New pedal board list - please critique!

[MusicChad]

OK... I’ve done a TON of swapping, buying, selling, etc. of stomps in the past few weeks since I sold my GT-8... Here is my current pedal board configuration in the order I run them... What do you all think? What should I change / improve? I’ve got about $150 cash left over at the moment and could probably update one of these pedals or add something... Suggestions welcome!

In order:

1) Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster (Occasionally I swap out this for a Subdecay Blackstar Distortion)

2) Morley Bad Horsie II Wah

3) Boss CS-3 Compressor (Occasionally swapped our for a Line 6 Constrictor)

4) Digitech Bad Monkey

5) BBE Green Screamer

6) Danelectro Wasabi Overdrive (used mostly for the “post distortion boost” or to “shape” something – not so much for the overdrive...)

7) Volume Pedal

POINT HERE FOR “tapping in” so that the remaining effects may be used in the effects loop my main amp of desired...

8) MXR 10 band KFK EQ

9) Marshall SV1 Supervibe chorus (because I had it and it is true buypass... and... I never really use it and may put a reverb pedal here instead...)

10) Boss DD-20 Giga Delay

11) BBE Sonic Stomp (May pull this one off and put a reverb here as I never turn this effect off and may like to use it with an acoustic guitar as well...)

All mounted in a Furman SPB-8C case with power conditioning, etc.


So there you have it... What do you think? What pedals are “seriously lacking”? What should I add? What should I change?

God bless!

[scooteraz]

You sure you have enough distortion/overdrive? I mean only 3 pedals???

Seriously though, in the normal configuration (none of the occasional pedals in place) I don't see anything particularly wrong. Especially if it meets your needs. What do you use for your tuner? You might want to consider one of those. Also, have you considered trading one of the OD/Distortion pedals for a true fuzz? Just an idea.

Me, I would want more swirly stuff, phaser, flanger, univibe and rotary speaker simulation.

[stephen]

Myself, I would never take my BBE SonicStomp off my board. It is not a verb or chorus or flanger. It fixes the envelope issue between the bottom end and the driver (speaker), and for me, is such a part of my tone now. It is like taking a wet blanket off of my speaker. No amount of EQ adjusting on my amp or other pedals, will ever cover what my SonicStomp handles.

Now, if your going from guitar to #1 thru #11 to your amp, I would say that is interesting, because conventional wisdom says it should be guitar, OD, distortion, boost, EQ, modulation (including wah at the end of modulation pedals), echo/delay, then the SonicStomp. You have some in that order, but there is variation there. But, sometimes, conventional wisdom might not work for what you want, so you forge ahead and try different things.

Another thing that is important, what type of tone are you shooting for? What kind of amp(s) are you using? What kind of guitars? Is there a particular artist, or artists you can point too, that would be a model for the tone your are trying to attain?

[MusicChad]

Sorry... I've got a Peterson Strobo Stomp II that gets wired in various places depending on the situation... I keep it off the board because I also use it with my acoustic guitar...

[stephen]

Oh, and I place my volume pedal at the end of everything, so when I roll it off, everything is pushing into it, full tilt, and all I get is the volume decreasing, and no changes to my tone whatsoever.

[stephen]

Another thing to consider: If you are using an amp with an effects line, put your EQ straight into it: EQ's work much better that way, so I am told........

[MusicChad]

If I pulled the Sonic Stomp off the board, it would not be to exclude it... It would be like the tuner where I'd use it with my acoustic as well... That way, I don't have to run the acoustic through the whole rig... So... the sonic stomp would be "beside" or "behind" the pedal board for electric stuff, but could be grabbed individually for acoustic days...

[MusicChad]

Regarding some of the effects that appear "out of order"...

Subdecay Blackstar when there... It gets ANGRY when it isn't first... And it is true bypass so I figure it doesn't make as much difference as something else might... Plus, I typically prefer wah before overdrive or distortion, but occasionally, I go for the whacked out "trippy" way that is extreme, in which case, I run the blackstar for heavy distortion into the wah followed by the compressor to reign it back in... So in that way I can have the way before OR after a distortion or overdrive...

Volume pedal - I decided that I wanted it ahead of the normal input on my amp but AFTER the overdrive pedals for the reasons you describe Stephen... I didn't want it to change the character of the overdrive pedals... however, I really like the effect of rolling back the volume on my guitar before my tube amp as I enjoy how the signal "cleans up" allowing me to "roll in" the overdrive... So, I figured having the volume pedal there would help accomplish the same thing... Also, I liked the volume before the delays, etc. when I was using the GT-8 because I could roll out the main signal while leaving the "tails" unchanged...

I put the booster first because... ...that is what Seymour Duncan says to do.?.?.? is that a mistake? I like that it adds some "Body" to my overdrives... I also have a booster in the Wasabi overdrive (switchable between +5/+10 db I beleive) that is right at the tail end before the modulation etc. That is the one I use to "raise my levels" for my (not so) face melting solos...

I put the compressor before the overdrives for the sake of pulling back the wah if it is clipping things a bit as it is sort of strong and also to add "fullness" to the overdrives or change their flavor just a touch... I primarily use the compressor to enhance pick attack especially with my tele... It also gives me a tiny bit of an EQ / tone option (when using the boss CS-3) before the overdrives to try to help change the character of the overtones in the overdrives a tiny bit on occasion...

EQ - when I'm using the FX loop on my main amp, it is the first pedal the amp "sees"... I did this so I could run the preamp a lot hotter to make the tubes a little happier and then "pull it back down" so that my delays, etc. don't clip or get funny...

So I think that is everything that I had out of traditional order... I also "think" I have them out of order for reasons that make sense although I am willing to be "corrected"... Any others that would not be traditionally placed?

[Micter]

I use a volume pedal first in the chain. I do a lot of volume swells (Whale calls) It doesn't work well after OD's for that type of effect. If I am playing a strat I can get the same effect with my pinky on the guitar volume. Gibson guitars are a bit more difficult so I use the volume on the floor.

Volume, Wah, Compressor, OD, Distortion, Modulation(Chorus, Phaser, Flanger,etc.), Delay, Clean Boost, Tuner

That is what I have always done. I try different orders from time to time but always seem to go back to that.

[MusicChad]

You sure you have enough distortion/overdrive? I mean only 3 pedals???

The overdrives... Well, they each offer something different...

The Subdecay blackstar is a pretty heavy distortion which I think is cool, but I don't really (ever) play that style... especially not in church... However, that is by far the most responsive and "transparent" distortion pedal I've tried... Most of the time, I feel like distortions just "replace" the sound of the guitar... This one really somehow lets the unique character of each of my guitars still shine through... and it is EXTREMELY sensitive to pick attack, volume, etc. making it fun to do stuff like chuggachuggachuggachuggachuggachuggaWWWWAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOAAAOOOOOAAAAAAAAchuggachugga etc. etc. (highly technical - I know... reminds me of Strong Bad of homestarrunner fame...)

Bad Monkey – this is a more “smooth” overdrive and doesn’t seem to be terribly “raspy” or “rough”... Perhaps I would describe it as “creamy”? What I love about it is that it is sooooo smooth and “easy on the ears” when playing solo types of things across songs like “My Chains are Gone” etc. What I DON’T like about it is that it almost sounds “veiled” at times... I would NOT describe it as exceptionally transparent, although it does respond very differently to each of my guitars... This is precisely why I have...

BBE Green Screamer – This overdrive seems VERY transparent to me... Almost to a fault... It certainly sounds a step more “harsh” or “sharp” to my ears... It REALLY does a killer job on rocking hard Texas Blues kinds of things (as to be expected) and also a shockingly good job on stuff where it only adds a bit of “hair” when really digging in... It seems to add most of the distortion to upper mids, etc. again as to be expected out of a tube screamer clone... (As I recall the Bad Monkey is NOT a tube screamer clone exactly...)

Wasabi Overdrive – I’ve had this pedal for a LOOOOOOONG time... I initially got it when I was first learning that distortions and overdrives are NOT the same thing... I didn’t know the first thing about tone compared to what I know now and ultimately probably liked it at the time because it had so many switches, buttons, options, etc. etc. I also thought it looked awesome at the time with the cool retro car look and tail lights etc. etc. (and I lived in a Podunk little town at the time and my choice was a rocktron or this... and I bought both...) At this point, It is relegated to a few very specific roles and may be expendable on my board... It has a VERY clean boost... The tone boosted vs. not is absolutely indistinguishable to me apart from the obvious jump in volume... so if I’m trying to “bump” my level for a solo or an intro, etc. etc. I use it for that... On a secondary level, this overdrive has a “mix” knob allowing a person to blend in bypassed signal with the effected signal... I would NOT say that the bypass signal is close to the original... but it does offer the ability to do a few unique things... Occasionally, I’ll set the overdrive somewhere in the middle with the tone knob rolled WAAAY down for a super dark overdrive and then put the mix at around %10... It adds a very subtle distortion to the really low mids which almost makes the rest of my pedals sound like they are going through a “stack” as opposed to a “combo”... It helps take the “Edge” off of the blackstar when I use it or serves to help make a different “flavor” come out of one of my other overdrives... I’ll also use it a bit more traditionally with my strat if I’m playing some type of funky thing because I can allow a fair bit of the signal to pass through “clean” almost like a VooDoo Labs Sparkle Drive (sp?)... At any rate... It serves those few roles well and seems to be a nice booster if nothing else...


I have them in that order for a reason as well... The BBE really takes a hot signal well and can happily handle being “driven” by the Bad Monkey... When I had them the other way around, the Bad Monkey would become the “Mad” Monkey! I will say, I am EXTREMELY impressed/pleased with how well those two “get along” in that order... When they are BOTH on, I get a nice “third tier” of overdrive that is “more” than either of them separately and is uniquely touch sensitive as they “roll off” at different places and seem to effect different frequency ranges... It is just nice! Also, when the Wasabi was before the other two, I couldn’t really tell if it was “on” or “not on”... plus, having a clean boost at the very end of all of that for “bumping levels” without actually changing the tone is a plus... so it goes on the end for now...


So... I’m definitely an overdrive kind of guy rather than a distortion guy... Perhaps that is because I’ve never really heard a great distortion... I typically set one overdrive for “heavier” and one for very “light” depending on whether I want more “veiled” or “transparent” versions of heavy or light for a particular service... It also depends to some degree on which guitar I am playing as some guitar seem to favor one overdrive more than the other for whatever reason... On the rare occasions that I want “Heavey Metal” distortion, I plan on throwing the Black Star on the floor right before the normal input on my pedal board, or I’ll swap it out with the Seymour Duncan pickup booster...

[MusicChad]

Me, I would want more swirly stuff, phaser, flanger, univibe and rotary speaker simulation.


I suppose I had thought about this as well... In some ways, I’m trying (perhaps too hard) to get away from some of that stuff because I used it constantly on the GT-8... I don’t know if I used it because it was there, or to try to cover up the faults I thought I heard with the amp models or what... I just know that I liked it so much better when I just plugged into my amp and PLAYED! To some degree, my pedal board is an attempt to be close to that... surprisingly... Each overdrive would be like “dialing in” my amp to a particular overdrive... We do a lot of variety each Sunday at our church and I wanted to have more than just “clean” and “dirty”... So, this way, I have clean, dusty, dirty, grimy, filthy, etc. etc. BUT --- all are still pretty straightforward “plain old guitar” kinds of sounds... The compressor is fun because it really makes the tele in particular SPANK and to help really draw the “pop” out of the funky style strat playing, etc. Still, a subtle effect in my mind... The Wah is just fun so... whatever...

The pickup booster is brand new to me and I’m thinking it is going to be more of an “on all the time” kind of thing with my single coil guitars in particular... Just adds shimmer and sure seems to make everything else “work” better... It is just... more... not really much different... ...just... more... and better somehow...

Soooo... the only “effect” types of things I’ve got going on beyond what I would expect out of a great amp would be the compressor and then the following:

1) Delay – probably better delays out there in terms of sounding analog or whatever, but the DD-20 is super flexible with the ability to have 5 different settings for different songs, is tap tempo capable, and also has a really really basic looper in it which is “fun” to play with although I haven’t used it for anything other than “fun”... (And to practice lead sections over and over... lay down the rhythm part and practice soloing across the changes...) Plus, it seems like EVERY cool worship song that comes out these days is LADEN with tempo synched delay...

2) The Marshall SV1 is the only other thing on there that I would call a modulation type of pedal idea... I think there are better choruses by far, and better vibratos by far, but I get really tired of those effects pretty fast overall... I think the Marshall is cool because it is true bypass and CAN be a chorus OR can be a vibrato if I choose to use it on occasion... So it is sort of my “catch all” want to throw some type of modulation on things... HOWEVER, I’m seriously considering pulling it off my board in favor of a reverb pedal... The DD-20 has some modulation types of delays or other “strange” things it can do so... And again, I’m really trying to be closer to a purist than a “bazillion effects at once” kind of guy...


So my biggest dilemma at the moment is this... My amp has a very fine sounding accutronics (sp?) spring reverb tank in it that sounds just fine... We have a larger auditorium so a ton of reverb isn’t going to help things be easier to “hear”... The only problem is that when I drop in a delay, and then take it back out, it either sounds too dry without the delay or too “wet” WITH the delay... I’m having a hard time finding a middle ground... My reverb can only be adjusted by a knob on the amp... (not switchable...) So... PERHAPS it would be helpful to have a reverb pedal so that I could kick it off or on opposite the delay? What do you think?

[Micter]

Reverb pedals and distortion usually don't play well together. reverb on a clean tone will work fine. For some reason multi FX reverb seems to work well with distortion especially i n the loop.