Lunch Report For Thursday, January 30, 2014

Going out for lunch today at a breakfast place. I like their breakfasts, but I’m thinkin’ a club sandwich, maybe with avocado.

I really want to thank everyone for contributing this week—it‘s so nice. You all posted some nice amps yesterday and some great stories. I hope you read my follow-up posts. And I hope someone will step up and take over the LR next week…and the week after…and so on.


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If you’re like me, you probably have a few pedals on a pedal board—and drawer full of ones you don’t use.

There’s a couple of old MXR blue 10-band EQs; a Peavey Accelerator OD (which is terrific for slide work); several delays including a couple of DD-3s, a DD-20, an Echo Park, a Peavey digital reverb and a BBE Two-Timer; some nice modulation effects like my new Tremor, a Soul Vibe, a couple of old DOD chorus pedals and a new Hardwire chorus. I got several of the BBE OD/distortion offerings; a Sonic Stomp and a Boosta Grande; a couple of new wahs and probably 15 tuners around—not all of those are pedals. That drawer is pretty full!

I have a couple of Furman Pedal Boards—Miss Leslie got me one for Christmas years ago and I then found a used one for the pedals I use with my acoustic guitar. The Furman has surge protection built in for the three AC outlets, and very quiet 9V power supply for the pedals.

Here it is:




The signal chain is:

DOD FX10 Preamp. (Always on, just a slight boost)
Boss CS-3 Compressor. (Used more as a limiter than a sustainer.)
Boss TU-3 Tuner. (Was using a TU-2, got this for the brighter display.)
Real Tube 901 OD. (Uses a 12AX7 tube, mine’s actually loaded with a GT 12AUY.)
Original Thomas Organ Crybaby Wah
Boss CE-3 Chorus
Boss PH-1R Phasor. (I think this is the best of all the Boss Phasors.)

Then there is a Rocktron Short-Timer Delay and the Echo Park, which I patch into the effects loop of my amps.

This is an old pic and one thing changed: the Echo Park went into the drawer, replaced by a Boss Harmonizer pedal.

This is a working man’s pedal board. The wah is the only thing that I’d call vintage, and there’s nothing here that’s boutique or made from unobtainium. While I like having several pedals, my philosophy is to use them minimally. The Harmonizer I only use on two songs, and the phasor on four, and so on. The Real Tube hardly gets used at all—it’s more or less a backup in case I’m not using a Mesa amp. Like an artist, I want to use all the colors on my palette, without having any one color dominate.

It’s time for me to get out the board and do some preventative maintenance and cleaning, and settle down into making some decisions about some of the new pedals.

The Real Tube will probably be taken off. It actually sounds a lot like the Lead Channel of my Mesas, so it is redundant. I have a Carl Martin Plexi-Tone ready to take its place that will give me some Marshall tones. My concern is that the CMPT is a large pedal, and I may not have room for it. So there is a Green Screamer, Buckshot and a Crusher to try too. I’m intrigued by the Wampler Plexi-Drive which is smaller—except for the price tag. I’ll look and see if the Boosta Grande sounds better than my old DOD FX-10. That pedal has been my secret weapon for more than 30 years; giving it up will be hard.

I loved the power of the Echo Park—it offers a lot in a small package. But I don’t use long delays, as a rule—the Rocktron does everything I need, but it is BIG. Can I be happy with the Two-Timer or the DD-20, or perhaps a pair of delays like a DD-3 and something else? Two DD-3s?

Is it time to replace the tried-and-true PH-1r with say, an EVH Phase 90? Or put away the old Thomas Organ wah for a new Crybaby Classic? Should I keep the Boss chorus, which has a very different sound than the old DODs I have? Perhaps the versatility of the Hardwire chorus might fit my needs better. And with chorus and a phasor, can I find room for the Soul Vibe and the Tremor?

And do I really need the Sonic Stomp with the Mesa amps?

Decisions, decisions…I definitely have my work cut out for me. It’ll be fun, but it is still work doing the physical layout, routing the cables, and making sure that everything is compatible, that all the toys work well together.

And one of these days, I'll have to tell you about some of the pedals that I sold—or the ones that were stolen. For example, I’ve had TWO vintage Fender Blender Fuzz boxes—and both were stolen. Recently had a chance to buy another one—and passed on it. Ya’ think?


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So let’s talk pedals and boards today. Pick whatever topics interest you.

Do you have a board, or are you still lining them up on the floor? Or are you using and an all-in-one from Line 6, Boss, Digitech, etc.? Have you gone to Midi switching system? Perhaps you use a rack of processing gear, or use something like the AXE-FX II in the EFX loop of your amp?

How do you evaluate pedals before you buy? Do you read magazine or internet reviews? Watch 30 hours of YouTube videos? Play them in the store? Do you do a lot of research and buy carefully, or do you by impulsively and then quickly flip the ones you don’t like?

Do you do boutique, or stick with the major companies—Boss, MXR, EH, etc.?

When you get a pedal home, do you evaluate it by itself, or do you just place it in your chain?

And for you guys using G&L MFDs, or Z-Coils—do you ever find these pickups incompatible with your pedals?

So tell me what yer’ using and whatcha ain’t. Pics are welcome!


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Have a great Thursday; but get ready to pick your Super Bowl winner on Friday.

Bill (Go SEAHAWKS!!!)

I have a few pedals, but I don't use them very much. I don't have a pedal board. I keep them in their boxes and they're stored in a storage tote. I think I would use them more if I had a pedal board. Here's a picture of my small pedal collection and Beavis Jr.:



The pedals are: Sioux Guitars, K-D Chorus & Court Street Overdrive / MXR, Micro Amp & Classic Overdrive / Ibanez FL9 Flanger / Keeley Compressor / BBE Sonic Stomp

The Sioux pedals are the only pedals I have that are made by a small manufacturer. They're great pedals and they're reasonably priced.

~~ Do you have a board, or are you still lining them up on the floor? Or are you using and an all-in-one from Line 6, Boss, Digitech, etc.? Have you gone to Midi switching system? Perhaps you use a rack of processing gear, or use something like the AXE-FX II in the EFX loop of your amp?~~

I purchased a AVID Eleven Rack w/Pro Tools 11 a couple months ago. It is a very interesting piece of equipment. Not only does it have most of the effects commonly used; it also does a great job of emulating the most sought after amplifiers, cabinets, microphones,, etc. Since I am not performing on stage, I don't need the optional MIDI floor control. Check it out! It's a lot of technology at a very reasonable price.

Just my $.02

I have a Barber Tone Press compressor, a recently-acquired Sonic Stomp and a Dunlop Wah. I keep the Sonic Stomp always-on and often use the Barber with my ASAT Classic. I am evaluating a Tonehunter Juicy Fruit. I don't think I'll buy it. Too expensive for something I can do with the amp.

Pedals rerely seem to hold up at higher volumes to my ears. They sound fake. I mainly use you-tube videos or manufacturer websites before buying. Amplifiers in these demos usually don't match up, so I tend to get different sounds. Maybe I don't experiment with the settings enough, but pedals usually disappoint me.

Seahawks all the way! Why wait til tomorrow.

Lefty, the recording effect processor sounds cool.

Steve, I love Beavis Jr.

Bill, I have some BBE pedals from LR's. I seldom use pedals because I gig playing bass. I always use the Sonic Stomp on my bass. I also always use the 882I Maximisers on the vocals, 2 units, 4 vocal channels. As for others, I recently purchased 2 iStomps and Steve, our lead player, has two. He loves them and has an iPhone hooked up. They are convenient as there is little to pack. I have a Vox Tonelab I use for recording and also a Digitech guitar Harmony Man which I have barely used. I bought a large SKB Pedal Board a couple of years ago, set everything into it and asked myself, what do I really need this for. I returned it. I already have too much gear to haul. Thanks for the great week so far Bill. -- Darwin

Steve, I love Beavis Jr.

+1


I have a couple of those , very sensitive ...like a furry theremin.

They make cool sounds .

Beavis thinks that flanger is pretty.

Not too much into effects. 99% of the time I am guitar - cable - amp. When I feel like noodling a bit, I will add a wah or some other toy for a bit. Then they get put away again.

I did pick up a guitar fetish fuzz last year that was reasonably priced and has some massive fuzz tones. And, I am awaiting the delivery (lost in the ice storm I think) of an istomp on sale from MF (thanks Darwin). Could be some fun.

Oh, and homemade black bean and butternut squash chili. Good on this cold day.

Since I'm home (sick child), I'll participate for a change. A couple of years ago, I adapted my wife's old Dell laptop case into a pedalboard. It turns out that Velcro on the bottom of the effects sticks right into the case's soft padding! I've configured it half a dozen different ways; here's the latest sequence: Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box (just got this used; buffer/impedance/line driver---awesome!) > Buddha Bud-Wah > Boss DS-1 (bought 1980) > Tim (overdrive/boost) > BBE Mind Bender > BBE Two-Timer > amp. The Tim's loop contains the Strobostomp tuner.

Past iterations included a vintage MXR Phase 90 (Bud box), a BBE Main Squeeze, and a Supa Charger for power. I reverted to the One Spot for power when I needed room for the wah with the new band. I'd post a picture, but I don't use a photo server.

I don't have many effects sitting around, other than a Mesa V-Twin, my old Thomas Organ Crybaby wah (bad pot), and a Guild Foxey Lady (really an EH Big Muff; not working that well). In the fall I picked up a Ross flanger nearby, just to have one in something vintage-y. Not worth always hooking up, but may come in handy on some song for the band's next recording (or when I want to play Zep's "Nobody's Fault but Mine"). Forgot about the Startouch A/B box used at times (thanks for the reminder Sam!).

I like using effects as splashes of color in a song. I read and listened to lots of reviews/videos before I found out about the Tim. The BBEs were added when Tim Page did group buys on the forum.

The Z-coils have worked fine with my effects, except when they made the Mesa V-Twin squeal---definitely a fault with the 12AX7 tubes I had in it at the time. The Zs are so hi-fi that effects are great---no muddying of the sound, only colorizing. The MFDs in my ASAT Jr. have worked fine with effects. (As an aside, the Jr is an amazing sounding guitar---almost beating the Comanche Studio VI, and really is the best for the riff-based rock the band is doing.)

Lunch today will be leftovers, perhaps homemade veggie burritos, perhaps dal and rice. Thanks!

Last edited by tomanche on Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

Bill, after yesterdays responses I forgot about to mention the good ol' Peavey Backstage Plus and Peavey 2x10 Studio Chorus that went through my hands over the years. The Backstage was what followed the Stage (Univox). Cool story about the Univox, those guys could make some music!

I am definately a pedal fan and use a Pedaltrain Pro that is a great board. Don't use them all but they fun to play around with.

Purchases are based on everything from reviews, YouTube videos, play in the store or borrow from someone if possible. I have impusively bought a few because of price with no more review than a magazine. YouTube is a great resource because there are so many postings of most pedals. I stick with the majors because I am too cheap, uh frugal, to buy boooteek stuff.

New ones usually go straight to the chain unless it is one I bought used and want to check it out with no interference.

I have found MFDs and Z-Coils very compatible with my pedals.

Two weeks ago I traded a MXR Carbon Copy delay for a TC Electronics Flashback and the time I spent with it I love the options from the Flashback. The MXR CC was analog and the Flashback has a analogmode that is pretty good along with all the other settings. I have a BBE Two Timer for straight analog. Am looking at a DOD FX90 that has a the same chip as the Boss DM2, just because I don't want to spend the $ on a DM2 and want to hear how close the DOD gets.

Here is my board. (trouble getting bigger picture, another case of pebcac!)


StarTouch A/B for amp switching, BBE Sonic Stomp (most alway on), Flashback, BBE Two Timer, Nobels TRX Tremolo, BBE Mind Bender, DOD Phaser, BBE Tremor, BBE Soul Vibe, BBE Green Sceamer, Boss MT 2, ProCo RAT, Boss DS1, G&L Buckshot, Way Huge Swollen Pickle, BBE Orange Squash, BOSS TU-3, FOXX Wah/Volume and Electro Harmonix Bad Horsie 2. The BBE pedals have proven to be good values and good tone to me. I wish they would do a Tremolo like the Nobels that offers both sine and square waves. With the two settings and the wave options, that could be one of the best Tremolo pedals out there, IMHO.

Oh yea, my board is powered by two BBE Supa Chargers. Quiet and easy to plug and go.

I bought a Coffin case off of ebay , it doesn't have room for my Supa charger so I have never set it up , will probably get a PT-3 board , it will have room for everything including the power supply

pedal wise I have had my MXR distortion box as long as my Kustom amp , also have a Gain Changer bought locally ..... as far as recent Pedal's I'm a BBE poster child , I got the Sonic Stomp from LR and love it , I leave it plugged in , it makes every amp I have sound better , so based on my positive Sonic Stomp and G&L guitar expierence I shopped and bought a used BBE WAH , used Supa Charger , new Blacksmith , new Mind Bender , new Tremor ,new Two Timer ,new Vari Comp VC 3080 and a new Window payne , shopped and got some good deals used and new ..... I knew the sound clips would have to many variable for sound so I just went with a company that I have been happy customer with , I'm not a payed musician , I'm just trying to entertain my self


I haven't got to use my pedals enough to know what guitars sound better than the others , will do the shoot out when I get my pedal board situated as it's a p-i-a to bring in and out of the garage every night with individual pedals , for now I been using the Sonic Stomp and the Blacksmith , the blacksmith seems to sound good through all my G&L's and I recomend the Sonic Stomp to everyone , that thing works ..... I really think the new WR bridge pu in my Comanche tamed or controls the sound better than the stock bridge pick up , seems like I'm not having to change my amp settings just for the Comanche any more

I run all my pedals on the floor. Since most of them also get used on a tabletop with a synth, a board just doesn't make sense for my needs. I buy most of my gear used, and have developed a real dislike for velcro. Every single pedal I get that has it on the bottom needs to be thoroughly cleaned; the velcro would stick to the rug in my playing room, and does any adhesive that I can't get off. I really wish whoever came up with the idea for pedal boards had put the hook side on the board.

I buy my pedals from dealers with return policies, and try them out at home with my own gear. It just doesn't work for me to evaluate them when some kid is shredding on a guitar or slapping a bass ten feet away. I usually do a lot of research, and then wait for one to come up for sale.

My favorite pedals by far are Moogerfoogers. I'm down to only having one model left to buy, and am starting to look at their new Minifooger line. Most of them appear to be less versatile versions of the 'Foogers, but a couple of them have caught my eye. Aside from Moog, there are a couple of boutique builders that have caught my attention. I've really been impressed by a pair of tremolos I found recently (Catalinbread's Pareidolia and Copilot's Polypus). They have completely different sounds, but they both do those sounds really well.

I haven't noticed any of my G&L pickups being incompatible with pedals. The closest I've come to that would be on the bass end, where my L-1K and L-2KE do what they do perfectly. I could run some pedal or another in their signal chain, but it would not sound as good as those basses are straight into the amp.

My all-around amp needs to go into the shop for a repair, so I've pulled the Jazz Chorus out of the garage. I had forgotten just how good it sounds. Having all that clean headroom has me ready to really put some pedals through their paces. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to do that.

Ken