USB Connector Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Hey, you guys were super helpful when I was in the market for a guitar upgrade, so here I am asking for help one more time. I've got a 50 watt Roland Cube amp and a Fender standard Strat SSS. Due to the lack of a humbucker pickup and relatively limited distortion settings on the amp it's a bit difficult to get a proper metal sound or a full bluesy sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan. However I usually have no trouble getting a fuzzier version of ZZ Top. What's really missing from the sounds I can make with my setup is...well...I guess crunch would be the best word to describe it. I know that I've probably got the wrong guitar for this but is there a pedal that might help me get a similar sound to ? How much does a good pedal typically cost? Any tips for selecting one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rush_Experience_Band Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Maybe get a humbucker installed, something like a duncan custom custom or custom 5? As for pedals check these out: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Ibanez Tube screamer. Aside from that I cannot recommend distortion pedals. I have an old MXR Distortion+ that is from the late 70s so it sounds ok. Dunlop changed the components so they don't sound the same anymore. Even with the original design it can get a little scratchy sounding. It's best after the battery juices down a little. I have an Ibanez multi effects from the early 80s that has an "overdrive" section but it is the Tube a Screamer circuit. I've A-B it with a Tube Screamer and they yield the same results with corresponding settings. Most transistor distortion pedals are scratchy and harsh sounding but the Ibanez is pretty smooth. The best distortion comes from tubes and that can't be done in a pedal. Not enough power to drive a tube. If you come across a tube distortion pedal it works opposite of the way an amp does. The distortion comes from straining the input rather than overloading it so they don't sound right. So my suggestion is to trade your amp for a tube amp then get a good preamp like a BB+ which makes tube amps sound great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Analog Grownup Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I concur. No pedal will make a crappy amp (sorry for that but a Roland Cube ain't exactly the Rolls Royce of guitar amps) sound satisfying. If you experience ear fatigue that might be the reason why. Save the money and upgrade somewhere else, either a humbucker pickup or a tube amp. If not then it sounds from the video clip that you need a Boss Metal Zone or something like that. :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USB Connector Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I get the feeling that an unnatural sound would bother the hell out of me. I've got this one setting on the amp that I really love to use simply because it's so smooth. I'm not sure how much of a difference a humbucker pickup will make. I'll ask a buddy of mine to bring over his old epiphone. The body is closer to that of an SG but his pickups are 2 single coils and a humbucker so I'll see what kind of sound that might get. About how much would it cost to replace a single coil pickup with a humbucker? Thanks everyone. You've saved me ~$100. As for getting a new amp, well...I don't think I want to shell out another few hundred bucks on gear any time soon.It sucks that Rocksmith and an old PA speaker makes a better metal sound than my cube. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USB Connector Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I concur. No pedal will make a crappy amp (sorry for that but a Roland Cube ain't exactly the Rolls Royce of guitar amps) sound satisfying. If you experience ear fatigue that might be the reason why. Save the money and upgrade somewhere else, either a humbucker pickup or a tube amp. If not then it sounds from the video clip that you need a Boss Metal Zone or something like that. :) No offense taken. I gave myself a budget for a guitar and amp and stuck to it. Out of all of the guitar and amp combinations I tried that fit into that range I liked this one best. I knew $200 wouldn't get me the best amp in the world but I can get a good sound for anything that's not metal or a heavier blues rock. It makes a kick ass fly by night and The Seeker type sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USB Connector Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Ibanez Tube screamer. Aside from that I cannot recommend distortion pedals. I have an old MXR Distortion+ that is from the late 70s so it sounds ok. Dunlop changed the components so they don't sound the same anymore. Even with the original design it can get a little scratchy sounding. It's best after the battery juices down a little. I have an Ibanez multi effects from the early 80s that has an "overdrive" section but it is the Tube a Screamer circuit. I've A-B it with a Tube Screamer and they yield the same results with corresponding settings. Most transistor distortion pedals are scratchy and harsh sounding but the Ibanez is pretty smooth. The best distortion comes from tubes and that can't be done in a pedal. Not enough power to drive a tube. If you come across a tube distortion pedal it works opposite of the way an amp does. The distortion comes from straining the input rather than overloading it so they don't sound right. So my suggestion is to trade your amp for a tube amp then get a good preamp like a BB+ which makes tube amps sound great. I'll look into the tube screamer. Hopefully a nearby music store has one so I can try it out. It will also give me a chance to experience this unnatural sound.Also, thanks so much for explaining how pedals work. I really appreciated that. :ebert: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 There are some better inexpensive tube amps available these days. They are not perfect, but you can get some good sounds from them. I have a Marshall Class 5 that I got for about $250 used. It's a bit of a one trick pony though, but it is excellent at what it does. The small Fender solid states can be hit or miss. The Line 6 amps may sound a little more satisfying than the Roland. I have a friend who has a medium sized Line 6 combo and it has a lot of variety for the money and will sound a lot closer to things you like. You might be able to find a used one for not much more than a pedal, or maybe a little bit more. But if you find one in a store you might get a decent deal on a trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USB Connector Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 I remember trying a marshall amp while shopping for my guitar. It was rather large and slightly outside my price range. I didn't choose it because it was amazingly good at doing AC/DC, Zeppelin and Sabbath type rock, but I found it to fall flat for pretty much everything else when compared to the other amps I tried. Given yours was $250 used I doubt it was the amp you bought. I think the one I tried was ~$325 new. Anyway thanks again. I'll save up and one day I'll up a new amp. I looked up how much a pickup would be. I found Seymour Duncan that makes various kinds of replacement pickups for strats and they cost $80 to $150 depending on the model (the ones labelled rock/metal tend to be in the upper region). So I guess with installation will come closer to $200, and at that point may as well just get another amp and keep the original parts so I can go back to that really smooth tone that I love from the SSS pickups. As for amp trade ins. To my knowledge my local music stores don't sell used items so I don't think they do trade ins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 It is illogical that a music store on Vulcan would not accept trade ins, captain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USB Connector Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Mr Spock, a proper music store is several light years away. There are stores like Archambault nearby but they are not specialty music stores. There is only one music store that can be reached solely on impulse but Starfleet has given us specific orders never to return there after the insults we received during our mission to buy a first drum kit many years ago. Edited January 22, 2014 by USB Connector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 A great entry level tube amp is the Fender Blues Jr. Don't let the name fool you. It will take any overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal you put in front of it. You can even find Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III amps on Craigslist for $400. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Yeah the Fender Blues Jr. can be had really cheaply used. I want to get a Blues Deluxe myself. Been recording my buddy's and it is a lot more versatile than my Deluxe Reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USB Connector Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 A friend of mine lent me his Boss Metal Zone MT2. All knobs at the 12 o'clock position gave me a near perfect Thunderhorse sound. With a bit of tweaking it sounded just like the song without any unnatural sounding tones that you guys described. I also managed to get a tone very close to Black Sabbath's Paranoid by running it through the distortion channel on my amp as opposed to the clean one (for some reason the distortion channel gave the sound that fuzzy and almost static-y but metal sound that's present in the Paranoid guitar recording). He also offered to sell it to me if I decided I didn't want to give it back. I'm definitely going to consider it after I experiment to see what other sounds I can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now