Effects Bay

Looking over various Pedal Line Friday submissions and many pro pedal board breakdowns, I’ve seen multiple ways to mark and record the settings on pedals. Usually, you see good old masking tape or gaffers tape on the pedals themselves. Sometimes you see mailing labels like Avery labels, etc. Often the tape leaves gunk behind and or tears depending on the age of the tape on the pedal. Avery labels are really hard to remove and can damage your pedals, etc.

I wanted to create something that guitarist could use but address these problems. I went in search of a sticker that sticks… but removes easily. It was a challenge to find something that once applied won’t move or shift on the pedal, but as soon as you want to remove it or replace the label with new setting values, would come off very easily. I believe we found a great solution to this problem.

I also wanted something that looked good. Not just hand drawn circles or simple check marks next to the knobs, etc. like you often see, but something that complimented the pedal nicely.  I created pre-defined formats that could be applied to various pedals including boutique styles, etc.

The label system is super easy. Look at your pedal and note how many knobs and if there is an appropriate label for that manufacturer. For example there is a Boss 4 knob version. You would use a Sharpie (or other permanent marker) and draw a line from the center point out to the edge (ruler makes it tight!). After your settings have been marked on the label remove it from the sheet and apply it to the pedal. If it’s not straight, no worries, it peels off, then re-apply.

If you have an odd-ball pedal, no problem, you can use single knob labels and apply those, or use another style. For example, MXR 3 knob will work for many of the 3 knob boutique pedal enclosures out there.

Another great feature is the ability to set multiple settings. You might need to track multiple settings on a single knob. Color markers could be used to identify the different preset needed.

So you’re thinking of labeling some pedals – how do you get your hands on these? I’m offering a label pack that will get you the following labels:

3 Ibanez 4 knob labels
3 Ibanez 3 knob labels
3 MXR Wide 2 knob labels
3 MXR 1 knob labels
9 MXR 2 knob labels
12 MXR 3 knob labels
9 Boss 4 knob labels
9 Boss 3 knob labels
6 Toggles labels
54 single knob labels

This should cover many of the average boards out there, and still have extra labels in hand. Having extras is the whole point. Next month, you don’t like your previous settings.. peel off the label add a new one. Simple.

You get all 111 stickers for only $9.95 + shipping! You can order by clicking the ‘Buy Now’ below. Shipping will be calculated via PayPal.

Looking forward to seeing some of these labels on upcoming Pedal Line Fridays!

Popularity: 2%

Today’s pedal line is from A. Bovara. If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to pedallineeffectsbaycom. Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

This is my working board. I used it to record my latest solo album. You can hear it here:
No Place for the Dead

I only route my pedals one way, from beginning to the beginning to the end.

Bass (Shamray Custom or ESP Ltd. F-205) >
ISP Decimator G String >
Behringer BLE100 Bass Limiter Enhancer >
Boss GEB-7 Bass EQ >
EHX Octave Multiplexer >
Delta Fuzz (BYOC Ampeg Scrambler clone) >
EHX Metal Muff w/ Top Boost >
Dunlop Bass CryBaby >
Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive >
Morley PBA-2 Dual Bass Wah >
Boss BF-2 Flanger >
Line 6 Echo Park >
Boss LMB-3 Bass Limiter Enhancer >
ISP Decimator G String (again) >
Mark Bass CMD 102-P.

Sitting on an SKB-PS-45

ISP Decimator G String- Bass in. This is my favorite pedal. For all the sounds I get out of everything else, without this pedal all anything would sound like is cosmic microwave background radiation.

Behringer BLE100 Bass Limiter Enhancer- This is the first of my two limiter/enhancer pedals. The enhancer knob might as well be re-titled as, high pitch hiss mix. Other than having flimsy feeling controls it works just as good as the Boss Limiter later on in my line. This Hi-C carton helps keep things even when I switch from deep low end to clangier highs, since both my basses have pretty strong onboard EQ.

Boss GEB-7 Bass EQ- I bought this pedal before I knew what to do with it. I used to hate it. Now that I have learned that sliders, or knobs for that matter, don’t have to maxed out one way or the other, I really like the pedal. EQ is a powerful thing, just a dab’ll do ya.

EHX Octave Multiplexer- I made this as a deaf trade. I never heard it before in my life; I didn’t even check any YouTube demos. I find I am really happy with it. It’s nice for simple harmonies with myself and can thicken up bass very well. It’s part one of a happy accident.

Delta Fuzz (BYOC Ampeg Scrambler clone)- This is part two of the happy accident. I bought this from Build Your Own Clone because it was one of the cheaper kits they had. I wanted it so my wife could do some doodles on it and I would have something from her on my board. She is the one who named it “Delta Fuzz”. I was going to call it, “Octave Up Fuzz Pedal”. It is a fuzz with some subtle octave up change happening. She called it “Delta” because of that subtle change in harmonic pitch. Anyway, I discovered that putting the octave down EHX in front of this octave up fuzz created some of the most terrorizing signal distortion I’ve ever heard. The Multiplexer into the Delta Fuzz is unlike any distortion/pitch switch out there. I contemplated getting a WMD Geiger Counter, then this happened and I’m happy enough.

EHX Metal Muff w/ Top Boost- This is my go to distortion pedal. I usually like to run distortion EQ flat, but since this is high end focused, and I am a bass player, I had to bump up the lows and mids to compensate. When I do want the high end splatter it’s as easy as kicking in the Top Boost.

Dunlop Bass Cry Baby- My first wah pedal. I hate that it is a click to engage pedal, but I do really like its tone. It’s a much…thicker(?)… sound than the Morley. I need to get around to doing the step on to engage mod. It sounds really nice sitting between my two main distortion pedals, the Crybaby acts on the Metal Muff while the ODB-3 acts on the Crybaby. I can make it scream like Dax Riggs in 1994.

Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive- This is a love it or hate it bass player standard. It has a smooth overdrive, like a steady static but hearty. It’s nice to be able to blend the distortion with the dry signal here.

Morley PBA-2 Dual Bass Wah- I love that this is an instant engage pedal. It has a much smoother tone sweep than the Crybaby, but isn’t as thick. It does great as an effect filter. When I have the octave and two distortions engaged, my Morley can bring the entire line from dead wood to a raging fire of sonic eruption.

Boss BF-2 Flanger- I really like this flanger.

Line 6 Echo Park- The Echo Park is pretty versatile, but that’s mostly lost on me as I only use it for two different things. I use the normal delay, quarter note type, with tap delay timing. It’s cool to get a delay/echo just how you like it while playing, instead of tooling around with knobs while you should be plucking strings. This pedal does not work with the G-String on. I guess the G-string picks the echo up as noise and filters it out; so, I have to be careful to have the G-String off when I use this. Except, that is, when I use the “Swell” setting. The swell setting combined with the filtering of the G-string make an interesting volume rise sound, similar to what the Boss Slow Gear did (but better).

Boss LMB-3 Bass Limiter Enhancer- My second limiter in the series. With all my gain stages (EQ, Delta Fuzz, Metal Muff, ODB-3, Morley Wah) this guy helps me even everything out. It is especially important when I use the Delta Fuzz, as it doesn’t have a volume output control and bumps up the volume a little. The Delta Fuzz isn’t too bad when it’s on by itself, but when combined with either other dirt pedal the volume jumps can get pretty bad. This limiter takes care of these problems.

ISP Decimator G String- (again)- effects return.

This smaller board is my DOD board, Screem for Bleed (Feat. Gouge, Twist, Crank, and Harm)
This is my tribute to all the pedals I wanted, but couldn’t afford, when I started playing bass in the mid-90′s. It is my prize collection of the craziest, cult followingist, hard to find, unnecessarily expensive DOD pedals.

The route is:
Bass (Shamray Custom or ESP Ltd. F-205)>
DOD FX32 Meat Box
DOD FX13 Gonkulator Modulator
DOD FX76 Punkifier
DOD FX33 Buzz Box
Mark Bass CMD 102-P.

Tied with some twine to an old board I tore off an abandoned barn.

I also gave each pedal a name, to be in line with the crazy DOD knob names. I think the names are somewhat reflective of what the pedal does, to either your signal or your ears.

DOD FX32 Meat Box, aka Gouge- This pedal digs deep into the low end frequency range, almost sub-sonic, and boosts the 30 Hz and 60 Hz frequencies. The low end you can pump out of this slab will tear your flesh down through your bone.

DOD FX13 Gonkulator Modulator, aka Twist- Right up front, the Gonk is a simple toned ring modulator with a built in distortion circuit. However, if you play it just right, this pedal sounds like it can twist your pitches around. For instance when playing three notes close in pitch, the note that is highest in pitch on your neck will come out as the lowest pitch from the Gonk. Crazy.

DOD FX76 Punkifier, aka Crank- Some good ol’ screamin’ demon distortion. It’s pretty simple, this box can crank up your signal so that it sounds like you’ve been slapped in the ear with a pan of hot oil.

DOD FX33 Buzz Box, aka Harm- This pedal has no consideration for the feelings or emotions of any signal coming into it. It’ll break your sound down to something akin to a jar full of M-80′s and chainsaws. If you’ve ever wanted to turn you ax into a dirt bike simulator, this is your pedal. If you’ve ever wanted the sound of broken speakers without breaking your speakers, this is your box. If you’ve ever wanted to harm the hearing of those around you, this is a good place to start.

I play with this board every once in a while just to tool around. It’s pretty fun, although I sometime worry about my amp, speakers, and windows. Totally brootuhlz.

-
A. Bovara

Popularity: 1%

The following is a guest post by Dan Vuksanovich of WhyISuckAtGuitar.com. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

I’m a classically trained guitarist and a former information technology consultant, which makes me a guitar nerd with an insatiable craving for the latest and greatest technology. I also play in a local cover band, for which I need a tonally flexible rig which is easy to transport and doesn’t break the bank. The solution? You guessed it: amp and effects modeling.

My rig consists of a Line 6 HD500 with a QSC K8 powered PA speaker for stage volume. That’s it. All my gear combined, including my guitar, weighs less than fifty pounds. I used to drive a Mini Cooper and had room for all my gear with tons of room to spare. While our other guitarist and bassist are lugging in their tube half stacks, I’m at the bar having a beer.

Yup. I’m the weirdo on stage with nothing behind me but the wall, the “amateur” who hears the whispers and snickers of sound guys behind my back. All the whispering and snickering stops, though, during sound check. This past Saturday I literally had a sound guy insulting my rig to my face during load in. He was desperately searching for a way to not let me go direct into the house PA. I asked him, nicely, if we could just give it a try. He said OK. I played for about 10 seconds during sound check, paused, and then heard him say sheepishly, “Uh, that actually sounds pretty good.”

So how do I do it? How am I the one guitar player who can coax direct tones from his modeler that don’t feel like an ice pick in the ear? Here are some best practices for getting good live sound from a modeler:

Not all modelers are created equal – There are lots of wild claims out there about tone quality by companies that make amp modelers and multi-effects units. The problem is that tone quality is subjective, so the manufacturers can basically claim whatever they want. Now, I’m not going to tell you what you should and shouldn’t buy, but I will say that if you buy a $99 entry-level modeler, don’t expect it to sound like a $3,000 Axe-Fx. My POD HD 500 cost about $500, and for my purposes it gives me the best bang for the buck. It might not sound 100% as good as an Eleven Rack or an Axe-Fx, but let’s be honest here, I play at local bars and clubs, not Madison Square Garden.

Your home amplification method matters – The way you amplify your modeler when you’re not playing at a venue is a huge consideration. The goal here is to make your bedroom setup as much like a live setup as possible. Enter the QSC K8 powered PA speaker. Yes, it cost me $600. Yes, that’s more than the cost of the POD, but I need to be able to hear what my tone will sound like when I get to the venue, and what better way to do that than with my own personal PA? Let me state the inverse of this for total clarity. If you run your modeler through an amplifier, even if it’s directly into the effects loop, the amp will color the sound… a lot. Therefore, if you try to go direct into a house PA after you’ve tweaked your sound through your amp, you’re in for a shock because it will not sound even remotely like you remember it sounding at home. What you need is a full frequency, flat response (FRFR) powered PA speaker. This works out perfectly because at home the PA speaker will be your amp, and at the venue you can use it as a personal monitor for stage volume that you can control.

Be the opposite of a kid in a candy store – All those models! All those effects! I can make my guitar sound like an alien spacecraft if I want to! Time out. Listen, there might be 600 amp models and 4,000 effects to choose from, but all you really need is a few usable live sounds. I’ve got four: acoustic, clean, crunch and saturated. Instead of going crazy and filling up every available effects slot just because it’s there, spend some time researching a typical signal chain for the type of sound you want. For example, my saturated sound is the one I use most on stage, so I needed to make sure that it was just right. I started with the assumption that I would use one of the high gain amp models, noise gate, reverb, and potentially a distortion pedal to smooth out the gain. I’ve got a bunch of empty effects slots and one empty amp model slot (I could run amp models in parallel if I wanted to) but my sound is just the way I want it.

Listen… really listen – There are plenty of ways to dial in awful tone with a modeler. You’ve got to use your ears to find something that works, probably even more so than with a real amp. Being an 80′s metal guy, my initial assumption was that I would use the Marshall high gain amp model. No matter what I did, though, I couldn’t dial off the shrill high end on the Marshall. I tried the Mesa Dual Rectifier model instead, and it was perfect. It gave me exactly what I wanted: a sleazy, nasty tone at the lower frets for chugging and riffing, and a sweet singing tone at the higher frets for soloing. I experimented with a few distortion pedal models to smooth out the gain as much as possible, but couldn’t find one I liked, so I decided to try compression instead. Bingo! That was the one missing ingredient and it completed my saturated tone.

Some sound guys will help you – One night we had a sound guy who I thought was just interested in insulting my rig again, but it turned out he wanted to help me out with my sound. There’s a difference in volume between bedroom and stage can create some EQ problems. At bedroom volumes my sound was not quite powerful enough so I cranked up the bass, which sounded great. At stage volume, though, the bass simply too much and the sound guy told me as much. He used his equipment (and his ears) to help me EQ, and I’ve had those settings dialed in ever since. He also helped my fine tune the levels of my patches so that I could switch back and forth without forcing him to use the faders to bring the volume up or down.

Modeling isn’t perfect, and it isn’t for everyone. Does our other guitarist’s tube half-stack sound better than my POD? A little. Is it worth it to me to lug around over 100 pounds of gear in an SUV to make my tone a little better? Absolutely not.

Ultimately you’ll have to make your own decision, but I can assure you that quality live sound with a modeler is possible. You just have to avoid the pitfalls.

About the author: Dan Vuksanovich received his Master of Music degree in classical guitar performance from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University in 1999. He currently teaches and blogs about how to get better at guitar via his website, www.whyisuckatguitar.com.

Popularity: 2%

Today I was super stoked to see a new Rig Rundown featuring Nels Cline of Wilco on PremiereGuitar. I’ve been a fan of Nels from a distance for years, but never really got to learn about his gear until this blog. Coincidentally, I did a pedal board breakdown of his board a while back (you can read it here – Nels Cline – Wilco – Pedal Board), but this video is fantastic. Nels really goes into detail about his guitars, amp and his effects. I really like it when artists go into ‘why’ they like a particular pedal. That kind of insight is very useful when looking at new pedals to purchase or understanding issues you might be having with your current pedals.

Here is the video by PremiereGuitar:

Here is the breakdown of pedals of his main guitar board:

Boss DD-7 Delay
MXR Phase 45
Crazy Tube Circuits Starlight
Crazy Tube Circuits Vyagra Boost
Fulltone ’69 Fuzz
Crowther Audio Hot Cake
Electro-Harmonix Pulsar
Bigfoot FX Magnavibe
Boss Digital Delay (DD-3?)
Boss VB-2 Vibrato
Klon Centaur (gold)
Boss FV500H Expression Pedal
Digitech Whammy
Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe
ZVex Fuzz Factory
Boss CS-3 Compressor
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+ x2

Popularity: 2%

Just got word on another sale with coupon code at Musician’s Friend. It’s the Year of the Dragon Sale. Here is the breakdown on savings – 5% off $149 or more. 10% off $299 or more. 15% off off on $799 or more. This sale ends on January 30th. Simply use the following coupon code at checkout: DRAGON12. For full details click here or the banner below:

Popularity: 1%

Not too many things get my undies in a wad, but this sure the hell does. Just saw on Pitchfork that Disney is selling a Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures album) inspired t-shirt featuring Mickey Freakin Mouse!

I guess I should explain some things, I’m assuming that everyone in the world has been touched by Joy Division. Joy Division was a fantastic band that formed in the early punk days in Manchester, and later defined itself in the post-punk movement as band that had things to say on a level rarely seen prior. Ian Curtis, the front man of Joy Division was battling epilepsy and depression, which inevitably led to his tragic suicide in 1980 prior to their first North American tour.

That band defined my late teens and twenties and I was quite moved by the emotion in the lyrics and how they composed their music. Their skills as musicians were still rough but that never got in the way of expressing their emotions and creativity. As a guitarist just learning my instrument, I was always inspired by that band. Unknown Pleasures and Closer were two of my favorite albums that got tons of play.

A Mickey Mouse ™ shirt does not honor the memory of that band or the album. Boooo. I’ll get back to talking about effects again. If you’re a fan of Joy Division, let me know what you think of this by commenting below!

Unknown Pleasures.. as it should be

Popularity: 2%

I’m pretty excited about this give away. About a month ago we did a demo of the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz. The response to that demo has been great! I know the response to this give away will be just as awesome. If you want read/watch/listen to the demo go here – “GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz Demo”

In a nut shell, the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz is a hybrid germanium / silicon circuit (NOS germanium paired with high quality silicon transistor). It’s a great sounding fuzz for sure. Something a little different on the board.. and something that can rip. This pedal normally retails for $219, so this is your chance to pick it up for free. If you’re dying to get one (and if you read this post after the give away is closed, you can contact Brandon at Elevation Boutiques to pick up your very own.)

Okay, how do you win GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz? Read below:

I’m going to select one random entry on February 6th. I will email that random entry asking for the answer to the question listed below. They will have 24 hours to respond with the answer. If the 24 hours passes and I don’t hear from that finalist, I will select a new random entry and repeat the process until I receive confirmation from the winner.  This is open to everyone. Yes, that means international! Also, one entry per person.  Please read that last sentence again… “one” “entry” “per” “person”.

The submission form will be open until February 6th (Monday) 12PM MST.

On top of that, I’m going to sweeten the deal. If you ‘LIKE’ EffectsBay on Facebook and you’re selected as the winner, I’ll throw in a extra prize – PRIZE 1 OR PRIZE 2 OR PRIZE 3. If you’re the winner (and like EffectsBay), you get to pick one of the bonus prizes.

So, it’s pretty much a no-brainer to like Effectsbay on Facebook! Just click ‘like’ below or visit the EffectsBay Facebook page here.

So the question is…. “What’s the next piece of gear you are going to buy in 2012?”

Please help promote this give away by Re-Tweeting and sharing on Facebook! Keeping these give aways successful is the key to more give aways. Everyone likes free stuff right?

Popularity: 6%

Here is a great video by MusicRadar.com featuring Bryan Kehoe talking about some upcoming pedals from Dunlop. A few of them have been talked about for a while (ie: Joe Bonamassa Cry Baby and the re-issue of the Way Huge Red Llama), but one caught my ear.  That was for the Eric Johnson Fuzz Face. I remember hearing various stories (could be legend and/or tales passed down from nerd guitarist to nerd guitarist) where Eric would have people find the classic Red Fuzz Face. He was always in search of a particular sound found in a few batches of germanium transistor fuzz faces.

For those of you not too familiar with germanium transistors, transistor were used to replace tubes back in the day. Now germanium is less efficient and consistent than silicon transistors made in the late 60s/70s. So one pair of germanium transistors can sound very different than another pair with the same value.  So a run of Fuzz Faces can have slightly different tonal characteristics.

I’m sure Eric Johnson has a mean collection of Fuzz Faces by now, so having him working with Dunlop for 6 years to develop his signature Fuzz Face is pretty cool. After doing some more research, I was surprised that they’re using BC183 silicon transistors in there. I know NOS germaniums are hard to come by, and I’m wondering for ‘production’ that was the deciding factor? Or it could be that silicon offers a more stable transistor for consistency.. but they definitely sound different. Curious what you think!

Popularity: 2%

I always get stoked when I get photos of winners sending me a photo of themselves with their prize.  A couple of weeks ago on Free Shirt Wednesday, I promoted Spaceman Effects. Zak at Spaceman also wanted to give away a shirt to a lucky EffectsBay winner. The give away was open for a few days, and the random winner was Matt R.  of Saint Peters, MO! Matt was kind enough to send over this photo! Congrats Matt!

Popularity: 2%

Today I saw Caroline Guitar Company post a photo of the new Klon Overdrive at NAMM 2012. The Klon Centaur has reached mythical proportions (in desire and in price) over the last years. You definitely can spend up to $1500+ for original ‘gold’ Klon, etc. Last year, there has been talk about Bill Finnegan getting back into building Klons again, and there was a overdrive shootout video I posted a while back that had the new Klon (but in a card board box – weird right?). So, for 2012, there has been a lot of people interested in the new Klon. At NAMM, Bill Finnegan was there with his prototype Klon and here is the only video I found so far.

Video posted by natesousa:

Personally, I had a hard time hearing the pedal in this video, and hoping there will be more videos coming out…

Popularity: 4%