od pedal or tube amp-where to start

[blue057]

I will soon have new kinman pups in my American strat, my next purchase: od pedal or tube amp? I hadn't taken playing seriously enough as I've just been plugging into a PA unit (it is a good clean sounding unit, but I've had a RP-5 rarely used since grade school when I bought it 10 years ago that would kill any good tone from the strat.
So now I'll have the new pickups, but I don't wanna rely on the RP-5 for distortion and compression etc... But I know that I am gonna eventually need a tube amp for better sound.
I'm leaning towards getting a fulldrive 2 first, but how important is having a tube? enough to get one first?

[bzimm]

Personally I would start with a good amp. If you are looking for a good bedroom amp for practice find an old silverface champ or vibro champ by Fender. About 6 watts of pure tube gold. They can be had for the price of a FD-2 if you look around. I think that is the best way to start looking for 'that' sound,

[BlueFrogs]

I would say, go to your local music store and play the amps you are interested in. Many amps have 2 channels and you may actually find that you have enough gain from the dirty channel itself. You may not even want to buy a pedal if you're happy enough with the amp alone.:) Good luck!

Ps-If you find a small amp like a Champ like bzimm mentioned, just turn the volume all the way up and you will get some killer natural overdriven tones! Just roll back the volume on the guitar to clean it up some.:roll

[blue057]

I find it interesting how highly regarded tube amps are. I didn't expect an old amp's OD to be suggested over a new fulldrive, but I'm sensing that once I play around with one I'll see the light.
Did you guys suggest the Fender Champ because of affordability? Because I don't wan't price to limit the selection. I'd rather wait a few months to get cash for a Hot Rod DeVille or something than get a champ now for $2-300 less.
And do you feel that sound would still be compromised/limited if I were to use the fulldrive 2 into a non-tube amp as opposed to using just a tube? (I know, that was just a different way of asking what I asked in the first place, but if anything comes to mind, do tell).

[BlueFrogs]

The reason why the Champ gets mentioned alot is because they are low wattage amps that can be dimed without losing your hearing. They also have tons of tone. Great for jammin' at home and can be found at reasonable prices.

The Hot Rod series you mentioned is very popular. I had the HRDeluxe and it was LOUD. That's a perfect example of a 2 channel amp that may work for you. Btw, I sold mine in MINT condition, with footswitch and cover for $325.:)

Originally posted by blue057
I find it interesting how highly regarded tube amps are. I didn't expect an old amp's OD to be suggested over a new fulldrive

That my friend is exactly why old amps are so coveted and cloned. For me personally, one of the sweetest tones I ever heard was through a Tweed Deluxe. No pedals, no reverb, no nuthin'. Just the amp, a cord and a guitar. Heaven...........:)

[chuckocaster]

like everyone else said, buy a decent amp first. no amount of pedals are going to make a crap amp sound like gold. depending on what you are playing style wise, i would say to get a hotrod deluxe. great amp, two channels, and really flexible. but be sure try out all the amps at a store, even ones that don't look that inviting, you just might find one you like.

[bignote]

I agree with Chuckocaster! The answer is not so much in a pedal. a good axe and amp is the foundation, everything else is secondary. You might want to check out a Fender Blues Deluxe too. You can even get them in tweed.

[Bob Craver]

Both. Start with the amp.

[curtisstetka]

I concur on the amp thing. A good amp is the foundation upon which you may build. You've got a good guitar, the best pickups on the market, now you need to complete the basic setup with a solid, reliable, good sounding amp.

The FD2 is a wonderful OD pedal. I had a Roland JC120 amp for a while and the FD2 sounded great with it. Now I use a Blues Junior and again the FD2 sounds magnificent. Point: it sounds great with a wide variety of solid state or tube amps.