I'm 1:30 in. Mick's told me to buy a Tshirt and I just have. My 5th and a notebook. They're all cool, so I accept my suggestibility. Right, back to the episode.
Great discussion. I love parallel, but I usually always run my pedals in series. The reason is that I love experimenting with how the pedals will change each other’s reactive nature, whereas in parallel each pedal retains its own character running side by side. It happens with every OD pedal, but this is most apparent with Fuzz. A Sunface in parallel with a Hot Cake sounds epic, but it still keeps the character of each. But when I run a HotCake into the Sunface, it’s something I have never heard before. It’s like a whole new pedal discovery every day.
Yip, I heard it that way too. Like my Boss BD-2W, I love the tone, but oth it does squash the transient more than say, my Hot Tubes or Plumes. RATs are quite squishy too. So, pick and mix might be good. Green Russian Muff pulverizes the transient too. Mike Vennart was doing this kind of mixing on his two amps when he was on TPS, but one drive was the 'dry' dirty amp, the other had the pedals.
Another great episode, thank you. Mick please don’t apologize for wiggin’ out, could listen to you play all day. Dan as well. You both sound great and I really enjoy listening to you play. Love the show. Recently lost my job so I haven’t been able to buy any merch to show my support but I will as soon as possible. You guys are great and I appreciate all the entertainment, kindness and knowledge you’ve graced us with. Hope you have a wonderful day. ✌🏻
Yeh, I realized as much as I've been learning all this time, I really just enjoy tuning in to the fellas every week to hear two great players playing nothing in particular and doing it very well.
I swear the audio mixing on this channel might be the best on youtube. This is my favorite subject, once I saw your first video on this I havent went back to enjoying series like I once did!
I use the "2 Amps with different pedals" method at home (I'm getting too old to old to go out and gig. But never say never.) Guitar > Polytune 3 > Radial Bigshot ABY. Output 1 goes to a board with compressor > Tumnus > chorus > ODR mini > delay > reverb / MXR 10 band EQ pedals then to a Katana 50 on a clean channel (or I turn off most or all pedals and use a channel with with some other effect). The other output from the Bigshot goes to a Boss RC-1 then to a Blackstar HT-5R (either clean or dirty channel), or sometimes with other pedals. Trouble with latency or being out of phase is undetectable at the low volumes I play. Lots of variety and fun.
I took the day off to get a extra long weekend and enjoy some playing on a new guitar I received this week. Got my coffee and set up this morning, and experimented and played along while watching. What a great start to my long weekend! Thanks guys, 🥰🥰🙏🏼🙏🏼 P.S. Dan's Red has got to be the best sounding Tele I've ever heard, that bridge pickup is really something special. 🔥🔥
Thank you for the diagrams gents as well as today's clear explanations! I know it makes a huge difference to many of our friends who are not familiar with circuits layouts.
Guys, random message. Next time you have the King Of Tome on the show the waitlist is 5 years 9 months, not 2 years. Love your show , love your work. Not complaining just think it’s fair to explain its unobtainable status unless you buy one second hand… Thanks again for your dedication and effort to make great videos.
I love parallel overdrive stuff. I make the odd pedal myself and have always wished I had the time to make up a mixer box that takes your favourite drive pedal in a loop, and lets you blend in crossover distortion and foldback distortion, for adding extra flavours to the drive sound. And work in a boost pre/post on it's own footswitch... and some kind of limiter on the end with it's own footswitch, for a kind of switchable volume control... I think a lot of people connect strongly with one main drive sound, and thereafter they buy more pedals to find variations... rather than finding ways to vary the use of their favourite pedal.
I love running mid pushed OD’s like Klons and TS’s in parallel with big fuller range or scoopy sounds like muff’s or Power Boosters. I really like running parallel paths of drives run in series. My favorite example is my current rig: Treble Booster > Fuzz Face >> > split A (HM-2 > Fuzz Factory) > Amp > split B (Power Booster > Klone) > Amp
As this episode started I was struggling to see the relevance of parallel drives, then they demo’ed the overdriven amps, and as a dual overdriven amp user it all suddenly fell into place. Another great episode guys.😊👍
A Sincere thank you to the both of you as you’ve both got me out of some major kafuffles over the years with your knowledge that is truly superior appreciated, also giving me inspiration knowledge on a life long passion, you both have raised the bar In musicianship, attitude, problem solving etc and take on to some awesome artists over the years, wishing you both long healthy happy lives & more greatness to come
Great show,and rabbit hole entered, willingly. Six head spinning hours later I think I have the phase issues figured out and here is what I came up with. Veteran fuzz into my Radial Bigshot aby. Line A goes into Super Sweet boost, Duellist, Tumnus, Victory Duchess pedal to AC15 HW. Line B goes TS, Duke of Tone, Notaklon, D&M, 2 delays 2 reverbs to Deluxe reverb. Series, parallel, and wet dry. Real test comes at volume when I can get it into a hall space. Wish me luck!
This has been one of my favourite things to do when playing direct, too! I love the clarity and potential breadth of tone you can get, what a fun experiment it is!
I had my first full band jam in 20 years with some work colleagues. I decided to use my nobels and big muff which I rarely ever use and had a total ball. It was a hoot to see them on your board for this episode. Thank you for the inspiration each week.
Man the EP booster with the Big muff is so refreshing. Takes all that big angry low end and just pairs it so well with a nice top end. Great show. Cheers fellas!
D&M Thanks so much for the great content. Never thought of running OD pedals in parallel, splitter and summing amp on order...always fun to add something to the board!
Why now you’ve gone and done it, now imma gonna be incorporating this into my wet/dry setup you turned me into 😅 good show guys. Very nice playing both too. When you’re having fun you let loose!! 🔥🎶👋🇨🇦🎸
This is the second week in a row that an episode is incredibly apropos, as I am considering running my boosts (Echoplex style & Klon style) into separate amps in parallel. So excellent information given here. Man do I have to test a lot of pedals for phase before I do this rebuild. It's also nice to be on the same page as TPS again in terms of interests & explorations. Been a minute for me.
They make stereo boxes, with volume controls, with and without the ground lift or phase buttons. Saturnworks has some, that are more affordable than others. I think there are even some ABY switchers, that have stereo outs, with a phase button, but those would go on the front, as most I’ve seen are mono input. Then there are stereo buffers, that use two effects loops, sometimes a boost knob, and a phase button. I’m currently running a Raster 2, at the end of my chain, and it has single input and output, but it has the ability to do stereo in and out, with a TRS cable. So, I can put other stereo pedals into it, or after, but the Stereo out needs at least one of the mono inserts, going through a direct box, to fix the phasing issue. Some pedals, like the TC HOF or Flasback, with stereo in and out, but there’s no way to widen the stereo width, or ping pong, without another box after them. It’s a rabbit hole for sure, and I’d love a G3, but I just can’t afford one right now, when I really don’t play any venue that would be worth all that gear, just for me.
Thank you SL. An ongoing process of constant learning. Have to say the new Neve preamps (used on voices and guitars) have been a total game changer. Cheers!
I usually use the J-B toggle setting on the Boss Angry Driver, but the parallel mode is where the sound really shines. Thanks for this video. Useful stuff, because many players don't normally think of parallel as an option.
Up until this week I had never had a combination of guitar and amp that I liked with the Rat. this week I tried it set very low and with the filter most of the way up with a Strat and it was magic! The rat should not be market as a distortion pedal but an always on sparkle adder. I am ready to try it in parallel with some overdrive now.
I like Rats that cleanup with Volume roll off, without losing volume. The Jam Rattler, and the old Ibanez Session Man are the only Rats I’ve kept on a board. The SS-10 has a switch for putting the chorus in parallel. I’ve never used the SS-20, but most say they aren’t the same circuit. It has a short delay, that’s is easily adjustable though, instead of Chorus.
One thing to consider is that in the parallel the guitar or the previous pedal driving the parallel will now see the input impedance of the two pedals in parallel. So say they are both 1M then the guitar or driving pedal will see 500K as the input impedance. But some of the transistor drives will have a much lower impedance and cause some problems. Phase can always be a problem with blending. There is so much more gain potential in parallel than series as long as the summing system can take it. If you goes in series the first pedal overloads the second. This is so weird I am posting what Dan is saying what I wrote like a minute later :) Great show leg ends, you could probably do this all day with all kinds of pedals. Thanks! Gordon
Yet another great reason to pick up a G3 in the near future. The Chase Bliss Brothers ends up on my pedalboard all the time partly because of it's parallel ability, letting me keep the bass a bit cleaner and the treble crunchier. With the G3's ability to move pedals, define 2 separate audio lines, and choose to recombine at the end into both amps if desired means all the world of flexibility without having to rewire my board. LET'S GO!
The best dual OD/distortion/fuzz is the Source Audio LA Lady / Kingmaker Fuzz. It does it all (series, parallel, splitting /summing / both) and models tons of drives, takes expression, and includes a powerful parametric EQ, a noise gate, assignable knobs, 6 presets, and a switchable buffer.
this idea sounds great- especially after you dial it ALL in at about minute 45- it's not a sound that average people will be up for, but it's great that you are pushing the boundaries for those players will to embrace more complex rigs and multi amp set ups.
There is a pedal that does this "parallel gain stages" thing and it's called Demedash Spidola. It's basically a Treblebooster and a Bass overdrive in parallel. It's an interesting device.
I’m not sure what I am more impressed with, the tonal options of parallel drives or the incredible switching capability of that G3S! Great ear-opening vid 😊.
So 10 Minutes in I find myself running to my pedal board, then reminding myself to first watch the video till the end. So after I run again. Man o man, Parallel on your board is like wet/dry with amps really. The amount of gain options is immense. Maybe this only happened to me, because I'm not playing so loud at home, but 2 ODs in series usually gets much to mush pretty fast. In parallel however...chalk and day! Before I had Fuzz and OD before the split, now running Fuzz still in front but the 2 ODs in Parallel. Seriously I think this makes more difference even, when running smaller amps (lower volumes). The dynamics and transients that are there now, are insane! Muchias gracias very much señores!
Great timing! I just saw the light with parallel routing a few days ago. Using an EAE model fet into one channel of my JC and clean into the other. Unreal Dynamics and clarity with brutality.
Reuss Effects makes two amazing pedals that are dual drives with a mix control, instead of two footswitches for cascading. I’m the proud owner of a Plasmatron, which combines a Fab Tone Distortion and an Op-Amp Big Muff - it’s great for ripping the paint off of walls. Then there’s the Epic Overdrive, which is also a “parallel” dual drive. And I believe the Source Audio L.A. Lady also allows for two drives (albeit digital simulations) to be run in parallel.
Parallel is where the CBA Brothers or Strymon Sunset are different. It works so well to blend a near clean with a mid gain, or an overdrive with a fuzz etc etc. By the time that hits the amp, the cleaner tone is just giving that clarity that makes Klon or TS cut through, but with much bigger tone than those 2 give.
Really, you guys have been doing parallel drives since TPS's inception, both in your wet-dry rigs and with any assymetrical clippers (i.e., TS-808). As a bass player, parallel signal chains are the most obvious/essential thing in the world!
The parallel drives with contrasting eq profiles sounds more like hex-fuzz on the GK-3 equipped guitars (that is each string gets its own drive signal path in parallel)
I'm really glad you guys mentioned Phil X in this video. Just a few days ago I watched Phil X demonstrate how he liked to pair up a big amp , his Friedman signature 100 watter with a small amp, I think it was a little Magnatone combo using the small combo to fill a hole in the mids, and also as a solo volume booster and it was very effective in both roles, and it sounded great. Great show fellas, I'm glad to see that you are still able to find new things to cover. and just to add to the love, I think you are both excellent players, your differences make you work estra well together as hosts of a dual host show basis. Cheers!
I do this with my acoustic guitar. I‘m using the TRex Diva or Møller into a clean ac30 sim. Both Drives have a clean blend option. It’s the Magnetic Pickup Signal Chain. A UST delivers a more „natural“ signal in a mini mixer from Nobels. But I mostly use the Magnetic FX Sound. 3rd Signal is the octave from a Boss OC5. Crunchsound/Distortion with a Acoustic is fun. Best example: John Butler Greetings from Germany
I love the horn, it’s y’all’s thing for sure. Silver jubilee’s? Really, I didn’t know that. Now I gotta do some digging. Bought myself a 1987x and a 4x12 1960 lead after obsessing over your guys plexi and jtm comparison. Thank you for all you do and giving guitar and music what it deserves!
Love my Empress Multidrive and Fairfield Four Eyes and both discontinued as most pedals of this philosophy are. Both do multi band mixing and no phase issues. Guitarists can be creatures of habit and surprisingly resistant to real change. Series is simple. Good on TPS for exploring this. I have a strong back so dual amps are still in my present local gig life. Nothing like speaker separation to fill the air. The further apart the better and side wash if you can.
Perfect timing, I just got a Boss ES-8 (sorry, couldn’t stretch to a G3 😁) and have been exploring running both drives and modulation in parallel. Lots of fun!
I've been brainstorming this very method for a while now, albeit more within a sludgy/doomy high gain/fuzz genre. My first experiments were within the digital realm, but I've been looking at things like the JHS buffered splitter and summing amp. My goal initially was to blend a high gain dry signal with a more crunch tone wet with time/mod FX. Basically to add clarity and subtlety with the FX. If that makes sense? Thank you soo much guys for explaining this in terms my ASPD & ADHD understands! Cheers!
My Supro Statesman head can blend 2 different preamp circuits (Supro Comet and Thunderbolt) in parallel, you can also use the effects loop as an attenuator, although you'll get less overdrive from the power tubes. It also allows you to switch between class A and class AB.
When I think about this concept in the studio application, the first track that comes to mind is Zeppelin's "How Many More Times," where Page's track is a fairly straightforward overdrive in one side of the stereo mix and an absolutely demolished, fuzzed-out tone in the other side. I don't know anything about how this was recorded, i.e. whether it was multiple tracks recorded separately or a parallel of the same take into multiple amps, but in application it's the same concept, to my ears.
A Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb has the two separate channels in phase...It's great getting a bit of parallel activity going this way, when two amplifiers aren't an option...just need an A/B box or the like. It's also an interesting sound with wet/dry. It's not the worst. Cheers!
I've recently been playing with (TPS-style wet/dry and it's AWESOME), so NOW I want to hear parallel overdrives in wet/dry... 4 amps wet/wet/dry/dry please! 😀
Damn, I bought a Tri Parallel Mixer after this episode, and now I have a sick sound! I’m running a Germanium Fuzz Face, Broadcast AP, and an OD808. Mixing them with the clean signal gives me some really nice tones. Thanks for helping me find a solid sound that can be controlled by the guitar knobs and can transition from clean to fuzzy overdrive.
I ran straight to the comments to say that I used to do this with a Tube Screamer and a Big Muff, then realized you were doing exactly that in the video. Hahaha! I also have used a compressor in parallel with a distortion or fuzz for a bit of articulation.
I've been curious about this subject for a while, thank you! In fact, I believe that I've had a brief exchange with Dan (I think..?!) about the potential and possibilities of "blend" pedals and parallel setups... I would very much like to watch something like a short tone "experiments" series centered on the subject 😁
Love this. Great episode. Got into parallel/dual mono (& sometimes stereo) by accident. Have a Jan-Ray, which is epic into my Princeton, but didn’t work so well with a Brownface Deluxe clone. So I got a JRAD Melody for the Brownface. Running both drives into the respective amps after a Boss DM-101 Delay. Glorious tones & the extra control is so useful.
Cool show. I found the BM/TS combo intriguing. I could see a builder releasing a line of pedals that offer two different sounds in parallel. I have a Fender Pugilist which offers two different drives in parallel. I’m not in love with it, but I do realize the potential.
I use parallel effects, but one side has a volume pedal on it so you can have a variable distortion or chorus or whatever. Really good if you have a shimmery clean sound and then a really split fuzzy distortion with the volume pedal that you can slide in to the signal.
I enjoy stereo effects paired with non stereo and sent separately to different amps and then "summed" only in the room. This approach allows me to select cabinets and speaker pairings as well as effects. I can also pair various pedals with various amp rigs. Much potential time lost (read "re-found") but worth it all.
Hello guys, it's nobody here but would like to comment in a few things. 1) Not everyone searches the same result and there are many ways to achieve overdrive/distortion. 2) A pro might have access to better tools, and ,tastes and needs evolve. My basic sound is ultra clean and I use pedals for contrast, the reason I sometimes use several in 'series', isnot for 'gain stages' altough... I use one for rythmic rock stuff and a second one as a 'feedback machine' when needed. We just need to keep in mind that everyone taste and needs are different > different tools. Keep up the good work & take care! Sorry for my bad English.
The Ts808 & Nobels ODR1 Stacked Together Is Awesomeness An Putting A Greer Lightspeed Or A Wampler Tumnus As A 3rd Gain Staging Boost Last Has Really Made My Life Easier. You Guys Are Awesome Guitarist An I Love Your Shows! Keep The Good Advice An Videos Coming! Beautiful Gibson Les Paul Mick & Your Red Tele Is Awesome To Dan. Sincerely, Bryan (Virginia)
Loved the show! Phil X loves fuzzes with a blend control for his dirty amp. Could you do a show showing what tones we can expect from that combination?
So very many variables…gets very confusing …great info guys…I still struggle with dialing things, different amps,guitars,pedals…where does it all end? Its loads of good fun as well as massive frustration! Thanks guys cheers!!!
It sounds like the parallel arrangement allows for a greater range of adjustments while retaining clarity due to lack of compression addition. That also seems to allow for a more discreet selection of characteristics of the pedals paired.
Great show as always I just realised my switcher firmware update allows me to sum the parallel paths back to achieve this. There’s my weekend gone 😂 thanks boys have a great weekend
I’ve recently become the proud owner of a Dean Fraser t-style in candy apple red with rosewood board and light relic… not unlike Dan’s Red, but with a humbucker in the neck. Wish I could play like Dan though!
Best Tube Screamer for me is the TS9B - it allows blending the clean signal and the overdrive and has more tone controls - so I think it is working in parallel already. How about an episode on the best bass pedals for guitar?
I run my Strymon Sunset in parallel A+B to my years hear both sides of the pedal and blend them in a nice way and it keeps the clarity. Makes my vox amp sound like a Marshall. Crunch for days.
Interestingly enough, you can actually do parallel and series with the collider for delay and reverb. It might be a setting you have to change from a computer but it is possible. Totally changes the character of the delay and reverbs.
If you add a flexible EQ, like a graphic or EQ with sweepable mids and tunable high and low pass filters, on each channel so you're using different drives, you can cook up even more tones. I guess in the modeller world, people are programming presets like that more commonly. Though sometimes because the pedal simulations are not as good as the real thing ;)
Like the rest of us? Lads, Dan dreamed out loud about using the two amp setup live this year just two weeks ago. Which would put him smack amidst the PhilXes of the world ❤
Interesting thing, that I noticed only today. In the CTC Super conductor booster pedal, the Range Master mode is made with 2 Si transistors running in parallel, to mimic the non linear and asymetrical natur of the old OC44 Germanium transistors. To add to another interesting parallel gain option.
Caught the Haircut 100 reference Mick...cued up the first album: the needle is now hovering over the spinning platter until the end of your vid. Thanks for the suggestion as well as all the shared knowledge. Kindly give Rosie a belly-rub on my behalf if you can stand it.🐶
A while ago, I Heard of the Idiot box Effects No Moon pedal, which is a Big Muff, a Rat, and a Tube Screamer in one big pedal, in parallel, and I was confused about why they were not in series. Now I think I get it.
![Would You Run Your Overdrives & Boosts Like This? [Three Gain Stages & The Truth]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBuNBRFkp3c/mqdefault.jpg)
![Would You Run Your Overdrives & Boosts Like This? [Three Gain Stages & The Truth]](/img/tr.png)
![More Pedal Faves Revisited! [We ARE Still In Love With These]](/img/n.gif)
I'm 1:30 in. Mick's told me to buy a Tshirt and I just have. My 5th and a notebook. They're all cool, so I accept my suggestibility. Right, back to the episode.
I need to buy something appropriately fuzzy too😂
Mick! You deployed your leg-ends to honk Paul Stacey and his Lester whilst sipping tea! A true TPS moment. Great show, guys.
Hahaha! Skillz innit.
If only they were on a tangent at the time. Next level.
Haha! Well played!
Great discussion. I love parallel, but I usually always run my pedals in series. The reason is that I love experimenting with how the pedals will change each other’s reactive nature, whereas in parallel each pedal retains its own character running side by side. It happens with every OD pedal, but this is most apparent with Fuzz. A Sunface in parallel with a Hot Cake sounds epic, but it still keeps the character of each. But when I run a HotCake into the Sunface, it’s something I have never heard before. It’s like a whole new pedal discovery every day.
I really like that the parallel drives maintain clear note definition better than pedals in series.
Yip, I heard it that way too. Like my Boss BD-2W, I love the tone, but oth it does squash the transient more than say, my Hot Tubes or Plumes. RATs are quite squishy too. So, pick and mix might be good. Green Russian Muff pulverizes the transient too. Mike Vennart was doing this kind of mixing on his two amps when he was on TPS, but one drive was the 'dry' dirty amp, the other had the pedals.
100%. It's part of how Simon Neil gets his insanely heavy yet dynamic, percussive tone.
Dan and red is a sound for the ages. No matter what other beauties joins the family, Red is what Dan always sounds like in my head! Wonderful
Another great episode, thank you. Mick please don’t apologize for wiggin’ out, could listen to you play all day. Dan as well. You both sound great and I really enjoy listening to you play. Love the show. Recently lost my job so I haven’t been able to buy any merch to show my support but I will as soon as possible. You guys are great and I appreciate all the entertainment, kindness and knowledge you’ve graced us with.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
✌🏻
Ah mate, so sorry to hear about your job. Better things around the corner. Sending you all our best 🤓🙌
Just came to echo @thatpedalshow’s comment. Better things are coming. There will be t-shirts!!!
Yeh, I realized as much as I've been learning all this time, I really just enjoy tuning in to the fellas every week to hear two great players playing nothing in particular and doing it very well.
I swear the audio mixing on this channel might be the best on youtube. This is my favorite subject, once I saw your first video on this I havent went back to enjoying series like I once did!
Thank you Alex. Means a great deal!
I use the "2 Amps with different pedals" method at home (I'm getting too old to old to go out and gig. But never say never.) Guitar > Polytune 3 > Radial Bigshot ABY. Output 1 goes to a board with compressor > Tumnus > chorus > ODR mini > delay > reverb / MXR 10 band EQ pedals then to a Katana 50 on a clean channel (or I turn off most or all pedals and use a channel with with some other effect). The other output from the Bigshot goes to a Boss RC-1 then to a Blackstar HT-5R (either clean or dirty channel), or sometimes with other pedals. Trouble with latency or being out of phase is undetectable at the low volumes I play. Lots of variety and fun.
I use an EHX Tri Parallel Mixer to run EQD Life Pedal, Plumes and Hizumitas all in parallel with the internal dry through on bass. Sounds massive!
Must be a earthquaker…. 🤭
This is very well timed. I just got my new Wetter Box yesterday.!
I took the day off to get a extra long weekend and enjoy some playing on a new guitar I received this week. Got my coffee and set up this morning, and experimented and played along while watching. What a great start to my long weekend! Thanks guys, 🥰🥰🙏🏼🙏🏼
P.S. Dan's Red has got to be the best sounding Tele I've ever heard, that bridge pickup is really something special. 🔥🔥
Cool man
I'm lookin forward for a three day weekend starting in 4 hrs gonna jam
Thank you for the diagrams gents as well as today's clear explanations! I know it makes a huge difference to many of our friends who are not familiar with circuits layouts.
Guys, random message. Next time you have the King Of Tome on the show the waitlist is 5 years 9 months, not 2 years. Love your show , love your work. Not complaining just think it’s fair to explain its unobtainable status unless you buy one second hand… Thanks again for your dedication and effort to make great videos.
Hang on, is the KOT in this video!?
I love parallel overdrive stuff. I make the odd pedal myself and have always wished I had the time to make up a mixer box that takes your favourite drive pedal in a loop, and lets you blend in crossover distortion and foldback distortion, for adding extra flavours to the drive sound. And work in a boost pre/post on it's own footswitch... and some kind of limiter on the end with it's own footswitch, for a kind of switchable volume control...
I think a lot of people connect strongly with one main drive sound, and thereafter they buy more pedals to find variations... rather than finding ways to vary the use of their favourite pedal.
"I've come to love a buffer for a certain thing". Mick that's gotta be the next TPS T shirt!
I love running mid pushed OD’s like Klons and TS’s in parallel with big fuller range or scoopy sounds like muff’s or Power Boosters.
I really like running parallel paths of drives run in series. My favorite example is my current rig:
Treble Booster > Fuzz Face >>
> split A (HM-2 > Fuzz Factory) > Amp
> split B (Power Booster > Klone) > Amp
As this episode started I was struggling to see the relevance of parallel drives, then they demo’ed the overdriven amps, and as a dual overdriven amp user it all suddenly fell into place.
Another great episode guys.😊👍
A Sincere thank you to the both of you as you’ve both got me out of some major kafuffles over the years with your knowledge that is truly superior appreciated, also giving me inspiration knowledge on a life long passion, you both have raised the bar
In musicianship, attitude, problem solving etc and take on to some awesome artists over the years, wishing you both long healthy happy lives & more greatness to come
Thank you Tony! Happy tones!
I’ve missed the horn!!!! Glad to have it back.
I run a 1981 DRV and EQD Black Ash parallel through my Atom and it’s a glorious thing.
Great show,and rabbit hole entered, willingly. Six head spinning hours later I think I have the phase issues figured out and here is what I came up with. Veteran fuzz into my Radial Bigshot aby. Line A goes into Super Sweet boost, Duellist, Tumnus, Victory Duchess pedal to AC15 HW. Line B goes TS, Duke of Tone, Notaklon, D&M, 2 delays 2 reverbs to Deluxe reverb. Series, parallel, and wet dry. Real test comes at volume when I can get it into a hall space. Wish me luck!
Woah! Coooool!
Those honks. Made me very happy. TPS nostalgia overload. ❤❤❤❤❤
This has been one of my favourite things to do when playing direct, too! I love the clarity and potential breadth of tone you can get, what a fun experiment it is!
I had my first full band jam in 20 years with some work colleagues. I decided to use my nobels and big muff which I rarely ever use and had a total ball. It was a hoot to see them on your board for this episode. Thank you for the inspiration each week.
Besides the instructional content, the pure joy @ 11:10 is why we all keep coming back over and over again.
Man the EP booster with the Big muff is so refreshing. Takes all that big angry low end and just pairs it so well with a nice top end. Great show. Cheers fellas!
D&M Thanks so much for the great content. Never thought of running OD pedals in parallel, splitter and summing amp on order...always fun to add something to the board!
Why now you’ve gone and done it, now imma gonna be incorporating this into my wet/dry setup you turned me into 😅 good show guys. Very nice playing both too. When you’re having fun you let loose!! 🔥🎶👋🇨🇦🎸
This is the second week in a row that an episode is incredibly apropos, as I am considering running my boosts (Echoplex style & Klon style) into separate amps in parallel. So excellent information given here. Man do I have to test a lot of pedals for phase before I do this rebuild. It's also nice to be on the same page as TPS again in terms of interests & explorations. Been a minute for me.
They make stereo boxes, with volume controls, with and without the ground lift or phase buttons.
Saturnworks has some, that are more affordable than others.
I think there are even some ABY switchers, that have stereo outs, with a phase button, but those would go on the front, as most I’ve seen are mono input.
Then there are stereo buffers, that use two effects loops, sometimes a boost knob, and a phase button.
I’m currently running a Raster 2, at the end of my chain, and it has single input and output, but it has the ability to do stereo in and out, with a TRS cable. So, I can put other stereo pedals into it, or after, but the Stereo out needs at least one of the mono inserts, going through a direct box, to fix the phasing issue.
Some pedals, like the TC HOF or Flasback, with stereo in and out, but there’s no way to widen the stereo width, or ping pong, without another box after them.
It’s a rabbit hole for sure, and I’d love a G3, but I just can’t afford one right now, when I really don’t play any venue that would be worth all that gear, just for me.
Always great guitar tones, but I must also compliment the sound quality of your voices/speech! Really comfortable to listen to 👍
Thank you SL. An ongoing process of constant learning. Have to say the new Neve preamps (used on voices and guitars) have been a total game changer. Cheers!
I usually use the J-B toggle setting on the Boss Angry Driver, but the parallel mode is where the sound really shines. Thanks for this video. Useful stuff, because many players don't normally think of parallel as an option.
Up until this week I had never had a combination of guitar and amp that I liked with the Rat. this week I tried it set very low and with the filter most of the way up with a Strat and it was magic! The rat should not be market as a distortion pedal but an always on sparkle adder. I am ready to try it in parallel with some overdrive now.
I like Rats that cleanup with Volume roll off, without losing volume.
The Jam Rattler, and the old Ibanez Session Man are the only Rats I’ve kept on a board.
The SS-10 has a switch for putting the chorus in parallel.
I’ve never used the SS-20, but most say they aren’t the same circuit. It has a short delay, that’s is easily adjustable though, instead of Chorus.
One thing to consider is that in the parallel the guitar or the previous pedal driving the parallel will now see the input impedance of the two pedals in parallel. So say they are both 1M then the guitar or driving pedal will see 500K as the input impedance. But some of the transistor drives will have a much lower impedance and cause some problems.
Phase can always be a problem with blending.
There is so much more gain potential in parallel than series as long as the summing system can take it. If you goes in series the first pedal overloads the second.
This is so weird I am posting what Dan is saying what I wrote like a minute later :)
Great show leg ends, you could probably do this all day with all kinds of pedals. Thanks! Gordon
Two Dan’s Delay Odyssey episodes in as many weeks.
You spoil us, chaps - thank you!
Yet another great reason to pick up a G3 in the near future. The Chase Bliss Brothers ends up on my pedalboard all the time partly because of it's parallel ability, letting me keep the bass a bit cleaner and the treble crunchier. With the G3's ability to move pedals, define 2 separate audio lines, and choose to recombine at the end into both amps if desired means all the world of flexibility without having to rewire my board. LET'S GO!
The best dual OD/distortion/fuzz is the Source Audio LA Lady / Kingmaker Fuzz. It does it all (series, parallel, splitting /summing / both) and models tons of drives, takes expression, and includes a powerful parametric EQ, a noise gate, assignable knobs, 6 presets, and a switchable buffer.
"Man, that is an experience"...it is indeed, highly appreciated!
this idea sounds great- especially after you dial it ALL in at about minute 45- it's not a sound that average people will be up for, but it's great that you are pushing the boundaries for those players will to embrace more complex rigs and multi amp set ups.
There is a pedal that does this "parallel gain stages" thing and it's called Demedash Spidola. It's basically a Treblebooster and a Bass overdrive in parallel. It's an interesting device.
Great show guys! One additional note: all the Source Audio drive pedals also do TWO drive engines internally stacked or in parallel.
I’m not sure what I am more impressed with, the tonal options of parallel drives or the incredible switching capability of that G3S! Great ear-opening vid 😊.
So 10 Minutes in I find myself running to my pedal board, then reminding myself to first watch the video till the end. So after I run again. Man o man, Parallel on your board is like wet/dry with amps really. The amount of gain options is immense. Maybe this only happened to me, because I'm not playing so loud at home, but 2 ODs in series usually gets much to mush pretty fast. In parallel however...chalk and day! Before I had Fuzz and OD before the split, now running Fuzz still in front but the 2 ODs in Parallel. Seriously I think this makes more difference even, when running smaller amps (lower volumes). The dynamics and transients that are there now, are insane! Muchias gracias very much señores!
Great timing! I just saw the light with parallel routing a few days ago. Using an EAE model fet into one channel of my JC and clean into the other. Unreal Dynamics and clarity with brutality.
Reuss Effects makes two amazing pedals that are dual drives with a mix control, instead of two footswitches for cascading. I’m the proud owner of a Plasmatron, which combines a Fab Tone Distortion and an Op-Amp Big Muff - it’s great for ripping the paint off of walls. Then there’s the Epic Overdrive, which is also a “parallel” dual drive. And I believe the Source Audio L.A. Lady also allows for two drives (albeit digital simulations) to be run in parallel.
It’s like you knew I was shopping for a Boss Line Selector to run my overdrive and fuzz in parallel…
Same here! Freaky.. I'm planning to run a Gladio and Alexander silver jubilee in parallel😄
They always do this!
Haha, I was on the electro harmonix tri-parallel mixer shopping kick
The EHX switchblade pro is pretty good.
Don’t forget about the OBNE one
This was an extremely valuable video for opening up an infinite number of new possible colors to "paint" with.
Parallel is where the CBA Brothers or Strymon Sunset are different. It works so well to blend a near clean with a mid gain, or an overdrive with a fuzz etc etc. By the time that hits the amp, the cleaner tone is just giving that clarity that makes Klon or TS cut through, but with much bigger tone than those 2 give.
This is inspiring! Already having a splitter I’m going to look for a mixer and do some experimentation. Thanks Leg-Ends! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Really, you guys have been doing parallel drives since TPS's inception, both in your wet-dry rigs and with any assymetrical clippers (i.e., TS-808). As a bass player, parallel signal chains are the most obvious/essential thing in the world!
The parallel drives with contrasting eq profiles sounds more like hex-fuzz on the GK-3 equipped guitars (that is each string gets its own drive signal path in parallel)
What a show! Funny thing is when Dan was playing the cranked deluxe it was glorious - until the TS1 was on and they both were just perfect.
I'm really glad you guys mentioned Phil X in this video. Just a few days ago I watched Phil X demonstrate how he liked to pair up a big amp , his Friedman signature 100 watter with a small amp, I think it was a little Magnatone combo using the small combo to fill a hole in the mids, and also as a solo volume booster and it was very effective in both roles, and it sounded great. Great show fellas, I'm glad to see that you are still able to find new things to cover. and just to add to the love, I think you are both excellent players, your differences make you work estra well together as hosts of a dual host show basis. Cheers!
I do this with my acoustic guitar. I‘m using the TRex Diva or Møller into a clean ac30 sim. Both Drives have a clean blend option. It’s the Magnetic Pickup Signal Chain.
A UST delivers a more „natural“ signal in a mini mixer from Nobels. But I mostly use the Magnetic FX Sound.
3rd Signal is the octave from a Boss OC5.
Crunchsound/Distortion with a Acoustic is fun. Best example: John Butler
Greetings from Germany
I love the horn, it’s y’all’s thing for sure. Silver jubilee’s? Really, I didn’t know that. Now I gotta do some digging. Bought myself a 1987x and a 4x12 1960 lead after obsessing over your guys plexi and jtm comparison. Thank you for all you do and giving guitar and music what it deserves!
Love my Empress Multidrive and Fairfield Four Eyes and both discontinued as most pedals of this philosophy are. Both do multi band mixing and no phase issues. Guitarists can be creatures of habit and surprisingly resistant to real change. Series is simple. Good on TPS for exploring this. I have a strong back so dual amps are still in my present local gig life. Nothing like speaker separation to fill the air. The further apart the better and side wash if you can.
After 17:52 leading into the comment "it was a selish thing" got me busting up laughing. Love love love those moments!!
You guys are the best, don't ever change!
Perfect timing, I just got a Boss ES-8 (sorry, couldn’t stretch to a G3 😁) and have been exploring running both drives and modulation in parallel. Lots of fun!
I've been brainstorming this very method for a while now, albeit more within a sludgy/doomy high gain/fuzz genre. My first experiments were within the digital realm, but I've been looking at things like the JHS buffered splitter and summing amp. My goal initially was to blend a high gain dry signal with a more crunch tone wet with time/mod FX.
Basically to add clarity and subtlety with the FX. If that makes sense?
Thank you soo much guys for explaining this in terms my ASPD & ADHD understands!
Cheers!
My Supro Statesman head can blend 2 different preamp circuits (Supro Comet and Thunderbolt) in parallel, you can also use the effects loop as an attenuator, although you'll get less overdrive from the power tubes. It also allows you to switch between class A and class AB.
When I think about this concept in the studio application, the first track that comes to mind is Zeppelin's "How Many More Times," where Page's track is a fairly straightforward overdrive in one side of the stereo mix and an absolutely demolished, fuzzed-out tone in the other side. I don't know anything about how this was recorded, i.e. whether it was multiple tracks recorded separately or a parallel of the same take into multiple amps, but in application it's the same concept, to my ears.
A Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb has the two separate channels in phase...It's great getting a bit of parallel activity going this way, when two amplifiers aren't an option...just need an A/B box or the like. It's also an interesting sound with wet/dry. It's not the worst. Cheers!
I've recently been playing with (TPS-style wet/dry and it's AWESOME), so NOW I want to hear parallel overdrives in wet/dry...
4 amps wet/wet/dry/dry please! 😀
That was such an awesome video. Great to hear the Strat and Tele through the TS9 and Nobels in parallel. Sounds mega as Mick would say
Damn, I bought a Tri Parallel Mixer after this episode, and now I have a sick sound! I’m running a Germanium Fuzz Face, Broadcast AP, and an OD808. Mixing them with the clean signal gives me some really nice tones. Thanks for helping me find a solid sound that can be controlled by the guitar knobs and can transition from clean to fuzzy overdrive.
Huge topic for using effects on bass guitar!!!
The best way to do it! I use my Basswitch Preamp/ Di to do it, or my Lehle stuff.
Works!
🖖
I ran straight to the comments to say that I used to do this with a Tube Screamer and a Big Muff, then realized you were doing exactly that in the video. Hahaha! I also have used a compressor in parallel with a distortion or fuzz for a bit of articulation.
I've been curious about this subject for a while, thank you!
In fact, I believe that I've had a brief exchange with Dan (I think..?!) about the potential and possibilities of "blend" pedals and parallel setups... I would very much like to watch something like a short tone "experiments" series centered on the subject 😁
Love this. Great episode. Got into parallel/dual mono (& sometimes stereo) by accident. Have a Jan-Ray, which is epic into my Princeton, but didn’t work so well with a Brownface Deluxe clone. So I got a JRAD Melody for the Brownface. Running both drives into the respective amps after a Boss DM-101 Delay. Glorious tones & the extra control is so useful.
Woof!
Cool show. I found the BM/TS combo intriguing. I could see a builder releasing a line of pedals that offer two different sounds in parallel.
I have a Fender Pugilist which offers two different drives in parallel. I’m not in love with it, but I do realize the potential.
What a glorious sounding Strat Mick! I particularly love the neck pickup tone 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽
Thanks Bill! I reckon they were doing something right back then!
I use parallel effects, but one side has a volume pedal on it so you can have a variable distortion or chorus or whatever. Really good if you have a shimmery clean sound and then a really split fuzzy distortion with the volume pedal that you can slide in to the signal.
My favorite is doing stereo chorus on the overdrive this way - fun stuff! :)
I enjoy stereo effects paired with non stereo and sent separately to different amps and then "summed" only in the room. This approach allows me to select cabinets and speaker pairings as well as effects. I can also pair various pedals with various amp rigs. Much potential time lost (read "re-found") but worth it all.
The episode I have been waiting so long for. I have tried drive pedals in parallel before but never found the right combination...
Hello guys, it's nobody here but would like to comment in a few things. 1) Not everyone searches the same result and there are many ways to achieve overdrive/distortion. 2) A pro might have access to better tools, and ,tastes and needs evolve.
My basic sound is ultra clean and I use pedals for contrast, the reason I sometimes use several in 'series', isnot for 'gain stages' altough...
I use one for rythmic rock stuff and a second one as a 'feedback machine' when needed. We just need to keep in mind that everyone taste and needs are different > different tools. Keep up the good work & take care!
Sorry for my bad English.
I love the way Dan pronounces parallel. Might just be me and the way I hear it, but I like it! Great video as always, thanks and happy Friday.
The Ts808 & Nobels ODR1 Stacked Together Is Awesomeness An Putting A Greer Lightspeed Or A Wampler Tumnus As A 3rd Gain Staging Boost Last Has Really Made My Life Easier. You Guys Are Awesome Guitarist An I Love Your Shows! Keep The Good Advice An Videos Coming! Beautiful Gibson Les Paul Mick & Your Red Tele Is Awesome To Dan. Sincerely,
Bryan (Virginia)
Loved the show! Phil X loves fuzzes with a blend control for his dirty amp. Could you do a show showing what tones we can expect from that combination?
So very many variables…gets very confusing …great info guys…I still struggle with dialing things, different amps,guitars,pedals…where does it all end? Its loads of good fun as well as massive frustration! Thanks guys cheers!!!
Lovely show. Now I need to get a Wetter Box from the GigRig and start experimenting!
It sounds like the parallel arrangement allows for a greater range of adjustments while retaining clarity due to lack of compression addition. That also seems to allow for a more discreet selection of characteristics of the pedals paired.
I’m glad the name drop horn is back. It went missing for a while.
Great show as always I just realised my switcher firmware update allows me to sum the parallel paths back to achieve this. There’s my weekend gone 😂 thanks boys have a great weekend
I’ve recently become the proud owner of a Dean Fraser t-style in candy apple red with rosewood board and light relic… not unlike Dan’s Red, but with a humbucker in the neck. Wish I could play like Dan though!
Got a couple of shirts and some other stuff last week. Plus a couple of pedals last fall. Keep on playin'!
Thank you kindly!
You could always get you a VVT Toneblender amp that has a foot switchable blend control to have your OD & Clean channel in parallel.
Best Tube Screamer for me is the TS9B - it allows blending the clean signal and the overdrive and has more tone controls - so I think it is working in parallel already. How about an episode on the best bass pedals for guitar?
God bless you, the horn is back😂
Send the dog outside; it’s TPS, man!!!
I regularly use the Radial Big Shot ABY. If decide to get an additional splitter it also would absolutely need to include a phase switch.
Ooooh. Am I glad I have G3 to do this with…❤
I run my Strymon Sunset in parallel A+B to my years hear both sides of the pedal and blend them in a nice way and it keeps the clarity. Makes my vox amp sound like a Marshall. Crunch for days.
Ears not years. And years I suppose lol
Liking the show from GA, USA
Interestingly enough, you can actually do parallel and series with the collider for delay and reverb. It might be a setting you have to change from a computer but it is possible. Totally changes the character of the delay and reverbs.
I’ve been wanting this parallel drive show for so long, ever since the Wetter Box first appeared on tps some 4-5 years ago. Did not disappoint!
If you add a flexible EQ, like a graphic or EQ with sweepable mids and tunable high and low pass filters, on each channel so you're using different drives, you can cook up even more tones. I guess in the modeller world, people are programming presets like that more commonly. Though sometimes because the pedal simulations are not as good as the real thing ;)
Like the rest of us? Lads, Dan dreamed out loud about using the two amp setup live this year just two weeks ago. Which would put him smack amidst the PhilXes of the world ❤
Interesting thing, that I noticed only today. In the CTC Super conductor booster pedal, the Range Master mode is made with 2 Si transistors running in parallel, to mimic the non linear and asymetrical natur of the old OC44 Germanium transistors.
To add to another interesting parallel gain option.
Caught the Haircut 100 reference Mick...cued up the first album: the needle is now hovering over the spinning platter until the end of your vid. Thanks for the suggestion as well as all the shared knowledge. Kindly give Rosie a belly-rub on my behalf if you can stand it.🐶
Awesome! Glad somebody got it!
A while ago, I Heard of the Idiot box Effects No Moon pedal, which is a Big Muff, a Rat, and a Tube Screamer in one big pedal, in parallel, and I was confused about why they were not in series. Now I think I get it.