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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | I play in a duo with another singer-guitarist. I normally strum and play rythym guitar, But I also throw out an occasional lead guitar solo. I normally play a w597 Adamas. I am looking for some type of effects pedal which will "kick it up a notch" when I play lead solos. I am considering a simple volume pedal, but I would like a bit more electric guitar type tone. Now dont get me wrong, I am not looking for "Sick Horsey Mega-Death Grundging Fuzz Blaster", just something to bring out the lead solos a bit above typical acoustic sound, and hopefully something I could switch on and off without being incredibly obvious.
Any ideas? |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Boss BluesDriver? |
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January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | You can also use a "stomp box" style E.Q. pedal (Boss makes a nice one). I use it when I play fingerstyle songs because I like the increased volume (it has an output setting) and the different settings that you can use. You might want to add a little more treble to brighten the sound when you solo. |
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February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | One of the units in my signal chain is a Zoom 504. It has a lot of presets, but the only two I use are in essence boost functions. Since it has choruses, flanges, delays, etc., it offers a lot of bang for the buck. I don't think it is a particularly great pedal, but it is useful for some songs. |
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Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Brian,
Don't remember if I sent you a list of For Sale items or not but I had a lot of pedals listed. Some of them would work well for what you are looking for.
Email me if you would like a list. |
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Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I have the zoom 504, it's a cheap piece of shit, but you get all kinds of wild sounds. There are the standards: reverb, chorus, phaser, fuzz, compressor etc. For acoustic, I always play with a little reverb and now, I like a touch of phaser. For electric, it all depends on how obnoxious I wanna be, but the best for electric, to me, is playing with volume, distoration from the amp and feedback, with just a medium amount of reverb. Don't really use effects that much. |
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Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | I'm not sure if it's still made, but the MXR DynaComp is a stomp-box compressor that adds sustain and an adjustable amount of volume without adding any distortion. It really makes the notes for a lead stand out. |
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July 2004
Posts: 474
Location: Anchorage, Alaska | Gotta love that secret little "boost" button up by the strap button on the ADII! I have a nice little 2 button stomp box for my VOX Pathfinder that is just boost and trem. Might just be all you are looking for... |
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Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | Where do you normally have your volume on your guitar? Set it to about 7-8 for normal playing and that'll give you some room to kick it up for solos. |
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January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | I always leave some room to turn the volume up, maybe I'm un-cooridated but I have a hard time adjusting volume mid-song for a solo, then taking it back down again. Is this what you do Paul? |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | For a simple level boost that doesn't mess with your tone try an MXR Micro Amp. Other possibilities include a compressor pedal (the Aphex pedal is very clean and transparent) or just a simple volume pedal. If you go down the volume pedal route make sure you spend enough to get a good one, such as a Goodrich, Ernie Ball or a Morley. |
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Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | I checked and the MXR DynaComp is still made. They go for $80 new. Here's a nice one, with an "on" indicator light that will probably go for about $40 on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41414&item=7...
If you only use it for a couple of songs, this box has great bang for the buck. |
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January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | Question on the MXR Dyna Comp; if it is in bypass mode, and I step on the button to engage the circuit, wont that make a big "POP" sound in the PA, like when you unplug a cord? |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| Having listened to the webcast I'd think that JohnB is on the nail with the EQ pedal - a simple boost leaves you with your rhythm sound but a volume increase. A good rhythm guitar sound can sound seriously tinny when boosted, and what is really needed is a slight volume boost but a real change of flavour for the lead guitar tone. Any kind of overdrive would not sit right (to my ears) - an EQ pedal can do the most amazing things if you take your time and experiment. It's one of the most undervalued pieces of equipment available. Really nice singing by the way. :) |
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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | Thanks schroeder ans JohnB. How would I set the EQ pedal? The lead solos sound "plinkey" and a bit weak and flat (tone-wise) to me. How would you suggest setting a EQ pedal to bring out the solo?
Also do you guys like the Boss EQ pedal?
thanks |
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Posts: 4413
| Boss never made a bad pedal in their lives. There's a 7 band and a 10 band model if memory serves me well ( somebody correct me if I'm wrong). Either will fit really well in an acoustic setting. With all those bands to play with you really gotta suck it and see, but a healthy mid boost will fatten the sound a treat.
Word of advice - move the settings small amounts at a time - little steps make a big difference, and try to play around with it at gig volume. I've no idea why but volume always seems to have a great effect on how Eq changes actually sound. I'm sure there's a scientist here somewhere who can educate us.
It's similar to the way that presets on modelling pedals always sound great thru phones and then sound crap amplified - you have to tone them down for live use.
These are 2 more of the infinite numver of things I don't understand. |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | OK, back to my days when I was teaching acoustic design. The scientific part lies in what is known as the Fletcher-Munsen equal loudness contours. The reason volume affects tone is because of the non-linearity of human hearing. Basically the ear is pretty good at hearing mid range and less good at high & low frequencies. As volume goes up the ear's sensitivity to high and low frequency increases, as it goes down it decreases. This is how & why the "loudness" button on old hi-fi amps worked, how the pre-shape on some Ovation preamps works, and why "smiley-face" EQ curves sound good, but only at low volume. It also explains why using a mid-range boost as a volume increase for an acoustic instrument is a terrible idea if you want to retain any semblance of tonal accuracy |
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Posts: 4413
| Ouch. I stand firmly rapped on the knuckles. I did mean using a mid boost as a way of altering the tone rather than simply as a way of increasing the volume of the original sound. As you point out, it's around that area that it is most noticeable. (and I did say small amounts, honest. And I did say suck and see. And I did say try it at gig volumes.....) |
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Location: NJ | . . d'you guys backpedal on the wrong side of the road as well?? |
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Location: Scotland | The problem lies in that a really good amplified tone for accompaniment generally needs less midrange than good a tone for soloing, but too much mid sounds harsh & honky and promotes feedback. However most people (including experienced sound engineers) suck out so much mid for a piezo rhythm sound that the lead tone sounds pissy. A fatter rhythm tone in the first place would be a good place to start. There's no need to make a plugged-in Ovation sound like a plywood dreadnought, but thats what a lot of people make them sound like to me. |
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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | OK, so if I understand, using an EQ go for the smiley face pattern, but don't drop the mids too much. Then for the lead solo, just bring up the overall volume, or reverse the smiley face and bring up the mids? I'm more confused now I think.
What is the consensus regarding compressors? I have read other posts where some players swear by them. Because I will mostly be playing at various different venues through a mix of sound systems, I want something simple and small and easy to manage.
Again my goal is to have the lead solos step out in front a bit, and sound a bit more like an electric guitar, then be able to drop back to normal acoustic stuff. I kind of like the idea of the MXR Dyna Comp. Seems like a compressor would be just the tool to bring up the “plinkey” single notes that sound tinny on an acoustic guitar.
Any other pedals or gadgets I may want to consider?
Thanks for all of the suggestions
Brian |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I use compression constantly, but then I know what I'm doing and compression is to many people something of a "black art" Remember that you can use a compressor in reverse. You can have your straight sound set as your solo level and use the compressor to bring the overal level down for rhythm. The MXR Dynacomp is great for the nashville tele twang thing, but lacks subtelty for acoustic instuments, there's better compressors out there. A studio processor, even a Behringer, will do a better job than a stomp box, with the exception of the Carl Martin & probably the Aphex. The Art Tube Levellar is killer for acoustic guitar and costs about a hundred bucks, but may not be footswitchable, can't remember. |
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Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | The ART Tube Levelar doesn't have a footswitch, but you could use a Boss LS-2 line selector to do the same thing.
I would recommend the LS-2 and a Boss NS-2 noise suppressor to anybody that uses pedals. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | "Again my goal is to have the lead solos step out in front a bit, and sound a bit more like an electric guitar, then be able to drop back to normal acoustic stuff. I kind of like the idea of the MXR Dyna Comp. Seems like a compressor would be just the tool to bring up the “plinkey” single notes that sound tinny on an acoustic guitar."
Lots of good suggestions. A compressor may work, but as Paul eluded too, unless you are real comfortable with thier use, you can easily make a mess.
If you are playing acoustic dou stuff, I would go with the Boss EQ pedal. It's pretty transparent, and you may want to experiment with boosting the upper mid-range (2K area) a little rather than volume, or maybe a little of both. This will get that effect you describe above. Just changing the sound of your guitar slightly will allow it to seemingly get louder without actually getting louder, or maybe only slightly getting louder, but it will "cut through" with no significant dynamics loss. |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Boosting 2-3kHz by no more than a couple of dB is a good ruse. 2.5K or thereabouts is somewhere near the resonant frequency of the ear canal in the average adult, so our hearing is particularly sensitive in that range. Consequently a slight lift around those frequencies can produce a perceived volume increase without noticibly messing with the tone, though too much will tend to take your head off. The "presence peak" in some vocal mikes, which is intended to improve clarity & inteligibilty is usually centred around the 2-3kHz area. Whenever we got club owners telling us to turn down I would dip the 2.5KHz sliders on the FOH graphic EQ's. We never actually turned anything down, but they thought we had. |
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Need advice on effects pedal
