Pedal geeks i need u (help jjjusten make decisions about awesome pedals for his store)

Soul Food sounded super mid-range-y to me.

Found a deal on the Mastotron yesterday so I pulled the trigger, I now have the most obnoxious guitar tone.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/03/37-year-old_portland_man_trave.html

Sad news.

(founder of Catalinbread)

ugh, horrible news

I recently bought the Belle Epoch tape echo sim. It's really nice.

RIP

holy shit. nic was a friend, h0w4rd and m1k3 on his crew even moreso... i can't even begin

Yeah, I've been posting about it on the 2016 obit thread, but this was prob the better place, idk. It's brutal.

you guys, what is the sickest phaser out there?

For crazy does everything and more vibes, definitely the Chase Bliss Wombtone.

http://youtu.be/OJMgy1_yB4w

new analog delay from ibanez (the es2) just showed up and it is totally fucking amazing.

i just bought this on impulse to run synths through and use as an effect with my DAW, hope to get some useful sounds out of it.

If hiatch is looking for a more trad phaser (because let's face it, all the Chase Bliss pedals are OTT) then I'm a sucker for the EHX Stone series.

Blackout Effectors Whetstone is a pretty wild phaser as well, but the Chase Bliss still probably has it beat for versatility.

There's also this

http://www.mrblackpedals.com/products/gilamondo

And this

http://skreddypedals.com/skreddy_pedals_little_miss_sunshine.php

Oh and this

http://www.alexanderpedals.com/shop/la-calavera

This weeks moment in incoming nerd obsession:

http://youtu.be/h7GSdXqfyXU

oooh, lotsa good options, thanks all. chase bliss sounds crazy!

must admit I forgot about this one from when I was thinking about getting a euro case last year, that's probably a whole other can of worms (lol @ the boss burn at the end too): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TPMHVHsp14

not sick, but after trying a zillion phasers i'm down to the good old one-knob script phase 90 and a BJF tiny orange

hardest one to let go was a Maxon PH-350, which does trad phase sounds like a champ but also gets pretty crazy if you want it to

i need a boost pedal for my bass. what should i get?

doesn't have to be clean, just loud. if it does other weird fucked up sounding shit (i.e. cool features), that would be great.

update to the update i posted on the other thread:

i tried using this echo pedal as an outboard effect with my DAW, and after i got the routing figured out, i was getting way too much of the dry signal back from the pedal (even with the mix knob turned all the way up). ideally i want a true 100% wet signal that i can mix with the original dry track, but maybe that's not how guitar pedals work?

i was able to get the end result i wanted by putting the resulting track through a Soundtoys echo plugin, but having the pedal earlier in the chain gave it some cool texture and pitch-bend effects.

Can't stop won't stop. On their way.

http://www.alexanderpedals.com

https://youtu.be/wgUuScoevGQ

JJJ do you know these guys?

http://www.redpandalab.com/

They have a dealer right up the street, so I don't want to crowd anybody, but yeah, they're cool. If anybody here ever wants their stuff, I've got an agreement w/the dealer for when I need it.

Oh man the Digitech Dirty Robot is the synthy filter matrix bizness

These are the things I step on most of the time:

http://i67.tinypic.com/358xic6.jpg

It has the sounds I need but it is not QUITE right.

Basically, I want to have a very simple board with one clean, one dirty, and one weird sound (flange, phaser, delay) - all with the same perceived loudness. Then I need to be able to boost each one a predictable amount (for solos or fingerstyle). So, six sounds total.

Right now it goes tuner, then boost, then the Weird sounds. It gets a touch of reverb at the end (because I hate my amp's onboard reverb). Currently the Blonde pedal is serving both as amp emulation/DI (for situations when I'm running direct) and as the main source of distortion! This is untenable.

I would like to reliably add a tasteful, musical amount of crunch without altering the apparent volume. In this quest, I am often frustrated by how many pedals are heralded for being responsive to dynamics - that is, when you play harder or louder, you get more of whatever it does. That is the opposite of what I want! What I want to do is play the same weak-ass way I normally play, while having the effect produce its, y'know, effect.

I have had lots of pedals that seem to require a lot of signal to Bring the Weird (Q-Tron for example). I can get there by putting a boost in front of it, diming the guitar, etc. But then when I stop wanting that sound, and wish to switch back to clean, the levels are all wrong. I do not want to try to manage this transition in a gig setting.

uups

http://i64.tinypic.com/34ya7nl.jpg

Puffin, it's funny you mention that you dislike when a pedal responds to dynamics. I recently started to get a lot more serious about developing the idea of creating my tone — or at least what I get in my head as the ideal sound that I'm going for. When I first started playing, I was going for economy, so I tracked down a Boss RV-3, which combined digital delay and reverb. I like playing almost all the time with at least some delay and always 100% of the time with a significant amount of reverb, so I used it a lot. It was really my first experience with any sort of effects pedal, so I didn't have any gauge for anything at all in the area of dynamics or ranges of sound. I wanted it to make an echo sound and it did. The deeper I got into playing, the more I wanted to get away from a clean, un-effected tone. I tried a lot of different things: distortion, flange, phase, chorus, etc. Maybe it was because Robert Smith praised them so heavily, but I was always drawn to the Boss pedals. I definitely like their design and housing, for they are practically damage proof. But, one day, and I'm not sure what prompted it, I decided to start researching different delays. The Carbon Copy was the one to really catch my ear. I loved how thick and muddy it was and it was so dynamic and responsive — everything the RV-3 wasn't. In the end I decided to keep both and I sometimes stacked the delays, but I always used at least the reverb only settings on the RV-3. Over time, I started to really get annoyed with the Boss pedals I had (and, by this point, I had accumulated quite a few) where they were supposed to alter my tone. Especially with the RV-3, it didn't matter how soft or hard I hit the strings, it would just blurt out this stagnant wall of stock reverb. It was a nice sound, but not at all unique. Even with some of the more flamboyant effects like their Phase Shifter, I found myself feeling like I was playing inside a factory preset. This was definitely not limited to just Boss pedals, as I found the chorus and flange pedals by TC Electronics to have similarly limited palettes — though each manufacturer definitely has their own "vibe" to them.

So, recently, I decided to revamp my pedals and it's really prompted me to pick up the guitar a lot more frequently. Here's what my pedals look like now:
http://i.imgur.com/XrWxugB.jpg

And I ordered the Echoplex Delay and am awaiting its arrival (I'll decide after playing with it whether I want to keep the Carbon Copy or not).

Unlike you, I feel like I need pedals that respond differently to different playing because, although brands like Boss or TC Electronics make very good gear, without that responsiveness, I feel pretty stifled and uninspired. That being said, I did hang on to the Waza Craft Blues Driver because I do feel like it pushes the M300 Reverb and the Analog Chorus into even more possibilities.

All of that is true and right and good, but particularly in a gigging situation I want to go to the right sound with one stomp and not too much thought, but dynamics-responsive pedals tend to require thought and adjustment. Fine for recording, not so much for a club stage when I'm also worrying about my drums, the set list, loading in, drinking, is the mandolin tuned, is the previous band off the stage yet, did I bring extra batteries, etc.

Case in point: I like Blues Driver dirt fine, but if I put it after the boost, then that means my dirty lead tone will be more distorted than the dirty rhythm tone (because it's being driven harder, as is right and good). Which is antithetical to the goal of a clean boost.

have you tried using a compressor to even out your dynamics? i've just started using an xotic sp compressor and it does a great job of smoothing out my shitty rhythm playing and even shittier leads when i'm using dirt pedals.

In that case, I guess it goes to show that I don't play out at all. It's just me and my guitar in my bedroom.

So I got the Echoplex today and I was able to play around with it for about an hour before I had to be to work. I was really impressed with the tape delay effect. It really makes for some strange and interesting echo sounds. It doesn't have the ambient wash that the Carbon Copy does, so it's a unique addition to my palette.

I have had lots of pedals that seem to require a lot of signal to Bring the Weird (Q-Tron for example).

I have this issue with some of mine: the slow gear pedal, for one, and some of the settings on the line 6 synth emulator pedal. Putting the basic Boss Overdrive pedal ahead of them solves the problem. Dunno if that would solve your dynamics issue ... turn on OD for the "needy pedals" then turn it off for the regular ones?

I can do that but it requires multiple stomps to get the desired sound. Let us say I am playing a clean rhythm part most of the song, but then wish to play a solo with (say) envelope filter. I have to hit the boost then the effect, then play the solo, and then remember to turn both off before going back to the normal bit, and that is suboptimal on stage. Also the boost level for helping a needy pedal may be different from the boost required to simply give me the same tone only louder. Strong preference for one stomp per sound here.

You could get a switching unit and run those two pedals in an effects loop of their own. You leave them on and then one stomp on the switcher. If you don't need those in any other configuration, there are simple little 1 loop switchers for like $40.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OC1L

Thanks, that would certainly work for the needy envelope filters/ring mods etc. (he said, as his dreams of a compact and simple 6-pedal rig drifted ever further into the misty distance).

Or only buy pedals that have their own volume/gain controls.

That was the first thing I though of, but then the Q-Tron has that. Unless it was the Q-Tron Micro? But beyond that, I agree that sometimes pedals just work better in tandem with others. And getting all my pedals to make the sounds I want at unity gain is one of my least favorite parts of changing my set up.

After getting a whole ep's worth of ideas & sounds out of the Ibanez Echo Shifter (the slider especially), any other suggestions for pedals that could do interesting things to samples & synths?

boss metal zone

i wonder if the earthquaker arpanoid would be cool with synth or just redundant

Earthquaker makes, like, really specific pedals, don't they? Like they do some really cool, fun stuff, but I can't ever imagine having an Earthquaker pedal on for an entire song.

They have some really crazy ones but they have more versatile / musical pedals in their range too.

I'd be looking at stuff like the Caroline Meteore or some of the alexander effects stuff Jordan.

Do you still live in WI? this could finally be your excuse to come hang and play pedals at my shop for hours.

So, my setup has gone through some pretty big changes over the past couple of weeks — in part, prompted by this very topic. Sorry in advance for long posting.

After I received my Echoplex Delay, I found that it didn't have the sustaining quality that I love so much about the Carbon Copy —it literally just echoes without any sort of resonant wash— so I went and picked up the Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb with the hope that combining it with the Echoplex would give me some of what I was looking for in that regard. I had been anticipating the Echoplex Delay for a very long time after Jim Dunlop teased it with the disappointing Echoplex Preamp boost pedal some years back. The Echoplex Delay is almost like an analog sound with a digital delay delivery. The echoes it produces are clearly defined and perfectly natural sounding, but the more you play around with the Sustain and Volume knobs, the more weird and unique the echoes become (and, in the case of increasing the Volume past a certain point, the first two or three echoes actually become louder than the initial signal). In addition, it has the "Age" mode, which is much like the "Mod" mode on the Carbon Copy. Where the "Mod" mode on the Carbon Copy creates a slightly wavering pitch in the trails of echoing, the "Age" mode actually manages to replicate the "squeaky tape" deterioration sound of the original Echoplex units from the 70's (this can make for some truly strange manipulations). Its delay time is also a good bit longer than the Carbon Copy, maxing out at 750 milliseconds, where the Carbon Copy taps out at 600 milliseconds. Overall, it's a totally great and unique delay pedal, which absolutely met my expectations and is a very valuable addition to my pedal chain. Here's what it looked like at that point:
http://i.imgur.com/r1ZpTZB.jpg
(From left to right: Boss RC-1 Loop Station, MXR M300 Reverb, Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb, Jim Dunlop EP103 Echoplex Delay, MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay, MXR M234 Analog Chorus, Boss BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver Overdrive and finally, Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner)

So, after playing this setup for a while, I came to the realization that my tone was just becoming muddled and incoherent. This was partially due to the Kustom KBA20 amp I was using. Previously, I had always played through my stereo, by plugging into the mic input on my Vestax mixer. When I moved to southern California last year, this would not work out any longer, so the Kustom amp was given to me by a sympathetic friend. It sufficed and I always played it with the thought in the back of my mind that it was essentially just a practice amp and I would probably get frustrated with it and want to upgrade eventually.

Anyway, back to the FRV-1. Talk about a fun pedal. Granted, it only does one very specific thing, but that thing is great. It's got that springy squelch, really wet reverb sound down perfectly. The Mixer knob just increases how "big" the reverb gets (if that makes sense), while the Tone knob increases or decreases the clarity of the guitar's dry signal. The really fun one, and where the trouble began, is the Dwell knob. This one increases the "depth" of the reverb wetness. It's where the squelchy sound that I like so much would come from. However, even in the pedal's most conservative settings, I found that it was similar to all the other problems I previously had with Boss pedals: it would just kind of suck the life and character out of my tone. It was quite a bit more responsive, as far as dynamics and how hard or soft I was playing, than the RV-3 (which, I now realize, isn't a hard thing to accomplish, as the RV-3 had basically no responsiveness). But at the more extreme settings that I preferred to use, the FRV-1 would just turn my tone to mush. And, when combining it with other pedals, forget about it. Even just combining it with the Echoplex —which is what I intended it for all along— just seemed to make an unintelligible, murky, ultimately unpleasant ambient trail that just drowned everything else out by just being overbearing (and this was regardless of my pedal ordering; no matter where I put the FRV-1, it would just hijack and commandeer my tone). And, even before all of that, just playing through the FRV-1 by itself really did alter the natural tone of my guitar, regardless of which pickups I was playing through or the settings I was using on the pedal. It's like, in addition to the reverb, it was a mid-booster. And I've never liked that range. When I was into making hip hop beats, I would always EQ my samples to have as few mids as possible, while still being recognizable. The FRV-1, while being the best Boss reverb pedal I've heard, still presented the same issues I've encountered with Boss pedals in the past.

But, before I arrived at that realization full stop, I decided enough was enough and that it was finally time to deal with my amplifier situation. I knew I wanted a tube amp, but not something crazy big and loud and full of extra features and on board effects that I don't care about. Volume, bass and treble knobs were all I was after. After all, I play in my bedroom, by myself, for myself; no reason to go overboard. So, after milling around at Guitar Center for over an hour, reading specs and looking up amp reviews online on my phone, I just decided to go with the name that I know and which has left an impression on me since I saw Archy Marshall play one three years ago:
http://i.imgur.com/z7cn6FK.jpg

Granted, he plays an AC30 and this is only an AC4, but the idea remains the same: Vox amp = warm, tubey clarity. I got it home and warmed up and it literally took me five minutes of trying to reconcile the FRV-1's domineering nature before I realized that it sounded exactly the way I wanted without the FRV-1. Besides, I recently got the MXR M300 Reverb, and while I liked the idea of having multiple reverbs, it did so much more than the FRV-1, without compromising my tone so significantly (and, furthermore, it has a built-in "Spring" setting that will give me that wet, squelchy surf-inspired reverb if I ever want it). So, I decided to take advantage of Guitar Center's 45 day return policy and get something else. Namely, not a Boss pedal.

Going backwards for a bit: there was a time when I played, all the time, with a generous bit of Chorus. It fulfilled my needs to be as bright and jangly as possible. First, I used the TC Electronic Corona Mini Chorus (as seen here — look how far to the right the Depth and FX Level knobs are turned!). If I was playing, it was on. I started to get away from this about a year ago after I had toiled away with the Corona and the TC Electronic Vortex Mini Flanger to the point of frustration. Here's where I was at a year ago.

Unhappy in the long term with the two TC Electronic pedals, I decided to trade them in and start fresh. This is when I got the MXR M234 Analog Chorus. It's a much more subtle chorus pedal than most of its peers. And it has a lot more knobs, so you can dial in a really nuanced chorus tone. At this time, I had not yet arrived at my general distaste for Boss pedals, so I went with their PH-3 Phase Shifter to try and get some more colors in my sound. Having played on it for about six or eight months, I can say with absolutely no disrespect intended that it's a very silly pedal. It does make a very wet, resonating phasing effect while using any of the numbered settings on the Stage knob (which all have differences I'm sure, but which you can't really distinguish between them when combining with other pedals or instruments). The "Rise", "Fall" and "Step" modes on the Stage knob are all very fun to play with —the "Step" mode in particular generating some really psychedelic sounds— I just can't imagine a practical use for any of them. I certainly never used them in any serious context. The tap tempo mode was a cool feature, but very hard to master and I eventually just gave up on it altogether. Also, the PH-3 is a very expensive pedal for just a single effect stomp box. I was very "meh" on Boss pedals by the time I decided to trade it (and the RV-3) in a couple weeks ago.

I still wanted something to make my tone more weird, or even psychedelic at times, so when I was ultimately disappointed with the FRV-1, I decided to look into tremolo effects, or something similar. I've really become a convert and big fan of Jim Dunlop and MXR products, so I was really looking to get another one of their pedals. Kind of in a rush, as I have contracted a head cold and was not feeling in the shopping mood, I decided to switch the FRV-1 for the MXR M68 Uni-Vibe. Although it is advertised as a chorus and vibrato effect, after using it for just a day, I can honestly say that label is severely limiting. With the Depth and Level knobs, it nearly emulates a tremolo sound at the right settings and when you enter "Vibe" mode, this becomes even more distinct. Plus, the LED indicator light pulses to match the rate at which you've set the Speed knob. I normally don't set the Speed knobs very high on chorus and flange pedals, so this is kind of a negligible feature for me, but still an undeniably cool one. I'm still very much in the honeymoon phase with it at this point, but I really can't see it becoming a decision that I regret.

So, after all of that, here's a close up of my pedal chain now:
http://i.imgur.com/m4EQURC.jpg
(From left to right: Boss RC-1 Loop Station, MXR M300 Reverb, MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay, Jim Dunlop EP103 Echoplex Delay, MXR M234 Analog Chorus, MXR M68 Uni-Vibe, Boss BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver Overdrive and finally, Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner)

Playing a Fender Butterscotch Blonde Telecaster into a Vox AC3. We'll see where this takes me.

So not even a day has passed and I have parted ways with my last tone-altering Boss pedal. I was playing fairly loud this morning, trying to push my new amp into warm distortion when I realized I liked the way it responded to my guitar all the way up with the master and gain knobs at about three o'clock. I could achieve the same thing with the Blues Driver on lower settings, but I had the same problem as before: it just turned my overall sound into an amorphous blob of mush. I never noticed it with the Kustom amp because, honestly, that thing turned everything to mush regardless of whether or not I was using the Blues Driver. But, with a decent amp, it became very apparent that the Blues Driver was not doing something I desired. So, ever since I got rid of the Phase Shifter, I've felt like a phaser was an effect I could really have some use for, but that the PH-3 was just not the right fit. Upon seeing a TC Electronic Helix Phaser in the used pedal case at Guitar Center, I decided that that was as good a sign as any that I should give the Phaser and TC another shot. After playing on it for a couple hours this afternoon, I am cautiously optimistic about it. Still not sold on the whole Toneprint thing (why would you want to just copy someone else without putting anything of your own into it?). It does have the very cool ability to switch between "Vintage" and "Smooth" modes, so it's almost like two really basic, but good, phasers in one stompbox. Lik I said, still have reservations about TC stuff, but for now, it does what I want with some possibilities for more exploration.

I like some of the bubbly burbly effects on the PH-3 (Step especially), but I agree they aren't very musically useful. Haven't tried the Helix. Glad it is working for you, Austin.

Personally I like the Phase 90 for just adding a touch of weird. When I want burbly I have a few different options in the flanger / ring mod / envelope filter / auto wah category. As noted I usually put the AW-3 Dynamic Wah in there, but it is a compromise choice. At various times that slot has been occupied instead by a Q-Tron, Fab Flange, or green DOD Envelope Filter (440 maybe? I sold it years ago because it was way too needy).

I'd be looking at stuff like the Caroline Meteore or some of the alexander effects stuff Jordan.

Do you still live in WI? this could finally be your excuse to come hang and play pedals at my shop for hours.

i do, where is your store again?

thanks for the recommendations everybody.

I'm in lovely and talented West Saint Paul. Mapquest link on here www.eclipsemusic.org