Effects and Chain Recommendation/Questions MegaThread

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Pablo Nergigante: Apr 16, 2002

I have a Joyo Tube Screamer clone and it sounds good but I like the Soul Food waaaaay better. Plus it sounds sick as hell driving a Big Muff

# ? Jun 29, 2018 21:36

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# ? May 9, 2024 07:11

hanales: Nov 3, 2013

Ampless gig tonight, nice simple setup. Not pictured: 72 L6S, 86 Strat Plus, Wireless, Tuner.

# ? Jun 30, 2018 14:40

Wark Say: Feb 22, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

hanales posted:

Ampless gig tonight, nice simple setup. Not pictured: 72 L6S, 86 Strat Plus, Wireless, Tuner.

Is the Blue Pedal the Behringer's clone of the Sans Amp? How's it sound?

# ? Jun 30, 2018 15:41

hanales: Nov 3, 2013

Wark Say posted:

Is the Blue Pedal the Behringer's clone of the Sans Amp? How's it sound?

I�ll let you know after tonight�s gig :dance:

# ? Jun 30, 2018 15:52

Wark Say: Feb 22, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

You're a braver human than I am. Godspeed to you, reckless hero! :patriot:

# ? Jun 30, 2018 16:10

hanales: Nov 3, 2013

Wark Say posted:

You're a braver human than I am. Godspeed to you, reckless hero!

I can always find something usable, and it�s a wedding no one will be paying attention unless I sound really bad (by normal standards, not guitar player standards).

# ? Jun 30, 2018 16:20

hanales: Nov 3, 2013

I can tell you already it�s got too much gain. The only usable clean is tweed with the gain on zero. No really sparkly tone at all.

# ? Jun 30, 2018 23:05

Dang It Bhabhi!: May 27, 2004; ASK ME ABOUT
BEING
ESCULA GRIND'S
#1 SIMP

While I worship at the altar of Amplifier, I deeply respect a pragmatic, well-thought-out traveling setup.

# ? Jul 1, 2018 00:41

hanales: Nov 3, 2013

Dang It Bhabhi! posted:

While I worship at the altar of Amplifier, I deeply respect a pragmatic, well-thought-out traveling setup.

I�m with you actually, but for these gigs I have no choice, as they are ampless with tracks and even and electric drum set.

I gotta say it�s nice on my back, and I can load in and out in one trip.

After one set I�ll say it does sound very good as a clean platform. I wish it had sparkly fender twin style cleans but they are thicker warmer tweed style. Takes pedals well, running the deluxe muff and a cae overdrive boost (last minute sub).

For 30 bucks new you can have a couple laying around in case of emergency. Recommend.

# ? Jul 1, 2018 02:15

NonzeroCircle: Apr 12, 2010; El Camino

Does anyone have any experience with using a Digitech Jamman as a sort of foot operated sampler? As in preload the thing with a bunch of sounds (soundbeds, film samples, that sort of thing) and use it to fire them off as and when in a band or live setting? It'd probably be a Stereo model as that then doesn't necessitate an additional footswitch for changing banks.

I appreciate that whatever comes out will be coming out my guitar amp but that's pretty much just a pedal platform anyway.

All the samplers in a similar price range seem to be rather quirky/glitchy or take bloody ages to load longer sounds, otherwise I'd be looking at something like an mpx8 through the PA

NonzeroCircle fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Jul 13, 2018

# ? Jul 13, 2018 20:57

polynominal-c: Jan 18, 2003

NonzeroCircle posted:

Does anyone have any experience with using a Digitech Jamman as a sort of foot operated sampler? As in preload the thing with a bunch of sounds (soundbeds, film samples, that sort of thing) and use it to fire them off as and when in a band or live setting? It'd probably be a Stereo model as that then doesn't necessitate an additional footswitch for changing banks.

I appreciate that whatever comes out will be coming out my guitar amp but that's pretty much just a pedal platform anyway.

All the samplers in a similar price range seem to be rather quirky/glitchy or take bloody ages to load longer sounds, otherwise I'd be looking at something like an mpx8 through the PA

Yep, we use a JamMan Stereo for samples, wind fx and that kind of stuff live. The built-in metronome can even be sent separately to the drummer's headphones. Never found a cheaper alternative for what we need, which honestly isn't much. And in our case its outputs go immediately into the PA.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 22:42

NonzeroCircle: Apr 12, 2010; El Camino

That's exactly the sort of thing I (not my paypal wallet) wanted to hear. I'm happy to dick with samples endlessly in a DAW but for live use I'd like to hit a switch and be done. Does the stereo do one-shots like the the XT apparently does?

# ? Jul 13, 2018 23:30

polynominal-c: Jan 18, 2003

NonzeroCircle posted:

That's exactly the sort of thing I (not my paypal wallet) wanted to hear. I'm happy to dick with samples endlessly in a DAW but for live use I'd like to hit a switch and be done. Does the stereo do one-shots like the the XT apparently does?

Yeah, for each individual preset/sample, you can either specify that it should play exactly once OR keep repeating until stopped. And when stopping a loop, you can choose if you want it to stop 1) immediately 2) with a fade-out 3) only at the end of the sample. IIRC it can't "queue" a sample immediately after the previous one has finished, which would have been neat

polynominal-c fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Jul 14, 2018

# ? Jul 13, 2018 23:59

Pablo Nergigante: Apr 16, 2002

NonzeroCircle posted:

Does anyone have any experience with using a Digitech Jamman as a sort of foot operated sampler? As in preload the thing with a bunch of sounds (soundbeds, film samples, that sort of thing) and use it to fire them off as and when in a band or live setting? It'd probably be a Stereo model as that then doesn't necessitate an additional footswitch for changing banks.

I appreciate that whatever comes out will be coming out my guitar amp but that's pretty much just a pedal platform anyway.

All the samplers in a similar price range seem to be rather quirky/glitchy or take bloody ages to load longer sounds, otherwise I'd be looking at something like an mpx8 through the PA

I have a JamMan Stereo and my bandmate uses it to do exactly this. It can just output to the mixer too. The software for loading samples is kinda janky but it works great once you get it set up.

# ? Jul 14, 2018 00:25

OutOfPrint: Apr 9, 2009; Fun Shoe

A little while back, I said I was going to sell off expensive pedals to buy more, and cheaper, equivalents, calling it "cheapsizing." Here's the result.

The signal chain goes like this:

Tuner -> Mooer Pure Octave octaver -> Subdecay Vitruvian Mod ring modulator -> CNZ Audio Crush Bit bitcrusher -> Digitech Dirty Robot synth -> Caline Orange Burst light overdrive, a Xotic BB Preamp clone -> Joyo Ultimate Drive for mid-gain drive, based on the OCD -> Azor Distortion, a RAT clone -> Azor Fuzz, a Mooer Triangle Buff clone best I can tell -> Little Bear BS1, a ZVex Woolly Mammoth clone -> Kokko Vibrato -> CNZ Audio Tremolo -> Caline Drifter delay -> Solid Gold FX Surf Rider -> Joyo American Sound, a Tech21 Blonde clone.

Of the bunch, the Vitruvian Mod, Dirty Robot, and Surf Rider are the only ones north of $100, and are pedals that I don't want sell because they all fill a specific niche that I can't get from other pedals.
The Vitruvian Mod is the easiest to use ring mod since one of the modes lets you pick a specific note, then dial in anywhere from -3 to +3 semitones, rather than a traditional ring mod where you have to just earball it to get the carrier signal right. The Dirty Robot gives me a synth on my guitar that sounds early 80's college radio post-punk as gently caress. The Surf Rider is the most convincing spring reverb pedal I've ever heard.

Going through the other pedals:

The Mooer Pure Octave is versatile, containing every variation of octaves from -2, -1, dry, +1, +2. It doesn't track super well, but it's good enough for what it sells for. Setting it to -1, dry, +1, +2, with the suboctave at about 10 o'clock, dry at 3, and upper octaves at about 2 gets a really nice organ sound, especially when paired with the vibrato, tremolo, and reverb.
The CNZ Crush Bit is a weird beast. There are a lot of unusable settings (as in, doesn't produce a sound), but what is there is a really solid bitcrusher. The best I've played is still the Co-Pilot FX Android, but good luck finding those these days.
The Caline Orange Burst is loving gold for $30 new. Fully transparent with the bass and treble dimed, it excels as a light overdrive adding just a bit of grit to the guitar tone. Going higher than that, though, and the drive sounds kinda lovely. For my purposes, it's ideal.
The Joyo Ultimate Drive is well known for a drat good reason. It loving [i]rips[/].
The Azor Distortion surprised the hell out of me. I found Azor on Amazon a few months back selling these oddly shaped pedals for $25-$40 a pop and didn't expect much from them. This, though, is an extremely versatile distortion that sounds great at any setting. The tone knob is a little weird, though. I think the tone circuit was placed before the gain, which has the effect of cutting gain while lowering the tone. Once I figured that out, I found it really versatile. I'd highly recommend this one.
I also highly recommend the Azor Fuzz. I'm reasonably sure it's a Mooer Triangle Buff clone, but I can't really put my finger on what kind of fuzz circuit it is. Either way, it sounds better than some $100+ fuzzes I've owned.
The Little Bear BS1 is a heavily gated fuzz, to the point where it can be tough to dial in a usable sound, because the harder it's driven with the pinch knob low, the less output it gets. That said, it's perfect for NES type stuff, and is without a doubt the most forward pedal I've ever owned, in that it feels like it's so present that the sound feels more real than reality.
The Kokko Vibrato is the only pitch vibrato pedal I could find that was a) not in a lovely multieffects pedal, and b) under $120. It sounds good, has a wide range of depth and rate, and the ramp knob allows for the effect to gradually kick in after hitting the footswitch instead of slamming on all at once.
The CNZ Tremolo is kind of like the Kokko Vibrato: it's a basic effect with a few added bonuses that sounds great. The depth and rate have a wide range and the bias knob allows anything from triangle to square wave forms, with sine at 12 o'clock.
The Caline Drifter delay features 7 different types of delay, about 4 of which are useful, and the other 3 are fun gimmicks. The only problem, and it's a huge problem if you're more into delays than I am, is that there is about a half second signal cut whenever the pedal is turned on. The same signal cut happens when switching delay types, so I think it's pedal loading the particular delay type into memory.
The Joyo American drive is a powerful Fender amp sim that I use mostly for DI recording and what few chances I get to play out somewhere with a PA. It's not the same as having a twin reverb on stage, but it's worth having to not need to crate around a big box back and forth.

I think I'm done GASing. I mean, I know I'm not, and I'm eying up guitars with p90's because I don't have one in my collection yet, but I think I'm okay for pedals for a little while.

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# ? Jul 21, 2018 05:23

Juaguocio: Jun 5, 2005; Oh, David...

Nice setup. SolidGoldFX make really good stuff! I've been using their Imperial fuzz for a bit, and I think it's the best Muff style pedal I've tried for bass.

# ? Jul 21, 2018 21:47

Juaguocio: Jun 5, 2005; Oh, David...

Double posting because I just traded my Barbershop for an Earthquaker Dunes. I haven't liked other TS808 style pedals on bass, but this one sounds really good on the MOSFET and lo range settings.

# ? Jul 23, 2018 20:11

Dang It Bhabhi!: May 27, 2004; ASK ME ABOUT
BEING
ESCULA GRIND'S
#1 SIMP

MOSFET diode clipping always seems to sound awesome to me. Same with LED clipping. The whole silicon vs klon germanium d9e whatever is nigh undetectable in real world use.

# ? Jul 24, 2018 21:19

Juaguocio: Jun 5, 2005; Oh, David...

The Dunes does a nice grindy, medium gain sound, but I'm finding that it also works well as an always-on, light overdrive. It's going to be a lot of fun A/Bing it with the Westwood, which I currently use for that application.

I really like FETs in bass pedals. The SolidGoldFX Imperial that I mentioned earlier has a JFET preamp before the fuzz, which seems to make it much more useable throughout the gain range than most Muffs.

# ? Jul 26, 2018 07:52

Dang It Bhabhi!: May 27, 2004; ASK ME ABOUT
BEING
ESCULA GRIND'S
#1 SIMP

Juaguocio posted:

The Dunes does a nice grindy, medium gain sound, but I'm finding that it also works well as an always-on, light overdrive. It's going to be a lot of fun A/Bing it with the Westwood, which I currently use for that application.

I really like FETs in bass pedals. The SolidGoldFX Imperial that I mentioned earlier has a JFET preamp before the fuzz, which seems to make it much more useable throughout the gain range than most Muffs.

JFETs present a nice high impedance to the gain stage that follows which helps a lot.

# ? Jul 26, 2018 16:38

yeastiality: Dec 20, 2012

Is there a name for the style of switches on the TC Nova pedals? (e.g. https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...2ihvdlmaxcx.jpg )

I like how easy they are to activate (as opposed to the normal rigid stompbox switches). I'm hoping to look for a looper that has the same style..

# ? Jul 26, 2018 19:25

Dang It Bhabhi!: May 27, 2004; ASK ME ABOUT
BEING
ESCULA GRIND'S
#1 SIMP

yeastiality posted:

Is there a name for the style of switches on the TC Nova pedals? (e.g. https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...2ihvdlmaxcx.jpg )

I like how easy they are to activate (as opposed to the normal rigid stompbox switches). I'm hoping to look for a looper that has the same style..

Soft switches (aka relay switching). Instead of a mechanical flip-flop it is electrical using a relay.

# ? Jul 26, 2018 20:26

Thermos H Christ: Sep 6, 2007; WINNINGEST BEVO

Juaguocio posted:

The Dunes does a nice grindy, medium gain sound, but I'm finding that it also works well as an always-on, light overdrive. It's going to be a lot of fun A/Bing it with the Westwood, which I currently use for that application.

I really like FETs in bass pedals. The SolidGoldFX Imperial that I mentioned earlier has a JFET preamp before the fuzz, which seems to make it much more useable throughout the gain range than most Muffs.

Since you're talking light, always-on type overdrives for bass, I would recommend playing around with a Durham Sex Drive if you get the chance. It's good for that and also does some kind of magic to drives you put before it. The Zoom B1on has a model for a tube screamer with a blend, when I turn that to like 98% dry signal and then run it into the SD it makes for some loving epic p-bass tone.

The bass on this is pretty similar to the sound I can get with that combo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_bG7CBwvCg

# ? Jul 27, 2018 16:49

Captain Apollo: Jun 24, 2003; King of the Pilots, CFI

Crossposting cause I LOVE this thing...

Hi - It's the payday tomorrow. Do yourself a favor and order this boutique pedal.
Bigsound Smallsound MIni

I ordered it randomly last month based off a random Reddit comment.

It's probably my favorite pedal and I've ordered like 10 pedals this year.......it's awesome. What a GREAT JFET sound.

(I bought the pink, and it's epic)

http://www.smallsoundbigsound.com/products/mini/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz0l9wcYqC4

# ? Jul 31, 2018 17:51

Juaguocio: Jun 5, 2005; Oh, David...

Captain Apollo posted:

Crossposting cause I LOVE this thing...

Hi - It's the payday tomorrow. Do yourself a favor and order this boutique pedal.
Bigsound Smallsound MIni

I ordered it randomly last month based off a random Reddit comment.

It's probably my favorite pedal and I've ordered like 10 pedals this year.......it's awesome. What a GREAT JFET sound.

(I bought the pink, and it's epic)

http://www.smallsoundbigsound.com/products/mini/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz0l9wcYqC4

D'you think it would work with bass too? I like me some JFETs.

I'd really like to try their Team Awesome Fuzz Machine.

# ? Jul 31, 2018 20:48

Juaguocio: Jun 5, 2005; Oh, David...

Played a whole bunch more Earthquaker stuff yesterday. I've tried most of their distortions/fuzzes on bass now, and here are my condensed impressions:

Acapulco Gold - Loved the sound of this one, but it needs a master volume to be usable for me. Would make a fantastic distortion for many situations if you can deal with the massive output boost. If they ever make a two-knob version � la the Bellows I'll be all over it.
Bellows - Really gnarly dirt that straddles the line between distortion and fuzz. I found it a bit muddy for bass, but I think it would be great for a super heavy guitar sound.
Cloven Hoof - One of the better Muff variants I've tried on bass. Shift knob lets you scoop or boost the mids, and the low end stays nice and clear even with higher fuzz settings.
Dunes - The best TS808 style pedal I've tried on bass, though I certainly haven't tried them all. Works equally well as an always-on overdrive and as a heavy distortion.
Erupter - Like the Acapulco, sounds killer, but needs a master volume.
Hoof - It's a solid Muff style pedal, but I like the Cloven better for bass.
Hoof Reaper - The Reaper side sounds kind of thin on bass, and the octave is awful. Can't recommend this one.
Park/Colby Fuzz Sound - Not as versatile for bass as some of the others on this list, but has an awesome creamy, mid-heavy fuzz with the right settings. I almost bought this one.
Terminal - Didn't like it on bass. Fizzy, clanky distortion. Might be cool on guitar.
Westwood - Outstanding light overdrive. Has become an always-on pedal for me.

I ended up taking the Cloven Hoof home. Definitely keeping the Westwood, but I may end up moving the Dunes at some point. It's a great pedal, but it just may not have a place in the rotation.

# ? Aug 6, 2018 21:20

Noise Machine: Dec 3, 2005; Today is a good day to save.

Anyone has a TC flashback 2? I'm looking at one and very interested.

# ? Aug 21, 2018 21:04

Noise Machine: Dec 3, 2005; Today is a good day to save.

yeastiality posted:

Is there a name for the style of switches on the TC Nova pedals? (e.g. https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...2ihvdlmaxcx.jpg )

I like how easy they are to activate (as opposed to the normal rigid stompbox switches). I'm hoping to look for a looper that has the same style..

My ehx 720 looper has soft switches

# ? Aug 21, 2018 21:05

Kilometers Davis: Jul 9, 2007; They begin again

Noise Machine posted:

Anyone has a TC flashback 2? I'm looking at one and very interested.

I sold mine a while back but it does exactly what it says it does and is a very cool pedal. I miss mine a little honestly.

If you have any questions I can try to answer.

# ? Aug 21, 2018 21:33

Noise Machine: Dec 3, 2005; Today is a good day to save.

Kilometers Davis posted:

I sold mine a while back but it does exactly what it says it does and is a very cool pedal. I miss mine a little honestly.

If you have any questions I can try to answer.

One thing that I'm looking at with the app editor is that I can kinda fudge having presets by adjusting the values in a specific mode. Like if I have the Reverse Delay set for a specific time and wet/dry mix I can just flip the knob to the Reverse mode and have everything come up automatically.

# ? Aug 22, 2018 02:48

I drive a BBW: Jun 2, 2008; Fun Shoe

My DigiTech Hardwired Delay pedal died the other day, which sucks since I really liked that thing. I�m searching for a replacement and have been looking at the MXR M169 Carbon Copy. Are there any others I should be looking at? I mainly play metal and really only use the delay for leads or when I play clean.

# ? Aug 22, 2018 19:07

Pokey Araya: Jan 1, 2007

If you're gonna do the carbon copy get the Bright edition, the original is pretty dark and more suited to clean stuff than high gain.

# ? Aug 22, 2018 19:11

Pablo Nergigante: Apr 16, 2002

The Joyo Analog Delay is a digital Carbon Copy clone and it�s pretty deece for the price

# ? Aug 23, 2018 01:45

Kilometers Davis: Jul 9, 2007; They begin again

Noise Machine posted:

One thing that I'm looking at with the app editor is that I can kinda fudge having presets by adjusting the values in a specific mode. Like if I have the Reverse Delay set for a specific time and wet/dry mix I can just flip the knob to the Reverse mode and have everything come up automatically.

I barely messed with the app stuff so I can�t answer that. Sorry man. There are a bunch of walkthroughs on YouTube though, you might be able to find something.

I drive a BBW posted:

My DigiTech Hardwired Delay pedal died the other day, which sucks since I really liked that thing. I�m searching for a replacement and have been looking at the MXR M169 Carbon Copy. Are there any others I should be looking at? I mainly play metal and really only use the delay for leads or when I play clean.

The CC is my favorite delay and the pedal I pretty much base my sound and setup around. I�ve owned other delays from digital to a $400 moog and nothing sounds or responds as well as the CC. I love it. The only replacement I have planned is to upgrade to the Deluxe with the standard + bright switch. If you�re like me it will make you fall deep in love with analog bucket bridges delay and you�ll never want to stray.

# ? Aug 23, 2018 01:57

I drive a BBW: Jun 2, 2008; Fun Shoe

I had a Boss DD-3 sitting around (no idea when I got it) and I tried it again, and I remember why I never used it. I also only ever used the tape (or analog) delay on the DigiTech if that helps. I took the DigiTech apart and it's just a circuit board. Couldn't find any blown capacitors or anything so no idea why it quit working.

ETA: Also, I put the delay pedal in my effects loop (delay->loop pedal->decimator noise gate) and this is the only tone altering pedal I use other than a TS-9 which is in front of the amp.

I drive a BBW fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Aug 23, 2018

# ? Aug 23, 2018 04:06