Archon 50 Dirt channel

[jep1210]

Back in December I got an Archon 50 combo amp. I really love this thing, it takes pedals really well and has that nice fat tone that I had been looking for, it's the amp that stopped me from shopping for amps. I primarily use the clean channel but the dirty channel has some killer tone too. So I thought to myself a couple of weeks ago, hey I have a 2 channel amp here and I'm only using 50% of it, why not sideline some of my distortion pedals for a while (a short while because I'll tell ya, I haven't found anything better than the Strymon Sunset I got, but that's another topic) and try using the built in amp distortion.

The problem is I'm having trouble boosting the dirty channel for solos. I use a Boss GE-7 currently after my distortion pedal on the clean channel and it works great. I add a touch of high mids, and add level but when I try that set up on the dirty channel it has no effect. It doesn't matter if its in front of the amp or in the loop, the EQ doesn't boost the signal on the dirty channel. Am I'm missing something? Should I be using something else as a boost?

 

[andy474x]

A level booster of some kind in the loop, including your eq, should work. I don’t have an Archon, but I believe they have a footswitch for the loop on/off? Is the loop “on” when you’ve tried this?

 

[jep1210]

A level booster of some kind itn the loop, including your eq, should work. I don’t have an Archon, but I believe they have a footswitch for the loop on/off? Is the loop “on” when you’ve tried this?

I believe it was. Funny thing now is, right after I typed my question I did a little test here at home. I set it up my board into the front of the amp and the boost had very little effect. Then I put my board through the loop and it's boosting just fine. Last week at practice I swear I was getting nothing through the loop. Maybe the loop wasn't on but I would have sworn the loop light on the foot switch was on.

 

[bodia]

If you're looking for a great boost pedal, the Suhr Koko Boost is a great pedal. Also, for something a little different, but really awesome. the Drybell Unit 67 is KILLER!

 

[Herr Squid]

Back in December I got an Archon 50 combo amp. I really love this thing, it takes pedals really well and has that nice fat tone that I had been looking for, it's the amp that stopped me from shopping for amps. I primarily use the clean channel but the dirty channel has some killer tone too. So I thought to myself a couple of weeks ago, hey I have a 2 channel amp here and I'm only using 50% of it, why not sideline some of my distortion pedals for a while (a short while because I'll tell ya, I haven't found anything better than the Strymon Sunset I got, but that's another topic) and try using the built in amp distortion.

The problem is I'm having trouble boosting the dirty channel for solos. I use a Boss GE-7 currently after my distortion pedal on the clean channel and it works great. I add a touch of high mids, and add level but when I try that set up on the dirty channel it has no effect. It doesn't matter if its in front of the amp or in the loop, the EQ doesn't boost the signal on the dirty channel. Am I'm missing something? Should I be using something else as a boost?

What are you expecting out of that "boost?" More volume? more dirt? More or less high/low/mids?

 

[vchizzle]

Yeah, if looking solely for volume and EQ change on the dirt channel, the GE-7 works great in the loop. If you’re wanting more gain/compression you need something more like a koko boost or ep booster in front of the amp. If you want both, you need one of each in the aforementioned locations.

 

[László]

The problem is I'm having trouble boosting the dirty channel for solos. I use a Boss GE-7 currently after my distortion pedal on the clean channel and it works great. I add a touch of high mids, and add level but when I try that set up on the dirty channel it has no effect. It doesn't matter if its in front of the amp or in the loop, the EQ doesn't boost the signal on the dirty channel. Am I'm missing something? Should I be using something else as a boost?

What happens when a waveform clips - that’s what makes a dirty channel dirty - is that as the gain goes up, it becomes a square wave, the high frequencies are reduced, the bass is increased.

There’s also tube compression that’s far greater on the gain channel. The compression also messes with the signal’s frequency curve.

Putting it in the loop means it comes AFTER most of the gain that’s caused by clipping in the preamp. So it affects the power tubes that follow the loop, and those aren’t clipping all that much. Hence, the EQ affects the signal more.