Pedal fetish.....................
lucylespian
Posts: 2,403
I have never really been very interested in pedals, but I'm thinking about developing a habit.
I'm keen for any descriptipons anyone can give me about nay pedals they have, what they use em for, what amps they are matched with, what tones you get. For example, I have no idea what a Small Clone, BIg Muff or OCD does. The names are funky but effectively disguise the purpose.
I think I'm gonna start with a rotosphere, cos I at least know what that does, and after listening to Black at Benroya this morning, I think i really have to have one.
I will probably run these thorugh the the Lonestar, which is a lot like a Bassman, I think.
I'm keen for any descriptipons anyone can give me about nay pedals they have, what they use em for, what amps they are matched with, what tones you get. For example, I have no idea what a Small Clone, BIg Muff or OCD does. The names are funky but effectively disguise the purpose.
I think I'm gonna start with a rotosphere, cos I at least know what that does, and after listening to Black at Benroya this morning, I think i really have to have one.
I will probably run these thorugh the the Lonestar, which is a lot like a Bassman, I think.
Music is not a competetion.
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I tend towardf a lack of subtlely generally.
My H&K has massive distortion channels which I use liberally.
I like Frusciante's tone from Stadium Arcadium for example, and JAck White is great. I can get that wet crunchy sugary tone on the Triamp esp from teh Gretsch on the bridge, but woulnd't know what knid of pedal to get it from.
I just interested in everything really. Not a lot of shops near me where I can try stuff out.
Boss Comp.
Boss DD-6 digital delay
H20 chorus/analog delay (and i want to sell it if anyone's interested..)
Greedtone - handmade AMAZING fuzz/dist./Od pedal
Tubescreamer
Crybaby
MXR phase 90
Fender Blender (broken :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:( )
Ebow - which is practically a pedal if you ask me.
And I'm in the market for more
Talk about a hell of a fetish.. I love every minute of it.
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
ibanez ts-9
chorus:
voodoo analog chorus, or, if you doont want to spend as much $$, boss super chorus
phaser/other
mxr phase 90
dunlop rotovibe
kicasss crazy-
mxr blue box-this thing sounds awsome. it fuzzes it up and raises it 2 octaves
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Visual-Sound-H2O-Liquid-Chorus-Echo?sku=151685
It's a chorus AND analog delay in one unit btw, not just a chorus.
Seeing as how MF is selling them for 169.99 new now, I think a fair price would be in the ballpark of $100 ish.
PM me if you're still interested (or anyone).
edit: price hasn't dropped, MF is just discounting them more.
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/effects-explained.html
^There's something to add to the confusion!
I pretty much got by with regular stock pedals in my life and have been happy.
I've had some boutique stuff, but I think a lot of those are for people playing at low volumes in the bedroom.
If you've got all that room and turn up those tubes, you can make some great sounds with stock stuff.
I have a Ts-9 that was stock, but I DID have it modded by a guy in Pennsylvania, Vaughn's Mods. He put a couple of mini switches in it and you can use it as a clean boost, regular TS-9 and a little subtler boost. The other switch gives two varied bass boosts, too.
I'm happy with that one, but the stock TS-9's ones are great, too. THey aren't heavy metal, but more Stevie Ray style overdrive.
I also love my old Ibanez AD-9 pink analog reverb. That thing's like a tank and it's fun and has a great decay to my ears. I don't know how the new ones are but they look good. A delay is great to have. The Line 6 digital ones are cool, too and may have more options.
I've had a bunch of flangers and phasers, too. Great fun but I don't use them too much except that I do love my Eric Shannon Uniphaser. He's on this board as Telesonic and made them for a few of us.
I have his Overdrive which is outstanding,too. I use that a lot.
His compressor and the phaser are great.
I don't play out much anymore, but I do have a monthly gig at an art gallery. (I see you posted in last weeks) That was an amazing night.
I usually set up with an electric of some sort, into my TS-9 overdrive > the Shannon overdrive > the Shannon UniPhase > the AD-9 > an Akai Headrush that is awesome. I use the Akai for it's 22 second loop or it's tape delay sound,, > my Roland Loop Station, to my Deluxe Reverb and maybe A/B it to another Boogie amp.
I mainly play some music or sounds on the looper to play over and just sit there and experiment with noises and some songs maybe, and generally make "art gallery" music. haha,, everyone THINKS I know what I'm doing!
You're a boogie fan,,,, I loved my Mesa tube footpedals, too! They are great. I forget the name now, but I'll think of it right when I post this!
Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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The V-Twin and the V1 Bottlerocket. They're floor overdrive stompers with 12ax7 tubes in them.
Awesome!
Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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with the h2o, i know it is known for being very full and rounded, but can you still get the teen spirit solo type bite with it?
Boss Comp.
Pretty good... a little noisy but it does it's job and I see no reason to get rid of it right now.
Boss DD-6 digital delay
Amazing. Perfect digital delay as far as I'm concerned.
H20 chorus/analog delay (and i want to sell it if anyone's interested..)
Very good pedal.. great analog delay and the chorus is even better. Nice simple controls.. good purchase.
Greedtone - handmade AMAZING fuzz/dist./Od pedal
Like I said - AMAZING. Perfect pedal. A few friends of mine described it as "a Marshall stack in a box" and that's pretty accurate.
Tubescreamer
Perfect as well... can do anything from adding a subtle warmth and drive to giving any sound a backbone of mids to rumbling distortion. I've got the turbo TS which is essentially the classic TS-9 with a mode switch that boosts the mids and distortion in 4 settings. Classic, higher, higher, highest. Very handy.
Crybaby
Great pedal all around..
MXR phase 90
Great pedal as well. I've read about this mod that people are doing to make it even better but haven't attempted yet. What I hear is that once this mod is done it's a perfect phase.
Fender Blender (broken :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:( )
I LOVE this pedal. It's loud, disgusting, crazed, and did I mention disgusting? Loud ass octave fuzz. It's certainly not for everyone though. If you want something funky that models Frusciante and Jack White this may be something you'd be interested in..
Ebow - which is practically a pedal if you ask me.
Love it. Hard to really describe what it sounds like, but I'm sure you know as a Pearl Jam fan. WELL worth the 80 dollars. One of my favorite toys
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
The Mesa pedal you are thinking of might be a V-Twin. I think it's that or a bottel rocket. I was looking at getting a Triaxis pre-amp, but kinda cooled for a bit, bought a new guitar instead. Pedals just seem cheaper, so a chance to change stuff without breaking the bank.
I do have the H&K Replex, which with the 2 heads can do some spacy stuff if I like. I tend to make a LOT of noise with that when I play wiht it. Floyd's Run Like Hell for example if a bit of a blast.
I like crunch, a lot, alot alot !!
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
THanks guys
Definetly hear/play the Flender first though.
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
The process can create very distinctive sonic signatures if you are into it, so much so that the right pedal board can be like a secret recipee. I'm not looking to put my favorite secret recipee on the internet, but I am happy to talk about a couple of favorite ingreedients.
The Boss DM-3
Mike uses a DM-2. The DM-3 has basically the same bucket brigade analog chip. From what I've read these more or less sound the same... but since I don't actually have a DM-2 I can't swear.
Anyway this is an analog delay. I assume there's not much I need to write about delay. But the thing is... it's not just a delay... it's a sound. That is when you stomp on this thing, and pass your signal thru the pedal's circuit, it just reshapes your sound in an incredibly appealing way.
I was watching a video tape of a rehersal with my old band the other day. We were working on a riff, and the drummer asked me to "turn on the DM-3 I need to rock with that thing." And low in behold as soon as my younger self stomped on the pedal the sound of the guitar was transformed, not by a delay trail, because I had the delay setting very low, but by a quality I can only think to describe as mood lighting.
The tone of the guitar gets modified in a very moody way. Highs get rolled off a bit, the presence increases, and the decay of notes becomes mellower.
It's a great delay, but the nature of the analog delay circuit and chip it passes your sound through colors the tone in a really amazing way. It's hard to describe. It's not like describing overdrive... or delay for that matter. It's more like a really lush eq setting. The DM-3 just changes your tone... AND offers a delay as well. But the sonic coloration it provides is really cool. Like a really mysterious and rich spotlight on your sound.
MXR Evelope Filter.
Another vintage pedal. Be sure you get one with the original circuit intact if you decide to buy. It's really easy to scoop out the guts of the old MXR pedals and replace with cheap knock off circuits. Again, as with the DM-3 what you are getting here is not just the effect... I mean there are plenty of envelope pedals out there... it's the sound of this specific circuit. Kind of the same theory as what I was writing about pedal chains. There's just something about the combination of certain resistors and diodes in a particular order in certain pedals that creates a unique "magic".
This is an old tan two knob pedal. You can get the funk happenning with this or go Jerry Garcia.
Basically what this does is it "pinches" the sound of your note. If you are already familiar with note envelopes it's pretty straight forward. Just in case anyone is reading who isn't familiar with a note envelope the theory is that a note has several components. Attack, Sustain, Release and Decay.
Attack- How quickly the note "Arrives" Pianos and Guitars have "fast" attack... Tubas and Violins can have slower attacks depending on how they are played.
Sustain... How long the note sustains. A guitar can sustain like crazy a drum or a triangle not so much.
Release.... How does the sound react when you "release" the note. A guitar note sounds very different if you release it by picking it, or if you dampen it, or if you let go of the fret board with your left hand after striking the string.
Decay... How long does the note take to fade out... Bass notes on a piano can linger, Violin notes too. High notes on a piano fade faster etc.
Anwyay the MXR has only two knobs... You set a "Cutoff value" meaning that when you play the string above a certain volume the filter kicks in and changes the way your notes attack sustain and decay, and then the other knob adjusts the character of the envelope mod.
To be honest I wrote all of this to give some idea of the concept of how it can modify the sound.... but in practice I just twist the knobs until my ears are happy.
This thing makes guitar notes cluck and bounce like a rubber band. It's not aggessive, but it's funky and da bomb for anyone looking to make a psychedelic soundtrack for 70's porno films. Works great with a wah.
Neither of these pedals are "Aggressive". They aren't good choices for the verses or choruses in metal... but the DM-3 can create an amazingly dark and lush landscape for a metal tune half time bridge. You can get 'Weld' era Neil Young meets TOOL note lingering sounds with this pedal.
The MXR is more chirpy ... it's for hippy psychedelia or 70s funk. It kind of makes your guitar sound like the keyboard in Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".
These are just two of my favorite things.
The ebow is the thing you can see Ed placing on his strings over the pickups at the start of any live performance of "World Wide Suicide".
It contains a battery, and basically creates a small magnetic field. When you place it on a metal string, over a pick up, it picks up the disruption of the pickups magnetic field by the vibrating string... and then just cycles it back... meaning it keeps the string vibrating after you strike the note.
The original pickup field disruption disrupts the ebow's field... but since the ebow's field is powered, it keeps on "recycling" the disruption unti you physcially stop the string or pull the ebow away.
Ok... that was long winded and geeky. In a nut shell... It creates >>> Sustain.
You can get the same sort of godly sustain you normally can only get from humbuckers and a stack playing at club clearing volumes at appartment listenning levels.
Sounds pretty ideal huh? The only drawback is that you need to keep the ebow seated *precisely* on one string at a time to get that great sustain... other wise you just get the sort of jerky stacotto sound Ed gets by pulling it across several strings on "WWS". The ebow takes some practice to master, and requires it's own technique. Whether or not it's worth it is up to you.
Me... I prefer to play with humbuckers through stacks at club clearing volumes :-)
Sustain is not a problem. I like th e-bow souund, might buy one at some stage just for Wishlist.
The delay sounds nice, but have a noice tube delay in teh Replex.
Envelope filters interest me. I have read that they can be used like an auto-wah, have you done that ??
With regard to teh chirp, are you familiar wiht "Hello Operator" ?? The intro bent notes are pretty chirpy, is that teh sound you are describing. I can get a similar sound from teh "British Clean" channel on teh triamp, wiht teh Gretsch, but it lacks a bit of "chirp". I kinda have to really squeeze the note out to get the sound, and I have the gain and channel volume pretty cranked so it is really bitey.
MAn, what I really want to do is jam with some of you guys. MAybe I need to work out how to record some stuff,
Hughes & Kettner 4-button footswitch
Fender 2-button footswitch
Digitech X-Series Delay
Digitech X-series Hyper Phase(Stereo phaser)
Ibanez FL-9 Flanger
DOD Ice Box Stereo Chorus
BOSS OC-2 Octave
BOSS DS-1 Distortion
BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive
BOSS BD-2 Blues Driver
Ibanez TS-5 Tube Screamer
Fender Blender
Dunlop Original Crybaby(old school version)
Dunlop Rotovibe
Danelectro milkshake chorus
Fender Tuner
(Those are in my chain, I also have: Danelectro pastrami overdrive, Danelectro PB&J Delay, Danelectro Hashbrown flange, Danelectro Black Coffee Distortion, BOSS OS-2 Distortion/overdrive)
I love pedals and I love learning about rigs(that's why I joined this board)
JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
"Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
Bad thing: Being a pedal nut on a limited income.
I bought a Dyna Comp today, even though I'm now pretty much broke and have to start saving for my girlfriend's birthday present.
Anyone else find that women get in the way of more gear?!
7/9/06 LA 1
7/10/06 LA 2
10/21/06 Bridge 1
Whjat do you think of the DAno stuff, I have always thought they looked cool, but wondered about teh quality ??
JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
"Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
Nope! My girl loves pedals so her idea of a great present is me playing a song for her on guitar! It's nice, I got her some flowers and a card once and some other thing she wanted but all she wanted to hear was a song on the guitar! Whenever I get a new pedal, she wants to hear it which is really nice. Her parents also help me out(it's nice because both her parents are doctors and her dad has a full Marshall stack, a PRS quilt top, two Warwrick(sp?) basses, a nice bass stack and a few high-end pedals. Yeah, I'm thankful she likes guitar stuff because being in college and having NO job REALLY strains the budget...
JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
"Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
Nope! My girl loves pedals so her idea of a great present is me playing a song for her on guitar! It's nice, I got her some flowers and a card once and some other thing she wanted but all she wanted to hear was a song on the guitar! Whenever I get a new pedal, she wants to hear it which is really nice. Her parents also help me out(it's nice because both her parents are doctors and her dad has a full Marshall stack, a PRS quilt top, two Warwrick(sp?) basses, a nice bass stack and a few high-end pedals. Yeah, I'm thankful she likes guitar stuff because being in college and having NO job REALLY strains the budget...[/quote]
Marry her instantly !! Sooner than instantly, in fact !!
if you're into envelope filters check out the one at tone factor, It's a solid pedal at $120 though the shipping might be a little extra. http://www.tonefactor.com (Uncles Custom Shop)
For OD's since he's in OZ Michael Ibrahim (MI Pedals) has some interesting stuff potentially at not ridiculously more expensive prices http://www.miaudio.com/
With the complex preamps that mesa's have already, you probably will like boosts better than colored OD's or distortions.
I'm pretty sure lone stars have an effects loop, you'll more than likely love the sound of any modulation effects in the loop (not wah pedals) because the effected sound won't go through the preamp and the integrity of the sound will be maintained (this is obviously not always a preference)
Anyhow, have fun with it.
Big Muff is a very thick fuzz, not a lot of note definition but loads of sustain it's fun, I actually prefer the cheaper russian version though it needs new jacks and a better switch to be reliable.
Fuzz Face is a more round sounding legato fuzz with warm germainium transistors. The ones with silicon transistors will be a little harsher sounding fuzz but it's more defined and sounds mean especially when you add an upper octave to the mix, but in general it's more square than the round and warm germanium sound. There are also a large amount of hybrids on the market. For humbuckers, you might look at tone benders.
If you're going to check out the fender blender, check out the Ampeg Scrambler too and the Foxx Tone Machine.
What rabit hole did you fall through? Where can I find it? How do I get in on the Bizarro world you are living in? Can you post a map? Dirrections?
Seriously, sounds like you have a pretty great situation there. Appreciate it for all it's worth!
Nope don't know the song so I can't say. I would say that if you are interested in an envelope filter specifically there might be better ones out there to check on. I don't know the ones Pacomc79 if referring to but he has given me some *great* pedal tips here on the boards before.
The MXR doesn't give you a lot of control of the envelope. But again, kind of like what I was trying to write about how the DM-3 colors the tone apart from the literal delay effect it was designed to provide, there is just something about the tone of the MXR that I dig. In terms of tweakability though there are more amazing envelope filter's out there.... Lovetone Meatball comes to mind. Not cheap, but lots of knobs.
Very similar sort of thing. This gets into real fussy territory. A wah is supposed to sweep the phase of the input... not the envelope... but I've played some auto wahs... the Boss AW2 comes to mind... that sound like they are instead sweeping back and forth across two preset envelopes... to me the AW2 sounds like it's really an envelope filter that they put a more "Guitar friendly" name on to market it to 14 year olds who have heard of wah wah pedals but still haven't learned about envelopes. So yes, there are definately auto wahs out there that sound like (or are?) envelope filters. In theory they should be two totally different effects, in practice it doesn't always work that way.
The main difference is that an auto wah is almost always cycling between two settings, whether they are phase as with a true wah, or envelopes. A straight envelope filter is just applying one setting. You can definately use an envelope filter to produce sounds that get the release and decay to mimic the attack, so that it sounds like the note is "bouncing back" to the way it started, but you can also get sounds that don't have the same "cycling" quality. Although an auto wah implies moving between two settings, and an envelope filter just dials in one, I'd say a straight envelope filter tends to be more flexible by design. With the Auto wah you are locked into having the note "ping pong" between it's two sounds. With an envelope you are free to dial up a more open ended sound and set sail.