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What's the deal with ampsim/preamp/amp-in-a-box pedals? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey everyone, I'm a bit out of the loop with these pedals, and I'm trying to understand the ways people are using them.

I understand what they do, I'm just wondering why someone would use a pedal instead of just setting on an amp that has the gain or tone shaping characteristics that they're looking for.

In particular, because the pedal then (presumably) gets plugged into the amps preamp section anyway, which is going to colour the sound again. So then, would the optimum use be to plug into a really transparent, clean amp?

To be clear, I'm talking about pedals like the UA Ruby, Zvex box of rock, Benson Preamp. Not so much about Helix, ToneX, etc. I know the latter are more like an all-in-one recording solution, so you can DI and still get great sounds at home, but the former? I'm not so sure what they're best used for!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

In fact, the Strymon Iridium is ONLY for DI, there’s no output suitable for plugging into an amp - it’s a line-level signal. The manual specifically says not to connect it to a guitar amp.

Ah, TIL, thanks! Yeah going back to when I rekindled my hobby with what I know now, I probably would have gone with an Iridium first. I'm quite happy with my Orange Crush 35rt, having 9 amp+cab combinations in the Iridium would have given me more options to see why styles I like best.