I'm looking for a good lead tone and I'm not sure if it should come through pedals before my Studio preamp, or if I should just get a different preamp and sell the Boogie. There's lots of good preamps to be had, both new and used, some of them for cheap too.
The case is that I like my clean sound very much. It has the right balance of brightness and midrange punch and the singing high-end harmonics that I love. Combined with a BJF Baby Blue OD I get a good, slighty overdriven tone too.
With those tones as my base I've decided to go looking for a distortion pedal that'll hopefully give me a lead sound I like. I've started out testing tube-based pedals. First out was the BadCat 2-tone, which I tested and then posted some comments about on the Huge Racks Inc. message board. As my comments show I didn't fancy it in the kind of setup I have, while it might sound great with a darker amp, and perhaps a guitar different from mine.
So my search continues. I've made contacts about testing the Soldano G.T.O. The Budda Zenman (or Phatman) are also interesting pedals. I've given the Zenman a short test with the same Carvin Legacy, and there's one on its way to me that I'll test more thoroughly. Once tested I'll post part II. Lastly there's the Tonebone pedals, of which the Hot British might be the thing to have. I'm on the lookout and will update the site should I find one.
Comments (3)
Well, the term "good lead tone" doesn't say much... When you mention Soldano etc. it seems you're looking for some high gain distortion sound. Is this the case? If so: have you considered checking out an ENGL (www.engl-amps.com)? They're designed and manufactured in Germany and are well known for extremely nice tones.
I bought a used "ENGL Preamp 530" recently and I think my search for a great high gain unit is over. It has a killer sound! Ok, it's not a pedal but a preamp. But does that really matter? You should try ENGL stuff. ;-)
Good luck and take care!
Posted by suckspeed | September 19, 2003 3:58 PM
Posted on September 19, 2003 15:58
I think the ambiguity in the term correctly reflects the undecided state I was in at the time. Don't think I really knew what I was looking for, except that I have a preference for tight higain lead-sounds, but I'm not still sure I'd have gone down that road if I could decide (the Budda Zenman had that lovely overdrive...)
I've heard lots of good things about Engl, and heard some recordings where those amps were used, and the sound was fenomenal. Haven't gotten around to test one yet though, there's a shop in Oslo that has one (a Powerball, I think).
The MIDI-controlled preamp (E580) did tempt me for a while though, but then I got my hands on a CAE 3+SE. It's now got the mandatory new tranny, and combined with a VHT 2/50/2 I have a tone I'm really satisfied with.
I'm still checking out stuff though, noticed that the same shop that has the Powerball also has two Radial Tonebone pedals that I want to try. Wouldn't be surprised if I got myself a E580 somewhere down the road... :)
Thanks for your comments!
Posted by morten | September 26, 2003 10:46 PM
Posted on September 26, 2003 22:46
I enjoy reading through this informal place. I will surely visit you again to see if anything new appears on it.
Good luck for the future.
Posted by Heidi | August 19, 2004 11:56 AM
Posted on August 19, 2004 11:56