Ultimate Session Pedalboard

[CamdenGuitar]

Hey folks,

I'm in the process of compiling the ULTIMATE pedalboard for session gigs and would like to throw it open for your input.

The requirements are that it must not be huge: briefcase sized for ease of transport. BUT.... must cover all the bases for a huge variety of gigs.

So...... Starting with a Boss tuner....... then what?

[JPW2105]

A good transparent compressor. Wampler or Keeley. Can't leave home without a crybaby either.

[bigbandtele]

I'd say to get a better tuner than the Boss - like maybe a Polytune or Turbo Tuner.

As for a comp - the BBE Opto Stomp gets my vote.

Chorus - the Boss CE-20 twin pedal would be great. Big, yes, but programmable and flexible.

I'm partial to rotary speaker effects too, so I'd want my RT-20 in there, though if you are working in well equipped studios, they may have a real Leslie.

[cuzzinmark]

I'm in agreement on the transparent compressor thing and the tuner statement-that's the most important thing of all, for sure, along with having anything you use intonated and set up perfectly. Also, you need a few different gain-style options-an OD, a dist, and to know the sweet spots for different styles within the pedals themselves. Some people will hire you for 'your sound' (once folks know what that is) and some will hire you for generic sounds-have gear that can do both. Other colors should include modulation of some sorts-if you can get a tape, or even some voice time with someone involved, you may get a sense of what they are looking for..

Studios//producers/engineers will have some of their own stuff usually, and will have favorite plug-ins they like, so you don't have to cart everything-I always have the main board and a seperate bag full of distinctive things that stays in the car unless they are looking for something like that.

I also always bring a delay with presets I like-since many folks prefer to record dry, I can have my own favorite delay sounds added to the phones-creating a sound that inspires me, and yet leave the finished pruduct totally up to them. Also, sometimes (er, occasionally) they like 'em so much it becomes part of the tune.

If you're going full bore into this, can I make another suggestion slightly off topic? Check your axes and rig for noise, and get your guitars as sheilded as possible. Check every link of the chain to find out which areas are noisier than others, so that when you do have those items in line, you'll be ready for it and be able to adapt if need be. Also, since you'll mostly be going through only the effects you need for a given track, make sure you design the board with enough space between the pedals to be able to plug and unplug different pedals, and to remove them from the board sometimes, so nothing should be locked down like it might be for a live board.

Make sure that you have spare shorter cables of different lengths and I always brought light medium and heavy picks (even though I use heavy and my fingers) because that can sometimes be just the detail they are looking for, especially in a rhythm guitar part.

Hope this was helpful-good luck with it! Session work can be rewarding, educational and reaffirming-it's empowering to know one's talent is sought out and utilized by professionals, for sure...

[jimmynumber9]

Friend of mine who is in a cover band (they play from the 60's to Green Day) uses a jekylll and hyde for overdrive..., a homemade compressor, a vox wah, and mxr phase 90.

[klasaine]

For sessions ... it's not always going to be light carry day. But I too try to be concise. Along with checking that your axes are all wired well and shielded ...
Good cables.
REALLY good cables! I bring two Evidence 'Forte' and or Canare or Belden for my guitar to board and then board to amp or head or in to whatever(?)

Tuner (strobo usually though I see lots of Boss tuners), Demeter 'Compulator', Barber 'B-Custom' dual drive (one sides transparentis OD and the other side is Marshally) - Analogman 'Clone' chorus - Volume Pedal (goodrich) - TC elec 'Nova Delay' - Xotic 'EP Booster'. This all fits along with two cables and a power supply into an old Samsonite briefcase.

That's what I start with.
I'll usually bring in a separate bag: a Fuzz (or two), Phaser, Wah, something 'wacky' like a ring mod or octaver, Trem (if thew amp I'm using doesn't have it), maybe a different OD(?).
Generally, if the artist or producer or engineer is looking for something specific they'll let you know - not always though. Sometimes they don't know what they want.

*I ALWAYS bring a 'non-standard' guitar such as a Daneletro, Jazzmaster, Kay, etc. Something other than Strat, Tele or LP in other words. GREAT for doubling parts!

[Tim Bowen]

For garden variety sessions for hire, I bring my main working board, which has analog and digital delays, a boost, a medium gain overdrive, a compressor, and utility items such as tuner and noise suppressor (always good to have on board - not every studio has a copper grounding spike). The high headroom, reasonably neutral compressor is always a good thing to have on hand, for the same reason that it's good for live - you can't walk into every situation knowing that you'll be able to crank an amp. It's just a good ace in the hole.

For bare bones, stripped down material, or when I know I mostly want to get the purest tone from amps, I carry a teeny little board that allows three small stompers - a boost or light overdrive, a delay, and a Peterson StroboStomp.

Whether I carry amps or use those available at a facility, there's usually something that has a pretty deep, sexy trem, so I rarely carry a trem pedal. Chorus is a sound that I've rarely tracked. If there's a Leslie cab, I might do that, but I'm probably not going to stomp a chorus ped. I usually prefer to physically double parts if that's what I'm going for. Phase and flange are different beasts, but I don't have call to use those much currently.

One of my wahs is always in the back floorboard of my vehicle, so it's available. Also always within my vehicle is a little toolbox that contains various slides, picks of various gauges and materials, several capos, an Ebow, stuff like that. You never know what you might need.

If I have a date that requires a variety of stringed instruments (baritone guitar, mandolin, banjo, high string guitar, etc.), the one thing I won't leave home without is my Peterson tuner. All my instruments are either electric or acoustic-electric, so they have jacks and will work with the Peterson.

As Ken alluded to, it's nice to know what sort of tones will fill the bill, although a 'heads up' is a crapshoot at best. When in doubt, I'll toss a few extra gainers in the car (Klon, Hotcake, P.E. Germ, Z. Vex Super Duper, maybe a germ or sili fuzz, stuff like that). The more I know about the tones I'll need, the more specific and esoteric stuff I'll bring - Line 6 DL4, MXR Blue Box, etc. Occasionally I'll ask a friend to borrow a particular ped for a specific date. The last time I did this, it was a Moogerfooger ring modulator.

[dalandan]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

For garden variety sessions for hire, I bring my main working board, which has analog and digital delays, a boost, a medium gain overdrive, a compressor, and utility items such as tuner and noise suppressor (always good to have on board - not every studio has a copper grounding spike). The high headroom, reasonably neutral compressor is always a good thing to have on hand, for the same reason that it's good for live - you can't walk into every situation knowing that you'll be able to crank an amp. It's just a good ace in the hole.

For bare bones, stripped down material, or when I know I mostly want to get the purest tone from amps, I carry a teeny little board that allows three small stompers - a boost or light overdrive, a delay, and a Peterson StroboStomp.

Whether I carry amps or use those available at a facility, there's usually something that has a pretty deep, sexy trem, so I rarely carry a trem pedal. Chorus is a sound that I've rarely tracked. If there's a Leslie cab, I might do that, but I'm probably not going to stomp a chorus ped. I usually prefer to physically double parts if that's what I'm going for. Phase and flange are different beasts, but I don't have call to use those much currently.

One of my wahs is always in the back floorboard of my vehicle, so it's available. Also always within my vehicle is a little toolbox that contains various slides, picks of various gauges and materials, several capos, an Ebow, stuff like that. You never know what you might need.

If I have a date that requires a variety of stringed instruments (baritone guitar, mandolin, banjo, high string guitar, etc.), the one thing I won't leave home without is my Peterson tuner. All my instruments are either electric or acoustic-electric, so they have jacks and will work with the Peterson.

As Ken alluded to, it's nice to know what sort of tones will fill the bill, although a 'heads up' is a crapshoot at best. When in doubt, I'll toss a few extra gainers in the car (Klon, Hotcake, P.E. Germ, Z. Vex Super Duper, maybe a germ or sili fuzz, stuff like that). The more I know about the tones I'll need, the more specific and esoteric stuff I'll bring - Line 6 DL4, MXR Blue Box, etc. Occasionally I'll ask a friend to borrow a particular ped for a specific date. The last time I did this, it was a Moogerfooger ring modulator.

priceless. reading Tim give input on gear and the music scene is always an education for me. Tim, would you mind telling us what you have on your board regularly?

to answer your question though, I would look at Brent Mason and Sol Philcox's boards among others (since both boards can be found online and are updated regularly). They contain several different flavors of gain, modulation, and time-based effects. From what I see with their boards, I would have something the size of a Pedaltrain 2 with the following:

tuner - wah - rc booster (any clean boost would do) - TS variant - Rat variant - "marshall-in-a-box" pedal - another boost then a volume pedal to a line 6 M9 for all the modulation and delays. If it's a session gig, you can use the M9 as a swiss army knife of sorts. When you land a regular gig, I would invest in the appropriate pedals.

[SackvilleDan]

Originally Posted by cuzzinmark

If you're going full bore into this, can I make another suggestion slightly off topic? Check your axes and rig for noise, and get your guitars as sheilded as possible. Check every link of the chain to find out which areas are noisier than others, so that when you do have those items in line, you'll be ready for it and be able to adapt if need be. Also, since you'll mostly be going through only the effects you need for a given track, make sure you design the board with enough space between the pedals to be able to plug and unplug different pedals, and to remove them from the board sometimes, so nothing should be locked down like it might be for a live board.

Make sure that you have spare shorter cables of different lengths and I always brought light medium and heavy picks (even though I use heavy and my fingers) because that can sometimes be just the detail they are looking for, especially in a rhythm guitar part.

This is great advice.

[cuzzinmark]

Thanks, SackvilleDan!

Learned the hard way, over and over...I assure you...

[studio1087]

Tuner
BBE Benchpress Compressor - (It's a Ross clone)
T-Rex DGTM or a Paul Cochrane Timmy Overdrive
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
Marshall Vibratrem (Vibe or Tremolo)

I could probably tackle 95% of things with this stuff.

I could use my Timmy and my Line 6 M9 is place of all the above.

John

[Tele-writer]

excellent advice above from everyone!

I also always bring a couple of different volume pedals, an old Schaller I got in the '70s and a new Ernie Ball. When you have need of one to make a guitar part work, (i.e. Carlton or Ford style,) you need it bad!

[Tim Bowen]

Originally Posted by dalandan

Tim, would you mind telling us what you have on your board regularly?

Hi Dalandan,

I swap stuff in and out depending on situation, but here's a fairly typical chain that I use a lot these days:

(off the board) Teese Picture or Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah --> BOSS NS-2 noise suppressor --> (NS-2's loop) --> early Keeley two knob compressor --> Paul Cochrane Timmy OD --> Xotic RC Booster --> BOSS TU-2 tuner --> (end loop) --> Fulltone Supa-Trem(olo) --> T. Rex Reptile digital modulation delay --> MXR Carbon Copy analog delay --> Maxon AD-900 analog delay.

This sort of chain serves me pretty well for recording if either I need to cover a lot of bases, or don't know quite what to expect. Although I definitely prefer to track amp trem, I like having a trem ped available for a couple of reasons: 1.) Sometimes the clock noise on old amp trems is outrageous, and 2.) Getting the initial attack right with the pulse of a trem can often be a factor; for whatever reasons (blinking LED tempo status light is a player), I can usually get it right quicker with a good ped... it might not be the "deepest" trem, but in time crunch situations, I've sometimes defaulted to this approach.

Not a lot of tone-sucking with the rig mentioned above, so I don't sweat that. For situations where I have a really good idea what sorts of tones I'll need to bring to the table, I might go with the stripped down, minimalist board, and/or bring some of the more esoteric weirdo stomps that I rarely use live.

[JCSouthpawtele]

An a/b Box for spliting signals and running a dry line to the board for re-amping or plug in use,could be a lifesaver for mixing in a little something different.

A good transparent comp- Keeley,Barber,
A good screamer or clone- Ibanez,Maxon
2 or 3 different sounding overdrives-Fulltone(OCD,Fulldrive II),Voodoo Labs Sparkledrive
Something more clippy,gainy, fuzzy- Modded DS-1,Tone bone
A good trem- Diaz,Demeter,Keeley modded Boss
Phaser- MXR 90
Delay- MXR Carbon Copy

Shut off the reverb. Let the studio engineers producers add that in the mix. You will cut through the mix better without all the wash of amp/pedal verb. And whatever gets put to tape/computer can't be removed.