Which pedal to stack with the 1/2 Gainer

[Taylorman22]

I have a 1/2 Gainer and I'm looking at either using it as a clean boost/mild gain on one channel and then medium gain on channel two so it can be paired with a higher gain pedal afterwards....OR...put a light gain pedal before it and then use one channel on the 1/2 Gainer as light/medium gain and the second channel as higher gain. To get higher gain though, I'm assuming I'd have to stack it with the light gain pedal in front. So, my questions....

1. Which one of the Barber pedals would you recommend to go after it to act as a higher gain pedal? Ideally, it'd be nice to have it be able to stack with the cleaner side of the 1/2 Gainer.

2. Which one of the Barber pedals would you recommend to go in front of it to act as a clean boost/light gain, with the ability to be stacked with either channel of the 1/2 Gainer?

FWIW, I'm using a tele with single coils and a Vox AC15C1 with the bright cap mod.

[David Barber]

I have a 1/2 Gainer and I'm looking at either using it as a clean boost/mild gain on one channel and then medium gain on channel two so it can be paired with a higher gain pedal afterwards....OR...put a light gain pedal before it and then use one channel on the 1/2 Gainer as light/medium gain and the second channel as higher gain. To get higher gain though, I'm assuming I'd have to stack it with the light gain pedal in front. So, my questions....

1. Which one of the Barber pedals would you recommend to go after it to act as a higher gain pedal? Ideally, it'd be nice to have it be able to stack with the cleaner side of the 1/2 Gainer.

2. Which one of the Barber pedals would you recommend to go in front of it to act as a clean boost/light gain, with the ability to be stacked with either channel of the 1/2 Gainer?

FWIW, I'm using a tele with single coils and a Vox AC15C1 with the bright cap mod.

I'd recommend a Gain Changer and try it for each position (1 and 2), I'm not a fan of stacked pedals due to multiplied compression and noise as a rule regardless of brand or design. If you gotta do it keep the gain of each device at the lowest level you can work with and remember the last pedal in the stack sets the tone (overall Eq and texture).

[Taylorman22]

I agree about not stacking. I'm trying to cover all three gain stages with limited board space. Is the Gain Changer capable of higher gain with stacking the half gainer with it? If so, I can cover the first two stages with the half gainer. Maybe a Direct Drive or is that not a good match for the ac15?

[Taylorman22]

David, I came across the Dual Unlimited on TGP. Would that work as a med/high gain option instead of the Gain Changer? I really like the mid control on my Half Gainer. It helps with the ac15 already being mid heavy. Thinking the Half Gainer could be a clean boost and light gain and the Dual UNltd could be a medium gain and high gain. Four stages of gain in two pedals.

[David Barber]

David, I came across the Dual Unlimited on TGP. Would that work as a med/high gain option instead of the Gain Changer? I really like the mid control on my Half Gainer. It helps with the ac15 already being mid heavy. Thinking the Half Gainer could be a clean boost and light gain and the Dual UNltd could be a medium gain and high gain. Four stages of gain in two pedals.

Sure that could work, plenty of control too, just like you are thinking.