Pedal for the CS50: boost / volume / od / blasphemy?

[Clockwork Patient]

I'm thinking of getting a single pedal to use with my Custom Shop 50, primarily just to make it a bit more versatile in terms of switching between sounds on the fly (the amp seems to clean up great using the guitar's volume, but I'm a bit of a fumbler when it comes to doing that during songs and I need quick, accurate changes).

So my question is, what would be the best pedal type to use with a CS50?

I guess my options are:

1) set the amp to my prefered cleanish sound and use a boost to drive it into higher gain.

2) set the amp to my prefered dirty sound and use a volume pedal to clean it up. This one has caught my eye http://www.sonuus.com/products_voluum.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and it also has other features that might be useful like gate, comp, trem. Also the ability to set min and max volumes.

3) set the amp cleanish and use an overdrive pedal to get higher gain sounds (the CS50 gain sounds are pretty awesome, so this might be a waste of time. I do find though that the higher gain is very, very smooth sounding and sometimes I would actually appreciate a bit more grit - would this be the way to achieve it?)

4) no pedals should ever be used with the CS50, ever!

Any ideas from the Orange experts? Thanks!

[msmith4432]

I would set it on the clean side and find an overdrive pedal you like. This does not mean that if you know a song requires mostly overdriven sounds that you can set the amp that way before the song and not use the pedal. I use the xotic bb preamp and it works well with the CS50, however I have never used the CS50 live only the or50

[Clockwork Patient]

Thanks for your advice. I was concerned that an overdrive pedal might take it too far from the natural sound of the amp, which would be a shame, but it sounds like you have good results with the xotic so that might be an option.

So how different is the result of setting an amp clean and using a boost to drive the amp harder into higher gain territory vs. setting it to higher gain and backing off the volume to clean it up. On paper it sounds like those two methods would give relatively similar results for achieving quickly interchangable clean and dirty sounds, but is that the case in reality?

[Bensnake]

#4

[Clockwork Patient]

#4

Had a feeling you'd go for number 4!

[msmith4432]

Thanks for your advice. I was concerned that an overdrive pedal might take it too far from the natural sound of the amp, which would be a shame, but it sounds like you have good results with the xotic so that might be an option.

So how different is the result of setting an amp clean and using a boost to drive the amp harder into higher gain territory vs. setting it to higher gain and backing off the volume to clean it up. On paper it sounds like those two methods would give relatively similar results for achieving quickly interchangable clean and dirty sounds, but is that the case in reality?

Are you referring to using a volume pedal to back off the volume? If so I have never used one, but as far as the boost goes, if you get one that is known for not coloring the amps tone you should be fine. Imo the BB preamp does a good job keeping the character of the amp, I have heard the xotic EP boost does not add any color to the amp, it's based off the old echo plex booster

[Les Paul Lover]

Thanks for your advice. I was concerned that an overdrive pedal might take it too far from the natural sound of the amp, which would be a shame, but it sounds like you have good results with the xotic so that might be an option.

So how different is the result of setting an amp clean and using a boost to drive the amp harder into higher gain territory vs. setting it to higher gain and backing off the volume to clean it up. On paper it sounds like those two methods would give relatively similar results for achieving quickly interchangable clean and dirty sounds, but is that the case in reality?

A clean boost, like the SHO, will work differently at different gain and volume setting on your amp.

Set your amp clean with the volume wide open, and a clean boost will not get you much dirt, but masses more volume!

Set it on just past the edge of break up and with your volume around noon, you will get a boost in volume and more gain.

Set it with the gain maxed, and you'll just get more gain.

You really need to buy 2 or 3 pedals and see how they work for you. I quite like a good old fuzz too for leads.

That's how I work with my AD15, I set it just past the edge of breakup, SHO for harder rythms, fuzz for leads.... And général fuzziness.

[Clockwork Patient]

Thanks. Yeah, I was referring to using a volume pedal to back off the volume. One with a min volume setting preferably, so the heel down position could be set to the exact 'cleaned-up' volume I want and then there'd be no fumbling / second-guessing.

Finding it hard to decide which is the best way to go though. Boost to get gain or reduce volume to get clean? I basically want to be able to go from a just breaking up clean sound to the sound at the 12-2 o'clock gain setting with the convenience of just using a pedal to get back and forth.

[Les Paul Lover]

Thanks. Yeah, I was referring to using a volume pedal to back off the volume. One with a min volume setting preferably, so the heel down position could be set to the exact 'cleaned-up' volume I want and then there'd be no fumbling / second-guessing.

Finding it hard to decide which is the best way to go though. Boost to get gain or reduce volume to get clean? I basically want to be able to go from a just breaking up clean sound to the sound at the 12-2 o'clock gain setting with the convenience of just using a pedal to get back and forth.

I think you might find a clean boost doesn't exactly get you there in term of dirt.
From my own experiences with my AD15, I do get more dirt, but not as much as going from edge of break to noon/2 o'clock.


What I think you might need is this:

http://guitarnoize.com/namm-2015-mad-pr ... ive-pedal/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mystic38]

suggest that if you use a volume pedal to have a buffer both before and after it.. as there is no resistive unit, either pedal or box that does NOT colour your sound..

Personally, rather than a pedal, i would use a clean boost and OD pedals.. giving natural, boost, OD and boosted OD tones.. aka 4 tones.

[Clockwork Patient]

I think you might find a clean boost doesn't exactly get you there in term of dirt.
From my own experiences with my AD15, I do get more dirt, but not as much as going from edge of break to noon/2 o'clock.


What I think you might need is this:

http://guitarnoize.com/namm-2015-mad-pr ... ive-pedal/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeah, I was thinking about that pedal as a solution when I first saw it announced. And it's Orange too! Not sure when it will be available though. Any idea?

[Clockwork Patient]

suggest that if you use a volume pedal to have a buffer both before and after it.. as there is no resistive unit, either pedal or box that does NOT colour your sound..

Personally, rather than a pedal, i would use a clean boost and OD pedals.. giving natural, boost, OD and boosted OD tones.. aka 4 tones.

This volume pedal seems to do a lot, but not sure if it would need buffers (I wouldn't be using other pedals with it if that makes any difference) http://www.sonuus.com/products_voluum.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Also as well as being able to be programmed to give a -dB volume drop to the desired value in the heel down position, it can instead be programmed to give a +dB boost in the toe down position. So it can act as a boost as well. Maybe it's a bit over the top. Difficult to find any opinions on it.

[Spaceboy1]

Just throw an OCD or whatever overdrive you prefer in front of it. What's wrong with using your guitar volume? A volume pedal retains more high-end, and if that's what you're after, then you can do a treble bleed on the guitar. Also you don't usually need a buffer before and after the pedal. The loss is minimal, slightly increase input gain on the amp and you'll hardly notice. I use a Dunlop Volume X. You can adjust the heel to only go down to your preferred clean sounds if you don't need to do swells or any of that mess.

[Mystic38]

with how you can set the heel & toe limits i would suspect that the volume control part is well inside the electronics, .... i would certainly look for reviews online for it though before you commit.

suggest that if you use a volume pedal to have a buffer both before and after it.. as there is no resistive unit, either pedal or box that does NOT colour your sound..

Personally, rather than a pedal, i would use a clean boost and OD pedals.. giving natural, boost, OD and boosted OD tones.. aka 4 tones.

This volume pedal seems to do a lot, but not sure if it would need buffers (I wouldn't be using other pedals with it if that makes any difference) http://www.sonuus.com/products_voluum.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Also as well as being able to be programmed to give a -dB volume drop to the desired value in the heel down position, it can instead be programmed to give a +dB boost in the toe down position. So it can act as a boost as well. Maybe it's a bit over the top. Difficult to find any opinions on it.

[Clockwork Patient]

Thanks for the advice all!

Are there any od pedals that can be recommended to get along well with the custom shop?

Or dare I say it... Any fuzz pedals?

The cs50 sounds amazing, don't get me wrong. I'm just thinking I could set it to a super nice cleanish/edge of break up/crunch base sound and use playing dynamics and volume for my basic sounds, but then kick in a dirt/fuzz pedal when I need an extra dimension. A bit more grit/roughness would actually be quite nice for some of my purposes. I'm huge fan of fuzz pedals, but I did go into getting the cs50 knowing that Oranges don't always have a good reputation for playing well with fuzzes. But are there any at all that might play nice?

Any suggestions (od/fuzz) would be appreciated! Cheers guys!