Pedal Advice
Lukin_oz
Posts: 257
Just after a bit of advice on which pedal would acheive what sound im looking for... My lead tone is fine, but when playing clean lead with the acoustic rythm its a bit weak. What pedal could i use to fatten up the tone and make it thicker?
Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
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http://aphex.com/pedals.htm
the guitar exciter. i use the acoustic model on my acoustic line and it's amazing.
If it's an acoustic you want to fatten up, an exciter is a great solution.
If it's an electric... an exciter would work great, but I'd also suggest a good compressor, that would fatten up the tone, maybe boost the signal (most have variable output), and keep the tone clean.
If you go from a compressor into an overdrive, it will make it fat and liven up your sustain. Into a distortion, it will really help sustain and give it a tad more meat. It really helps control feedback for those Cobain-inspired moments, too. Great for chicken-pickin'. The place where it really shines is bringing the tone out of a Strat or Tele. Like when you get a good piece of maple, it looks okay... but you add a good clearcoat laquer to it, and it comes to life? That's what a compressor does for a Strat or Tele. You didn't miss it before, but you can't live without it after.
Robert Keeley makes a quite nice compressor:
http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=8
The MXR Dyna Comp is a very popular selection:
http://www.jimdunlop.com/products/electronics/mxr/products/m102.html
I know that others are out there from other manufacturers, but those are the two that I would endorse.
The big thing is that compressors are better for playing leads, notes, riffs, solos, etc. It can make chords sound undefined and muddy.
Key disclaimer: Try before you buy.
On the Keeley and the MXR, it has two controls: Effect level and Output volume. You decide how radical you want the effect to be, and then you decide how loud it should be when engaged. Pretty simple.
Now, for a brief explanation of what compression is:
When you play, the overall output volume varies greatly. A single note picked lightly will be very weak, and a full power chord strummed hard will be very strong. A compressor squishes (compresses) the louder notes so they don't get so loud, and then compensates by turning the whole signal up. So, you can play quieter stuff and louder stuff, but when it's compressed, the levels sound much closer. If you were playing a little lead riff and then switching to power chords, and you wanted them to be the same volume, a compressor is perfect. Compression also fattens up the tone, bringing the fullness of each note into the signal. Tube saturation is a form of compression (albeit an especially musical form). It helps sustain by grabbing a note while it's loud and holding the volume while the actual note fades... keeping the signal sustaining much longer. It helps feedback by controlling frequencies that might get TOO loud and squeal and hurt your ears, and instead getting that great, rumbling feedback sound.
So, when you set up a compressor pedal, you decide how much you want to squish the signal, and how much you want to raise the volume to compensate.
Comprende?
Compression:
Picture the scene. Sicily, 1947. A monkey. With a volume pedal. He has tinnitus, so he doesn't like loud noises, but needs things to be a certain volume level in order to hear them, poor little mite. He is wearing headphones. When you play, if it's too loud, he turns the volume down a little. If it's too quiet, he turns it up. He can do this quite quickly if he wants, but there's a big dial in front of him, telling him how fast he's allowed to turn the volume control. There's another control that determines how loud his headphones are compared to your guitar.
Pop the little chap in a box and paint it (traditionally) blue and off you go. Oh, it might be a good idea to replace him with some sort of electronics gubbins, to save his poor hearing.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
I thought about posting the monkey version...
But then again, I am VERY well-educated in the concept of compression, and the monkey-version of compression had me confused.
Now, the monkeys explain delay pretty well...
Monkeys explaining delay is priceless.