Scott Henderson Discussion

[mikoo69]

Hi Scott,

I noticed you mentioned with your Klon (and other ODs) you set the output to Max.

Is there a sweet spot with OD pedals when the output is maxed? I understand that your amp is set crunchy, so at a certain point the output being cranked isn't necessarily adding more volume, correct?

Wondering why you set output to max and not somewhere less? I find if I put my Klon's output around 11 o'clock it's still pushing my amp pretty hard...1 o'clock it sounds even better...but on max I definitely hear more noise and not sure it's a better sound. I'll have to experiment but I'd like to understand your theory here.

[Scott Henderson]

That's a great question but a hard one to answer, because all pedals are different. I kind of lucked out that my favorite pedals like the RC Booster, SD-9, Klon, PlimSoul, all have about the same amount of output.

There are three places to get more gain - by turning up the gain on the amp, turning up the gain on the pedal, or turning up the output of the pedal. This is just personal taste, but I think it usually sounds best to turn the pedal output up all the way, and only use as much gain from the pedal as you need. That makes for a fatter, less fizzy tone. However some pedals have way more output than the ones I mentioned, and if you floored the output, you'd have to set the gain really low, which usually makes the pedal sound dull and choked. It's all about comparing one setting to another and picking the one you like best.

About the amp, your pedal settings depend on how much crunch the amp has. I try to keep the gain on the crunch channel at 7 or less - when amp gain knobs get higher than that, they tend to let out too much bass and things get muddy. Turning down the bass knob can sometimes fix it, but not always, depending on the amp. For example, on the Marshall JCM 2000 which I sometimes have to rent on the road, the crunch channel is super lame - it has to be on 9 to give me what I need. I have to turn the bass completely off. The first time I played one of those amps, I realized why Jeff Beck says he turns the bass off on Marshalls. On my '71 Marshall or Suhr, I can get that amount of gain at 6 or 7, and can add a little bass - then the bass is much tighter and musical sounding than on the JCM 2000. Sorry for such a long answer.

[mikoo69]

Thanks Scott, I appreciate the long answer! Makes sense. However it seems my Klon has a significantly higher output level than some my other OD which is an Ibanez 808 (perhaps due to the charge pump 18V?).

I will experiment by setting the Klon and 808 with their outputs both at full, and then dialing up the gain to the sweet spot and see if that gives me a better result than keeping the output lower (currently I tend to have the Klon's output set at 11 o'clock and the 808 at about 2 o'clock.

Do you find that cranking the output of your ODs adds more noise, or in fact less noise since you don't need to use as much gain, so you actually get less noise than if you had more gain and less output?

[Scott Henderson]

That's another reason I floor the output and use only the amount of gain I need - it seems to create less hiss than doing it the opposite way. I'm sure there are exceptions but that's been my experience.

Balancing the amp gain, pedal gain and pedal output is tricky and requires some tweaking, not just for tone but for how the amp functions. It's all really personal depending on your playing style, but once you discover what works best for you, you can concentrate on playing and not think about it anymore.

[jason3000]

This is a great question I have been wondering as well. Scott what are your thoughts if it's working with just a cleaning channel fender type amp and that was the only choice? Would you set your pedals the same way?

[Scott Henderson]

That's even more reason to floor the output, but you might have to also turn the gain up more than usual. I use the clean channel of my Fender HRD for small gigs - I turn the volume up to 7 (any more than that and it's a bass nightmare) and put a volume pedal in the FX loop to control the master volume.

[jason3000]

I tried this with a fender amp in the clean channel and it really had a great tone! The only problem I found is it's way too loud for me in a band situation...I can put the amp on like .5 for the volume but something feels wrong about that

Would you recommend turning the guitar volume way down in this scenario and keeping the volume on the pedal floored with the amp around 2 or 3? No right or wrong I know but just curious what you would do if stage volume was an issue in a small club.

[Scott Henderson]

You need a volume pedal in the FX loop of the amp - that's the only way to control the volume without changing the gain. If your amp doesn't have an FX loop, then unfortunately you need additional gear. You could run the amp into a load box and then into smaller amp, or use an attenuator. I don't like those options personally - an amp without an FX loop is useless to me because that's how I've always controlled my master volume.

[jason3000]

This may be a moot point, but most venues I play have generic fender amps with no effects loop or master volume.

For that type of situation would you think it's best to put the amp and pedals higher and turn my guitar volume down or put my guitar on 10 and keep the pedal and amp volume to quieter moderate settings?

Always wondered what gave a fatter tone result. Another option is cranking everything altogether and putting a volume pedal in my chain, but that may suck some tone.

[Scott Henderson]

No FX loop is a drag - in that case I'd use a volume pedal after the distortion pedal and set the gain pretty high.

Another option would be to use the output of your pedal as a master volume. MXR used to make a rubber sleeve for the output knob of their Distortion +, and I'd use my foot on that knob to control my volume.

[peter_heijnen]

The knobs for delay level and feedback on my G-Lab delay are also like that, just like the SVC. Super handy for any footpedal without presets but even more for extended dynamics. I don't get why no company is filling this void with simple sleeves for the most common sizes of pedal knobs.

I would absolutely buy a few EWS Scott Hendersons BS'es for my board if they existed. Of course BS doesn't stand for bullshit but for boutique sleeves!

[Scott Henderson]

I think you can still get those.

https://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-ECB131-Rubber-Knob-Cover/dp/B005GWK1QU

[jason3000]

[Scott Henderson]

That wouldn't be my first choice - if you have a distortion pedal on, adding a boost is just going to create more noise. I'd either use a volume pedal after the distortion pedal, or use a rubber sleeve on the output of the distortion pedal.

[peter_heijnen]