaged the volume went up.........

Depends how much your amp is already driving I guess. Set up right it will still give you an increase in volume but if your all out of headroom it will just saturate, often in a nice way.

When stacking od's into a valve amp I think of OD1 - OD2 - Pre - Power. If they all have headroom available then you can get a volume lift at any point, once one of the 4 has run out of headroom then you won't get any boost from anything before it, only more gain / saturation.

I love an SD1 into an OCD, that is a killer combo:)

TheCount

Also, if you've attenuated mids anywhere after a mid hump pedal like an SD1 switching it on brings them back up again so will give the impression of a volume boost even though it's just evening out the frequencies, which is a selective frequency boost I suppose. 

Like just about everything to do with this stuff there are so many variables no two situations are the same.  Although there a tried and tested methods that will work for 90% of people I think of them as guidelines and do your own thing from there on in.