THE PUZZLE
Just staring at them and going thru my 32 Tunes and thinking where
they would sound better than what I am using presently.
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Think of a small board with 3 OD's and you want to use one
for the verse, one of the chorus and one for a solo.
Well I do that on every song but each of the the 3 pedals would be on a separate board.
(technically on one & with some on the floor but wired as 3 separate boards)
So I might have the Brown Sound on board #2 and I would have a Delay and Verb on that board switched on. I could have the MOEN on board #3 with its own Delay and Verb switched on.
I may or may not use a Compressor, once again each board has its own, or a modulation pedal, once again each board has its own etc.
Board #1 is my clean sound board but my clean sounds have a choice of low gain drives, boosters, 2 EQ's and 2 compressors, and a 12 string pedal. I also use that board for odd one off things like a Synth.
The down side is if I put both pedals on perhaps board #2. It is not practical to use them on the same tune.
I use a loop switcher. So each board is in one of 3 loops. In a tune I hit one switch and one board all set up with some pedals on and some not comes on. I hit another switch and that board goes off and another comes on.
The rig is complex to rig and switch a dozen pedals between tunes but playing the tune is simple. Just 3 switches.
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| ....my switcher, I only use Ch. 1, 2 and 3 and only on Bank 1. Or as the window reads. 111, 112 and 113 I use Ch. 4 or 114 as a mute .jpg) kit form but not assembled. |
WHY SO MANY PEDALS?
Well I tend to try and keep my overall writing in is one distinct style that is homogenous. So when I say I use a lot of flat picking yet go to a Metal sound for two parts in the same sound it does not sound like a Joni Mitchel verse was followed by a Sabbath chorus was tagged onto it. Or maybe a verse is a Metal thing played at a blistering speed using triplets to make it even feel faster. It can very effectively go to the next part of the tune that is a slow moving half time Doom Metal plod.
I also have a style that has a clockworks sound or the sound made by several machines in a machine shop that accidently create a rhythm. Some tunes are nearly all clockworks or folk flat picked or straight Metal but most combine at least two of my approaches. Others have all 3.
These styles need different pedals.
Secondly I use 10 guitars. Never randomly but specific to the kind of tunes they do best. Most have a PAF for the Metal parts and something different for other parts. Like a Rickenbacker or Gold foil for flatpicking or P90 for something extra aggressive.
Once again for example the Ric PU will sound best through one pedal, a Strat PU through another etc.
Hi Paul. Very inspiring post for me I must say. I've been looking to improve the positions of the pedals on my board precisely because of the playability, that is, as with your controller, having as few steps as possible. My board is relatively small, and if compared to yours really small, hahaha! I have 11 pedals (will be 13 soon) on the board, two of which are true bypass boxes, which do the job of a "poor man's controller", plus keep some pedals off the signal chain when not using to avoid tone sucking. I've also been curious about this Moen Metal and other moen pedals, by the way. Your posts are always inspiring, man. Keep going.
ReplyDeleteThere are some reasonable priced loop Switchers. There have been no reviews and even the features and functions are written in a very hazy way. Joyo do the MLX Pro with 8 loops and under $200.00.
ReplyDeleteI will do a review of one I just found called BowlinGer. It is dead simple 6 loops without features or banks. If you want two or more pedals on at once they must be in the the same loop. It is how I do it. As noted I use just 3. This pedal once you add shipping is $104.00 USD
Thanks for the tip. I'll wait for your to posto the review. I'm thinking of maybe moving to a bigger pedalboard in the future. I still don't know. If I make this change then it will be worth it to put a real controller in it. There was a time when all I needed was (literaly) a wah, compressor, SD1 and delay and my board was a tiny rubber sheet on the floor!!! Good old days.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started there were no boards and not even adaptors just batteries. I started out in the 60'S with Maestro Fuzz Tone. There wasn't any other dirt pedals made. LOL. I moved up to a Cry Baby Wah and a Big Muff. Back then even the few magazines that were for musicians mentioned amps and guitars but not pedals. No one said more than the amp and guitars name. You had to ask the older players that played in your region what to get. The Brit thing was what my peers thought was cool but the older players listen to American R&B like Stax and Motown. They all played Tele through a Fender. Mostly Super Reverbs. So I had to fake it by looking at pictures of guys on stage. I took binoculars to concerts to see the gear and watch the players hands. There were not any books or teachers that taught Rock. Hendrix had 2 Fuzz faces and a Vox Wha the first time I seen him. One Fuzz Face was left on all the time as a bit of a booster. Clapton had a Cry Baby Wha but nothing else. He was playing a single PU Firebird that night and he let me play it after the show.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing your Pedalboard! Some pedals are easy to identify but not all of them. What Is the pedal with 6 knobs under the Caline emerald knight?
ReplyDeleteLooks like you mean the Pxl pro 8 - joyo doesn't have something called the mlx 8
ReplyDeleteIt was the Orange/Brown pedal just under the (green) Caline Emerald knight
ReplyDeleteI am guessing you mean the gold colored pedal. It is Lawrence Petross's LPD Pedals Seventy 4. If I had to pick the best pedal on my board which in reality is beyond nuts the first thing that would come to mind is his take on a 1974 Marshall Plexi. The tone is simply perfect!!! It is full, rich even sumptuous with lots of detail in the harmonics and overtones. Many of my tunes require much more aggression or even a few nearly none so I do not disproportionately use it over other choices. It is my bullet proof recommendation to any one wanting to try a MIAB. It has the sound but is not over powering it should sound great with any rig any any guys skill set.
ReplyDeleteI just pulled the Fuzz beside it off as it was baby sitting its space. I put the Dazatronyx Brown Sound that just arrived today from Australia. It has a early '68 Plexi Stack sound. Really fat, a just right saturation, open but still tight. I had 4 tunes that sounded good but needed both some more mass yet it had to be tight. Perfect!!!
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ReplyDeleteThanks! This is the right one
ReplyDeletePaul, I'm curious about what do you use the Mosky Vol Attenuator for. Is it for fixing one pedal's volume/gain or many pedals or something else?
ReplyDeleteI try and set a pedal up so I only use one setting as it is enough between tunes to turn off pedals for one tune and turn on others for the next. So I used just changing the overall volume so I only had that pedal to check for a volume change. Over time I found I did not need it. I once had 3 attenuators on the board. One for each channel /loop. I could take it out but for now it baby sits the space its in in case I want to add a pedal it is a quick uncomplicated swap out.
ReplyDeleteWhat an unexpected answer. Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking about maybe getting one of those to fix a chorus volume drop up, anyway...
ReplyDeleteThis pedal is not active the only thing the LED is for is to let you know you have it on. It for cutting your volume only.
DeleteYou probably need a clean boost pedal for your chorus. You may find it makes more sense to get another chorus.
I recommend the NUX Re-issue Series Analog Chorus. It is $60.00 USD.
A good idea for your chorus volume drop is to get an EQ then you can either use it as a clean boost plus it is great way to reshape the tone of any pedal. The Rowin LEF 317A GT EQ is $24.00 USD. It is actually a rebranded Mooer 5 band Graphic that sells for $65.00 USD exact same parts, just a different paint color and graphics.
DeleteAs I'm always experimenting on the board, now I'm trying modulated delay and modulated reverb. An alternative to using the Chorus pedal. I haven't given up on the chorus pedal but I'm taking a break, leaving it off the board for a while.
ReplyDelete