I'm confused about overdrive/boost etc and volume changes

[BtaylorTheRogue]

Okay, I understand a bit of boost can be nice, but are these supposed to be always-on?

People talk about changing or boosting to different gain stages, and surely that has to massively affect final volume.

Do people not care about their final volume? I've always tried to make sure my volume is mostly consistent no matter what pedals are on.

What am I missing?

 

[Krisfield]

A clean boost can make an instrument touch sensitive.

 

[soulman969]

A clean boost could be "always on" if it's purpose it to boost the signal of pickups with lower output. I've used mine that way with some of my guitars.

But it could also be used to raise volume for a clean solo or to overdrive an amp without using a "dirt pedal". In this case volume will increase as well as distortion if the player is pushing the amp hard enough.

 

[dave_bass5]

Okay, I understand a bit of boost can be nice, but are these supposed to be always-on?

People talk about changing or boosting to different gain stages, and surely that has to massively affect final volume.

Do people not care about their final volume? I've always tried to make sure my volume is mostly consistent no matter what pedals are on.

What am I missing?

If each pedal has a level or output knob then its easy to balance each stage of the chain. Going to different gain stages doesn't necessarily mean different volume levels.
Also, depending on the tone produced when a pedal is engaged you may well need to increase the output level to keep the perceived volume consistent.

 

[lz4005]

Do people not care about their final volume? I've always tried to make sure my volume is mostly consistent no matter what pedals are on.

What am I missing?

If you're pushing a tube amp into saturation, there's a natural compression (running out of headroom) that happens that makes the volume increase not nearly what you'd experience putting those same pedals in front of a clean amp.

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

If you're pushing a tube amp into saturation, there's a natural compression (running out of headroom) that happens that makes the volume increase not nearly what you'd experience putting those same pedals in front of a clean amp.

So the pedal jacks up signal volume, and the amp clips off the increase, resulting in (good) distortion?

 

[lz4005]

So the pedal jacks up signal volume, and the amp clips off the increase, resulting in (good) distortion?

Basically, yes.
There is usually still some volume increase, but it is manageable.
Some people will put compressors, limiters or volume pedals in the effects loop of the amp to minimize the volume difference even more. Or run a compressor between the amp and the board for the same reason.

 

[theunknowndude]

Or as stated you could boost into another pedal to get more gain (ie boost into Overdrive to get more grind) but then lower the volume later in the chain so you still had same levels.

 

[ottisiscool]

On my Fender jazz bass, a clean boot is okay, but on my 3TBS Lakland hollow body, its noisy . Every time I touch the body you can hear it. And between songs you really have to be careful, touching are banging the body, so I don't use a clean boost anymore, i don't seem to have that problem as much with just an overdrive pedal.