OD Pedal - How do I get more of "that tone" for so

[Pearly Gator]

Last weekend was a greatl time of worship. We had a special celebration service at church.

I had been chasing a particular tone ever since I heard Steven Curtis Chapman's guitarist in concert. I found it with my Les Paul -> VoodooLab Sparkle Drive -> Art MP tube preamp -> Fender 80W 1X12 SS combo -> Celestion Rocket 50.

Great grind and chunk with just the right amount of lows, mids and highs. When a solo came up. I wanted to push that up, but the pedal was already maxxed out. I could increase the "master" volume, but the sustain was not there. How can I boost it for solos? Should I put a preamp booster before the SparkleDrive? Would a second SparkleDrive running in series get me there?

Thanks,

Gary

[Crunchyriff]

A volume pedal between the MP and the Fender will allow you to stomp the volume UP for solos, and back it down a tad for rhythm work. Morely has a Vol that allows you to preset a minimum level (IIRC) on it.

So, you'd dime it at the level you'd like the solos to be at, set the amp at the appropriate volume level; then bring the pedal down back 'into the mix' for the rest.

what 'master' are you goosing that is causing you to lose sustain? the MP?

[Pearly Gator]

Thanks for the reply, CR. With a good rhythm tone dialed in on the SparkleDrive, I cannot jume to a solo with more sustain and edge/distortion. That's why I was thinking a booster or compressor before the Sparkledrive may get me there. Perhaps I should go shopping for another distortion pedal. The Sparkledrive just sounds so sweet.

Gary

[Crunchyriff]

PG,

there are a few ways you can approach this. 1st, are you looking for just more sustain/crunch (and not a volume boost?) if so, you can indeed run one od or clean boost into another OD, "daisy chained" if you will. This is not exactly unconventional either; as many players have used this trick to get the right 'balance' between a grinding crunch, and a singing lead. The trick is to not goose the primary pedal with too much more grit as opposed to boost, that is, unless you want something VERY saturated.

If you were using an all-tube vintage-ish amp, you could accomplish virtually the whole thing just riding the volume knob of your guitar.

FWIW, I'm using three different OD boxes in my rig (whether just via the combo itself, or the whole schmear): Maxon 808, Boss SD-1, Fulltone FDII. There are certain presets I have programmed in my switching sys that will select one or two of these (but not all three!) depending on what kind of texture and grit I need.

Helpful hint: if you are unaware, the Maxon 808 is the direct clone of the original TS808 circuit (Maxon built the pedals, years ago for Ibanez) and they are a REAL cool pedal...but Ibanez just recently forced Maxon to stop building that box, so the prices have almost doubled on them. There are still deals on them out there if you are a "smart shopper"- not all have boosted the prices yet.

Anyway, you set the sparkledrive to where you like it, and then boost that signal to taste with your second OD/clean boost box. Considering you are running it into a solid-state amp, & considering you have your main crunch via the SD you already have, (and AREN'T driving any preamp tubes) I'd be inclined to put the second box BEFORE the sparkle drive, and set it up to nudge the SD into some singing action.

You may have to play around a bit with the order you have them in for you to get optimum results with your amp. I'd almost be inclined to suggest something along the lines of the MXR MicroAmp.