Front-of-amp gain stacks · Tom Quayle build

Five Drive Stacks v2

Rebuilt around the Wampler Tom Quayle Dual Fusion as the lead voice. Exact knob positions, in chain order, into the front of the Badger. The amp and wet stay as your bedroom-lead reset, so switching stack = re-dialling the dirt only.

Chain order: Guitar → Venus → SD9 → Butter → AC+ → Tom Quayle (Ch A / Ch B) → Badger front. Put the Dual Fusion last so it shapes the final lead voice. Clock positions = a knob face (7:00 min · 12:00 noon · 5:00 max).

Xotic SP Compressor — removed. Sustain now comes from amp Power-Scaling squash + the drive + the wet bloom. See the note at the bottom on the compressor-shaped hole this leaves.

What you can change & why

TQ Ch A vs B
The two channels are voiced to stack — set Channel A as your rhythm/lower-gain base and Channel B as the lead lift. Run B into A (B first in the internal order) and B pushes A for the solo jump. That dual-channel stack is the whole reason this pedal replaces a two-pedal lift.
TQ Tone controls
Each channel has its own tone — keep them mid-forward (tone past noon) for cut. The Dual Fusion is already a transparent-with-mids voice, so you rarely need much.
Gain amount
More gain ≠ better lead. Past ~1:00 on the TQ you trade note definition for fizz. If it feels lifeless, add amp Drive or wet bloom, not pedal gain.
Stacking order
TQ last = it shapes the final voice. Swap it before the Butter and the Butter re-clips it for a grittier, more compressed flavour — a free extra tone.
Tone at low volume
Roll pedal Tone back at bedroom level (you can't feel the lows, so highs read harsh). The amp Treble carries the cut.
Guitar volume
All five are set guitar-on-full. Roll to 7 and they clean up — your rhythm/lead control without touching a pedal.
Sustain now the SP is gone. That patch used the SP as the sustain engine. Without it, your bedroom sustain comes from three places: (1) amp Power-Scaling squash — keep Drive just above Power for power-amp compression that reads as sustain; (2) the Tom Quayle's own compression at higher gain; (3) the wet bloom — longer delay repeats and a big reverb make notes appear to hang. It works, but a compressor you actually like (one with a parallel blend, so it keeps your dynamics) is now the most defensible next purchase — it replaces a tool you removed rather than adding a sixth drive.