Do pedals work with tube amps?
Using A Multi-Effects Pedal with A Tube Amp
Tube amps are just naturally better than most solid-state ones and many people think digital effects detract from tube amps rather than add to their sound. In my experience, it all depends on the pedal you're using and how you're using it.
Yes, you can use a distortion pedal with an acoustic amp. This can be a great way to get a unique sound, and it can also help to boost the signal of your guitar. Acoustic amps are full-range PAs, and while they don't sound as good as electric guitars, they do make a difference.
Plug your guitar into the 'input' jack of your pedal. Then plug the other cable into the output jack of the pedal. This cable then connects to the input on your guitar amp. Most amps have the guitar input on the front, while others have the input on the top or back.
most pedals are made for plugging into a guitar (instrument level) but is also used with drum machines and synths too (line level).
Any amp can take just about any pedal you throw at it. But it does take some deep knowledge of your gear in order to get the best tones out of your pedals. Over the course of the next few blogs, we'll take a look at popular amp types and how you can make just about any pedal sound great through them.
In a nutshell, tube amps are the go-to for most musicians – they're louder, smoother, and more responsive. Solid state amps are more, well, solid, and can take a bit more punishment then a fragile tube amp.
Effects pedals tend to sound better quality than the built-in effects found in many solid state amplifiers. Effects pedals are more fine tuned than amps to create different effects than amps which are a lot more complicated, hence a lot of the attention is focused elsewhere.
Every guitar pedal can be used to play electro-acoustic guitars. Any pedal, including an effect pedal, can produce incredible results if properly configured. Depending on the instrument, playing with a fuzz pedal will produce two contrasting tones.
If you only have one or two pedals, it's easy enough to use batteries or individual power supplies. Heck, some pedals even have them included.
Well, it's true in the sense that these pedals go before the amp, which does technically make them “pre”. But no. They aren't preamps, per se, which means you could stack an actual preamp with a Tube Screamer or an overdrive. This means that, technically, you can preamp a pedal that is pre-amp.
Do you put pedals before or after the amp?
As a general rule, modulation and time-based effects such as reverb and delay, should go in an amp's effects loop and all other pedals such as distortion, overdrive, fuzz, wah, compression, pitch-shift and boost should be placed in-front of the amp (before the effects loop).
( one more reason why all-tube amps are more desired than SS ). But with a clean sound, adding a compressor would help the notes sound more even than go up and down in volume. So, its a good addition in front of a tube amp.
You can run guitar pedals through the primary input of the amp or individual pedals into the 'effects loop' (usually reverb, delays, modulation) depending on the effect and the player's preference. So yes, any guitar pedal can be used for any amplifier.
Matching Levels
Connecting a line-level source to a mic-level input will cause the sound to be loud and distorted because the line-level signal is much stronger than what the mic input will accept.
Lastly, a line level signal can either be balanced or unbalanced. Unbalanced line inputs and outputs are generally only the 1/8" and RCA plugs connections that you see. RCA plugs can only ever carry a mono, unbalanced signal.
Guitar pedal connoisseurs will generally prefer amps with a high wattage (typically 60w +). That's because high-wattage guitar amplifiers offer immense power and clean headroom; qualities which give pedals that are routed through them more room to breath – so to speak.
Overdrive pedals can work on solid-state amps and tube amps equally well. I advise you to use it on the clean channel of the tube amp, although you can certainly plug this on the channel of your digital amp.
Most guitar pedals require 9V power (even many multi-effects pedalboards). If you have a guitar pedal with 9V written on it, make sure you use a 9V power supply or battery.
Tube amps are more responsive than solid-state amps, enabling you to play more dynamically and expressively. Due to their natural compression and harmonic distortion, they also tend to sound warmer and more musical.
Yes, tube amps are worth the price because they often feature high-quality components and excellent building quality.
How long do tube amps last?
Power tubes can last years in a light-playing situation while lasting only 6 months in heavy playing conditions. It is also dependent on how loud you play and for how long. Also if you don't correctly match up the impedances, this will put strain on the power tubes and wear them down much faster.
Can a guitarist play the guitar without a pedal? Yes. But the potential and power of an effect pedal are why most professional and amateur guitar players have at least one in their studio.
Unlike a lot of musicians out there, Eric doesn't tend to rely on many pedals to achieve his tone. Throughout the years chorus and distortion pedals have come and gone, but for the most part distorted tones have come straight from the amp and the guitar.
Many modelling amps also have a load of effects on board too such as delay, reverb, chorus, phaser, flange, even different types of distortion which means you don't have to buy individual pedals to add texture to your sound.
Ed Sheeran's Chewie II Monsta Looper is a lot more than just a loop pedal. It's basically a MIDI footswitch that controls a software plugin called Mobius 2 VST – this is running through Ableton Live.