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best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Mon May 27, 2019 2:06 pm
by Arthon
Hi all,
Whats the best way to boost my AD30 for solos? When I use my Rocker 15, I put my boost (solidgold Nitro Boost) in the effect loop and it work very well. Since the AD30 doesnt have a effect loop, I run the boost in front and it doesnt boost enought, only distord more. Maybe I should by something like a tube screamer to boost mids and stand-out more? Or maybe I should boost the amp and use my pedal to reduce volume when I am not soloing (like 98% of the time)?
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Mon May 27, 2019 3:36 pm
by bclaire
Do you have the single channel AD30 or the twin channel?
I don't think any pedal will do what you are looking for just by the nature of the amp. That's pretty much why the twin channel came into existence, so you could have your rhythm sound and then a louder, boosted channel. I find with my twin channel that pedals add coloring, not much boost. That said, I would try an Xotic EP Boost, the pedal based on the preamp circuit of the Echoplex. It works for me when I want to play a Strat and have it more evenly balanced with my Teles, LP's, Doozy's, etc.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Mon May 27, 2019 3:59 pm
by Arthon
bclaire wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 3:36 pm
Do you have the single channel AD30 or the twin channel?
I don't think any pedal will do what you are looking for just by the nature of the amp. That's pretty much why the twin channel came into existence, so you could have your rhythm sound and then a louder, boosted channel. I find with my twin channel that pedals add coloring, not much boost. That said, I would try an Xotic EP Boost, the pedal based on the preamp circuit of the Echoplex. It works for me when I want to play a Strat and have it more evenly balanced with my Teles, LP's, Doozy's, etc.
Yeah, I heard great things about the Xotic Ep boost.
I have the twin channel, but my channel one is set clean... So I could had a overdrive to the clean channel for my overdrive rythm sound on use the channel two for the boost.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Mon May 27, 2019 9:01 pm
by Ronnie Robinson
Your using too much gain on top of gain... The best way I've found to achieve this is to use an open sounding medium gain overdrive set the gain at nil and the volume at Max - I use a Providence stampede or a Suhr Shina drive, this works well and sounds great although how much amp gain you use does have an effect on volume - I set my gain around the 12-1 o'clock.
I also use a heavier gain pedal set up for lead on channel one which I keep fairly clean - I use a full-tone Ocd for this
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Tue May 28, 2019 5:27 am
by mici88
I have a Tiny Terror, which has no fx loop too, and that's the way I deal with boosting.
I set the amp to pretty saturated overdrive - 15w mode, master volume at noon, gain at 1:30 o'clock - that gives me a nice rhythm tone. Boss GE-7 kicks in for leads/solos - cut some bass, add mids, shape treble to the taste and a tad more volume. It does not add significant amount of gain/distortion, just makes everything sound tight and focused.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Tue May 28, 2019 1:49 pm
by Arthon
Thank you guys. Many things to try. I will test it this and come back to you for what works best for me.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Wed May 29, 2019 5:57 pm
by Arthon
So, I made some test yesterday. The beat way to achieve what I want, is to use the second channel for solos. I run the first channel cleanish and I use my boost has an overdrive instead.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 11:08 am
by JJJ
I have found ad30s to respond really well to boosts
Keep in mind the preamp compresses very early on those, so if you've already wound the gain up, with a clean or dirty boost you won't get much of a volume jump but more of a fattening up. Start off with the gain on the amp backed off a bit more and you will find the boost does a better job
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:05 am
by adkguy07
Ronnie Robinson wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 9:01 pm
Your using too much gain on top of gain... The best way I've found to achieve this is to use an open sounding medium gain overdrive set the gain at nil and the volume at Max - I use a Providence stampede or a Suhr Shina drive, this works well and sounds great although how much amp gain you use does have an effect on volume - I set my gain around the 12-1 o'clock.
I also use a heavier gain pedal set up for lead on channel one which I keep fairly clean - I use a full-tone Ocd for this
Good idea. I have an old Boss DS-1 that is in very good working condition. Would that serve the purpose; that is if I do not push the gain too far up?
adkguy07
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:20 pm
by Ronnie Robinson
adkguy07 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:05 am
Ronnie Robinson wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 9:01 pm
Your using too much gain on top of gain... The best way I've found to achieve this is to use an open sounding medium gain overdrive set the gain at nil and the volume at Max - I use a Providence stampede or a Suhr Shina drive, this works well and sounds great although how much amp gain you use does have an effect on volume - I set my gain around the 12-1 o'clock.
I also use a heavier gain pedal set up for lead on channel one which I keep fairly clean - I use a full-tone Ocd for this
Good idea. I have an old Boss DS-1 that is in very good working condition. Would that serve the purpose; that is if I do not push the gain too far up?
adkguy07
Just experiment and see what works best for you
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:41 pm
by Ddjembe Mutombo
if you are putting a boost in front of an OD channel it is only going to send more heat in to the OD circuit. There's really no good way to get a volume boost without an effects loop as you need the boost after the preamp.
If you're open to mods, I imagine you could find someone to put an effect loop in for you for a couple hundred.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:51 pm
by Les Paul Lover
Ddjembe Mutombo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:41 pm
if you are putting a boost in front of an OD channel it is only going to send more heat in to the OD circuit. There's really no good way to get a volume boost without an effects loop as you need the boost after the preamp.
If you're open to mods, I imagine you could find someone to put an effect loop in for you for a couple hundred.
It just depends where you set your gain.
So long as, on an AD30, you set your gain up to 1 o'clock max, you'll get both volume and dirt boost from a clean boost.
The AD30tc is a bugger for after market fx30 loop.
Each channel had its own PI, and most after market FX loop go just before the PI.
Re: best way to boost (for solo) a AD30
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:30 pm
by D|C|M|E
I just got an MXR 10-band EQ that I ran through the front of the amp and there is a Volume slider and a Gain slider and increasing either of them on the clean channel did not add any clipping to the signal but added perceivable volume and the gain added volume and boldness. When adding gain from the Gain slider into an already distorted tone the distortion definitely had a stronger character but I don't think it was adding more clipping to it.