Are there amps that are made to work in this fashion?

Like I mentioned in another thread here ("Who's playing these amps?") I mostly play through a Swart AST amp. There is a way I like to use the amp, but I have not figured out a way to do it. So I started wondering whether any amp out there is made to behave in the following fashion.

I like the clean sound of the Swart, and it also has a great overdriven sound, but there is no easy way to switching between them during a song since that will require changing knob settings. The way I use it now is to have the amp clean, and when I want to switch to overdriven I use a pedal. The unsatisfactory thing about this approach is that I am really just getting the overdriven tone of the pedal and the not the amp. I use the amp this way because it is easy, it still sounds good, and the overdriven volume can be accurately set.

Are there amps out there that lets me set and switch from clean to overdriven amp tone with a footswitch? I am not even putting into the equation as to how good the clean and overdriven tones sound, I'm basically just wondering whether such an amp exist?

I have to admit that there is one thing I haven't tried with the Swart. I can perhaps set the amp output so it is overdriven when the pickups are turned up, but dial back the volume of my guitar to stay clean. Then when I want to engage the overdriven sound I can turn up my guitar volume. A couple of problems that I foresee with this approach is 1) I may get much louder volume while in overdriven mode, and 2) the result of fiddling with the volume knob during the song is not that easy or predictable.

I don't know how to make this work since I don't have a lot of experience playing out. I am expecting that I can get some great feedback to my question from all you players out there.

you could probably achieve it with a Mesa Lone Star or Lone Star Classic .... they have multi watt per channel , so you could have your clean on the higher watt for head room then low watt on channel 2 for tube saturation

so your swart has only one channel?
many modern amps have multiple channels, foot-switchable from one to another.
i especially like my carvin V3m, 1 clean channel and 2 identical OD channels, with multiple EQ options

Hey Kit,

I'm with fumble here. I can easily go clean to drive with a Boogie Lonestar Special (similar design to Lonestar's) or an old F50. The Special switches between 5-15-30 watts with EL84's and volume is fairly controllable, the F50 is 50W of 6L6's. Both have channel controls to tweak as you like.

At one of our gigs, I let the next bands guitarist use my Swart SST after our set .
He had an Xotic RC booster that sounded great as it overdrives the first pre tube.
It was more santana/bluesy grit than metal, but still added alot to his palette.
(My Swart never sounded better actually)
That way there is still some amp character in the sound.


It sounds like you'd have fun playing some multi channel amps at local shops.

Kit , that happens more than you think , even with multi channel amps ...... seems like all have a clean channel that you can make Fender clean or Fender pushed but you can't have both on a foot switch ..... I have a Carvin V3m and a Mesa Mk V three channel amp , I love two of three modes on the clean channel but you can't foot switch either amp for that sound , then they make channel 2 too heavy so you can't quite get that pushed sound like the clean channel on push mode as it will be too heavy even with the gain turned way down ...... if these 3 channel amp makers would offer two good clean channels and 1 great distortion I think more would like them verse 1 clean and 2 dirty ...... the guy that sold me my MK V liked 2 modes on the clean but didn't like any of the heavy channels and like most complained he couldn't foot switch between the modes on the clean channel , sold the MK V too me and he bought a Lone Star , not sure which one , with my Band I still have to have a Heavy sound

either Lone Star can do what your wanting the Lone Star is 6l6's 10/50/100 watt that you can assign the wattage you want on the channel you want

Lone Star Classic is 30/15/7 watt channel assignable with EL84 tubes

Thanks, guys. You've given me a lot of good information. I actually really like my AST. Just wish that there is a way to have both clean and overdriven sounds within one piece of music. To be specific, all I'm looking for is overdriven but not heavily distorted.

The Lone Star with el84 sounds very interesting, I have to look into it.

He had an Xotic RC booster that sounded great as it overdrives the first pre tube.

Since you're happy with your AST, I'd suggest experimenting with boost pedals first. I've been on a quest for the perfect boost pedal to go with my Champs and Princeton. There are a lot to choose from, and they are all a bit different. The right one will hit your preamp stage just hard enough to make the amp overdrive, without adding any distortion effect from the pedal. It will also give you consistent signal level when you turn it on and off, instead of having to tweak the guitar's volume knob.

I briefly owned an Xotic RC, like the one Elwood mentioned. It was extremely clean (that is, it didn't add any clipping or equalization). It had controls to cut or boost treble and bass, for shaping the signal going into the amp. It worked well, but didn't get the exact sound I was after. I currently own Xotic's AC and EP boosts. The AC does let you dial in a bit of clipping, so you can get overdrive from the pedal as well as from the amp. The EP is clean, but to my ears hit the amp's input a bit harder.

I've also tracked down an early Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso (with a red case and two outputs) and a Barber Launch Pad. They both sound wonderful with my amps. I'm very curious about Moog's Minifooger boost pedal, but haven't had a chance to try one yet.

Ken

http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=101&t=12815

http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=101&t=12815

Interesting you should link to this thread on overdrive. In the thread someone mentioned a DIY overdrive. I have one of these that someone put together for a number of people, and this is the overdrive that I currently use with my Swart.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qt27b4wmf7r7kfw/mk2_3.jpg?dl=0

Hey Kit,

I have the same pedal, a BYOC (Build Your Own Clone) OD2 with the Mosfet mod. I have only had it for a few months and unfortunately not much time to really put her through all testing, but what I've heard so far I do like.

crappy picture but same layout and you get the idea

Get a second Swart and an ABY switcher pedal. That way you can set one clean, the other dirty, and use stereo effects AND it'd look way cool