Drive Pedal Heaven

If you want to try using a Marshall amp as a pedal platform amp, try lowering the treble around 0 on the amp. Works wonders. Some Marshall amp and cab combinations just have way too much treble on the tap for clean sounds unless you’re using the amp to provide the drive and just boost it with a boost pedal. Just had to suggest one of my artists to do this with his JCM800 and 4x10 1965 w/ G10-L35’s and he’s been sounding glorious ever since.

I kept the treble around 3-4, but the presence stayed at 0.

The eq controls on a jcm800 don't cover a lot in their sweeps (for those tinkering with settings).
 
I kept the treble around 3-4, but the presence stayed at 0.

The eq controls on a jcm800 don't cover a lot in their sweeps (for those tinkering with settings).
That’s true. I also keep the presence down on cleaner tones. Switching off the bright cap of course works, but then you lose some of the gain charasteristics of the amp if you want to drive the amp without pedals.
 
What makes you think a pedal is more compressed than an amp in overdrive, out of curiosity?

just turning on most of the drives makes me not think but hear/feel it. Push the amp input drive (in amp block, lets say ACB boost) and do same amount of volume push with a drive block / ACB).
 
Hoping some form of the drives update can be squeezed into the FM3 eventually.

I've always been a drive pedal guy, minimum of two on my boards, into Fender amps. Early on it was because it's what I had and could afford. Later on I tried several two-channel amps, could never find one that sounded great on BOTH channels, it was always only one or the other, and I NEEDED a clean channel. So I stuck with my pedal-platform Fender amps, even though I always had this little voice in the back of my head saying "amp distortion is better!"

When I first got a Fractal (Ultra in 2008), one of the things I wanted to do right away was stop using drive pedals in my virtual rigs and get all my gain levels with amp models. Because "amp distortion is better". It somehow didn't work for me, not back then, not when I moved into the II, the AX8 and now my FM3. My live presets still involve drive pedals always.

Some of it is that I simply still love the sound of a great pedal into a great amp, and the right combo of two drives stacked for liquid lead tones is still really hard to beat for my ears.

But part of it is a live consistency thing.

Early into my Fractal days, I also went big time down the IR rabbit hole. Thought it was so great in theory that I could have my ideal Fender amp/cab for base cleans, and then switch to crunchy Vox amp/cab or gained-out Marshall amp/cab rigs as easily as I always switched the drive pedals on my old Fender rigs. Long story, but it just didn't work well for me. In context of my bands it just ended up better to have one great consistent 'base tone' with different gain/dist levels on tap via footswitch.

So for years now, my live setups have consisted of a handful of presets, ONE single IR (the same in all of them), and only 2 to 3 amp models, but about 70% of the time I'm using the same amp model for basic edge of breakup clean. It's my meat-n-potatoes I still equate to my old Fender pedal-platform amps. Drive pedal blocks give me all levels of gain as I require, but the consistent underlying base tone of the amp and the IR is always there. Not a limitation, it's like the glue that sticks my guitar in the live mix properly and feels right. Simple and satisfying. It took a lot of trial and error to figure this out for myself back in the day, and I know many other players who work in totally different way with modern rigs, but I'm sticking with this.
 
I bought one drive pedal when I first got into guitar. It was a black MXR Distortion+. Hated the thing. Sounded like a can of bees. Of course I was playing it through a solid-state Crate so...
A completely forgettable distortion into a solid state Crate 1x12 was also my introduction to guitar. If you are looking for a way to completely turn a kid off to playing electric guitar, this is the answer! 🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
 
What makes you think a pedal is more compressed than an amp in overdrive, out of curiosity?
I learned this from Satriani, years ago. He said when he wants less dynamic range, he uses pedals - like when tracking to pre-recorded loops, or if he is doing a radio spot where being fully dynamic causes as many problems as it solves at the board.

I think its also that its easier to get the loud amp feel at less than super loud amp volumes with pedals - pre-Fractal at least. Now I don't need pedals for that.

Certain famous sounds are only possible with combos of amp and pedal. Fractal "messed that up" : ) by giving us deep amp controls, so a lot of what I used to get with a pedal in my tube days I can now get with the Fractal amp block alone, but its all good. It's another way to get 'there' and will be more intuitive for some coming over to a world we are used to.
 
My very first pedal was also an MXR Distortion+ (mustard version). I paid $20 for it at my neighbor's garage sale in probably 1980. The only way I liked it was to run it into my amp (also a Crate... CR112!!) set to overdrive. That drive-on-drive thing was so weird and inspiring. I'd play thick power chord rhythms along with my Double Platinum LP. I was hooked, though in retrospect I cannot imagine what it sounded like in terms of tone!!!

To this day, one thing I listen for in a sim is the sound of the drive as my fingers squeak on the wound strings the first thing I noticed about this update was the dynamic liveliness of the sounds. They just sound and feel better "all over".

Only thing that sucks right now is that since the storm last week, our power has gone off and on dozens of times, so I am really reluctant to leave any gear powered on. I actually have my Axe-Fx on a UPS.

PS:
Tempting... just to see what it sounds like!

https://reverb.com/item/34653739-mx...9.xZOOalNALd4mlRanzaNPbysz1jRoy_EFQ9EKFZsetvE

https://reverb.com/item/34976809-cr...9.QyBndiZlW4Wf9467ddaNLwo5oHJvs2pKrG5Ow2XzZlo

OMG you need to buy both of those RIGHT NOW!

I'd only have to buy a Gorilla GG-20 because I still have my first Boss DS-1 that I got when I was 14. I thought I sounded like Eddie Freakin' Van Halen with that amp and pedal.

News Flash ... I didn't.
 
Switching off the bright cap of course works, but then you lose some of the gain charasteristics of the amp if you want to drive the amp without pedals.

On most of my Marshall-type presets I tweak the bright cap value (along with presence/treble level) to keep some of the sizzle while smoothing it out a bit.
 
A completely forgettable distortion into a solid state Crate 1x12 was also my introduction to guitar. If you are looking for a way to completely turn a kid off to playing electric guitar, this is the answer! 🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
Me too - started off with the Crate G10 and the DOD FX56 I think. Then I graduated to a Crate G60 (with the fuzz on it!) and a Boss ME5. Haha
 
I didn't have a Distortion+ until later.

My first attempt at the overdriven sounds I heard on records was to hook up a load resistor to the speaker out of my Danelectro head, and plug in into my Bassman. Made me very happy at the time :)

My first ever drive randomly happened to be a Danelectro *Daddy O, though the first sound I remember ever wanting to emulate was Jimmy Page's Supro/tone bender combo.
 
Last edited:
Anyone else loving this update as much as I am? I've always been a "pedal platform" player.

The way I use drive blocks is to run two of them in series. One low gain, one low/med gain. Use both for "more". Try it!
I'm really digging parallel drive paths with two different types of drives, fuzz and FET for example.

Vary volumes to get that crystal like clean with a fuzzy aftertaste. Really neat stuff.
 
As I stated before I never used pedals in all my years of playing live. I bought one drive pedal when I first got into guitar. It was a black MXR Distortion+. Hated the thing. Sounded like a can of bees. Of course I was playing it through a solid-state Crate so...

That said I've been experimenting with the drives into various cleanish amps and really digging some of them. Into a Deluxe Reverb or Twin Reverb is doing it for me.
Any chance of getting that Crate modeled? Some people like the box of bees with all the requests for the HM-2. LoL
 
Anyone else loving this update as much as I am? I've always been a "pedal platform" player.

The way I use drive blocks is to run two of them in series. One low gain, one low/med gain. Use both for "more". Try it!
Having worshipped at the double-TS9 altar of Trey Anastasio for 30 years, I've long enjoyed stacking drive pedals to achieve layers and levels of gain on top of a nice, clean tone. From my early Standard and Ultra days I've thought Fractal models have done stacking well-enough, but with the drive overhaul firmware in Ares 3.02 and the work that's gone on in the III drive block it's no longer close enough. It's there. Stacking is glorious, as good as it ever was in my analog board days, possibly even better because I don't have to deal with finicky input and output impedences on esoteric fuzz boxes to get them to play nice together.

I was working on my kitchen sink stuff this weekend that runs three drive blocks in series for stacking fun. Still needs some more work to adapt to the 13.00b1 changes, but I'm really excited to share this one -- it sounds so fantastic.

I'm really digging parallel drive paths with two different types of drives, fuzz and FET for example.
I like to feed parallel drives with the crossover block. Fun to have fuzz on the low notes and distortion on the high notes.
 
Back
Top Bottom