Blues (SRV Style) distortion out of just an amp

[RoCkStAr3417]

I was wondering if you could get some light Stevie Ray Vaughn style distortion out of just a PEAVEY RAGE 158 15w practice amp. I can get heavey metal distortion by turning the gain all the way up, but I was wondering if I can get some lighter "bluesier" stuff without buying a pedal. I'am only 15, so I don't have a huge amnount of money, so I was just wondering if anyone could help. peace!!

[55'gibby]

blues uses a lot less overdrive than metal does. you'll need to turn down the gain a bit. SRV used a bunch of effects at different times, he used a multi-plex pedal (like a waa waa), also he used compression (as does Eric Clapton), and a set of pretty hot pick-up won't hurt, that was his base line for his effects, I do know he used a distortion pedal from time to time as well. I personally use nothing much more than a hollow body electric and a ooooolllld Muff Pi II, and a amp (fender tweed on stage, mesa boogie at home). Unlike metal you'll have to kill a bit of treble, add some bass and midrange to get the "blues growl". To answer you question yes you can get the blues sound, but prolly not sound like SRV. I don't know what kind of guitar you have you'll have to use your neck pick up with your bridge pick up to get the crunch on the rthythm end that you'll need. Listen to Johnny Winter "Hot White and Blue" or any thing by Freddie King to hear more of the "Texas Tornado" style of blues (that's how I qualify SRV) they might give you a bit of a different feel for the sound you might be after. Don't be affraid to let the sound get a bit dirty, but, don't overdrive too hard.

[ESP_Viper]

The quickest and easiest way to get blues tone from your amp is to switch to only the neck pickup and roll back on the volume knob on your guitar with the amp's gain channel on and the gain up pretty high. I do that and I get some pretty sweet blues lead tonez. You can also turn the volume all the way up on your guitar and lower the gain on the amp. That will give you more dynamics than rolling back on your volume knob.

[RoCkStAr3417]

sorry i didn't reply sooner (i was gone for the weekend) but I have a jet black Washburn WR150 electric, and a Peavey Rage 158 15watt practice amp. The pickups on the guitar are Bridge=humbucker... middle= single... neck= single. this guitar is soooo comfy!! Newayz... i'm not that knowledgable about electric guitar amps (i've only had an accoustic b4 now. i get my electric 4 xmas) i've played electric a billion times b4 but i've never owned one. but the amp has clean tone and "lead" tone switch. the lead tone has two dials "pre gain" and "post gain", then it has an equlizer. (the equlizer has a modern/ vintage switch, and don't know which would be better blues/ and which would be better for metal) the equlizer has "low" "mid" and "high" dials., and i'm guessing that those would be equal to bass, mid and trebal. i am sooo confused!! i hope this helps you guyz explain this to me better. thanx for the help!! peace

[Schecter_dude]

I agree with ESP... I just dug out my Rage 158 and my Squier Strat... got a pretty good blues thang goin on!