I'm not talking about simple tube overdrive like so many people seem to love nowadays- and who can blame them when so many greats of the '60s and early '70s used it- I'm talking about distortion of the punk and metal kind. I've found that, within the types of music I'm most interested in, old-school overdrive can only really be used for more old-school genres. I dunno if any of you progressive or fusion or what-have-you players use it.
Anyway... I simply adore heavy distortion, although many of my guitars aren't capable of it, and I certainly don't limit myself to recent metal and punk genres. I guess I just like those wailin' an' screamin' guitar gods too much- when I use heavy distortion, it feels as though I've been set free.
So recently, as my musical tastes have greatly expanded and I've been attempting to play a greater range of styles (not virtuosically, mind you) and testing to see whether or not I've absorbed them through osmosis, I've been playing around with my amp without the distortion on. I admit that I almost entirely have played my amp with its distortion switch on, although you wouldn't know it sometimes because of the way several of my guitars refuse to respond as strongly to it, but now I think I can appreciate turning up your amp's volume and having it "break up", as so many people describe it for whatever reason.
So yeah. I've been turned on to the joys of "natural" overdrive.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking- "It's about time!" Pfff...
So the deal is that while I love the tone of my amp's distortion channel still, I've found that without it, I can feel vibrations in the floor underneath my feet. I've never experienced that before- it has a resonance that feels like there are actual sound waves emanating from the speaker rather than some elusive tone trapped in a box. I admit that I would much rather have the distortion have that same resonance.
So... that explains why the amp hasn't been loud enough. The distortion seriously cuts down volume, so I'm at a bit of a loss. I pray that once I get that Fender amp, the distortion pedal I picked won't cause that same problem. Would it? I've tried Googling for an answer, but it would seem that my problem is too specific for an internet search. I'm guessing that it depends on the amp and the pedal in question...
Watching a YouTube demo of the pedal by someone other than a company employee who's paid to praise it, I noticed a similar situation occurred when he first turned it on. As far as I can tell, it was solved by turning the pedal's Bass knob up. It's just as well, because those are the frequencies that are most audibly missing.
So that gives me hope. If it comes down to it, I may just have to turn up my amp when I use the pedal...
