That Pedal Show – Balancing Dynamics With Clean & Drive Sounds Into Big & Little Amps

Life too short for long YouTube videos? Please see the ‘Interesting bits and go-to sections’ information below.

In this episode we discuss the massive subject of balancing clean and dirty sounds in terms of volume and feel. It’s really all about gain structure and amp headroom – topics that we’ve touched on in many videos to date because they are absolutely fundamental to electric guitar tone.
We use a Marshall Class 5 combo and a 1987x half stack – 5 and 50-watt amps respectively to – to help illustrate the concepts discussed, hopefully offering some useful advice and pointers along the way. Enjoy the episode!

Pedals in this episode…

• TheGigRig Three2One

• Boss BD-2 (old Keeley mod) but try the Waza Craft Blues Driver…

• Kingsley Page V2 Tube Boost

• Keeley D&M Drive

• Origin Effects Cali 76 Compact Deluxe Compressor

• Providence Chrono Delay

• MXR M300 Reverb

• Strymon TimeLine

Amps in this episde:
• Marshall Class 5 combo (version 1)

• Marshall 1987x & 1960AX 4x12 cabinet (with Celestion G12M Greenback speakers)

Interesting bits and go-to sections…
- Intro & background: 00:00
- What are we doing today? 3:24
- Today’s amps – Big Jim & Little Jim: 5:34 (playing at 6:15)
- 5-watt and 50-watt ‘clean’ sounds: 7:00
- Today’s amp volume settings: 8:30
- Kingsley Page OD set dirty-ish, intro Big & Little Jim: 10:30
- … and then much louder with less gain: 13:38
- Using an OD pedal for dynamic ‘clean’ sounds: 14:56
- But what if I only have one amp? 17:36
- What happens when you crank Little Jim? 18:35
- Keeley-modded BD-2 with Big & Little Jim: 19:55
- What about getting more of a volume boost? 22:35
- Heavier gains and balancing volume: 24:55
- Compression pedal with Big & Little Jim: 35:50
- Guitars disappearing with fuzz? 41:38
- …and sitting under vocals? 42:38
- …but then the solo comes: 43:04

Guitars in this episode

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[geetarbube]

I propose a "Full Band Friday" to demonstrate how these ideas sit in the mix

[michaelsaulnier]

Dan's comments on recording his gig where he didn't turn up all night points out something I think is important. Almost every paid gig I've played in the last 20 years, my amp has been mic'd and the signal sent through the PA. So, sometimes when you step on a pedal and your sound "goes away" to your ears... through the PA is isn't necessarily the case... although on stage is often the worst place to know for sure. If you run back to your amp and turn it up... the sound guy reacts... now, the battle is on. we've gotten to the point where we make the sound guy a part of the band, make them come to rehearsals, know the songs, when to turn things up or down, etc.and I "trust" that even if I'm having a problem hearing my stage volume correctly, they're making sure the audience isn't having the same problem. It let's me choose all my settings for pedals and amp volume in rehearsal, and be confident they are working for live use. Great episode again guys! My favorite youtube channel!

[alexsawyer]

Mick, as an audio engineer I always appreciate when you correct "sound guy" to "engineer"

[patrickcarroll]

Mick always wears slightly darker jeans than Dan. I don't know why I noticed this. Great show this week!

[jep]

Bravo, Guys!
THIS is what really keeps me coming back to your show. Thanx, once again, for this extremely valuable discussion/instruction - keep up the good work and keep'em coming!
J.

[ryanholio]

Even on holiday, I can't miss this. Watching from sunny corfu in a water park 😎

[robdavis]

BD-2 chapter about 20:20, “Limiting rather than compressing.” Love this. One little thing said so nonchalant, but a huge concept. Awesome as always, thank you D&M.

[ArticulateGuitar]

Y'all, there aren't that many channels that are consistently raising the bar on their content value like yours. This was absolutely brilliant. You're like the Bill Nye The Science Guy(s) of this stuff. Rich in info, but delivered so everyone watching want to hang out with you after the video's over. So good.

[Strat]

All time favorite episode for me. Answered some questions and found the process/demonstrations really engrossing. Well done gents, well done!

[HarryAndAGuitar]

Not missed one of these for well over a year now, LOVE IT

[PaisleyWilde]

Ahhh that point of using an always on to make your higher wattage amp behave like a lower wattage amp was so on point. That is exactly what I do.

[Dorianification]

Mick..you're so good at responding to the changes when Dan makes a change, and vice versa. Love your show.

[boojbah]

Hellecasters' Menage: The Beak/The Claw...LOVE IT!!! Continue to enjoy the shows; keep up the great work!
jimmy

[ollies]

I'd love to see more episodes that entirely focus on one classic amp like the hot rod deluxe episode. A twin reverb episode would be great

[OttoBillstrom]

This is great! This is something which I feel many of my fellow bedroom noodlers might face in terms of balancing gain contra clean sounds :) Thanks for making these vidd guys! I for one really feel my playing and tonal understanding develop every week!

[TheRealReTox]

Great video, the points made about dynamics, headroom, etc. aren't just a live problem, they're huge to good recording too. "The volume is in the mix" as they say, and what you think is loud is not loud until you get all those instruments with their frequencies and amplitudes jumbled up in that thing we call music.

I'm amazed how most of the mastering I do involves lowering the volume to make the whole mix sound louder. It's counter-intuitive when you haven't mapped out your frequencies and gave each instrument their own space. Like that 'perfect tone' we're all chasing, we also strive for the elusive 'perfect mix'.


Cheers Lads!

[mantashaft]

This is an episode I need to see again, and I believe play along to fully appreciate. I love these slightly more esoteric shows.

[gigajo]

One of the best, if not the best episode, because it answered so many of the questions I'm dealing with week in week out. Thank you so much!

[DomSchu]

This is so true. I usually have to keep my dirty channel turned up substantially louder than my clean channel just to handle this type of thing. It sound loud by itself, but once you mix it into a full band mix it disappears long before the clean tone does.

[Terryomalleyonline]

Where possible I use 2 amps at once. One clean the other dirty. I also ride the volume on the guitar. Dirt is like bourbon, best served in moderation. Great insights today from you both.