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Post subject: Stompboxes - too many?
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:51 am
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Okay, I do a lot of internet research if I am looking to buy any new guitar-related products. I go the Harmony-Central and check out user reviews and then try Youtube to see if there are any demos out there.
Anyhoo, every time that I check for demos of effects I find a handfull of people with what seems like a huge chain with up to 100 devices. What do you think. Is there a point for you where there is too darn many or not enough?
I've been in both camps. I used to have about 9 in my chain a few years ago, then I went purist (guitar into amp) until a few months ago.
Also what's your favorite brand? I'm an Electro-Harmonix geek.


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:27 am
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I also really like electro-harmonix (muff and holy stain were ones i really liked). And yes i think some pedal boards are a bit wacky... depends on your amp i suppose. I'm also presently a amp/guitar guy.. but i don't mind a good wah-wah/volume pedal. That's about as far as i go for stompboxes.

I spent more $ on a good amp instead of taking a O.K. amp and trying to find that sweet sound with a gazillion effects. (this is relative to what your trying to acheive...obviously). It's hard to find a swiss army amp that has all the things you want. i played multi effect pedals for a bit but they sound a bit cheesy sometimes.

I guess there's two clubs: All-in-ones or nice clean amps that you tweak with pedals.
p!


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:29 pm
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I only have four pedals, and I use them sparingly. I don't always hook them all up, either. Depends on how I feel and what I'm planning to play. The one I probably use most, is my Boss AC-3 Acoustic simulator.

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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:30 pm
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I have a vox wah, TS9, and (soon to be) Boss RC-20XL Loop Station. I only use two pedals for live gigs. I think that anything over 4 pedals is too much.

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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:37 pm
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Sigh...I already know my stomp box collection is going to grow.

But it's not too bad....right now I want to stay with....

1 Boss FS-6
1 Boss FS5-L

(Both pedals are for my Roland amp so I can switch channels and effects on and off)

Other than that? I have a Wah pedal...I want to get a chromatic tuner and a Morley...


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:46 pm
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My dream setup would be a tube amp; Marshall or Fender with rack mounted effects. The effects would definatly be a reverb, vibrato or trem,
flanger and chorus and maybe an Alesis(SP?) effects box I think they called it a midi-verb? and a wireless. Maybe a Tube Screamer (TS-9) butI doubt that's available in rack mount.
I would want rack mounts not so much that they are USUALLY way better in quality (at least that's the urban legend) it would get all that crap
(jump wires, power cords,etc.) off the floor! Wow what a tripping hazard!
Tripping and falling with my Fender hanging from me is not a nice prospect.
Of COURSE I want a WIRELESS WA- WA pedal! That's the only thing I would tolerate on the floor of my playing area in my house; maybe in a stage environment I would feel differently.
A wireless Wa pedal... why don't we have those?


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:50 pm
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At one time I had about 50 all hooked up together. I couldn't find what I was looking for so I sold them all. I did without FX for a couple of years. Now I have 6, 1 of those I'm getting rid of and 2 I rarely use but am keeping.

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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:58 pm
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Pedals for me are like a spice rack. I have a few that I use all the time, a few that I use some of the time, and a few that I use from time to time, but I keep them all cause I never know what I'll need to spice up the sonic brew...I guess I have 3-4 dozen pedals....

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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 1:44 pm
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phuot wrote:
I spent more $ on a good amp instead of taking a O.K. amp and trying to find that sweet sound with a gazillion effects. (this is relative to what your trying to acheive...obviously). It's hard to find a swiss army amp that has all the things you want. i played multi effect pedals for a bit but they sound a bit cheesy sometimes.

I guess there's two clubs: All-in-ones or nice clean amps that you tweak with pedals.
p!



+1


I run about 18 pedals and have several more. I love pedals and i like to make the guitar do more then just sound like a guitar. Yuo can see in the post yuour rig post. However there are some important things to making a lorge pedal board sound good.

A. Use good patch cables
B. Use good power supplies. I have 3 i use 2 one of them is avg. THe other is the VHT valveulator. It is a tube line driver as well as a power supply. It takes ur chain and converts the impedence and pushes your signal, so u get more of that straight into the amp sound runnig a bunch of pedals. This made a huge difference in my set up.

C Buy Quality over quanity. YUO will get more out of a better pedal. I know people like pedals like dod and digitech, i tend to saty away from them, YOu cant go wrong with Boss. I carry EH, Ibanez(old ones) fulltone, etc. Keeley, ANaglog Man, CAitlin Bread, Zvex are all great pedals. THere are lots of boutique pedals out there that are pricey, but sound great.

D I must say this, use pedal as something to color ur sound, not mask your playing.!!


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:07 pm
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bowlfreshener wrote:
Pedals for me are like a spice rack. I have a few that I use all the time, a few that I use some of the time, and a few that I use from time to time, but I keep them all cause I never know what I'll need to spice up the sonic brew...I guess I have 3-4 dozen pedals....

Very nice explanation.
Granted, I'm only a bassist but I really enjoy experimenting with different sounds and noises. EHX makes some great pedals, and they're coming out with a few bass-specific pedals. I also like MXR's products. I picked up one of the new Tech 21 character pedals last weekend, the VT Bass. The jury's still out on that one, so far it seems worthwhile. Wanna get a nano stone this weekend.


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:39 pm
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I like having analog delay, phase, fuzz, overdrive & wah in my pedal chain. I use modulation effects in the effects loop and run the fuzz, overdrive & wah through the front.


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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:00 am
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secretsoundz wrote:
I like having analog delay, phase, fuzz, overdrive & wah in my pedal chain. I use modulation effects in the effects loop and run the fuzz, overdrive & wah through the front.


that is all well and good, but i put my over drive/fuzz's in front of the phaser and delay, it gives the phaser a cool sound different then when clean and seperate. I place my pedals based on how they interact as much as anything!!


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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:05 am
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I'm a 'purist', but only partially by choice. Interested in getting a couple of pedals (OD, Delay, Reverb, Wah) tho.

Surely the main factor when rigging a huge pedal board is how many of your boxes have true bipasses? Because don't they cloud the signal if they don't, afaik?


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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:13 am
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Highbinder wrote:
I'm a 'purist', but only partially by choice. Interested in getting a couple of pedals (OD, Delay, Reverb, Wah) tho.

Surely the main factor when rigging a huge pedal board is how many of your boxes have true bipasses? Because don't they cloud the signal if they don't, afaik?


Not always the case. I ahve sponken with the guys at keeley about mods, and asked them that same question. On some pedals they dont make themn true bi pass. Some of you higher end pedals wont be tru bi pass.

It is all about sound degragation. Some pedals suck tone and some dont, that is what u need to judge your pedals on imo.


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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:15 am
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Highbinder wrote:
I'm a 'purist', but only partially by choice. Interested in getting a couple of pedals (OD, Delay, Reverb, Wah) tho.

Surely the main factor when rigging a huge pedal board is how many of your boxes have true bipasses? Because don't they cloud the signal if they don't, afaik?


True bypass is good, but I find its not as essential as people may think at times. As long as a pedal doesn't color the sound or still sound a bit like its on even though its off, I wouldn't worry too much about true bypass, especially if you are only considering a few pedals. Then sometimes true-bypass pedals while offering true-bypass, will also add a slight pop or click sound when you engage the pedals, and personally I find that to be more annoying than any bypass benefits..."I got this real nice pedal thats not in the signal path when off, but let me turn it on <CLICK>." Yeah it doesn't affect your signal due to its bypass, but it affects your signal by giving an audible pop or click when you engage the effect. Not all true-bypass pedals do this, but some will even if you add pulldown resistors and other pedal making tricks to eliminate this problem.

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