effects

What kind of effects do you guys use, adn what types of sounds do they give? I've been looking at multi-effects pedals, but haven't bought anything yet, and would love your input

(pictures are always fun too)

Here's m' board - I'm very proud of it...

http://home.comcast.net/~cvansickle/Peds1002-01.JPG

Click to read details (http://home.comcast.net/~cvansickle/peds.htm)

Pink Floyd
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/buckkillr8/pedalboard.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~jjsant3250/dscf0018sm.jpg

Don’t' have a picture but it goes, Pickup Booster, Big Muff, MXR Blue Box, Boss T-Wah, Boss FZ-3. Snarling Dog Mold Spore, National Siren, Boss Chorus. I'm saving up for the EHX Graphic EQ right now. I'm more into ambient/experimental punk rock; all these pedals help immensely, along with my custom Squier Bullet/Teisco Hybrid :)

Click on picture for better quality:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a296/DimeIV/03440ff9.jpg

Descriptions of each pedal, starting right to left with the bottom row, then right to left with the top row:

1. BOSS CS-2 Compression Sustainer--a classic, "blooming" compressor. Regrettably discontinued by BOSS and replaced by the CS-3.

2. BOSS SYB-3 Bass Synthesizer--It's not just for bass! I can get some nice monophonic synth tones for solos from this, as well as envelope-filter "wahs."

3. BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter--BOSS' latest phaser, with 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-stage phasing, plus a few other neat phasing tricks. The most versatile, best-sounding phaser ever made, in my humble opinion. (I primarily use this pedal--in front of my overdrive pedal(s)--in a 4-stage phasing mode to get a nice Jimi "Machine Gun" sound/Robin Trower "Bridge Of Sighs" sound.)

4. and 5. BOSS OD-3 Over Drive--BOSS hit pure gold with this overdrive pedal. In my opinion, it's probably one of the most, if not the most underrated overdrive pedals (and, ipso facto, one of the best overdrive pedals) ever made. I wouldn't think of using any other overdrive pedal. The OD-3 maintains the integrity of the guitar's natural tone--all while preserving the lower frequencies, which is the Achilles' heel of countless other overdrive pedals. The OD-3 amazingly and faithfully recreates the sound of a naturally overdriven, small-wattage tube amp. The second OD-3 I use for very light overdrive...just slight clipping, actually. The first OD-3 I use as a boost pedal for solos. Great pedals--I can't say enough good things about the OD-3. I'm seriously thinking of stocking up on these before BOSS prematurely discontinues them and they become pricey, hard-to-find relics, like so many of BOSS' other great pedals.

6. and 7. BOSS PS-5 SUPER Shifter--One of the most versatile pedals BOSS has ever made, if not the most versatile pedal. I use each of these for so many different sounds, it's ridiculous: Whole chords played an octave lower (which sounds like a baritone guitar/six-string bass); whammy effects; true two-note harmony in various intervals (great for dual-note solos a la Duane Allman and Dickey Betts); true pitch-bending vibrato (like the great old Magnatone 200 Series amplifiers or BOSS' own classic VB-2 Vibrato pedal); doubling; you name it.

8. BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner--Hey, it's a tuner! :P

9. and 10. BOSS DD-6 Digital Delay--I use one for reverse sounds (a la Jimi Hendrix) and the other for looping (a la Robert Fripp, Trey Anastasio, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, etc.)

11. BOSS DD-3 Digital Delay--I use this for straight delays.

12. BOSS BF-3 Flanger--I use this for flanging, fast "Leslie" sounds, and some chorusing. It sounds really cool in stereo. I rarely use this pedal, but it's there if I need it.

13. BOSS PN-2 Tremolo/Pan--A classic BOSS pedal, sadly discontinued way before its time due to discontinuation of some of its circuit components. Great in stereo in the Pan mode.

14. BOSS CE-3 Chorus--A classic analog chorus. Two modes: Mode I is a 180° reverse polarity of the signals, which makes for a tremendous stereo sound; Mode II is the classic Roland Jazz Chorus amp/BOSS CE-1 pedal configuration of the affected signal in one channel and the dry signal in the other channel--much like many of the "stereo" chorus made today. I use this pedal in stereo in Mode I only. And I turn the depth knob to about halfway, and the rate knob almost all the way down in order to capture a nice 3-D stereo effect-- not the overly sweet chorus sound commonly associated with music of the 1980s.

All of these are powered by my Electar PBX-1000 pedal board (which has also been discontinued. What is it with all of these discontinued items?)

(Not directly on my pedal board and not seen: Korg G4 Rotary Speaker Simulator, which I use for authentic-sounding Leslie effects {think "Little Wing" by Jimi, or the bridge in "Badge" by Cream}--this is another great, yet sadly discontinued effect; and, an Alesis Microverb, for sundry reverbs.)

Then all of the above stereoed into two silverface, master-volume Twin Reverbs, circa mid-'70s.

You'd think my tone would really suck, going through all of those BOSS effects, wouldn't you? In reality, I get a pretty darn good, natural Tele tone--and a huge stereo sound. Yes, these pedals don't have true bypass, but it doesn't bother me. It might bother Eric Johnson and others with hypersensitive ears, but it doesn't bother me at all.

Besides, it's not like I play with all of them on at the same time! :P

Joel

Hey Joel Terry, hows that Bass Synth work with guitar? What kind of effects can you get from it?

It's obvious to just about anyone that you have too many blue pedals. I can help you attain a more balanced symmetry to your pedalboard by taking the blue pedal in the lower right corner off your hands. Let me know if I can help you feng shui your board.

Here are the three pedals I presently use:

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1034344/1934051/119691106.jpg

A cheapo ART MR-1 Reverb pedal, a new Zoom G2 multi-effects pedal, and Tech 21 Killer Wail wah. I can make all sorts of obnoxious noise with these. I really like the Zoom G2 - it's great for playing at home.

Joel - think about it! :wink:

Dean

Hey Joel Terry, hows that Bass Synth work with guitar? What kind of effects can you get from it?

It works quite well. It's monophonic synthesizer, with a single voltage-controlled oscillator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage-controlled_oscillator), mind you--which is to say, it can only generate one note at a time (well, in modes 1 to 7), so I can't play chords with it; it's great for solos. (And, contrary to what you might hear or read, it tracks very well!) There are 11 sound modes, and here's the description from the BOSS website (http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=29):

11 different modes for various synth sounds: Internal Sound Modes (1-7) uses input sound as a trigger to control built-in VCO. Wave Shaping Modes (8, 9) processes input sound to create synth sound. T Wah Modes (10, 11) adds auto-wah/envelope-filter effects to the original sound.

Decay/Sens. knob adjusts decay time of synthesizer sound (Mode 1-7) and sensitivity of direct sound (Mode 8-11)

Freq. and Res. knobs control cutoff frequency and resonance

Effect and Direct knobs allow for independent level adjustment of synthesizer and direct sounds

Two outputs (A and B) individually output synth and direct sounds

Hold function sustains synth sound, allowing musician to play over the "held" sound

Also works great with standard electric guitar

The first seven modes produce various square wave, sawtooth wave, and frequency modulation sounds, with a choice of standard pitch or one octave below. As for acutal sound descriptions, think vintage Moog/Arp synthesizer sounds, such as the ones you've heard by Keith Emerson with ELP; the opening note of "Tom Sawyer" by Rush; Herbie Hancock synth sounds from the '70s; Joe Zawinul's late-'70s synth with Weather Report; various funk bands; etc. (Actually you can tailor the resonance, decay, frequency, and sensitivity, so it provides more than just "Sounds Of The '70s"! :P )

Modes 8 and 9 are somewhat dicey--have you ever heard "hex fuzz"? Well, that's what you get with these two modes--a kind of white-noise, tinny fuzz. Personally, I never use these modes. (Since modes 8 and 9 do not trigger the VCO, you can play whole chords in these two modes.)

Modes 10 and 11 are envelope filters..."auto" wahs governed by picking sensitivity. Mode 10 "wahs" up, and Mode 11 "wahs" down. I use these two modes quite a bit. (Like modes 8 and 9, modes 10 and 11 do not trigger the VCO, you can play whole chords in these two modes.)

The SYB-3 is just a nice pedal to have around for something a little bit "different." :wink:

-------

It's obvious to just about anyone that you have too many blue pedals. I can help you attain a more balanced symmetry to your pedalboard by taking the blue pedal in the lower right corner off your hands. Let me know if I can help you feng shui your board.

Joel - think about it! :wink:

Dean

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Dean, I have three more of those blue pedals specifically of the type you spotted in the lower right corner of my pedal board. All in excellent condition and working order. If you seriously want to buy one, barter for one, haggle over one, or whatnot, just shoot me a PM. :wink:

actually joel would have better cosmic energy if he took that one teal colored pedal (second from left on top row) and placed it very carefully on a pedal board in central virginia where ghost of Thomas Jefferson can be appeased (TJ likes his trem panned apparently). Then all of the planets will be aligned and the tone gods will smile upon him (oh, and uh ... me )

<wink>

actually joel would have better cosmic energy if he took that one teal colored pedal (second from left on top row) and placed it very carefully on a pedal board in central virginia where ghost of Thomas Jefferson can be appeased (TJ likes his trem panned apparently). Then all of the planets will be aligned and the tone gods will smile upon him (oh, and uh ... me )

<wink>

Well, Kevin, with all due apologies to you and to the great Thomas Jefferson--one of my heroes; a genius, a Renaissance man, and one of the truly greatest people ever to grace the Earth--one PN-2 now resides in Texas with our own great Johnny Isaacs. I had two PN-2 pedals, but Johnny now has one of 'em. I hate to say it, but I'm not parting with the one I have. 8) :wink:

Joel

Thanks Joel! So the auto wah works pretty good then? I'm looking for somthing to replace my Boss T-wha and I'd guess this measures up pretty well then. Maybe I'll look into it. I notice alot of you keep your overdrives at the end of the chain, any reason? I've always had mine in the begining.

Thanks Joel! So the auto wah works pretty good then? I'm looking for somthing to replace my Boss T-wha and I'd guess this measures up pretty well then. Maybe I'll look into it.

The auto wah modes are very nice--very versatile/"tweakable." :wink:

By the way...I noticed your TDPRI name is "3StringGuitar." You wouldn't happen to be Dave Dederer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Dederer) of The Presidents Of The United States Of America/The Gentlemen fame, would you? Or Andrew McKeag? :D

Joel

No, sorry to let you all down. I do how ever know Andrew McKeag. Well I should say my brother knows him fairly well. It was however the Presidents that inspired me to go three stringed, that and a bit of my own belief in simplicity. It's amazing how some can do more with three strings then others can with six or even seven. And yes I do have a few six string guitars that I love :) I commend you on knowing about its history though, not many do. Are you a fan of the Presidents by chance?
A note on simplicity the band I'm in now I use a Fender Pro Jr. tweed with a Modded Squier single pickup guitar and that's it and honstly it's one of the best set ups I've had in a while.

No, sorry to let you all down. I do how ever know Andrew McKeag. Well I should say my brother knows him fairly well. It was however the Presidents that inspired me to go three stringed, that and a bit of my own belief in simplicity. It's amazing how some can do more with three strings then others can with six or even seven. And yes I do have a few six string guitars that I love :) I commend you on knowing about its history though, not many do. Are you a fan of the Presidents by chance?

Very cool--like the flipside of a pillow!

You bet I'm a fan. TPUSA are one of the best, most original rock bands ever formed. Just great, straightforward rock--incredible, powerful, catchy songs. I appreciate the fact that those guys are still kicking out the jams. In my opinion, though, they should be huge, if not for pathetic record label fumbles...the bane and downfall of many a great band. :?

Joel

So very true, I'm sad to see Dave go but who knows maybe Andrew will bring some fresh blood and a new popularity to them. As I side note I use standard tuning most of the time where as they use root 5th root, I think C# G# C#. Also Chris has been quoted as saying he got the idea from Mark Sandman of Morphine for the 2 string bass.

Don’t' have a picture but it goes, Pickup Booster, Big Muff, MXR Blue Box, Boss T-Wah, Boss FZ-3. Snarling Dog Mold Spore, National Siren, Boss Chorus. I'm saving up for the EHX Graphic EQ right now. I'm more into ambient/experimental punk rock; all these pedals help immensely, along with my custom Squier Bullet/Teisco Hybrid :)

I think we'd get along pretty well. i play a 4 string guitar...

check out "stormy" on my myspace page
http://myspace.com/aenpage

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/badelfrecords/RayGun88.jpg

don't have a photo of the whole thing yet, but the ring mod is one of my secret weapons...

I also rock a blue box, a digitech synth wah, and sometimes 3 delay pedals.

I'd kill for an EHX Fequency analyzer. Hows that Digitech Synth Wah work? Like I said I'm looking for a new enevelope filter that isn't too expensive, between the Digitech and the Boss SYB-3. And yes the MXR blue box is one amazing pedal, mine was stolen long ago at a gig and unfortunatly I haven't had the money to get another.
Oh I'm digging your music too, it's nice to meet others who apreciate 3 and 4 stringed guitars :) every show I do it doesn't fail, theres always someone who makes fun of the idea of only having 3 strings. We have to band together and end this 6-string non-sense :lol: www.myspace.com/oddcurrent Theres my page, the recordings are all very out of date tho, I haven't had time to sit down and lay down anything new lately.

The synth wah is pretty much only good for "special effects" it's pretty hard to work with. The "synth" settings sound fairly ugly, but the frequecy sweep "bbbwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
is pretty cool. It goes well in a line of pedals, it does a lot to confuse the others, glitch them out. I'm not really into the envelope filter, casue i dont play so funky, but to my ears it sounds pretty good, as far as sounds i dont like go. (get it?)


On the "missing strings" comments, I just look carefully at their guitar and say

"what? Oh no, man, looks like you have extra."

Then when they ask if you can play "Stairway" on 4 strings i say,

"nah, but I can write my own song."