August 20th, 2026 | Jacob Holdsworth
Expanding Your Guitar Rig with Amp Recreation Pedals
In this article, we’re discussing how you can use our Amp Recreation pedals as part of a rig with a traditional guitar amplifier. Amp Recreation is the moniker given to our AIAB line: pedals that recreate the entirety of a vintage valve amp in excruciating detail. The preamp, rectifier, phase inverter, power amp, and power supply are all simulated in miniature to create a pedal that models the sound, feel, and behaviours of its vintage counterpart.
In this article we refer to the POST-DRIVE EQ found on most of our Amp Recreation pedals. Over time this name has changed to POST EQ on newer pedals. Everything said here in reference to the POST-DRIVE EQ is also true for newer pedals where the control is labelled POST EQ.
POST-DRIVE EQ
Our Amp Recreation pedals are designed a little differently from typical AIAB-style pedals, as we model the entire circuit and its behaviours. Most AIAB pedals are designed to operate like overdrive pedals, intended for use into a traditional amp rather than cab sims. Our pedals are designed to do both, allowing you to use them as a standalone amp sim into an IR, a power amp, or with your traditional guitar amp.
The output of our pedal is akin to having its inspiration connected to a load. In the case of our DELUXE55, for example, it’s like having a Tweed Deluxe connected to a reactive load. This does cause an issue, though, guitar amps aren’t designed to be connected to the front end of another guitar amp.
This is where our POST-DRIVE EQ comes in! This clever little control is a filter placed after the simulated amp output to make our Amp Recreation pedals compatible with a wide range of rigs. The EQ1/2 modes are filters designed to counteract the voicing of typical tone-stack designs, allowing you to neutralise your traditional amp and let the character of your Amp Recreation pedal come through. This overcomes the issue of putting an amp into an amp.
POST-DRIVE EQ Modes
The POST-DRIVE EQ has three selectable modes, each suited to different situations, so selecting the correct mode for your application is key to getting good results. Let’s quickly go over the modes.
- EQ1 – This is designed for brighter, Fender-style tone stacks. This filter dramatically reduces high-frequency content and adds some missing mids.
- EQ2 – This is designed for darker, Marshall-style tone stacks. This filter retains high-frequency content and cuts low mids to allow the high end of the Amp Recreation pedal to be heard through darker amps.
- P/AMP – In this mode, the POST-DRIVE EQ is disabled and there is no output filtering. This is used when the Amp Recreation pedal is being used directly with power amps into guitar cabs, or with some sort of cab sim. If you’re using a traditional guitar amp, you’ll find this mode harsh and unpleasant.
Making Adjustments
Situated near the POST-DRIVE EQ, you’ll find the ADJ or POST EQ knob. This control skews the active filter, allowing you to dial it in based on your amp’s tone settings and find the sweet spot. Turning this control counter-clockwise removes low end, tightening up the response, while turning it clockwise rolls off high end.
Signal Chain Placement
Now that we know how to get the pedal sounding correct in the rig, let’s figure out where to put it.
Amp Recreation pedals are all-analogue modellers, and as such, we can think of them as an amp. Pedals that you’d want to go into the front of the amp are best placed before the Amp Recreation pedal, while pedals you would prefer to use in an FX loop can be placed after it.
Typically, this would mean things like fuzz, overdrive, distortion, filter effects, and some modulation effects would go before the Amp Recreation pedal, with delays, reverbs, and modulation effects you prefer to keep clean going after it.
Stereo effects will also want to be placed after the Amp Recreation pedal, as, much like their vintage counterparts, these are mono-analogue devices.
Using Multiple Amp Recreation Pedals
If carrying a collection of vintage amps to a gig sounds unappealing, putting multiple Amp Recreation pedals together on a pedalboard can be a great way to swap amps mid-set with ease.
In the video above, we pair a DELUXE61, DELUXE55, and RD Compact Hot Rod with a Fender Pro Reverb. In essence, this is the same as bringing your Fender Pro Reverb, a modded Marshall Plexi, a Tweed Deluxe and a Brown Deluxe to the gig. Our pedals are on the heavier side, but they’re definitely not as heavy as that setup!
As each Amp Recreation pedal is essentially an amp, they’re best used individually rather than stacked.
We hope this has helped you add your Amp Recreation pedal to your rig. If you have any questions, more articles can be found in the News/Blog section of this website, as well as further videos on our YouTube channel. Of course, you can also reach out to us via support for further assistance.