It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
I wouldn't use the boost pedal at all, that's obviously creating too much of a volume jump.
Although I haven't used a Sparkle Drive, I'd suggest turning the 'Clean' control all the way down to see if that enables you to turn the level right down as well.
(Confusingly it seems that the Antares clean blend works in the opposite way to the Sparkle Drive, but that shouldn't matter.)
Or is it that you want the amp to distort as well as the pedal?
If the clean amp is where you want it just swith on the pedal and adjust the gain to the amount of distortion you want then adjust the volume to set how loud it is. It should go from nothing at all - too loud. Somewhere in that sweep must be right.
The boost pedal is used to give a louder sound, mainly for 'ballad group' style intros. It only distorts very slightly. It is 'off' when the intro is ended. I do not use the boost and the SD together, that would be way too loud in our music room ( which is/was a bedroom before I dedicated it for music).
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
having spent time recording an acoustic, recording a DI against that acoustic, reamping the DI and playing the acoustic live against the DI, filming it, editing the film and uploading to YouTube just to illustrate that it is possible to get a drive sound at low volume with a Tubescreamer type pedal (which is what the sparkle drive is) this is the last time I’m going to say this….
TURN THE VOLUME DOWN ON THE SPARKLE DRIVE!!!!!!
as mentioned above, by myself and practically everyone who has commented…
turn the volume all the way down.
turn the clean blend all the way down
turn the gain UP
then…
adjust the VOLUME on the pedal to match that of your clean amp….
it is not a difficult thing to do… infact, when the 7 year old gets home from school I’ll do another video with him setting the levels on my rig in the studio if you like…
However, at this point I suspect you are just trolling everyone…
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
https://youtu.be/vnzBjE0CT9I
I have explained my problem and clarified on my reasons for needing a driven sound. The room is our family music room and it is mainly used to listen to music through our hi-fi system. My guitar kit is only setup when it is needed so it will be next week before I can try out the suggestions of @ICBM and @poopot. For practice and learning guitar I use my Pignose amp [and a Blackstar Fly Bass for bass] in our study [where the PC and another stereo system is in residence].
@slacker, I am not trolling or trying to upset members. I actually prefer the sound of a guitar plugged straight into an amp but the sounds I want are not always possible without the use of pedals. @BillDL I have no problem with modding my amp but the clean sound is so close to what I want that any power soak devices might give me the driven sound I want, but lose the sparkling cleans that I get right now. There is no FX loop on my amp, no doubt one could be added, and the use of a volume pedal as @fastonbaz suggested would probably work. But firstly, I will try the suggestions of ICBM and poopot.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Look at the j Rockett Dude, the Friedman BE, Bogner red blue and gold, any king of tone klone and make sure you try a rat and big muff or muffalike tm.
Lastly you will never get an exact drive tone you want without using two amps and an attenuator. A drive pedal is a compromise and using a drive pedal at low volume does not give you power amp or speaker distortion.
My home setup is what I rehearse with but my amp has power scaling. It doesn't sound as good but it works. Look for something that works for you.
I do use attenuation as well, but as a form of final master volume control to reduce noise and improve the clean tone and the amp’s *preamp* distortion, not to crank the power stage into overdrive.
Actual speaker distortion sounds terrible too. What’s often described as speaker distortion is really just compression.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It's a compromise.
No matter what settings I tried, I could not get the driven sound at all. Some distortion, yes, volume boost, yes, but that was as good as it got. It may be my amp, a SE valve amp, there might be a problem with my SD but at room volume levels [where a singer can be heard without amplification], the flowing 'liquid sounding' drive is not possible to achieve. Not on my rig anyway.
So thanks to all for your contributions, some sounds remain elusive. Getting the desired sound is not a life or death issue, it would be great if achieved but not at the expense of the 'normal' guitar sound that I get by default.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
The 'Air that I breathe' by The Hollies. The driven lead guitar sound.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Have you tried adding a phase effect, It sounds like there's a subtle time based modulation as well as the drive and reverb on the intro to "Air that I breathe".