2 Distortion Pedals in Tandem

Scriptor · #1 05-02-2013, 09:49 AM

Has anyone tried using 2 distortion pedals in tandem on your pedal board? If so, I would be interested in what you found. Positives, negatives, tips etc. And was it something that became a permanent part of your setup?

Thanks.

mikealpine · #2 05-02-2013, 10:00 AM

I don't know if this counts, and I am really very new at the electric side of things and using effects, but I put a Boss Overdrive in front of a Tube Screamer and primarily use the Screamer as a boost. It can be crunchy on its own, but I hit it when playing rhythm and want to jump into a solo. Yes I can use the volume on my guitar or a volume pedal, but I set the TS with a particular level of volume and some additional overdrive so that it really helps my guitar get to a good soloing sound. I find it much easier than the other options to simply hit the pedal and hit it again when I'm done and want to play rhythm again.

Grenade · #3 05-02-2013, 10:23 AM

I use a Visual Sound Double Trouble ( 2 tube screamers ) and a Boss Blues Driver. All 3 on at the same time makes the tubes in my Bassman go ape****, in a ggood way.

terrapin · #4 05-02-2013, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grenade

I use a Visual Sound Double Trouble ( 2 tube screamers ) and a Boss Blues Driver. All 3 on at the same time makes the tubes in my Bassman go ape****, in a ggood way.

OD is way different than Distortion. Stacking OD pedals=great if done right. Stacking 2 Distortion pedals=MUD!!! (IMHO)

johntoste · #5 05-02-2013, 03:58 PM

I use a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 before an HAO Rust Driver. For Stones type crunch, I use the FD2. For Steely Dan style solos, I might use the HAO. For Hendrix type solos, I engage them both and hold on tight.

jazzrat · #6 05-02-2013, 09:26 PM

I have a VS Open Road set up with just a slight bit of crunch.
It's very transparent as is the Wampler Euphoria behind it. They overlap a bit
but the Wampler has a lot more versatility on tap.
I use my old standby FD2 when I want that mid-boosted Tube Screamer tone.
I am extremely pleased with this combo.

clintj · #7 05-02-2013, 10:03 PM

I've fed a Bluesbreaker clone into a Big Muff before with some fun results. The first acted as a volume boost for the second, plus some really interesting tone when I play with enough attack to push the Bluesbreaker into overdrive. FET preamp pedals into distortion and OD pedals are fun, too.

Steven Bollman · #8 05-02-2013, 10:12 PM

I use a Bearfoot Honey Bee OD and an old Ibanez Tube King. Pure bliss!

Dru Edwards · #9 05-04-2013, 09:34 AM

I've tried 2 OD pedals in tandem and also 1 distortion and 1 OD pedal in tandem but not 2 distortion pedals. I've only tried it a couple of times because I felt I didn't need it for my stuff. The 2nd OD for a boost during solos.

Positive is that you can get a little more gain and volume boost using the 2nd OD. Negatives are that you can get a little too saturated if you don't watch your levels.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was known for using 2 tube screamers in tandem.

terrapin · #10 05-05-2013, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I've tried 2 OD pedals in tandem and also 1 distortion and 1 OD pedal in tandem but not 2 distortion pedals. I've only tried it a couple of times because I felt I didn't need it for my stuff. The 2nd OD for a boost during solos.

Positive is that you can get a little more gain and volume boost using the 2nd OD. Negatives are that you can get a little too saturated if you don't watch your levels.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was known for using 2 tube screamers in tandem.

Yes, SRV dd like to stack two TS's, but I think stacking two of the same OD is quite a bit different then two different pedals. The 2 of the same scenario is like a high gain version of one alone. 2 different pedals IMO just obscures the individual sound. I stack one of my OD's ALOT with my Durham Sex Drive which is really a boost with a bit of "attitude". SRV's stacked TS's were both set pretty low gain wise to preserve headroom in each circuit. Thus the clear crisp nature of his OD sound.

Scriptor · #11 05-05-2013, 08:20 PM

I have been trying this out this week ... to my ears and ways of playing, I think stacking the Distortion with OD produces better results than stacking two Distortions (of the same kind) ... (time to give my son his distortion unit back) ...

(also, I did not like stacking 2 OD's ... and I found that some OD's stack better with Distortion than others ... and it takes some tweaking, but I did get some pretty good sounds running Distortion into one of the OD's ... I wouldn't use it often anyway ... I am far more of a clean tone guy at heart)

guitarnate · #12 05-10-2013, 02:07 PM

I think a lot of times when people say distortion, they're really talking about overdrive. Stacking distortions can be a bit muddy sounding, but stacking overdrives can be wonderful. I actually have 5 overdrives on my board and will use different combinations to get unique tones.

There are a couple of general schools of thought. I personally like to start with lower gain OD's and gradually move to higher gain. Another great guitarist I play with does it exactly the opposite - he goes highest gain to lowest.

One thing to keep in mind is the higher the gain, the more compression you get. So if you want to use a clean boost or light overdrive as a solo boost, it's best to put this one after all of your overdrives. If you put it before, instead of getting a boost, you get a more compressed, more intense overdrive sound, but not exactly a boost.

One of the main things is to find pedals that play nicely together.