# High Gain OD or Distortion for VoxAC30



## Axe Dragon (Aug 21, 2013)

Hi All,

Does anyone have any experience with high gain ODs or distortion pedals with a Vox AC30?

I've heard a lot about the Rat and the Hot Cake. What else should I consider. I have the fuzz covered with my SunLion and I also have a Timmy.

Any thought on the Rat, Hot Cake, or plexi style pedals like CB DLS or Wampler pedals?

Xotic BB or AC maybe? Help is needed.

Thanks,

Adam

PS... I usually play an SG with classic 57s.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

The Bjorn/Bearfoot EGDM was built to run with an AC.

http://www.bearfootfx.com/page36.html
There are demos at the bottom of the page, Burgs sold me on the pedal.

There are two versions out now, with a lower gain model.
The regular EGDM has a ton of gain on tap, so that might be what to look at.

I've heard of many guy using the RAT with the AC too, usually with a single coil guitar though.
I find my Hatman LM308 to be a touch dark, but it does work with well with a Tele.
All kinds of gain to be had with that pedal though.


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## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

I haven't paired these up myself, but I leant my Suhr Riot to a guy with a Vox AC30 for a live gig and he loved it.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

I'm a Vox guy and my main amp is a 70's AC30 with one blue and one silver bell. I have quite a few dirt pedals on my board too and they all play very well with the AC30.

I have tried the Rat through my AC30 and didn't like it at all (YMMV), I thought it didn't sound as full as I wanted it to. The Xotic stuff is nice, but I've never tried it through my own rig but through other peoples' setups.

Currently on my board I have a Retro-Sonic Preamp which is a nice boost, a Fulltone OCD, Dr. Scientist Elements, Version 5 op-amp Big Muff and a Death by Audio Supersonic Fuzz Gun. I mainly play Strats and Jazzmasters and love the tone. I can get a wide variety of overdriven sounds but this has come from years worth of experimenting. If I were you, I'd head down to your local shop that carry Vox amps and just plug every overdrive / distortion pedal you can get your hands on. That way, you can get a better idea of what sounds best to you.

P.S. I'm not a huge fan of solid state amps.


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## LydianGuitars (Apr 18, 2013)

I have an AC30 CC2 and of the SD-1, TS-9, clean boosts, Guv'nor, MXR OD, my favorites are the TS-9 and the clean boost. 
The Hotcake is on the "want" list.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

My main OD pedals at the moment are the Carl Martin PlexiTone and the Wampler Plextortion. Both can give you a big, fat, driven sound with all kinds of gain on tap, but I've never tried either through an AC30. Through my YGM2, though, they sound pretty good, and that's also an EL84 amp.

Supposedly, the Hot Cake is THE go-to pedal for EL84 amps, but I didn't like it when I had one (found it too murky and muddy). YMMV.


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## ElectricMojo (May 19, 2011)

Depending on the exact tone you're after, some cool higher gain ODs would be the Xotic BB Preamp, the Wampler Pinnacle & SLOstortion (or the Triple Wreck if you're looking for super high gain distortion) and the Mad Professor Mighty Red.
The BB Preamp and Pinnacle could be cool options with a Vox AC30.


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## Bohdan (Jan 19, 2012)

Hotcake only largetongue


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## Axe Dragon (Aug 21, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback.

My local guitar shop (in Welland Ontario) carries Wampler. Is anyone aware of any stores between Niagara and Toronto where I might find Xotic, Catalinbread, Crowther, Fulltone or any others mentioned in this thread?


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## the5chord (Oct 7, 2011)

Running a Vox as well. I am not really keen on high gain distortions but I have tried a few. I probably wouldn't include the Hotcake in the high gain distortion camp. I have tried the empress multi drive and the dr scientist elements pedal for high gain sounds. The low gain settings on both pedals was why I sold them. I am thinking of just picking up the distortion from Empress someday as I really liked that part if the multi-drive. 

You might want to check out the new Empress Heavy. Looks pretty dialed for high gain sounds.

http://www.empresseffects.com/heavy.html


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## theory_doc (Aug 25, 2013)

Check out Moog Audio in Toronto (online & showroom on Queen St just W of Spadina), Mojo Music in Oakville (retail store only on Speers Rd just off QEW near Dorval Rd), and axeandyoushallreceive.com (online only but located in Brantford). Between these three you should be able to find almost everything mentioned so far. Also consider guitareffectscanada.com (online only in BC) -- they also have a wide selection although you can`t pop in to test out anything unless you`re prepared to go to BC. The Guitar Shop on Lakeshore in Mississauga also carries Xotic (the only one mentioned here).


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## theory_doc (Aug 25, 2013)

+1 for the Mad Professor MRD. 

I run it with my Mesa TA30 2-12 combo of which the clean channel Top Brt mode is voiced very similar to a Vox AC30 Top Boost mode. I run it with enough gain to get just a hint of break-up. It sounds great for classic rock (esp with the Humbuckers in my LP) but I suppose it depends on what sound you`re going for. And it stacks well with a good mild to med OD (such as the Timmy) for even more presence and grit. (I use OD after MRD)

The MRD also sounds great by itself into an already overdriven amp such as a Marshall JTM45 with a Master Vol mod. But I will volunteer that the MRD adds a noticeable amount of compression to the signal so that`s something you might want to consider.

I`ve tried a recent Rat and a vintage MXR Dist + with it but was not happy with the sound of either. But that doesn`t necessarily mean you wouldn`t be happy with one of these two.


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## Guest (Sep 2, 2013)

Axe Dragon said:


> Xotic BB or AC maybe? Help is needed.


The Xotic BB Pre might just be my all-time favourite preamp for pulling second tones out of Fender and Vox amps. It works amazingly well with amps that are usually a tad brittle and not really meant to be Marshall-type fire breathers.

The Caitalinbread SCOD is another that I'd recommend having a look at, but it's not quite as flexible as the BB Pre.

I have an empress multidrive and it's an exceptional pedal, but I have no clue how it works with a Vox.


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