Hey scotch, no apologies needed, and definitely not TMI! I'm an extreme rambler and debater at heart, but I try (with limited success) to control it on here, so I can appreciate others who also write a lot!
I agree with your comment about overdrives being transparent, but this is probably part of my struggle here. In the past, I used to use overdrive/fuzz pedals to help me *get* the tone that I was looking for, or to correct deficiencies (as I saw them) in my amp. Now, I have that outstanding tone, but I still want moments of extra punch or extra fuzz...except in this case I *don't* want the pedals to change the basic underlying tone at all (or as little as possible), if that makes sense. In an ideal world, the TH amps would have two channels, and I'd set one relatively cleaner and the other relatively dirtier - that would probably solve the problem!
I guess with the pedals that I had, I found that they were moving that basic tone too far from what I wanted, thus my search for "transparency", such as it is. It could be that I just have to reset my ears in terms of what I'm looking for and what the TH amp sounds like when driven.
All that said, I've heard two recommendations for the BB so far (a pedal I wouldn't have ever considered trying before), and I've always liked the tone of the Multidrive and its split up chunks, so maybe I'll look to those. I've also had a couple of suggestions for the Agro, which also makes some sense since it is (or should be) within the same tonal family. Never would have thought to try ZVex stuff before, but I have liked clips of the Valvedrive and I also enjoyed my OCD when I had it so maybe I'd like the Bass-Drive too.
This is all really helpful! I had you to partially blame before for my choice of a TH350 over the TH500, so maybe I'll also be able to attribute the dirt pedal choice your way too!
Thanks again!
I agree with your comment about overdrives being transparent, but this is probably part of my struggle here. In the past, I used to use overdrive/fuzz pedals to help me *get* the tone that I was looking for, or to correct deficiencies (as I saw them) in my amp. Now, I have that outstanding tone, but I still want moments of extra punch or extra fuzz...except in this case I *don't* want the pedals to change the basic underlying tone at all (or as little as possible), if that makes sense. In an ideal world, the TH amps would have two channels, and I'd set one relatively cleaner and the other relatively dirtier - that would probably solve the problem!
I guess with the pedals that I had, I found that they were moving that basic tone too far from what I wanted, thus my search for "transparency", such as it is. It could be that I just have to reset my ears in terms of what I'm looking for and what the TH amp sounds like when driven.
All that said, I've heard two recommendations for the BB so far (a pedal I wouldn't have ever considered trying before), and I've always liked the tone of the Multidrive and its split up chunks, so maybe I'll look to those. I've also had a couple of suggestions for the Agro, which also makes some sense since it is (or should be) within the same tonal family. Never would have thought to try ZVex stuff before, but I have liked clips of the Valvedrive and I also enjoyed my OCD when I had it so maybe I'd like the Bass-Drive too.
This is all really helpful! I had you to partially blame before for my choice of a TH350 over the TH500, so maybe I'll also be able to attribute the dirt pedal choice your way too!
Thanks again!
apologies, long answer!
First off, in my opinion, I'd say that "transparent overdrive" is an oxymoron! Overdrive is inherently a colored, clipped signal! That said, when people say "transparent" in terms of od to me - I usually direct them towards something that has a blend control for mixing in some clean tone. That usually makes them happy! Aslo, steering away from fuzzy, spitty or high-gain effects.
Secondly, in my experience there are amps that respond well to od/distortion/fuzz pedals and some that just don't. For example, SWR & Eden amps just don't appeal to me with dirt pedals - whereas Aguilar, Mesa and most (but not all) Ampeg amps do! I think this has more to do with the preamp stages and purpose of the amp design. That said, I've thrown the following at my TH350 all with great results!
Empress Multidrive
Fulltone Bass-Drive Mosfet
EBS Valve Drive
Xotic Bass BB Preamp
Z-Vex Mastotron
Z-Vex Box o' Rock
I think the Tone Hammer amps will play nice with almost any dirt pedal. If "transparent" is your thing (I interpret as "natural" or "controlled") find something with a blend control, real tube clipping or invest in a blending pedal (I swear by the Xotic X-Blender!). The Aguilar has a nice, forgiving front-end so there are dozens of great choices!
Some of my favorite 'moderate' overdrives that work well in a variety of ensembles/genres are the Empress Multidrive, Fulltone Bass-Drive Mosfet through an X-Blender (Mosfet with FM setting + Blender are crucial!) and Xotic Bass BB.
Hope that helps & isn't 'tmi'!
. Pretty amazing, open low end versus many other amps, and I think it is 4 pounds. I might just get a TH350 to keep in the car as a backup all the time. That tiny little form factor is very cool, and yes, these amps are LOUD.
