Who else never really uses the drive block(s)?

I use some of them.

Like @1234 I use the FET boost in front of an AC30 / cleanish amp for that The Edge sizzle. It's not the same as just turning up the amp gain.
 
I use the input boost in the amp block more than anything. Neutral for Clean tones and FAS Boost for everything else.
 
SDD in front of the clean/EoB amp just adds a little something beautiful that is really hard if possible to achieve with amps controls alone.
And shred thing just screams "enable Horizon Precision" - it adds something necessary to the attack.
And much prefer in-amp boost over Sat switch when even more gain is required.
 
Blues OD or Klon on occasion. Mostly just straight amp distortion. If I do use a drive pedal, I generally bring the mix down so as not to overwhelm the amp's tone.
 
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Beside fuzz i never use the drive block...IMHO it does not add anything just takes away from tone, dynamics, feel etc. My mind says "why should i put a drive infront of twin reverb to (try) make it sound like a plexi....when i have the plexi in the box and i don't need it louder than 75dB to sound good."

But i understand also some get the tone, feel they want with drive infront of an amp, so not judging, just not my cup of tea...these drive blocks.

p.s.: occasionally I use the input boost in amp block which is just a preset EQ with gain.

p.s.: if you put a gun on my head and say "you have to use the drive block" than the Klone or Esoteric RC would the ones i go with, they retain the amp character more than most I tried.
 
Never really used drive blocks until I forayed into the Fender models. Growing up it was always a Marshall with Boss Eq for more but remember an early bandmate using a Fender Deluxe and a couple drive pedals in front and it sounded great. With the fact the Fender is a great clean amp, it covered a little more ground than I could, even with volume rolled down.
Diving into this in this now on the unit, I've rediscovered how good this can sound. I still don't really use drive blocks in front of a distorted amp, but there is something to a drive or stacked drives into a loud clean amp.
 
tysonlt said:
I use them on every sound.

I don’t like switching amps because the EQ profile changes and I find that jarring. So I mostly stick with the amazing Revv orange and use channels on a drive pedal to change it up. Klon on all the time, and switch to something more aggressive when needed.
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I use them in front of amps often, and for the same reason you do. Sometimes I use the boost in the amp block, sometimes I use a separate drive block, but like you, I don't care for the massive change in eq profile when switching amps mid song.

I also use them to pre process audio going into a looper, or post process audio going out of a looper, so the loops and the guitar sounds are different.
 
I mainly use the amp gain, but with the introduction of the Klone drive I've added it to a few of my presets. I don't delve into the high gain stuff nearly as much as the metal players do, though.
 
🙋‍♂️ I have never really been a dirt pedal guy. I mean, use/used them to goose the front end of an amp, shave off some bottom end etc. But I’ve never been able to get along with the sound of just dirt pedals into a clean amp. Just doesn’t sound or feel right to me. Every time I have either tried that with hardware or models, played at home and gigs just never gets me there. But, if it’s a fly festival with backline, 40min on in 5 type deal, I’ll just take 2 or 3 loose dirt pedals and run them into whatever is provided and call it a day.
 
never tried to not use drive pedals in my fm3 before this topic lol.

Strange because I've barely ever used od pedal when I had tube amps.

So I tried to tweak an 1959SLP with no drive and just the input boost for solo like I used to do when I had a Cornford RK100 (love) and it is really great! I just put a comp block with the FB sustainer if I want to push a little more.

Really great topic, it's easy to forget that before I had a fractal I didn't need 58 pedals and 89 mod/delay effects.


but PLEASE @Admin M@ bring back the Cornford RK100 !!!! I know we have the MK50II but the RK100 is a really different amp.
 
I’ll say with the Hendrix song I cover there is no other way to get that sound outside of the Fuzz emulation in the drive block. It’s perfect.
 
I rarely use drive blocks because I always considered them an old school workaround for tune amps that didn’t have enough preamp gain or couldn’t be turned loud enough for power amp distortion. This limitations don’t exist in the Fractalverse.

The exception for me is drives as effects like fuzz. Occasionally, I may use a drive when replicating a famous guitarist’s signal chain. Some of them use a drive as a tone shaping device.
 
I find myself using drive blocks for boosts mostly to shape the amp response or create a solo sound that cuts differently in the mix but I also use the parametric and compressor blocks in similar fashion. Most of the gain is the initial amp sound unless I have to switch very quickly in a song.
 
skolacki said:
Amp boost is great. I wish FAS would add a Klon flavored amp boost. I make the rounds but always end up on the Neutral boost. That’s how I use my drives, mostly as a boost, and that’s usually the Klon. I prefer getting my distortion from the amp block, it sounds better to me.
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CC boost adds a very distinct character. I use that or neutral
 
Ok, so we're on page 3 which is where most threads get derailed (sometimes on page 2). With that in mind, I'll offer that I don't always use a drive block but when I do it's the King of Tone (Tone of Kings). Sure I sound super naive but I would never have known of this pedal if it weren't for FAS. IMHO it hands down beats the Klon every which way. I have tried to like the Klon (because of the hype) but I keep coming back to the TOK.
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Everything has been said. On FM3 for CPU limit reasons and as we do not have the possibility to use 2 parallel Amp blocks, I use both the Amp boost option of the Amp block and the drive settings whatever tone does the job for me. Drive block mostly for fuzz as it accesses to tones I cannot get out of the Amp block (or maybe with weird Amp settings that are beyond my capabilities).
In a former real Amp life I had a tube driver, 4 button that would blow hell out of the amps but sometimes it was too much and I wasn't really happy with that.
 
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