Clean Fender Amp pedal

Mark Ambler

Mark Ambler

Nov 18, 2017
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London, UK.
#1
Hi, I'm using a EV SXA360 full range 12"and horn 500 watt RMS speaker cab. It works surprisingly well, very transparent, but I'd like to make it sound more like a clean Fender valve amp if possible (no distortion).

There are so many pedals on the market, and many are aimed at adding a bit (or a lot) of overdrive. Some of the pedals in this list may do the job well, and it would be very helpful to hear peoples experiences with them:

Tech 21 Blonde

HX Stomp

Catalinbread 5F6 (would this be any good into a PA cab?)

Aguilar Tonehammer

Ampeg SCR-DI

SHift Line Olympic 3

Nordstrand Starlifter.

DarkGlass Harmonic Booster Mk2

Noble preamp. (Do I have to spend this much?)

I'm just looking for a pedal that does this one thing really well. If it has other features, that's fine, but first and foremost is a clean Fender tone. I know there are many threads re preamps, but there are many new pedals on the market, etc.TIA
 
#3
I used a Joyo American Sound which is a Tech 21 Blonde clone. It's pretty close at nailing that Fender tone. The break up from the overdrive circuit is really nice too. I kind of wish that Joyo would release a neutral version of this pedal (without the baked in EQ tone) so that it's flat and neutral. Essentially then it would be a straight overdrive circuit with a 3 band eq without all the amp / cab sim stuff.
 
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#4
fbm_1_top_gal.jpg
 
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#7
Mark Ambler said:
Hi, I'm using a EV SXA360 full range 12"and horn 500 watt RMS speaker cab. It works surprisingly well, very transparent, but I'd like to make it sound more like a clean Fender valve amp if possible (no distortion).

There are so many pedals on the market, and many are aimed at adding a bit (or a lot) of overdrive. Some of the pedals in this list may do the job well, and it would be very helpful to hear peoples experiences with them:

Tech 21 Blonde

HX Stomp

Catalinbread 5F6 (would this be any good into a PA cab?)

Aguilar Tonehammer

Ampeg SCR-DI

SHift Line Olympic 3

Nordstrand Starlifter.

DarkGlass Harmonic Booster Mk2

Noble preamp. (Do I have to spend this much?)

I'm just looking for a pedal that does this one thing really well. If it has other features, that's fine, but first and foremost is a clean Fender tone. I know there are many threads re preamps, but there are many new pedals on the market, etc.TIA
Click to expand...


Broughton Super stack

Frog Pedals

RocknGlass DiPre

Sushi effects .(small cheap and amazing)
 
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#9
Double Wubbler said:
Joyo also sell the same amp sim in a smaller box called Clean Glass.
The down side is just a single tone knob instead of the 3-band EQ of the American.
Click to expand...

I've compared the Clean Glass to the American and the Clean Glass was inherently noisy in comparison. The Clean Glass isn't 'that' noisy, but the American is noticeably quieter, and with more control over the sound. The Clean Glass pedal is very very small, so perhaps cramming everything so tight together has increased the noise level.
 
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#15
Tried the Catalinbread 5F6, EHX Bass Soul Food, EHX Battalion, and very briefly, the Line 6 HX Stomp.

The Catalinbread probably is excellent at tube like breakup, etc, but the clean sound wasn’t for me.
The EHX Bass Soul Food had a very nice warm natural clean sound with the gain turned off. Really like this pedal.
The I couldn’t get a totally clean sound out of the EHX Battalion, I guess that’s intended, though.

I was leaving the shop when I saw the HX Stomp. The Bass presets sounded very promising, and it also has a full sized headphone jack:)

I need to atleast demo the Aguilar, Ampeg and Mesa before I decide.

Any thoughts on the Bass Soul Food an HX Stomp?
 
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#16
Mark Ambler said:
Tried the Catalinbread 5F6, EHX Bass Soul Food, EHX Battalion, and very briefly, the Line 6 HX Stomp.

The Catalinbread probably is excellent at tube like breakup, etc, but the clean sound wasn’t for me.
The EHX Bass Soul Food had a very nice warm natural clean sound with the gain turned off. Really like this pedal.
The I couldn’t get a totally clean sound out of the EHX Battalion, I guess that’s intended, though.

I was leaving the shop when I saw the HX Stomp. The Bass presets sounded very promising, and it also has a full sized headphone jack:)

I need to atleast demo the Aguilar, Ampeg and Mesa before I decide.

Any thoughts on the Bass Soul Food an HX Stomp?
Click to expand...
There's a big thread on the HX Stomp. Lots of folks are enjoying theirs. I've been thinking of picking one up but even though it's not the full blown Helix it's still got a pretty good price tag. ;)
You may even find a Fender guitar amp on the Stomp that you like and then could match it with a bass cab? Lots of possibilities in that little box!

Line 6 HX Stomp
 
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#19
Broughton Super Stack is EXACTLY what you say you're looking for. For something more readily available with a nice tube sound at a reasonable price you could try the Lightning Boy Nuvision...sweet pedal in it's own right! It has a lot of character and can get some break up depending on how you set the gain and volume knobs...it's truly a great stand alone pedal.
 
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#20
From it’s description, the Broughton Super Stack sounds perfect, but as I’m using a full range powered Cab, it might be too bright unless I use a speaker sim.

I’m now thinking that a HX Stomp might be more suitable for my needs.
 
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