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Spartak posted:Random newbie question bonanza! Ultimately, what you choose to use is going to be determined by trying things out and seeing how well they fit into your sound. I'd really recommend not picking up a whole mess of pedals at once, too. You may spend days obsessing over what kind of chips go into various phasers, sweep ranges and all that sort of poo poo only to find that you never really use the thing. Let your actual playing dictate what goes onto your pedalboard, not just a lack of pedals. ... That being said, I can give a line or two about most of your prospective pedals  DD-6 : If the DD-7 is coming out, I'd say awesome, because that means that you can get a DD-5 or DD-6 for cheaper used in the coming months. I only use my DD-5 to give a little bit of echo, so I don't use a lot of the fancy reversing or super-long-delay options. I guess it's nice to know that you have the option of all of that stuff, but if you just want regular echo-type delay, just get something well-made. I've been hearing good things about the MXR Carbon Copy. PS-5 : Never used one, but looks like fun. I'd suggest trying one out in person before buying, just in case it's not what you're expecting. TR-2 : Have one and really like it, although it does have a noticeable volume when engaged. There are mods to fix this, but if it's something that you think you may use a lot, you may want to check into the Voodoo Labs Tremolo. CH-1/CE-5 : Both excellent chorus pedals. I prefer the CE-5, but I also really dig the Roland Jazz Chorus style chorus, which I think it more closely resembles. TS9/TS9DX : I can actually go both ways on this one. I have both and just recently decided to take the DX off my board because it was just never getting used since I got an OCD. In my opinion, the TS9s are best at light overdrive, kind of rendering that "modes" knob useless to me, but YMMV. Check out the BD2 for a TS-esque pedal that may be what you're looking for. For the price, a lot of people seem to like the Bad Monkey, too. Muffs : I really wish I could be one of those people that rocks the muff, but it's just way too buzzy for me. Wah : No complaints about the 535q. It's got a nice little boost knob on the bottom that gives it an extra little push, which is nice. edit: The pedal that you're going to use again and again and again, will never want to leave home without, and will be responsible for making your guitar sound better more than any other thing on your entire pedalboard is a tuner pedal. Get a TU-2, Planet Waves Tuner or anything along those lines and wonder how you ever lived before you owned one. an AOL chatroom fucked around with this message at 13:23 on Apr 23, 2008 |
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Apr 23, 2008 12:05
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It looks awesome, but I know that I'd just hook up and play with for a couple of hours, and then never get around to using ever again.
an AOL chatroom fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Apr 27, 2008 |
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Apr 27, 2008 03:14
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DodGrile posted:Keeping a little more on topic, there's two of us playing guitar in the band I'm currently in, and both myself and the other guitarists take solos depending on the song. Most of the time, our volume levels are pretty much even, but it'd be nice to give whoevers playing the solo a boost so it cuts through a little more. Is this just a case of getting a decent EQ pedal? You'll probably want (doot doo doo doooo) a boost pedal. It raises the level of your signal by a couple of db, which gives your guitar a bit of a push through your amp. You can use a regular EQ pedal and just raise the level a bit higher, keeping the EQ part of it fairly flat, or you can get a regular boost pedal. I just recently bought a MXR MC402 Boost/Overdrive pedal, and am using the boost for exactly that. I play in a band where the other guitar player and I go back and forth, and throwing about 10db of boost on my signal is just enough for me to pop out for a bit without getting drowned out. The overdrive half of the pedal is kind of sucky though, so I'd recommend the MC401 over the 402. There's also the older MXR Micro Amp, and tons upon tons of booootique options.
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Apr 29, 2008 18:41
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Three Red Lights posted:Are there any alternatives to the Boss Acoustic sim? I really want an acoustic simulation thing but I cant convince myself the soundclips of this sound good. Our other guitar player has one and it sounds like garbage. It sounds like a lovely EQ with all of the high frequencies maxed and fed through a warbley chorus or something. You'd be better off just playing an electric with a little extra bit of echo.
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May 5, 2008 11:52
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The way I see it, I may not be the best guitar player out there, so the least I can do is make sure I start out in tune. Having a good pedal tuner (Like the TU-2 or Planet Waves one) lets you get yourself back in tune in less than 30 seconds every few songs. If your guitar isn't going out of tune while you're playing, you're not playing hard enough. Never used the Planet Waves one, but it looks pretty nice. My TU-2 looks like it's been thrown down a cliff, but it's reliable and easy to use. Two thumbs up from me.
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May 15, 2008 14:13
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ZombiePeanut posted:Eh... I dunno about that. I routinely do full+ step bends and everything stays in tune. Just normal grover tuners and a tune-o-matic bridge. I was being a little bit cocky there, yeah. I'm just tired of other guitar players who think that they can tune their guitar once before practice and stay in tune the rest of the night. I play with this one guy who's got a Steinberger, and he's always bragging that it "Never needs tuning!". Yet... it's constantly out of tune.
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May 15, 2008 20:08
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mit_senf posted:I'm looking for a multi-effect analog modulation pedal that has basic chorus, tremolo, flanger, phase, and preferably a rotary speaker simulator. I can't seem to find one that has all those things in one, except for some expensive digital pedals that have tons of extra stuff I don't want. The TC Electronics NM1 Nova Modulator isn't analog, but sounds drat nice. Although at $250, it is a tad spendy.
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May 18, 2008 22:27
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This is a bit of an odd post but... what the heck. If anyone here is using or plans on using the bicycle chain link method to hold pedals to a pedalboard and wants me to mail them a couple of links, let me know. I picked up a new bike last week and am going to break apart the chain from the old one.
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May 28, 2008 03:07
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Raze posted:That's because 'she' used to be a 'he' and is transitioning to female at the moment. It's actually pretty easy to convert any pedal to true bypass. The only thing you really need is a 3PDT toggle switch and some wire... and you could get away with a 2PDT if you're doing a wah, which doesn't typically have an LED. In a True Bypass pedal, the circuit board is still getting power even when the pedal is bypassed... it's just that it's being, well, bypassed, so the signal is not affected. I just rewired a DOD YJM308 pedal to be true bypass. Not that I'm a TB snob or anything... it just didn't come with an LED and that bothered me. I used this as a guide. All in all, it took about half an hour. You just have to spend some time either studying the layout of the pedal's innards or finding a diagram somewhere to find the circuit board's input and output and grounding spot. You could even add an LED pretty easily if you use a 3PDT toggle.
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May 29, 2008 04:11
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Just posting to show off pictures of the true bypass looper that I just finished. hosed up by the power jack a little bit, but it works just fine. It's for my guitar teacher, who's got a bunch of pedals that he loves but sap his tone. Hopefully this'll let him get that "straight into the amp" sound when he's not using them. Plus it kind of looks like a 1940's robot head, which is cool. 
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Jun 17, 2008 23:34
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Flamadiddle posted:Yeah, I've done all that, I'm just afraid to test it for too long in case it burns out the loop. I think I'll just hold out and get a TC Electronic G Major. Anyone selling one? That sounds like a good idea. Dirt up front (if any) and modulation in the loop. I've taken to running my amp's effects loop through a quadraverb that I got for $50 for reverb, since I wasn't really happy with the tank in my x100b.
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Jun 22, 2008 15:31
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Tuna, the Muse posted:I'm looking to start buying some pedals, but I really don't have a clue about most of them. I've been using a bass distortion pedal I borrowed from my friend on my guitar and it's pretty fun to mess around with. I think I'm going to start with a simple distortion pedal and move on from there. I can get a used Boss DS-1 for less than $40 Canadian. Online reviews seem to be pretty positive. Any reason why I shouldn't get this one? It really depends what you're expecting and what kind of sound you want. Also, to a large extent, what kind of equipment you're playing through. If you've got a 15 watt 8 inch solid state amp, you're going to get much more bang for your buck by upgrading that. That said... make sure that it's a distortion pedal you want and not an overdrive. Another pedal that's similarly priced that always gets rave reviews is the Bad Monkey by digitech. There's also the DOD 250 (or pretty much identical and sometimes cheaper YJM308), which I have found to be far more versatile than the DS-1. If you've got a music store near you, try them out or ask for a demo. There are also lots of pedal demos on YouTube. Online reviews of pedals tend to be poo poo because everyone is trying to justify their purchase by saying how great it is and how it makes their amp sound better than their friend's $5000 Marchall Tripel Rec, etc. Danelectro makes good pedals really cheap and they get recommended here a lot. Boss, ElectroHarmonix, Ibanez, MXR... all good stuff. I've never used Behringer pedals before, but they sure don't look like they'd last too long in any sort of real-life outside-of-the-bedroom environment.
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Jul 2, 2008 14:25
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plester1 posted:I highly recommend the DOD 250 Overdrive for bass. There's a cheap reissue out now for only $40. I dunno how they sound with a bass, but I'm a big fan of the 250 for guitar. Just know that they don't have an LED and the power jack is the headphone-style, not the Boss barrel-style.
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Jul 7, 2008 16:50
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Prof Eli ASSBLASTER posted:So I somehow ended up with a $50 GC gift card and am trying to decide how to spend it. I want a pedal of some sort, and I already have a DS-1. Can anyone recommend an overdrive pedal in this price range that will give a distinct tone from my DS-1? I was looking at the Ibanez TS-7, how is that? The Boss OD-1 is a great $50 overdrive pedal.
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Jul 10, 2008 17:57
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Prof Eli ASSBLASTER posted:Does it sound distinct from the DS-1? Well, as far as gain-based effects go, they're very different. The OD-1 is an overdrive pedal, which gives you a tube-like breakup of the peaks of your signal, emulating the way that an overdriven vacuum tube treats an audio signal. Distortion pedals emulate what happens when tubes (and speakers and other things) get a signal too hot to handle without ... well... distortion. They're different in those regards, but if you want something totally different from the DS-1, maybe you'd want to try out a Chorus, Tremolo or Phaser effect. There are tons of demos on youtube of what they all generally sound like.
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Jul 10, 2008 18:51
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dancehall posted:The OD-1 hasn't been on sale for over twenty years. Whoops, meant the SD-1.
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Jul 18, 2008 14:43
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I saw a NYC Muff on my local craigslist that got cheaper and cheaper every day, until I just had to pick it up for $30, thinking "Eh, I'll just play with this for a while, then put it on eBay for a quick profit". Turns out I really really liked it, and now it's part of my pedalboard. So... yay fuzz!
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Jul 31, 2008 16:10
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Yeah, you don't need a preamp. You've got a Marshall MGHD100FX, which has a preamp and a poweramp area. You'd *need* a preamp if you had just a poweramp, like one of these. Typically speaking, the preamp brings your signal up to line level and shapes the tone according to the characteristics of the circuitry and how you have the bass/mid/treble knobs spun. That's fed into the power amp amplifier area, which amplifies that signal to where it can drive your speakers. On your amp in particular, the Gain knob adjust just how much the preamp stage amplifies the signal, and the Master Volume knob adjust how loud the power amp stage amplifies that signal. You can "overdrive" the amp by raising up the gain, thereby amplifying the signal so much that it begins to distort. By backing this knob down and increasing the master knob, you'll get more volume before it starts to distort. So yeah, you don't need to buy a preamp... you've already got one.
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Aug 1, 2008 15:29
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I'm wondering if someone can give me a clue as to what's going on here in Better Than Ezra's version of Laid. It sounds like there's a delay going on every other note or something... it's a simple riff, but for some reason I just can't get it to sound right. Better Than Ezra - Laid (intro)
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Aug 4, 2008 15:36
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schizorage posted:I have both of them. The Jekyll & Hyde is a great pedal. The OD side is a TS-808 clone, and it's spot on. The bass boost has been useless in my experience, but then again that's not really my thing. I initially dismissed the Hyde as just another clippy distortion, but over time I've found that it's a pretty versatile distortion box, especially with the sharp/blunt switch. It goes from a gritty distortion to a fuzzed out high gain sound, and it's actually very nice. Seconding the Visual Sound pedals. I had a J&H, and it's an absolute killer. It's one of the better Tube Screamer pedals out there, and the Hyde channel isn't too bad either. The bike chain link method is what I use. Basically, you need a bike chain and chain tool like this one, although if you go to a bike shop and ask for a few spare links, they might just give them to you for free. You also might be able to find something similar at a hardware store if you check out the random-metal-fasteners-and-latches aisle. Anyway, you just unscrew the corner screws from the bottom of a pedal, put the screw through one of the eyes of the link, and then put it back into the screw hole. You're basically putting "ears" on the pedal. Boss pedals are ridiculously easy to do this to. MXR and EHX use bigger screws, so you may need to drill out the hole a little bit. You can do all four corners for a very secure fit, 2 eyes in alternating corners, or two on the top/bottom. If you're using two links instead of four, bending them up or down slightly may help keep the pedal fastened to the board more securely. The only real drawback is that if you want to take a pedal off, it requires a screwdriver and maybe a pair of pliers if you use bolts on the back.
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Apr 6, 2009 14:30
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Col.Kiwi posted:Seconding the chain link method, it works very well. I'm still using the board I made with the chain links you sent me in the mail. (Random goon generosity) Awesome. It's starting to get warmer out here, and I just ordered another bicycle chain. I should have a whole bunch more spare links soon if anyone's interested. Anyway, I'm not sure what size drill bit I used, just... bigger than the current hole. Also, I used a bench vice to hold half of the link while drilling through it, since it'd be impossible to hold it in place otherwise. The MXR boxes can be tough, and sometimes the screws are just barely long enough to hold the bottom panel in place, let alone have room for a chain link. For my MXR/CAE-401 boost, I had to take the screws to a hardware store, find matching screws that were longer, and trim them down to the right length with a dremel. I'll post pictures later on of how I mounted my RAT to the board. That was a bit of a puzzle.
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Apr 6, 2009 17:18
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I took some pictures to better show how you can use bike chain links to fasten pedals.  Start with a bike chain. This one happens to be new, so I'm just taking a few off the end. The rest will go on a bike, if you can imagine that.  Chain goes into the link tool, where the cylinder-looking dealie is screwed down and pushes the rivet out that holds the links together.  The bit of chain that got pulled off and the rivet that held it on.  After pushing out the other rivet, we're left with two smooth (outer) links, two ridged (inner) links, two little washer type thingies, and two rivets. You could use the inner links on a pedal, but it takes up more space on the screw.  Attach the links underneath the pedal's corner screws thusly. It'd probably be a good idea to put a drop of a light-strength threadlock in here to keep the screw from backing out after time, but I've never had a problem.  With the link "ears" all hooked up, the pedal can be fastened onto the board. I used cheap little zinc screws and bolts that came in a baggie at Lowes for like $3. You can see how there is a bit of a bend to the ears on the TS9 next to the tuner pedal, as I'm only using two links. Hope that helps! And if anyone wants some links, I can send you a few. Hit me up in a PM or something for details. schizorage posted:I'm going to have to check out how I've got all this poo poo done once I get home. I've got 9 pedals to secure, and a tuner (that one's going to be loving impossible.) and I'm not sure how many are going to have to be moved ever so slightly to get the bike chain method to work. Sometimes a little creative bending is required. Here's how my OCD is stuck on there: 
an AOL chatroom fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Apr 7, 2009 |
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Apr 7, 2009 00:43
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[In before an Agreed novel about compressors] People use compressors for different reasons, so this may mean nothing to you, but I found the CS-3 to be pretty dull in stock form. About the only practical use I had for it was running an acoustic through it so I could strum and fingerpick at the same volumes, which was kind of cool, but it wasn't what I wanted with electrics. There's a DIY modification for it put out by Monte Allums called the Opto Mod (not to be confused with Octo Mom) that adds a lot more character to it. This gives it more of that "squish" type of envelope that is characteristic of the compression effect that a lot of clean single-coil players use. So if you score a good deal on a CS3 and want to juice it up a little bit, that's an option. I also have a Dynacomp that I really dig. It's basically a slightly different flavor of that "squish" effect. I use it with the output and sensitivity at about 2 o'clock to sort act as sort of a boost for clean solos, since it also helps to keep the quacking of a tele's single coils to a minimum.
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May 8, 2009 15:00
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Stayne Falls posted:Are there any pedals out there designed simply for making lots of weird un-guitar sounding noises? I've gone about as far as I can with my current set-up and I'd like to try some semi-DJing with my guitar rig. The MXR Blue Box comes to mind. It tracks (very loosely, I might add) the most prominent note that you're playing and then doubles it two octaves down and mercilessly fuzzed. Makes for some pretty cool Nintendo noises. Also, I've found that setting #69 on the GSP2101 *is* the Ratatat sound. This is saturated tube disturtion plus some delay and reverb sent through the harmonizer, which is set to the 3rd in an Em scale. harmonized guitar sample an AOL chatroom fucked around with this message at 14:05 on May 23, 2009 |
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May 23, 2009 13:56
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warwick5s posted:Are there any not-ridiculously priced multi-effects pedals out there that can also control a remote switch - like an amp footswitch? The only thing like that I've seen is the Boss OD-20 Drive Zone. It's a Distortion/Overdrive stompbox modeler with a 1/4" output that can toggle an amp's channel.
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May 30, 2009 22:46
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Think of a compressor as a gain knob linked to a volume meter. Typically when you hit a guitar string, there's an initial spike which levels off quickly, then slowly tails off. A compressor ducks the gain quickly during that initial spike and then gradually applies gain as the note decays. The effect is a smoother sound and longer sustain. You're basically adjusting the intensity of the attack and decay. There are hundreds of compressors out there, and many of them attempt to produce different styles of compression. A Barber Tone Press, for example, sounds different from a DynaComp or BBE Opto Stomp. Some work better with distortion than others, and some are built specifically for Tele twang.
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Jul 12, 2009 16:21
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Col.Kiwi posted:Okay well your arguments for why it shouldn't be useful are all hypothetical. I am telling you that I have one and that it works for me, allows me to do things I cannot without it. Maybe you wouldn't get any use out of it. There's no reason you should switch if you like your setup. Bang, exactly. I'll never understand why people get so up in arms about something so trivial as whether to put a Tremolo before a Reverb and stuff like that. Not to say that there isn't a difference, but it's not like pedals have insta-latch irreversible locking jacks or anything. You try it one way for five minutes, then you try it the other way... It's just amazing how people who are attempting to make music, a creative expression of ideas, are in such a hurry to lock themselves and others into unnecessary rules.
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Jul 17, 2009 15:03
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Saw this today on a gadget blog and thought it was pretty rad: http://sanyo.com/news/2009/12/25-1.html  It's a rechargeable 9v power source made specifically for effects pedals, mini recorders, etc. Looks like you can expect to get about 20 hours of play time with a couple of pedals, and recharge time is about 3.5 hours. The Sanyo Eneloop batteries are awesome, and I'm all about something that lets me disconnect a pedalboard from the wall. Not sure what kind of runtime you can expect when powering a huge board, but these days I'm traveling fairly light anyway.
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Dec 28, 2009 17:22
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I think "chain" just refers to a series of effects that are placed one after the other, where effects loop refers specifically to a series of effects placed in the effects loop of an amplifier (after the preamp, before the poweramp).
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Jan 6, 2010 16:35
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pimpology 101 posted:Does anybody have any experience with any of the Build Your Own Clone fuzz pedals? I was thinking about buying a kit and assembling it, might be a fun project. That's actually where I wanna get a Rat from, since their Rat clone is probably the most configurable one around. I did the Rat clone from BYOC and it was pretty straightforward. It's a good little project, and you end up with a great sounding pedal. Plus, if you don't mind spending some time masking stuff off and waiting for layers to dry, you can get some pretty cool paint effects on the enclosure.
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Jun 11, 2010 19:02
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