OK, so first things first. I know that running an electric guitar direct is a cardinal sin. My problem is that at my church, they don't want me using an amp. We have a small stage and don't have room to put an amp there. Even if I could have an amp, I couldn't get it loud enough to sound any good.

I'm looking for the best alternative. I was looking at some tube driven pedals, mainly the Vox Soundlab. Would a tube help the tone that much? That pedal is awfully expensive and I already have a delay and volume pedal. What are your opinions? Could I just buy a tube driven distortion/od pedal and run that straight through in to a DI box?

If it's just for church stuff the easiest and most likely cheapest solution is something like a Line 6 pod. It wouldn't take up any room and you could ditch your delay pedal.

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+1 Pod, or even V-amp if you don't want to spent any ca$h - Clean sound is is fine, you can even get a reasonable on-the-verge-of-grit sound. I personally don't like the V-Amps dirty sounds, can't comment on the pod. What amp do you usually use?

I actually don't have an amp anymore. I've been playing bass for a while but we have more of a need for me to play electric now so that's why I'm open to pretty much everything.

About the pod.......the only thing I don't like about them is the distortion. It just sounds so..........digital. Maybe I just need to play around with it. I was hoping for something with a little more warmth, which is why I was looking into the tube driven distortion pedals.

You could always buy a SansAmp TriAC. I haven't heard anyone complain about those.

And it's only... Hmm... The price has gone up to 189.99. They used to run 149.99 brand new.

Still, that's cheaper than a POD or Tonelab. Not quite as versatile, but it's 100% analog (aside from the memory storage and recall function; the 'emulation' is all analog). It depends on what you're looking for.

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again, dont really know what your budget is, but you could go with the pod for clean sounds, and run a tube distortion pedal in front of it. it will react the way a pedal would with an amp.

A POD or Vamp into a PA can produce some really nice tones, I've personally got some good sounds from a Vamp and a PA, as long as you don't want to palm mute.

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I've used my Tri-ac direct many times with great results. In fact, I've never miked my cab. And I use it distorted nearly all the time.

The only thing to look out for is that the level will be pretty loud. Inexperienced soundmen have let me overpower the rest of the band more than once. hehe

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No palm mutes? Why play at that point?

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Stuff I use:
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At church I used a Mesa Triaxis into a voodoo labs can simluator but thats probably a little pricy for you.... It was for me too. I borrowed it from a good friend.

at church now I run amps but a couple times I have run the PODXT Live through a Hughes and Kettner Red Box and it sounded great even when I was palm muting. You just ahve to play with the cab and mic simulation and tell your sound guy how to EQ your rig.

check out my church band
pressplaymusic.org

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it must be so different in america - ive never heard of any electrics or even bands being played in church over here in oz.its very traditional over here. to me its a bit weird lol
anyway, try some different pedals - eg. rat etc. youve gotta keep trying alternative stuff. but for the record, the POD sounds awesome through a PA.

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I was playing neo-classical music, no need for thick palm mutes.

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sorry not trying to hijack your thread.just explaining something.

its not all churches in the US,Fury...its just that there are alot of non-traditional more relaxed churches here nowadays.they use pop type music,sometimes metal sounding,to make religious themed music more relateable to a younger congregation.its pretty good stuff too.and some churches have pretty brutal sound systems and their bands are tiptop.My wife teaches Sunday school and I play in a metal band for a living(go figure.but it works for us...) and she convinced me a few years ago to come to their church and help them start their more 'updated' music program.I grew up Catholic and my mom is still a daily mass attendee.They didnt do stuff like this there.no way.I'm not a regular at this church but I do still consult them on equipment and its been a pretty cool experience.I still dont see any of them at the shows I play in my band work.a death/black/doom metal band.

POD or Vamp would work fine for ya.worried about finances then go with the Vamp.wont take up much space at all.they dont sound that bad for what you want it for.

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Usually for church I use an amp, but I had decent results with a SansAmp GT2 running clean. The distortion sounded okay too, but I didn't test that out with a band.

{I had a hard time hearing myself without an amp, though. Monitor wasn't doing it for me.}

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A very important thing for any direct guitar would be durastically cutting the frequency signal before 7-8khz for distortion. Clean guitar through a PA will sound fine. Distortion through a full range/PA speaker sounds kind of like a broken speaker (not in a good way). Any decent speaker/cab simulator or properly set crossover+EQ will make your distortion sound fine. Most any multi-effects pedal will offer a cab simulator. Even a <$59 digitech.

Always try before you buy if it is possible.

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