Compression Pedals

[Pickles]

I got the BD-2 for $40 used. Mine's been runnin a little shaky as of late (it still works, but sometimes it acts as if I tapped it on and off really quick even though I didn't).

The BSTP I haven't gotten yet, but it's on my wish list. I need to buy a bigger pedal board.



I plan on getting rid of the TU-2, buying a volume pedal (EB Jr.) and just running a smaller tuner through the tuner out. Add the BSTP in front of the amp. There's some other stuff that might be cool to get, but not really necessary and I wouldn't use it much... Such as a phaser (which annoys me when over used and overpowered like the MXR can be), Digitech Whammy, etc.

First things first though... Need to find a pedalboard I actually like that's big enough. Do you have a board yet?

[Kahn]

Any advice on envelope filters? The one effect I love. Not looking to buy a 3,000$ Mutron.

[Pickles]

Envelope filter is kinda a broad term. It could mean something as simple as an auto-wah. Do you have any examples of the particular sound you're looking for?

[Kahn]

Envelope filter is kinda a broad term. It could mean something as simple as an auto-wah. Do you have any examples of the particular sound you're looking for?

Mutron III

See Garcia on Fire On the Mountain

[Klondog]

Thats a nice setup shane. How much do you have invested in it? What kind of amp do you have?

[Pickles]

Kahn I'll have to check into it. I did a quick search for a Mutron III and it came up for $229. Not bad.

As far as my setup goes, I've invested a good amount.. The guitar was $800ish (although the last one I saw new was $2600), $550 for an $800 amp (Traynor YCV80), $200 for the $250 DL4, half off the BD-2, $170 for the MXR M-134, $60 for the $90ish TU-2, $150ish for the digital EQ, $115 ish for the Vox Clyde Wah (V848).

The board I actually got for free from a friend of mine who upgraded to a Trailer Trash board which is awesome. I think the SKB boards are $250ish new. The board I get will probably be around that much, but it won't be powered, so I'll have to spend an extra $130 or so on a Voodoo Labs PP2+. Also I plan on investing in a PedalSnake (one of my favorite accessories for electric guitarists) and most likely a George L pedalboard kit and clean up the quality. Some other pedals I've been wanting are cheap, but then others are way too much. I said I wanted an EB Jr, but if money was no option, I'd get the Visual Sound Visual Volume pedal. I don't wanna spend $150+ for a volume pedal though. Ridiculous.

[Kahn]

isn't a volume pedal a volume pedal?

[Pickles]

Nope. Some will suck tone. Then there are some features that can be useful on various other pedals. The VSVV, for example, has a boost when you click it and has an LED display. The Boss Volume pedal can let you set a minimum volume which can be useful in certain situations. The EB is pretty much your standard.

[Kahn]

Another thing, what kind of tones am I losing by using any sorts of pedals? I know Derek Trucks refuses to use anything with his band, his SG straight into a Fender Super Reverb. Whats the best way to sound like you're not using anything?

[Pickles]

Are you asking "what tone loss will occur if I use a pedal" or "will the pedal completely overwrite the tone of just the guitar and the amp" ?

The answer to the first question has a lot of factors. As far as the pedals themselves go, you bring in the concept of True Bypass. On my board, the only pedals that aren't TB are the BD-2 and TU-2. That means that these pedals will suck a certain amount of tone EVEN when they are powered off. The other pedals, when powered off, will act as if they are not even there. (The DL4 actually lets you switch between TB and a buffer pedal). Being TB isn't always a good thing. Buffer pedals can be useful, because there's a theory that when you get to 20 feet of cable (which can be an actual cable OR 20 feet of cable running through x TB pedals) there will be tone loss. The buffers (in my case, BD-2 and TU-2) start that 20 foot count over again, strengthening the signal. Some buffer pedals suck more tone than others, but they have their benefits.

As for the second question, that would depend on the pedal itself and whether you were placing the effects in front of the amp or in an effects loop behind the amp (parallel or serial). Certain effects traditionally go in front of the amp (tuners, overdrives, wah, EQ) because you'll want those effects to be untouched. Other effects (in my case, chorus, delay) you don't want to completely overpower. My amp has a parallel effects loop. If you know any circuitry, it's easy to understand the difference between parallel and serial. In a parallel loop, the sound has options of which route to go. x% will go this way, (100-x)% goes that way (adjustable on the amp how much), and they come back together at the end. This means that a certain amount of the signal will remain untouched and come through the speakers of the amp, and the rest will go through the effects loop and then out the speakers. This provides for a thicker sound. A serial effects loop means that everything that runs through the amp will run through the effects loop... And that just doesn't make much sense to me.

Each pedal also has a certain strength to it just depending on how it's programmed. The example I use for this is the MXR Phase 90. Pretty standard phase pedal - only thing you can change is the rate. I don't really like the pedal much because it is a very overpowering pedal. You can't change that. Some pedals give you enough options to control how strong the pedal's sound is. The MXR M-134 Stereo Chorus and Line6 DL-4 are good examples - both of them let you change how intense the sound is.

[Kahn]

ok, im pretty sure my marshall amp has an effects loop as well. thanks for explaining it to me in laments terms