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nosi0
Gold Member
Netherlands
511 Posts |
 Posted - 04/24/2007 : 15:42:50
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I searched the forum's for this but i couldn't find much. and was also stuck on what to actually search for. I was wondering if anybody actually have some tips and trick for anything to do with your setup.
My few trick:
- I like to keep the guitar on full open and control the volume treble etc with the amp instead. that way it sounds fuller and more powerfull to me.
- Don't think that what other people say is true. for example some people hate the XT-2 when Ive tried it and i love it. so it's more about following the advice and trying it instead of just doing the advice. after all it's your sound and rig not theirs(no offense intended i will listen to your tip and tricks and try then and probably love them!)
- I believe that there are never enough pedals. i only have 6 so far but, i still believe that. If i start to notice tone suck age i will get an EH-2 like everybody says.
- Dreams can come true, so don't give up. If you want a 20 or more pedal pedal board then keep dreaming and sooner or later it will become reality. I hope so anyway 
- I don't believe in tube amps etc. I'm sure ther' great. i just see an amp as a power amp. just converting the low voltage current going through your pedals and guitar into a high voltage speaker shaking current. that my interpretation. I know Tube amps have "the sound" but i just don't hear it and i don't want a amp the cost of my hole entire pedal board(the dream board not the current 6 pedals)
- one thing i find about the sound of the guitar is that it's just the pickup's that matter. of course the wood gives it a brighter or fatter feel but the quality comes from the pickup's. so good DiMarzio's get you very far with your sound quality even if you have a Behringer guitar. I'm not saying anything about the playability of the Behringer or the looks..... cuz it's about the sounds. Now my JS1000BTB has DiMarzio's too. and the sound great! i find pickup's the most important thing in a guitar. Never will i own a guitar without DiMarzio pickups. Except a very expensive Gibson. but that a different story.
- a great thing about BOSS compacts is the combination options. There limitless. Unlike most multi-effects processors. So mix around a bit with the order. find something good.
- if your guitar lacks balls (excuse the expression) then you can change it.
1. the DS-1 makes any guitar scream!
2. some extra sustain won't do any harm (CS-3)
3. getting a GE-7 and boosting what ever is lacking really helps.
- a way that a guitar sounds bad is bad intonation. for most guitar beginners you just tune the strings and away you go. you think the maker of the guitar has everything else perfect. we'll it's wrong, the fretboard should be made to correct distances by the manufacturer(other wise..... you got a big job on your hands  ) So just intonate your guitar, it does wonders. truly.
thats it for today, i will come up with more later and i hope everybody adds to this so we can get a long list of tips and tricks.
I hope this has inspired some people, not just bored them. |
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mattoqua
Silver Member
Canada
438 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 19:47:25
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Thanks for the review, but my opinion is a lot different. I used to have the exact same way of thinking, until i got that "dream pedal board". I use 24 pedals in my rig right now, and its just way too much. Theres so much tone suckage, and every guitar gets processed so much, that theres no difference between any. I have 4: a strat, destroyer, SG, and a homebuilt with dimarzios, and they all sound the exact same because of so many pedals. Im going to be going for a tube eventually, I just have to get the strength to sell off all my pedals.
Right now, it was just so much so that I took all my pedals and just put them to the side. I use only 5 now, and Im loving it. Its so much more clear, I can still get a clean sound, and each guitar gets its personality back.
I would be interested of your opinion after you got your dream board, so I'll wait around for it (I know it can take a while). |
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zestystrat
Silver Member
USA
283 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 20:36:52
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Opinions are like eyes everyone has at least one....I cleaned it up a little
Let your ears be your guide, but I'll dissagree on the huge board and the tube amp comments.
But in the end it all depends on what you are doing and what you are playing.
IMO giging with a 20 pedal board is overkill - like cutting a birthday cake with a chainsaw. Unless you have a roadie, then go crazy. If you can't play a 3-hour show with less than 4 dist pedals you might have a problem.  If you are playing at home go nuts....
I'm gigging with 8 pedals but half of them are true bypass. That makes a difference too. Boss are not true bypass, it's a fact that would come up with >10 boss pedals on a board.
Not sure if this is the case but from what you were writing it sounded like you haven't tried a good tube amp. I think most would agree that it does make a difference that a lot of us can hear.
There is a reason a lot of people talk all day long about tube amps.
Just my $0.02 |
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strat714
Silver Member
USA
156 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 21:30:13
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Here's a good pedalboard trick. Use a tom-tom 5/8 mount and put your mic stand right on your pedalboard. I've done this for years and have had many comments on this. My pedalboard is a mixer case and the mic stand is stored in the lid. Very handy, but also very heavy. I'll take a pic and post it. Here's a link to the tom holder.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_id/109089
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strat714
Silver Member
USA
156 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 21:31:35
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| I'm sorry..I meant 7/8 not 5/8. |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 03:59:17
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quote:
Originally posted by strat714
Here's a good pedalboard trick. Use a tom-tom 7/8 mount and put your mic stand right on your pedalboard. I've done this for years and have had many comments on this. My pedalboard is a mixer case and the mic stand is stored in the lid. Very handy, but also very heavy. I'll take a pic and post it. Here's a link to the tom holder.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_id/109089
Hi strat714
Great Idea, looking forward to seeing pic's of your pedal board.
Regards Dr. Bob  |
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nosi0
Gold Member
Netherlands
511 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 11:08:47
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| wow, some nice fast replies. i like the mic stand strat714 can't wait to see the picture. one thing i like is just turning on a different distortion pedal instead of bending down and tweaking the knobs so i can use the same pedal. which would also look lame onstage. even though I'm not gigging at the moment anyway. so what would you suggest. So the best way to get all the sounds but no tone-loss would be a multi effects? is there any other solution? |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 14:13:05
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quote:
Originally posted by zestystrat
... - like cutting a birthday cake with a chainsaw.
Now, that's rock'n'roll. Been dreaming about doing that since I was 6 years old.
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 14:53:44
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quote:
Originally posted by bossarea
quote:
Originally posted by zestystrat
... - like cutting a birthday cake with a chainsaw.
Now, that's rock'n'roll. Been dreaming about doing that since I was 6 years old.
Hi Bossarea & Guys
There's probably, already a Video of someone doing this somewhere on YouTube or some similar site.
If you do it Bossarea, I want a copy of the video, make sure you have a second camera, to capture the looks on peoples face.
Before & after cake cutting.
Regards Dr. Bob |
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Big Boss Man
Gold Member
USA
564 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 14:55:25
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| Sorry but I could not disagree more with you on the subject of tube amps. A good tube amp can make mediocre guitars and pedals sound great. If you cannot get a good sound going directly into your amp, pedals are not going to help a lot. I would much rather spend money on getting a good tube amp even if it meant having no pedals at all. |
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zestystrat
Silver Member
USA
283 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 17:53:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Bob
quote:
Originally posted by bossarea
quote:
Originally posted by zestystrat
... - like cutting a birthday cake with a chainsaw.
Now, that's rock'n'roll. Been dreaming about doing that since I was 6 years old.
Hi Bossarea & Guys
There's probably, already a Video of someone doing this somewhere on YouTube or some similar site.
If you do it Bossarea, I want a copy of the video, make sure you have a second camera, to capture the looks on peoples face.
Before & after cake cutting.
Regards Dr. Bob
I'll take full credit for that saying since I have not heard anyone use it anywhere else I break it out when I really need to make a point since it conjures up such a great visual. In my band we call it �the cartoon mind.�
nosi0 � I think if you need that many radically different dist sounds then it�s time to go in a different direction away from pedals. Or try two different pedals and see whick give you the best combo. Add a vol pedal and you�ll have more options or use the vol on your gtr. I know it goes against your tips but, lot of people use the vol knob as their main control for how much dist they get.
Or... if you get an amp with good dist (this works really well with my Mesa) use 2 dist pedals, a compressor, vol control & channel switching and you should be golden with all those combos.. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2007 : 00:58:17
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I've been cutting back on my pedalboard i'm using nine boss plus a wah at the moment and i'm still thinking of using less....i have to agree with big boss man on this thing about valve amps....i've had people say to me since i've gone back hauling my old valve amps around to the gigs that the guitar sounds great.... the singer even commented that the guitar doesn't sound 'plastic' anymore..... if i can get my hands on a couple of those little 25 watt rivera's i'll probably do away with the overdrives and compressors and just crank the amp....unfortunatly cranking a 100 watt marshall superbass doesn't go down too well with the pub owners here... ..... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 04/26/2007 00:59:21 |
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StratoSphere
Double Platinum Member
Canada
2232 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2007 : 04:32:46
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along with most people i agree and disagree with some of these tips.
first up, i too like to keep the guitar controls on full. i also like to keep the exact same amp settings and work EVERYTHING with my pedals. i also agree with playing with pedals for yourself to see if you like it. so many times people will rip on a certain pedal.. for example, when a Hendrix lover says the MT-2 was too "gainy."
now about the EH-2. i dont find it necessarily helps with tone suckage. i see tone suckage as the degradation of your signal from a number of factors, but usually caused by using too many pedals. in my own words, i see the EH-2 as a light filter. it seems to add highs to your signal, and highs are the first to go from tone suckage. nonetheless, its an awesome pedal. besides playing live i always go by the motto "3 or under."
now about the tube amps/guitar woods. it all depends on what you play. like ive said before in a different post, if you kick on the MT-2 in your band named "Dying Death Carcass" and turn gain to 10, tubes and solid states probably all sound the same. and you probably cant tell the difference between mahogony vs basswood. or a bone nut vs a plastic nut. but if you play clean or maybe with a light OD the difference is night and day. believe it or not, things like pickup height can have just as much to do with your sound as the pickups themselves. resetting height can give your sound a whole other attack and its good to experiment with this.
i have one tip id like to add to the list. this is one of my favorites. KEEP IT CLEAN. i have a 25 pedal setup (8X8X9) in my jam room and thats a lot of cords. but i took the time to run whatever i could under my board, bought proper sized cables (no more 20 foot patch for the return jack on my NS-2) and even moved a few pedals around in order to keep things a little more tidy. ive seen boards of my friends that are just nightmarish, but it works for them. personally, i see nothing worse than a messy setup, and i love walking into the room and seeing it all in order. its easier in the long run
and noisio, you are right about the intonation.
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2007 : 06:49:57
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| I still believe that at low wattages you can tell a difference between tubes and solid state, but I am still under the mindset that with some styles of music, after a certain amount of volume and/or wattage, that the differences may not be as apparent... |
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nosi0
Gold Member
Netherlands
511 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2007 : 10:03:32
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| Atleast i'm right about something then stratosphere. I know and can hear that there is something to a tube amp. but i can't explain what. all i need is a JC-120 clean, let the pedals do the hard work. i think if i actualy started gigging a lot i would buy the GT-8 because carrying around a pedal board with 20 pedals is not a pleasure. also you get tone-loss. i have one question though would a True-by-pass box eliminate tone loss, so there would be no difference between using a cable or the pedals(all true by pass boxes would be set to bypass)? because if so then i think i found my solution. |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2007 : 10:21:33
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True bypass boxes does take a buffered pedal out of the �line�, and they are very easy to build by yourself (but the switch and box could cost some). You can use one for every pedal, or one for all of them or a couple to switch in/out groups. They are very usable!
In my opinion good tube amps are way better than solid state amps when playing clean to crunch, then the difference is lesser, but it�s there. There are many good solid state amps but I have yet to hear one that is just like a good tube amp.
But there is a good solution and that�s the new Boss/Fender pedals, I have used them with a cheap Peavey solid state amp and the clean/crunchy sound that emerged was very tubish, really better than the modelling amps I have tried.
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Topic |
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Tips and Tricks for you pedal board.
