Home › Forums › Help/Technical Questions › Germanium 4 Big Muff Volume Differences

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  • January 15, 2011 at 9:48 am #81239
    MarkPTV
    Member

    Hey guys, I just bought the Germanium 4 Big Muff and I just have one question. Is it normal that there should be quite a noticeable difference in volume between the distortion and overdrive sides? to get the two sides to be approximately the same volume I have to max the volume on the overdrive side and roll back the volume on the distortion side to about 1 o’clock (even when I max out the gain, bias and tone knobs on the overdrive side).

    Also, when adding the overdrive side on top of the distortion it seems to suck a lot of volume. Is this normal? Or have I gotten a faulty pedal that needs to be replaced?

    Thanks in advance.

    January 15, 2011 at 1:07 pm #113775
    KartoonHead
    Member
    Quote:
    Hey guys, I just bought the Germanium 4 Big Muff and I just have one question. Is it normal that there should be quite a noticeable difference in volume between the distortion and overdrive sides? to get the two sides to be approximately the same volume I have to max the volume on the overdrive side and roll back the volume on the distortion side to about 1 o’clock (even when I max out the gain, bias and tone knobs on the overdrive side).

    Adding any additional clipping to a signal chain will inevitably lower the overall volume as you’re effectively limiting the sound.

    Quote:
    Also, when adding the overdrive side on top of the distortion it seems to suck a lot of volume. Is this normal? Or have I gotten a faulty pedal that needs to be replaced?

    I think you’re using the pedal incorrectly, or your understanding of how it’s meant to be used isn’t quite there. The idea with this pedal is to use the overdrive side as your main drive, and add in the distortion for volume, loudness, and sustain boosts for lead lines or solos. As I understand from your post, what you’re doing is using the distortion as your main drive and boosting for leads and solos using the overdrive, effectively adding another one or two stages of clipping over your main drive, which will of course chop off a lot of your volume.

    The type of setup you’re after would usually have the overdrive placed before the distortion side, for example many many (lots) of people use a tube screamer with a big muff after it. Switching in the tube screamer increases the mid-range response of the muff and the sustain, which is better for leads, but adds no additional clipping after your main drive = no volume drop.

    Hope this helps! (Correct me if I’m wrong effect guru guys)

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