35 OD pedal shootout

[keysandguitars]

I'm starting to try and target my future builds and find pedals that work well with my amp, an Allen Encore (Fender Vibrolux topology). So far, my EgoDriver, Serendipity, Glitterrati, Krankasaurus - particularly the boost, LaVache, and bYOC od2 all sound great. The higher gain pedals like the uproar and Rainy Day leave a lot to be desired (but they sound killer on other amps). It makes sense that those would sound better through a high gain amp.

Anyway, I came across a massive shootout on gearslutz and thought I'd share. This guy plays mainly boutique pedals that we're all wanting to clone. It gave me some direction with future build ideas.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/instruments-guitar-bass-amps/575070-35-overdrive-pedal-shootout-new-klon-premier.html

If anyone has good dirt pedal suggestions for a Vibrolux type amp I'm all ears. Or if you want to recommend higher gain pedal friendly amps I'm going to start checking those out too. I'm thinking of building an 18 watt clone, but will research more first. The illness will never end!

[shawnee]

The reason the higher gain pedals don't sound as good on a fender style clean amp compared to a marshall type clean tone is the amps' EQ section. Fender has less midrange and it is centered around 400hz while a marshall has less midcut centered around 700hz. There are subtle differences in the lows and highs too but the mids are the biggest issue. The tubes matter a little (6L6 vs. EL34) but it can be compensated for. I use an Empress ParaEQ to tune my Splawn Quickrod's clean channel to mimic the fender curve and it sounds really close. You could do the opposite and use a parametric EQ to mimic a marshall curve for you distorted tones. I have a Dr Z MAZ18 and it's a killer amp but the mids are really low mids where as the Splawn is EQ'ed towards the typical marshall upper mids. I have been thinking that an 18 watt 1x12 Marshall type amp would be cool because I could use the same pedalboard with the same settings as my Splawn amp with the 4x12 since the amp EQ's should be almost the same.

[shawnee]

By the way, the Allen Encore is a KILLER amp. My dad has built several Allen's now and they sound really really good.

[keysandguitars]

Thanks for the reply Shawnee. I started reading about the tone stacks and started to find info that confirms what you are saying.

I love the Encore for about 80% of the music I play. The cleans, tremolo, reverb, and OD pedals through it are to die for. I actually plugged into the -3db input with my Les Paul Studio and that helped get meatier and more defined tones. I'm thinking that not hitting the input so hard might have a little bit to do with some of the issue in terms of clarity?

[shawnee]

Yeah Fender type amps tend to have more bass as well and that can cause your distorted sounds to be muddy. There is a geofex project called to tonemender that is supposed to fix these EQ problems but I didn't like it as well as the Empress parametric.