So, I often wonder what's the best approach for getting the best tone out of my rig, particularly my amp.
I use a 40 watt Fender valve amp with a "12 speaker for most of what I do live.
Well, there are basically three ways to play classic rock n' roll and hard blues using overdrive/distortion:
a) using the amp's clean channel and overdriving/distorting it with pedals (which is basically what I've been doing so far)
b) using the amp's dirty channel with just a bit of gain, and "seasoning" everything with dirt pedals
c) using the amp's dirty channel, overdriven to the maximum desired amount of gain, and using the volume knob on the guitar to clean the sound as needed
(Of course, the other effects, like delay, wah, reverb, et al being added ad libitum with pedals if needed).
Does any of you do the "c" option?
I've been tempted to try it, since I took my black strat to a tech for a quick maintenance and he played it through a cranked up valve amp, cleaning up when needed just by lowering the volume on the guitar. The tone was KILLER and I felt that I'd make it even better through my own amp, which is way better.
P.S. if this thread fits better in another section of the forum, my apologies.