TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 I have a Marshall JCM 900 SL-X, which is a one high gain channel basically... But I was wondering if i could use a pre amp or a pedal such as a Mesa Boogie V-twin go darken the tone/add more gain without upsetting things like when I run a fuzz box thorugh it. I'm getting fed up with having to use my guitar's volume knob to alter the gain, as it can be a bit haphazard at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britheguy Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Not really sure what you mean.V Twin is a great pedal, but a wee bitty deer like. It's a lot of money to have lying about if you find you don't like it. Also it needs it's own power supply to, which mean another cable running to your pedal board.do you want more gain, or volume boost, or just a heavier tone that you can kick in when you need it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScrooge Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Umm, I'm finding that post hard to understand, sorry. You're asking if you can use a preamp/pedal in front of your JCM900 to add gain OR darken the tone...to which the answer is yes......and you're also asking if doing so will "upset things" when you if you run a fuzz box through "it". What, do you mean "is it safe to use a preamp/overdrive pedal with a fuzz box"? Maybe its better if you tell us what exactly you're trying to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig deadenstereo Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Have a look at a pedal called The Machine by Zvex. It makes a weird kind of crossover distortion that is the only thing I've seen that will cut through a fuzz.Basically, you have your fuzz on, then you turn this on and it makes this insanse distortion cut right through over the fuzz.www.zvex.com - they have a video you can watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeid Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 I want all of those pedals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 What I mean is that if I put my Big Muff infront of my JCM 900, I have to put the gain of the amp right down (i.e. all the way) otherwise the fuzz totally mongs up the tone. So what I am looking for is some kind of pedal that can increase the gain and possibly darken the tone. It might be a futile/pointless question I know, but right now I can't really afford to fork out for another amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeid Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Try something like a Boss Super Overdrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Rocker Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I used to use an old Dod overdrive/pre-amp that did exactly what you are looking for. This thing was ancient, but I think it's been reissued....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScrooge Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 What I mean is that if I put my Big Muff infront of my JCM 900' date=' I have to put the gain of the amp right down (i.e. all the way) otherwise the fuzz totally mongs up the tone.[/quote']Sounds like you've just got the volume too high on your big muff, or maybe even the 'sustain' (should be lingo for gain) knob on your muff too high. Less is more, turn the sustain down to the minumum drive that you're happy with, then turn the volume all the way down. Now turn the gain down on your 900 to about 2-3 and increase the volume on your muff till it starts to break up, and back off a bit. You can now mess about decreasing the drive(sustain) on your muff and increasing it on your 900 to blend them together in a nice way, giving you a full sounding drive sound, or increasing the volume on your 900 and maybe decreasing the gain knob to give you more headroom if all you want to hear is the fuzz pedal unaffected by the 900. Remember that the EQ knobs will have an effect on your overall gain from your 900 also.To darken the tone...if by darken you mean 'decrease the treble', theres a tone knob on the muff that should do just that. If you're still unhappy with the sound, I really think you need to go into BMs or RNBs, say you're looking for a distortion pedal but dont know which one and ask to try a few out. Whatever you end up buying, it wont be as expensive as that V-twin preamp, and you might find something really nice!If you wanna get all technical a re-amp box would probably let you use your muff but get more gain from the amp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted January 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Thanks for all the advice...IamScrooge: I have tried what you are saying with my Big Muff, but I literally have to set the gain on the marshall to around 1, which is not really what I'm looking for! I think the harshness of a fuzzbox is the major problem, so a BOSS (not a fan of them to be honest) super overdrive or similar could be an idea. As for "darkening" the tone, I basically want to get my marshall to sound more like a Mesa Boogie, but I'm not holding out for a miracle in that department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScrooge Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Aaaah, yes, dont we all Nah, it really sounds like the Big Muff is not the pedal for you, I dont really like it either. If I were you I'd try out a boss DS-1, simply because of the rep they have amongst some of the bigger names in guitar. That particular pedal seems to be one of 'those' things that just work really well and havn't changed in years, you know, like VOX AC30s or Fender Twins or that Alesis drum module from the 80s etc.Something like the T-twin COULD work however...in your effects loop! Well, not 'in' your effects loop, but if you plugged it into the effects return. This would essentially be bypassing your marshall preamp. You should try putting an amp modeller (properly set up!!! Disable the speaker emulation!!!) through your amp in this way, using the effects return, and see if you like that. POD2s are cheap on the 'bay, you could also try the boss amp modelling 'twin' pedal, the GT-6, the vox tonelab(meant to be good!) or even the Beh...beh...*cringe*...behringer...*spit*...v-amp.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 for adding gain to a drive sound, have a look at an overdrive of some sort ,something like a tubescreamer (or one of the many boutique clones) or a Boss SD-1crank up the volume on the pedal and it should boost the front end of your amp, and therefor the gain, if you want a darker sound, look for one with an eq in it too so you can set it as you like (a tubescreamer traditionally has a mid hump to the eq curve, but you get many clones now with more control)running a normal fuzz generally won't work with a high gain sound, as the gain of the fuzz just overloads the gain the amp already has and causes it all to turn to mush, a lower gain sound with high volume can push the amp to distort more thoughthere is the zvex machine, which looks like an awesome pedal, its not for the faint of heart though, and not a nice sound I am very tempted by one for a huge nasty sound for the over the top momentsDavid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britheguy Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 I agree with some of the guys above. In some cases less is more. I've had the same problem in the past. Now I start with low gain settings and push them up until I get the sound I'm looking for (don't always get it, you know how it is;))If you use other pedals try moving them around in the chain. I have a Moonrock and a Zvex SHO, when I used they together it was terrible. Took either out and it was bliss again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 iv got a jcm800 and i just bought an mxr zakk wylde overdrive pedal, it sounds really beefy. like the guys said above, start with the gain low and work from there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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