Need help switching between gain settings on an OR15

[mj6thbuif]

So here's my dilemma. Got an OR15 that I absolutely love. Obviously, it is a single channel amp, but I must have two gain stages. I like the gain at about noon for Zep-like tones. I also like my gain at 3:00 for 80s-hair-metal-like tones. Since I can't switch between the two, what are my options? My idea is to leave the amp gain at noon and boost gain by stepping on a pedal to get me to that motley crue tone. I have a Crunch Box, soul food, and EQ pedal that I have tried using for this application. But so far it has not worked. I turn up the pedal gain, and I get mush. I lower the pedal gain and crank the volume, and I lose unity gain. Any suggestions? As I side note, I cannot yet afford a more expensive multi-channel Orange head.

[OU818]

Keep the gain on the pedal lower and push with the volume. Otherwise for the lower gain tone, roll your guitar volume back a little then dial it up when you want more.

Adding gain to gain will get mush, pushing with the output of a pedal will get more overdrive until unity vol, then after that it will also be a vol boost.

[mj6thbuif]

Keep the gain on the pedal lower and push with the volume. Otherwise for the lower gain tone, roll your guitar volume back a little then dial it up when you want more.

Adding gain to gain will get mush, pushing with the output of a pedal will get more overdrive until unity vol, then after that it will also be a vol boost.

Yes i realize the mush factor so the o ly way is to have the pedal gain at 0 and push with the pedal vol. So I've tried the pedal with gain at 0 but don't get the needed boost unless I put its volume to 10. But at that point, my volume is significantly louder than my lower gain tone. Is there a way around this? Is there maybe a pedal out there that will allow me to set the gain to 0, vol to unity volume and still get the needed push from zep to crue? Maybe I am just using the wrong pedal.

As far as setting the amp to high gain then rolling off the volume to get the lower gain tone, I get the same problem, which is I lose unity volume. Any way around that?

Sorry for all the nube questions. And thanks in advance.

[OU818]

Try the gain on the Soul Food at about 9 o'clock (quarter up) and the volume somewhere around unity.

Tone somewhere around the middle. Adjust the gain up to 4o'clock if needed. It's not that you need 0 gain but you really don't need much.

After that start pushing the volume up more.

It's going to take some playing around as the tone will be subjective.

[Les Paul Lover]

From your trials, you have found settings that lower the gain.....
So Why not set your amp for the high gain tones and use one of your Fx to lower the gain to led zep territory ?

If not, have you tried one of those in the Fx loop rather than in front of the amp ?

[Boy_Narf]

Volume Knob?

[Les Paul Lover]

Volume Knob?

8 find it difficult personally to use the volume knob - you need breaks to actually roll it up - down, which doesn't happen in the songs I play.

[mj6thbuif]

Try the gain on the Soul Food at about 9 o'clock (quarter up) and the volume somewhere around unity.

Tone somewhere around the middle. Adjust the gain up to 4o'clock if needed. It's not that you need 0 gain but you really don't need much.

After that start pushing the volume up more.

It's going to take some playing around as the tone will be subjective.

0U818 I will try this tonight. I feel like I have the right tools at my fingertips but just can't find the right settings. Will let u know. Thanks.

[mj6thbuif]

Volume Knob?

8 find it difficult personally to use the volume knob - you need breaks to actually roll it up - down, which doesn't happen in the songs I play.

I agree with Les Paul Lover. I am not quick enough to be able set that vol knob exactly where it needs to be quick enough to keep up with the quick song changes. Some songs maybe but not all songs. Also, I need my low gain at the same vol as my high gain setting.

[mj6thbuif]

From your trials, you have found settings that lower the gain.....
So Why not set your amp for the high gain tones and use one of your Fx to lower the gain to led zep territory ?

If not, have you tried one of those in the Fx loop rather than in front of the amp ?

Sorry this may sound like a smart ass remark; it is not. But do boost/OD pedals do that? I never thought of using a pedal to cut gain. Will try tonight. Thanks for all the great feedback so far.

[fiveightandten]

I'm in the volume knob camp. Think about it this way...have you ever met a player that got accustomed to riding the volume knob and went back to leaving it wide open all the time? I know I haven't. Some guys preached it to me for years, and I wrote it off. I'm glad I tried it and got used to it.

It's just a more versatile way to do things. You set the amp for you max gain, and have an infinitely variable amount of gain and volume literally at your fingertips. You can boost or cut from anywhere, at any time. You don't need to be standing in front of a pedal, you don't have to wonder if stepping on the pedal will bring in too much or too little.

Learning it is like anything else with guitar. Once you get used to it, you get very very fast with it. It just takes some practice. If you look closely at my main guitar, you can see a ring around the volume knob where the finish is starting to wear off. That's how often i'm adjusting it. At this point, I can reach down and twist it exactly where I want it inbetween beats, inbetween strums. "Needing time" for it is a complete non issue once you get used to it.

Outside of that, I used a volume pedal to do the same thing for years. I have an Ernie ball volume pedal. I put a minimum volume knob on it. You set that as your clean tone...kick back all the way = clean, heel up = overdrive. You can set for any level of clean or dirty that you want, and go inbetween very easily with your foot.

I spent years using a footswitch, then years using a volume pedal, then years using the volume knob. IMO, the knob wins. Just my 2 cents.

-Nick

[skerwo]

I'm in the volume knob camp. Think about it this way...have you ever met a player that got accustomed to riding the volume knob and went back to leaving it wide open all the time? I know I haven't. Some guys preached it to me for years, and I wrote it off. I'm glad I tried it and got used to it.

It's just a more versatile way to do things. You set the amp for you max gain, and have an infinitely variable amount of gain and volume literally at your fingertips. You can boost or cut from anywhere, at any time. You don't need to be standing in front of a pedal, you don't have to wonder if stepping on the pedal will bring in too much or too little.

Learning it is like anything else with guitar. Once you get used to it, you get very very fast with it. It just takes some practice. If you look closely at my main guitar, you can see a ring around the volume knob where the finish is starting to wear off. That's how often i'm adjusting it. At this point, I can reach down and twist it exactly where I want it inbetween beats, inbetween strums. "Needing time" for it is a complete non issue once you get used to it.

Outside of that, I used a volume pedal to do the same thing for years. I have an Ernie ball volume pedal. I put a minimum volume knob on it. You set that as your clean tone...kick back all the way = clean, heel up = overdrive. You can set for any level of clean or dirty that you want, and go inbetween very easily with your foot.

I spent years using a footswitch, then years using a volume pedal, then years using the volume knob. IMO, the knob wins. Just my 2 cents.

-Nick

I agree totally. I also came in to use the volume knob more and more instead of pedals. The only thing I don´t like is using the volume knob with Les Paul layouts because in the middle position of the toggle switch you have to dial in two volume knobs. There´s no easy way to do it for me. So I decided to spend my guitar a master volume, master tone and two separate volume knobs for bridge and neck pu. Makes it a lot easier for me.

[FleshOnGear]

If you can't get the Soul Food to do what you want, you might need to get another pedal. When a pedal is used this way, I like to think of it like an extra gain stage added into the chain. The best pedal I have ever owned for this purpose was the Nobels ODR-1 Natural Overdrive. When mine still worked, it just made my amps sound like they just had MORE drive without changing the basic tone at all. Then the jack broke, and instead of fixing it I took parts out for other projects. I wish I had just fixed it, it was great. Seriously, as I sit here typing this I am getting upset about it!

That said, these days I just run at max gain and ride my volume. Trying to get back into pedals but money is tight. My favorite trick is to keep the rhythm pickup volume around 4 and just use my guitar's toggle switch to quickly switch to a cleanish tone. I ride my bridge volume for finer shades of drive.

[Hellavision]

Agreeing on the volume knobs on the guitar. But I use a MxR micro amp to cheat sometimes. If you got your volume down and quickly need a gain boost; step on it. Works great. It also works if you're on full volume to get you a bit higher if needed for a solo.

I found I acually have zero problem being heard in the band even going down on the volume from "motley crue" to clean because the clean sound cuts through the band so nicely. So don't get hung up on your own volume jumping up and down when playing on your own. Try it in the band. Not saying it will work for you. But it does for me.

Oh and practice it. First weeks I had a hard time finding where to go on the knobs. Now I can do it blind. Just like when you started playing guitar you had to look at the fretboard to know where to go.

Also if you're playing a les paul. Upgrade to 500k pots and 50s wiring. That changed my life when riding the volume and tones.

[Sootio]

Volume knob. It takes a minimum of practice. It's what the OR15 is made to do. Instead of 2 settings you have a pallete of tones.