YW, Stellar – it was an interesting lookup. I like to split the signal myself, but before the OD stage. In my case, this is because OD loses so much of the bottom end on a bass; I can see why it’s not so necessary (or even undesirable) to do it with lead guitar.

I’d hazard a semi-educated that the OD is an important choice. I don’t know the Stamps, but I do know an awful lot of really poor OD pedals (and patches on multis) out there. Unfortunately, the really good ones are megabucks. Even the old Ibanez Tubescreamer costs and, ironically, it used some of the cheapest, nastiest op-amps ever produced. They’re so bad, they’re not produced anymore and (say) Samsung would think you’re mad for asking. I’d be more tempted by a 12AX7-driven stomper myself, but that’s just a personal op.

ps, just seen there’s a lot of Stamps reviews on Harmony-Central.com – the usual loveit/hateit mix you get with OD reviews. At least most people pick them up for $75-$100, which is not too big a hit.

All I could find (guitargeek.com) was a rundown of her gear ca 2000. It goes like this:

Bottleneck – Strat – Boss CS3 – Stamps Drive-o-matic (never heard of this distortion) – Boss CH1, with outputs to a Vox AC30 topboost and a Fender Pro Junior.

I have no idea if this helps, but hope it’s of some use.