Guitar/Bass Effects Pedals

[Cerpin Taxt]

when i played guitar in high school i had a boss distortion pedal and a crybaby.

they make other things?!?!

I used to rig up with a string of pedals, but eventually pared it down to a wah pedal in front of my amp, and a Korg AX-30G in my FX loop strictly for modulation and delay.

Nowadays any playing I do is into my PC, so I just use a POD XT. It sure isn't a tube amp, but it's sooooo easy.

 

[dwell]

Been playing through an Egnater Tweaker for the last few months - best amp I've ever owned. I can get so many tones out of it I find I don't have to use my pedals much

Tweaker is my next amp. Does not get much better in the lunchbox class than that. What cab?

 

[Fritzo]

Tweaker is my next amp. Does not get much better in the lunchbox class than that. What cab?

I'm using the 1x12 cab. It's a 20w amp, and it's plenty loud for small venues (50 or less). If you need more power they're coming out with the Tweaker 40 and 88.

What's awesome about this amp is it can sound dead on like a Marshall 1959SLP, a Vox AC30, and a Fender Bassman with the flick of a couple of switches. Absolutely outstanding.

My current favorite control settings are:

Vintage
Master 5
Brit
Treble 7
Middle 4
Bass 3
Hot
Gain 7
Normal
Deep

You'll swear it is a late 60's HiWatt Definitely going to go down in history as a classic amp.

 

[Gibson486]

I'm using the 1x12 cab. It's a 20w amp, and it's plenty loud for small venues (50 or less). If you need more power they're coming out with the Tweaker 40 and 88.

What's awesome about this amp is it can sound dead on like a Marshall 1959SLP, a Vox AC30, and a Fender Bassman with the flick of a couple of switches. Absolutely outstanding.

My current favorite control settings are:

Vintage
Master 5
Brit
Treble 7
Middle 4
Bass 3
Hot
Gain 7
Normal
Deep

You'll swear it is a late 60's HiWatt Definitely going to go down in history as a classic amp.

You ass....that is what i have been wanting to buy for the last 9 months...I hate you!

 

[dwell]

Getting the Egnater 1x12 for my 'Lil Night Train. I only need 2w for home practice but when I move out of this apt I am getting the Tweaker head. Played it at GC. Amazing amp. Congrats Fritzo.

 

[brblx]

I used to rig up with a string of pedals, but eventually pared it down to a wah pedal in front of my amp, and a Korg AX-30G in my FX loop strictly for modulation and delay.

Nowadays any playing I do is into my PC, so I just use a POD XT. It sure isn't a tube amp, but it's sooooo easy.

i've wondered about that. i only dabbled in guitar and that was over ten years ago, but PC's just weren't 'there' yet- i would figure now, software based effects can probably be pretty good, no? or is this a PC controlled hard box?

also, yeah guys, i know there are more than two kinds of pedal. i just thought it was common knowledge that when you're in high school, if you can get some good distortion and/or interesting wah effect, you are the rock god!

 

[Fritzo]

i've wondered about that. i only dabbled in guitar and that was over ten years ago, but PC's just weren't 'there' yet- i would figure now, software based effects can probably be pretty good, no? or is this a PC controlled hard box?

also, yeah guys, i know there are more than two kinds of pedal. i just thought it was common knowledge that when you're in high school, if you can get some good distortion and/or interesting wah effect, you are the rock god!

My first effect was a chorus for some reason. Then I got a digital delay, THEN a cheap Aria distortion pedal (god that thing sounded like a tinny pig farting)

I had a Peavy Gorilla amp when I started---the combination was awful. Made me actually quit playing for a few years because I thought I sucked.

Later, I ended up buying a 78 Les Paul, a Traynor 100w amp, and some decent effects and went full bore playing again. Just goes to show that good equipment makes all the difference.

 

[lxskllr]

My big problems with effects were they affected the sound, even when not active. Also, I'd spend too much time dicking with knobs, and not really improving the sound, just changing it.

I imagine effects have a better pass through now, but I dunno. I could really tell the difference on my Strat. Put more than 3 effects in line, and it lost it's sparkle. Anyway, it's hard to beat a cranked tube amp for tone. It doesn't really need anything else :^)

 

[dwell]

I pretty much dumped my board for the M9. Was never a fan of Line 6 but they nailed it with this one. I can get 95% of the tone of my analog board out of it at a quarter of the size.

I'm pretty surprised that with all the effects and knobs on it I just set up six staple effects (eq, compressor, chorus, another chorus, delay, and reverb) and never sit there dicking with the knobs and other effects.

 

[Fritzo]

My big problems with effects were they affected the sound, even when not active. Also, I'd spend too much time dicking with knobs, and not really improving the sound, just changing it.

I imagine effects have a better pass through now, but I dunno. I could really tell the difference on my Strat. Put more than 3 effects in line, and it lost it's sparkle. Anyway, it's hard to beat a cranked tube amp for tone. It doesn't really need anything else :^)

Pedals today have true bypass to prevent that. Also the order your effects are in makes a big difference.

This article gives a good guide to the setup I use:

http://tightmixblog.com/how-to-order-your-guitar-pedals-for-killer-tone/

 

[Platypus]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9459955/photos/pedals.jpg

snapped a ghetto, low-light cell phone pic this morning, this is what I've had in heavy rotation lately.

 

[dwell]

Ghetto shot of my board.

One of these days I'll have to paint and label the DYI pedals.

 

[Fritzo]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9459955/photos/pedals.jpg

snapped a ghetto, low-light cell phone pic this morning, this is what I've had in heavy rotation lately.

I see you have a Shoe Gazer. I heard one in Guitar Center a month back and had to come over and see what it was. It gives a spot-on Tommi Iommi early 70's Black Sabbath sound

 

[Fausto]

I don't have a pic, but here's my small collection.

Line6 Pocket Pod

Boss CS-3

Vox V847 wah

Morley Lil Alligator volume pedal

EH Metal Muff


I'm currently looking for some kind of chorus pedal and delay.

 

[Platypus]

I see you have a Shoe Gazer. I heard one in Guitar Center a month back and had to come over and see what it was. It gives a spot-on Tommi Iommi early 70's Black Sabbath sound

Wow.. GC sells devi ever pedals now? D:

I was on a waiting list for that years ago lol... but I guess I can see sabbath with the first fuzz turned on. With the second on though... definitely approaches my bloody valentine territory all day, way too wooly for sabbath

 

[Fritzo]

Wow.. GC sells devi ever pedals now? D:

I was on a waiting list for that years ago lol... but I guess I can see sabbath with the first fuzz turned on. With the second on though... definitely approaches my bloody valentine territory all day, way too wooly for sabbath

I think it was a used pedal. Probably why the guy was playing it. Someone may have been trading it in.

 

[Platypus]

I think it was a used pedal. Probably why the guy was playing it. Someone may have been trading it in.

It's quite awesome if you're a texture kind of guy. I do a lot of ambient soundscapes in my music so it's perfect for driving a delay/reverb combo into infinite sustain and layers of harmonic distortion

 

[TechBoyJK]

Question.

I'm needing to get a compressor to add to the end of my chain to even out the volume.

I'm looking at the MXR's because they are small and have really good reviews.

There's the SuperComp, which is $79.95 and the DynaCompany, which is $69.95.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SuperComp/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DynaComp/

Looking at them, it seems the only difference is that the Supercomp has the 3rd 'attack level' knob, and the dynacomp doesn't. My guess is that the dynacomp does attack 'dynamically'.

I'm going to try and fiddle with them at Guitar Center this week. I'm just wondering if anybody knows of any other difference. I'll just pay the extra $10 to have the added adjustment capability.

 

[dwell]

MXR Custom Comp. Much better than the other two. Only ~$100.

 

[Fritzo]

Question.

I'm needing to get a compressor to add to the end of my chain to even out the volume.

I'm looking at the MXR's because they are small and have really good reviews.

There's the SuperComp, which is $79.95 and the DynaCompany, which is $69.95.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SuperComp/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DynaComp/

Looking at them, it seems the only difference is that the Supercomp has the 3rd 'attack level' knob, and the dynacomp doesn't. My guess is that the dynacomp does attack 'dynamically'.

I'm going to try and fiddle with them at Guitar Center this week. I'm just wondering if anybody knows of any other difference. I'll just pay the extra $10 to have the added adjustment capability.

You can't go wrong with MXR. They've been around for 40 years and know what they're doing

 

[TechBoyJK]

any thoughts on which compressor is best?

 

[dwell]

any thoughts on which compressor is best?

Diamond Compressor But if you want MXR, I am telling you the Custom Comp is the best. True bypass and it has the CA3080 vintage mojo IC.

If you don't care about such things and just need a line filter at the end of the chain, get the Dyna Comp.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

any thoughts on which compressor is best?

I'd go for the SuperComp. Attack controls are a common mod on Dynas, and one that I wish I'd build into my clone. I love the squishiness, but wish I could dial in just a bit more attack.

There are no set rules for effects order, except for some like a Fuzz Face that needs to be right after the guitar. I like phasers and wahs before distortion, and delays and chorus in the effects loop. I also like putting a boost early in my chain to slam pedals and the preamp harder, and one in the loop to actually give a volume boost. Buffers can be your best friend if you use long cords and have a lot of pedals plugged in, like I do.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Diamond Compressor But if you want MXR, I am telling you the Custom Comp is the best. True bypass and it has the CA3080 vintage mojo IC.

If you don't care about such things and just need a line filter at the end of the chain, get the Dyna Comp.

Well.. the videos I watched on sweetwater say all 3 of the mxr compressors have true bypass.. I'm going to just have to play with them at GC.

 

[Eos]

I'm a drummer, so my pedals are 100% digital; on or off. :biggrin:

At our next rehearsal, I'll grab a photo of the guitarist's really nice pedal board, his axes, and amp.