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Which amp heads are the top pedals platform
- Thread starter Golgo13
- Start date
What do you mean by "pedal platform?" You can run all your stompboxes into any amplifier, it's all about the tone and features you want, regardless of what you are doing to your signal chain.
Roland GR 88
Commercial User
In my opinion 'amps that take pedals well' is a marketing phrase dreamt up when the pedal market exploded.
Obviously, low what tube heads may have a certain inherent sound when turned up loud but most amps can be run clean enough to be a canvas for your collection of colours.
Obviously, low what tube heads may have a certain inherent sound when turned up loud but most amps can be run clean enough to be a canvas for your collection of colours.
Some hi gain tube heads don't really gel with dirt pedals. They'll end up sounding like a hair dryer. Other than that I can't really thing of anything.
For me since I've been using it for many years, the Aguilar TH 500 has been very collaborative with whatever I have thrown at it pedal wise.
Any (non-tube power) head should be very neutral if you plug into the FX return instead of input. It means the clean pre needs to be on your board but you wind up with a convenient bass-focused power amp/speaker package that's still easier to carry around than a FRFR PA speaker with similar volume output.
The answer can vary. I think of it as rigs that are relatively high fidelity, transparent, and dynamic.
High fidelity and transparent means the rig can clearly reproduce subtle variations in tone, rather than making everything sound the same. It does not necessarily mean the frequency response is perfectly flat. To my ears the Ampeg 810E lacks transparency. The cab has a strong voicing and IMHO tends to mask details. Basically what you hear is due more to the filtering and voicing of the cab than the tonal characteristics of the amp, bass, or effects.
In some instances a rig can be too detailed. For example, distortion can be fizzy and/or harsh if the highs are too detailed. I believe most who prefer driven tones pretty much hate tweeters. IME, the problem is not necessarily how high the response reaches. It's more about the quality of the tweeter and how well it is implemented. For example, the woofers may cutoff before the tweeter turns on, leaving a hole in the response. Another problem is there can be large phase errors over the range were both the woofer and tweeter are active. If the tweeter is turned up too much. The errors can emphasize harshness in the high mids and produce audible phasing.
Dynamic means the rig has plenty of headroom and can deliver a wide dynamic range with distorting or getting too squishy. Some preamps are designed to be gainy. By this I mean they tend to compress and drive fairly easily. Gainy amps tend to magnify any noise in your signal path.
High fidelity and transparent means the rig can clearly reproduce subtle variations in tone, rather than making everything sound the same. It does not necessarily mean the frequency response is perfectly flat. To my ears the Ampeg 810E lacks transparency. The cab has a strong voicing and IMHO tends to mask details. Basically what you hear is due more to the filtering and voicing of the cab than the tonal characteristics of the amp, bass, or effects.
In some instances a rig can be too detailed. For example, distortion can be fizzy and/or harsh if the highs are too detailed. I believe most who prefer driven tones pretty much hate tweeters. IME, the problem is not necessarily how high the response reaches. It's more about the quality of the tweeter and how well it is implemented. For example, the woofers may cutoff before the tweeter turns on, leaving a hole in the response. Another problem is there can be large phase errors over the range were both the woofer and tweeter are active. If the tweeter is turned up too much. The errors can emphasize harshness in the high mids and produce audible phasing.
Dynamic means the rig has plenty of headroom and can deliver a wide dynamic range with distorting or getting too squishy. Some preamps are designed to be gainy. By this I mean they tend to compress and drive fairly easily. Gainy amps tend to magnify any noise in your signal path.
The Mesa D-800+ seems to like working with my pedalboard. I run it direct into the front so I'm stacking a tube gain pedal on top of the amp's SS preamp, works quite well that way. I have NOT tried bypassing the amp's controls and going through the FX return and using the amp's power amp only. I really see no reason to when the board is working well in the front of the amp.Being a pedals lover I would like to know your opinions on the best amp heads for pedals effects? Tube or classD ? School me on the best pedals platform amps . Which amp would you choose for a pedals platform.
(sorry for my English I'm French)
I also have the Mesa Bass 800D and it definitely works a little different with my board than the D-800+. It's definitely not as sensitive to the two tube gain pedal when I'm already running high gain settings on the amp's tube preamp. Because of that I haven't used the board much with the 800D. But with the D-800+ it's been a lot of fun and works really well.
The Genzler Magellan plays with pedals really well. Love it.
The GK MB series, I had the 500, are a great platform for effects.
I plug my effects boards into a variety of amps (Hartke, Ampeg, Markbass and Fender, in the past GK, Trace) and it's irrelevant other than the differences in the amps generally. I set them all to sound like I like it...not too dark, not too bright (even with tweeters on), enough mids to be heard. If an amp has no compressor/limiter I'll put one in the amps send/return, otherwise effects go in the regular input. No amp brand is superior as to effects.
The answers above hit the mark and you should read each one of them twice.
Tube preamps and tube power sections could have some issues with pedals that are already compressing the tone. You might end up with too much compression and/or the greatest tone you have ever achieved. Only your ears can tell you!
Tube preamps and tube power sections could have some issues with pedals that are already compressing the tone. You might end up with too much compression and/or the greatest tone you have ever achieved. Only your ears can tell you!
What is said above.
That said, I really think it's more of a guitar amp thing/concern, with actual playing volume a necessary factor in the analysis if dirt is the point. For example, I have a 50w. Boogie that sounds like heaven, but getting optimal overdrive out it means playing louder than Dawg. But, it also makes a great pedal platform. Conversely, I have a 50w. Jubilee that has the FET pull switch on the rhythm setting that sounds very good even at low volume, but can be loud and clean and is great w/ pedals, and the lead setting is stellar (think, Slash, Bonamassi, etc.), but quite loud to get the most out of it. Then there's stuff like the HRDX that notoriously sounds not-so-good with it's own gain turned up, but is an excellent such "platform" and gets plenty of "clean" loud at 40w.
I have 25 watt Soldano-designed Jet amp that sounds great, but doesn't like pedals at all except the most basic reverb or modulation. - otherwise it just goes mush, at any usable volume, because it's always in overdrive (and yes, I have swapped in the 12AU7 like ya do, and it's just a high gain amp - that I do like).
My bass amps don't seem to do that mush out thing unless really cranked to the point of silly (HD135, PF500, PF50t, Rumble 25, DG 200).
That said, I really think it's more of a guitar amp thing/concern, with actual playing volume a necessary factor in the analysis if dirt is the point. For example, I have a 50w. Boogie that sounds like heaven, but getting optimal overdrive out it means playing louder than Dawg. But, it also makes a great pedal platform. Conversely, I have a 50w. Jubilee that has the FET pull switch on the rhythm setting that sounds very good even at low volume, but can be loud and clean and is great w/ pedals, and the lead setting is stellar (think, Slash, Bonamassi, etc.), but quite loud to get the most out of it. Then there's stuff like the HRDX that notoriously sounds not-so-good with it's own gain turned up, but is an excellent such "platform" and gets plenty of "clean" loud at 40w.
I have 25 watt Soldano-designed Jet amp that sounds great, but doesn't like pedals at all except the most basic reverb or modulation. - otherwise it just goes mush, at any usable volume, because it's always in overdrive (and yes, I have swapped in the 12AU7 like ya do, and it's just a high gain amp - that I do like).
My bass amps don't seem to do that mush out thing unless really cranked to the point of silly (HD135, PF500, PF50t, Rumble 25, DG 200).
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This is an concept guitar players throw around, not usually bass players since often times there isn't even an amp in the rig and amp options are much more limited compared to guitar. Guitar players are coming around to the idea of ampless gigs so the concept all together might be moot at this point. My Super Bassman 300 takes pedals just fine though, in case you were wondering.Being a pedals lover I would like to know your opinions on the best amp heads for pedals effects? Tube or classD ? School me on the best pedals platform amps . Which amp would you choose for a pedals platform.
(sorry for my English I'm French
My first choice, too. Second would be the new Seymour Duncan PowerStage. Maybe I'm mis-reading the hype but it's almost as if both were designed as power platforms with the resident pre as a secondary consideration which should be / can be bypassed. I own the Quilter and proclaim "shenanigans!".
Riis
I hope not, and I never will.
Attended a show last night with 5 bands, took this photo (there's a Marshall hybrid behind the actual '60's Deluxe Reverb):
Attachments
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,075
- 5
- 221,151
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
As a generality, amps that are heavily voiced typically don't make great pedal platforms with pedals that are also heavily voiced. Most overdrives are heavily voiced, the cascaded voicing elements often conflict and don't sound great.
This has been my experience with many different players and rigs over many years.
This has been my experience with many different players and rigs over many years.
Markbass LittleMark 58R orBeing a pedals lover I would like to know your opinions on the best amp heads for pedals effects? Tube or classD ? School me on the best pedals platform amps . Which amp would you choose for a pedals platform.
(sorry for my English I'm French
Aguilar AG700.
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Agreed 100%.
In my opinion, a "pedal platform" generally needs to have clean headroom and a neutral voicing. In some sense, the ultimate pedal platform is a DI into a PA-style power amp. But I have no problem running my boards into any of my amps as long as they are sized appropriately for the stage or room I'm playing.
