Effects Bay

Today’s pedal line is from Nathan Speck. 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.

I play a 1989 Fender Strat Deluxe.  I have replaced the bridge and neck pickups (originally gold lace sensors) with red and blue lace sensors, respectively.  My effects line currently runs as such… TC Electronics Polytune > EHX Pog 2 > EHX Microsynth > Ibanez SML > Oxfuzz II > ZVEX Fuzz Factory > Boss HF-2 > Mutron Bi-Phase (not on board) > amp input (Laney GH100L modded with 6550 tubes) > effects send > Boss EQ-20 > Line 6 DL-4 > effects return.  I use a T.Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon (mounted beneath the board) to power everything on the board except for the Line 6 (which requires 2000mA by itself).

I have the Ibanez SML set to just darken and color the tone a bit.  I use the Hi-Band Flanger in “manual” mode to freeze the sweep.  I also like to use the Mutron in this way with the expression pedal, just to color the tone with one phase and use the other phase to create movement.  This is the core of my sound.  I’ll engage the Pog for extra fullness and to push the signal a little harder.  I prefer the Oxfuzz to the Fuzz Factory as it is more transparent and predictable.  The Fuzz Factory is fun, and it is nice to contrast its germanium sound with the silicon of the Oxfuzz, but it can be a challenge to reign in.  The Microsynth is fun to play with and gives an extra edge to lead work which is nice.  There are probably better-sounding delays than the Line 6, but it is very versatile for the money.  I’m really impressed with the Fuel Tank.  I have enough power for a couple more pedals, but I’m out of room on my board.

www.myspace.com/thejudyx
senorpuma.blogspot.com/

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If you follow Electro-Harmonix’s forum (and Facebook page) you’ll occasionally will see a post about Effectology. Basically it’s a YouTube segment where Bill Ruppert creates interesting pieces using EHX products. Sometimes it can be simulations of interesting sound effects (I think of the Halloween segment he did) or it’s about reproducing pieces of music. I really like Effectology because it can really show some of the sonic possibilities out there. Really helps to think outside of the box.

I was super excited to receive an email from Bill Ruppert the other day letting me know about Vol. 25 where he recreates the theme from Blade Runner. I was excited to be contacted by Bill Rupper, because that’s just cool, and I was also excited about the Blade Runner theme. I really liked that movie back in the day and loved the atmosphere/vibe throughout the movie and was really quite curious how he was going to pull off all of those synth pieces.

Below is the video by Bill Ruppert

For a listing of settings, please check out the EHX forum post where he shows what combination of pedals he used to achieve the specific instruments in that piece.

Here is a listing of all the pedals used:

EHX Cathedral Stereo Reverb
FV500H High Impedance Volume Pedal
EHX Big Muff Pi w/Tone Wicker
EHX HOG Synthesizer
EHX Ring Thing Modulator
EHX Memory Man (new version)
EHX Neo Clone Chorus
EHX Tube EQ
EHX Octave Multiplexer
EHX MicroSynth
EHX LPB-1 Linear Power Booster
EHX Big Muff Pi (NYC)
EHX Pulsar Tremolo
EHX Small Stone Phaser

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I recently saw a demo of the Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar by WeRock TV in Japan. I thought this demo was pretty cool, they demonstrated some classic/traditional Sitar sounds but also included an atmospheric vibe as well. Also, the demo includes tab, so those of you that are thinking of getting a sitar intro but have no idea on what is a good scale, etc., this might be quite handy.

The Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar is definitely a ‘hot’ pedal in 2011/2012. Seems to have a lot of interest. Any of you that own it currently, would love to hear your thoughts and opinions. My biggest question about this pedal, are there uses for it beyond the sitar simulation? The demo below seems to have answered that question in the 3rd piece where it sounds very keyboard-like. I think it would be cool to hear some interesting applications of this pedal.

Currently, there is a bundle deal on the Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar at Amazon, for $239.25 you get the Ravish Sitar plus 2 free Struckture 6″ patch cables, 1 10′ Struckture instrument cable and 1 18.6′ instrument cable. Normally the Ravish by itself if $239.25, so to get some bonus items is a nice plus!

Here is the video by RockinfTV:

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It was a few months back and I happened to see post on Electrical Guitar Company’s Facebook page showing a YouTube video for the band Kid Is Qual. What I saw was two basses and a drum kit, and loads of groove happening. I was digging it instantly. The video was for their single “Knights of Ole” which I’ll post below.

Now, I’ve see the double bass action in the past. Usually it’s heavy, one laying the low, while the other is layering a melody. Kid Is Qual is completely different. Yes, there is a bass laying the low end, but the other is doing crazy leads. The groove is on the  up beat and very infectious – totally different than the drony/heavy double bass stuff you normally hear. For vocals, Jonathan uses a vocoder and synth effects that are heavily exaggerated and at times sounds very robotic and machine-like.

Below is the video for Knights of Ole -

The band has seriously been killing it lately. They just finished a stint touring with Ween. Now, Kid Is Qual (KIQ) and Ween.. that would be a pretty awesome combination. Here is what Dean Ween had to say about KIQ (full interview here):

Also, we have a really good opening band called Kid is Qual, as in “quality.” It’s two bass players and a drummer and they play talkboxes like Roger Troutman and Zapp talkboxes, so we have a really killer opening band. We usually don’t have opening bands with us on tour, but these guys are special.

I had an opportunity to send Jonathan Sullivan (singer and lead bass) a few questions about the effects he uses. He currently has a bass lead board and vocal board. Lots going on here.

Bass Lead Board:

Digitech Whammy 4
Digitech Weapon (x2)
Pigtronix Mothership Analog Synth
MXR M135 Smart Gate (x2)
Electro-Harmonix #1 Echo
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
JSL Ole
Foxx Tone Machine
Blue Beard Distortion
Boss OC-2 Octave
Electro-Harmonix  Small Stone Phaser (vintage)
Fulltone Fat Boost
Custom 5 Loop True Bypass Strip
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+

Electro-Harmonix V256 Vocoder
Digitech Weapon
Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth (vintage)
MXR M135 Smart Gate
Custom 44 Watt Talkbox by JSL
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Custom 1 True Bypass Loop
Rocktron Hush Noise Reduction

- For the people not familiar with Kid Is Qual, how could you describe what you guys are about.

KIQ is a two bass and drums rock trio. Then throw in some Roger Troutman style talkbox vocals, some lead bass ala Ernie Isley / Vernon Reid, some glitchy white noise, massive amounts of distortion, a few bottles of Makers and Jager, and you have the sound of KIQ. But our aim is to write good pop songs and get the ladies into it.

- Where did the name Kid Is Qual (KIQ) come about?

You know Hank, picking a name is always a tricky thing. You want something that is easy but not cheesy. LOL. For some reason, at the time when I started to work on this music (back in 2007), the word QUAL was sticking out to me. “Qual” as in, quality.  So for whatever reason, i went with Kid is Qual. I must be honest though, I wanted something that would come up in search engines (google) with little competition, you dig what im saying?

- Knights of Ole is a great song, and looked like one hell of a party. Please tell me shooting that video WAS a raging party!

Thanks for the kind words Hank! Yooooo, the video shoot was a fucking party royale my son! I pretty much had all my friends “fly in / drive in” for the shoot. We took to the bottle of Makers about 10am and the shit was tight. The first day of the video was shot at my friend Randy Odell’s house. He is the man! The second day was shot at this club in Richmond called the Bank. The owner pretty much gave us the keys and we had that joint rocking all day and night son, till 4am! HAHA. It was a blast. Lots of drank, lots of girls, and lots of good times. I think that the overall good vibe and party came through, even though we had to edit some of the footage out since some of my peeps ( ladies and dudes alike ) have official partners. LOL.

- So what’s the criteria for Knighthood?

The whole idea of “knights” came to me on the last tour i did with my old band Jack’s Mannequin. We use the term “ole” as a slogan for good times like….”Man that party was rad. Most ole it was”. LOL.  You know how it is. When you are out on the road you make up some dumb shit since all you do is sit around all day on the bus with the same cats, drankin’ the same brews and doing the same thing every night. The “knights” are my boys, the cats who I work and party with. Whether I see them everyday, or if I see them once a year in another country. When we finally get up, it’s on.

- One of the things that caught my eye was the aluminum. So both you and Mike are riding Electrical Guitar Company basses?

Yup , EGC‘s are the shit. My boy Kevin Burkett is a fellow knight, and he makes these amazing and innovative guitars and basses. He is actually in the “Knights of Ole” video. The aluminum really shapes the tone of the distortion and effects, and they track VERY well. And btw, THEY LOOK FUCKING ACE! I’m really lucky to know such an awesome dude. He is my brother from another mother.

- What do aluminum necks give you that wood doesn’t?

They give you a little “sheen” on top. They also have a nice mid growl to them. I used them in Jack’s Mannequin as well. They sound surprisingly warm too. I mean, I like wood basses too. My favorites are old fenders, carl thompson’s, and old G&L’s. I like basses that cut like a knife, and other ones that sit there like three day old cheese (love you Dan Duggins). But for KIQ, the EGC’s ride tall and qual.

- You currently have two pedal boards. Your vocal board and main bass lead board. Let’s start things off with vocal effects. I’m assuming you’re starting vocal input signal with the Electro-Harmonix Vocoder 256 pedal’s XLR jack?

Yes, i go into the EHX 256 for their awesomely shitty auto-tune effect. It’s so gross.

- Have you messed with other vocoders in the past? Why did you stick with the EHX Vocoder 256?

I have an old Roland SVC 350. It is pretty sweet, though I have always had a hard time getting a good sound out of vocoders. I don’t use the 256 for the vocoder effect. I like the 256′s auto-tune because it sounds grimy and glitchy. I mean, it cuts in and out at shows sometimes. I will probably have to upgrade one of these days, but I don’t want too. I like the fact it sounds like shit. LOL.

- Are you chaining the other effects (digitech weapon, microsynth) in through the vocoder 1/4″ in/outs?

I use the microsynth and weapon in my talkbox loop. So to answer your question, no.

- Are you splitting your input signal before the two boards? Are going out from one board to the other?

No , i just chain my bass from the vox board into the bass board. It took me a time to figure out what the fuck i was doing. I guess I am still figuring it out, but I have come a long way. LMAO. This shit is expensive! It has been a learning experience to say the least.

- Were there particular challenges to having a vox and bass board?

I find the biggest challenge is the switching between the two of them. But I use true-bypass loop pedals, so it usually just one click and I’m good.

- Let’s talk about the custom 44 watt talkbox. It looks like a beast. Was build construction your primary reason for picking this up? Or was it all about the tone?

When I finally got into using talkboxes live, the old ones that weren’t powered (golden throat) gave me problems with the set up and all. I kept blowing them up and shit. So I found out about the Rocktron Banshee. Only thing is, they are pieces of shit and they are only 5 watts! 5 watts! “No can do”, as the song goes. So I needed a louder one. I contacted my boy James Seretis (he is in the final scene of the video busting his ass) and he made me the 44 watt one. You need the extra wattage if you want your words to be clear and to be heard. The construction is sturdy as well. We are still tinkering with them as we speak. BTW James also makes a custom bass fuzz pedal called the “Ole” fuzz. It has a mid and bass boost.

- I see that you have 2 Digitech Weapons on the lead bass board.. and 1 on the vocal board. What’s special about that pedal?

They do a lot of things, one being they have a “whammy mode”. It is pretty much a whammy pedal in a “boss” sized box. So I would say I use them mostly because of their size. I don’t have a tech in this band, so the smaller the better. They also have an input level knob, and a effect blend knob, which the whammy pedal does not.

- I understand the logic of the MXR gates on the vocal board and the lead bass board.. but why 2 on the bass board?

The MXR is a killer gate. It is really the best one i have ever used. When you use all these fuzz pedals and shit, you def need a great gate. This is the joint! I hear that Steve Albini uses one. ‘Nuff said, my son.

- How is crazy is the Pigtronix Mothership?

Hank, i gotta tell you. This MAY be the coolest pedal ever made. It pretty much turns your bass into a MOOG. It is def in my top 4 fave pedals, along with the Whammy, Akai Deep Impact, and Roland Jet Phaser. I use it on the second half of “Knights of Ole”. Peeps freak out when they hear it, they think I am playing with a track or something.

- I’ve seen some crazy bass leads in some live KIQ YouTube clips. What is your primary go to lead pedals?

The bread and butter of my lead tone is the whammy pedal, blue beard distortion, and the mxr gate. Everything else is bells and whistles.

- I wasn’t familiar with Blue Beard Distortion, what’s the story on those guys?

This dude Sonny makes them in College Park, MD. They sell them at Atomic Music. Good luck trying to get one, though. I call every week to see if they have any in stock. I pretty much buy everyone I find. It’s my favorite distortion pedal I have ever used. It has lots of gain, but it’s clean.

- For delays, you’re using the MXR Carbon Copy and the EHX Echo, any particular reasons why you chose those particular delays?

I got the EHX Echo for the slapback delay effect. The Carbon Copy rules, and it is small and qual. I am really just getting into delays, actually. I really want an Eventide delay BTW. I saw this dude from Japan named “Miyavi” play last year. Check him out! The shit he was doing with two of those Eventide’s….wow!  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing my son.

- Let’s talk about the Foxx Tone Machine? What makes that pedal unique?

I got my first one in like 1995 for like $50. What a deal! I still have it. They def sounds different than any other distortion pedal I have ever used. I hear Adrian Belew based his whole playing style off this pedal. I also use this on “Knights of Ole”. The Foxx Tone has that awesome “octave” effect as well. They are gross as shit!

- I see you’re using a 5 loop true bypass looper. Are you creating combination effects loops (turning multiple pedals on with one switch)? Or are you focusing on the true bypass on individual pedals and for easy access?

Yes, in KIQ I use the 5 loop true bypass to turn on several effects at once. It is really a game changer. I also used one in JM as well. They are great because if something in your chain breaks you can always turn off the effect and have signal! And obviously it doesn’t suck your tone going through all your pedals. I’m kind of a tone snob. Funny story…… When I was on tour with the Fray in 2009, their guitarist had like 345 pedals. They were all in a chain with these Mickey Mouse cables and shit. LMAO. No bypass pedal! Man, every night I would go hang on stage left to just to see if his shit would break! It never did though, he was really lucky. My shit breaks all the time. Alas.

- I know you have a ton more boxes and used a lot of effects in the studio, are there any more that might make it on the live rig?

Yeah, there are a few I would like to add. The space is the issue, though. I already have two pretty big pedal boards. I need a tech!. The pedals I would like to add to my live set up would be the POG, the Roland Jet Phaser, the Foxx Tone Machine, the EHX Microsynth (vintage), and the Mutron Phaser, among others. And of course I WOULD LOVE to get an Eventide delay one of these days. Santa, do you hear me?

- Any on the board that you’ve been itching to replace? If so what? Why?

Not really. I have weeded out all the McCheese pedals over the past few years. It’s more of a “want to add” thing at this point.

- What is your deserted island pedal? If you could only have one pedal.. what would it be? And why?

As a nerd, this is a tough question Hank! LOL. I would say the Akai Deep Impact. It pretty much turns your bass into a digital synth. But one pedal wouldn’t satisfy my needs. If I was playing in a band on said island (haha), it would have to be the Boss Octave pedal. That is really the most useful pedal for any bass player, IMO.

- How do you learn about pedals you want to check out?

Back in the day I would run into sweet vintage pedals all the time (foxx tone machine), but now I just go to youtube and kind of snoop around.

- Is there something you’re always keeping a 3rd eye on? Type of effect, etc?

I definitely want an Eventide Delay.

- What amp(s) are you using for your live set up?

I use a Gallien Krueger 1001 with an Eden 2×10 cabinet. Mikey uses a GK 800 and a Eden 2 x 10 as well (for size reasons). In the studio I use a vintage Ampeg SVT and an Acoustic 360.

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Kid Is Qual is releasing another EP on March 27th called “Ladies Choice” so be sure to check that out. For more info on Kid Is Qual – visit their website, like them on Facebook and follow the on Twitter!

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One of my favorite computer pass times is to head over to the You Tubes and see if I can find something new musically. I really like music. I like playing. I like listening to it, but what I really like.. is to be inspired from it. That inspiration can be found in many forms – oldies but goodies, a horrible musician, that made a good noise at one point, or even an interview of a musician that makes me think of music in a new way.

Usually during this process I find at least one band that caught my ear for whatever reason, so I really try to do this a couple a times per month. The worst is being stuck in a musical rut. I think back to high school and how so much music was ‘new’ to me. Every person I met, every party I would go to, would be a new musical discovery. It’s not because there was more music back then, but I was very open and I wanted to explore. I think it’s good to keep that attitude today.

Anyways, I stumbled upon The Joy Formidable and something about it caught my ear. I like the chaos that was created by their effects. I like the drive of the tune countered by the pop/nice vocal style of Ritzy Bryan. I like that this video (by kexpradio) was shot in a bike shop, etc. They are from North Wales, UK and.. I want to hear more.

So, as you can see, there are some pedals on the floor. Let’s break down Ritzy Bryan’s board for this post:

Line 6 Echo Park Delay
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Boss LS-2 Line Selector
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeler
Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler
MXR 10 Band Graphic EQ
Boss PH-3 Phaser
Boss TR-2 Tremolo
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+

I saw that she was manipulating two pedals, and I had a hard time seeing what that pedal was below her hand in the photo above, but I was able to capture one frame that shows it. It looks like she’s manipulating a pair of Boss DD-3 Digital Delays. It was also interesting to see that she has a total of 3 equalizers (2 Boss GE-7 and 1 MXR 10 band). I’m guessing she has a lead route and a rhythm route (based on the Boss LS-2). Still not sure what the MXR 10 band is there for. I was unable see the settings on the 10band, but both GE-7 were flat with the exception of the output (so using them as boost maybe?).

Let me know if I missed anything.. or if anything is correct by commenting below! Thanks!

UPDATE
The pedal I identified as a Line 6 Echo Park, might actually be a Line 6 Verbzilla. Additionally, right of the MXR 10 Band EQ is a Boss TU-3 Tuner (not seen in the photos above)

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Here is a video by Premiere Guitar where the Electro-Harmonix booth at NAMM 2012 showed off their Analogizer and Deluxe Memory Man 550-TT. I’ve been very interested in the Analogizer and wanted to hear more about it. It seems like a great little box to ‘darken’ up the signal, especially on trailing delays, etc. I thought it was cool that it was a signal boost as well (similar to LPB1 – Linear Power Boost) giving it up to 26dB of signal gain.

I have a T-Rex Replica delay and I like how you can set it to be ‘dark’. I also have a Boss DD-3 which is very digital and a pedal like this could come in handy for a DD-3 or DD-7 to generate more of an analog feel.

The Deluxe Memory Man is similar to the standard Deluxe Memory Man with tap tempo, but has shorter maximum delay (550ms) since those chips are easier to come by. I particularly liked the demo with the POG2 in the effects loop of the pedal to only affect the wet signal with the POG. Very cool.

Here is the video:

I found a good ‘bundle’ deal on the Electro-Harmonix Analogizer for $104.85 at Amazon, but you get 2 free Strukture 6″ patch cables and 2 free Strukture 18.6′ instrument cables. Not a bad deal!

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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

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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

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Before I changed professions and ended up talking to computers all day, I use to be a line cook at a very popular Italian restaurant in my home town. I really did like cooking, I wasn’t so much into creating recipes, etc, but I really dug working on the line. There was a great satisfaction being in the TALL weeds of a busy night and me and the A-Team crew would crush the tickets and dominate the night. There was something special working like a team in a stressful busy restaurant.

I remember one night, a fellow cook brought in Fu Manchu‘s “In Search Of…” album and I was blown away. A short time later, I picked up “The Action is Go” and “Eatin’ Dust” albums. I officially became a fan of the band.

In the kitchen there was my friend Jimmy (who is the same Jimmy that does the demos here) as well as another cook that played drums. We started joking around that we should form a Fu Manchu tribute band and play a show or two. The stupid band name ‘!Tra-Bang!’ popped out in the middle of one of our shifts and we started practicing for a gig to lay down some Fu and melt some faces. The gig was awesome and we even laid down a few tracks to document our efforts.

A few years later, Fu Manchu actually played Missoula, which was great to finally see the band up close and personal. I remember being right in front soaking in the fuzz and kick drum.

Fast forward a few more years to today, and I sit here now reading answers to gear questions I sent to Bob Balch about effects. I think that is pretty cool indeed.

Bob Balch is not only in Fu Manchu but also runs PlayThisRiff.com which is a site to learn how to play riffs by heavier bands, and are usually taught by those guitarists themselves. Bob also does lesson videos on the site breaking down scales and techniques. If you’re interested in learning some riffage or working on some heavier solos, etc. that place is a great resource! Additionally, he teaches guitar at North County Guitar Lessons in the San Diego area and offers in house and/or private skype lessons!

So I sent Bob a few questions asking about his latest pedal board below:

Creepy Fingers Creepyface Fuzz
Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
Dunlop GCB-95 Wah
Boss TU-2 Tuner
BBE Soul Vibe Phaser
Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Deluxe w/Hazarai

- Over the years, when I think of Fu Manchu, I think fuzz. What fuzz pedals have been on your board or used in the studio throughout the years?
I started with a regular Fuzz Face. I used that for years. Then I tried a Vintage Tone Project Fuzz. I had one custom made and the dude put my pic on it. Funny. Now I play a Creepy Fingers Creepy Face. I’ve used tons of different ones in the studio, but those are/were my main live ones.

- Currently, I see that you’re using the Creepy Fingers Fuzz. What did Brad Davis do right to the fuzz that makes this *the* fuzz on your board?
It has tons of gain but doesn’t get muddy. And it doesn’t feedback much either. I always wanted to most amount of fuzz with the most clarity.

- Is that Creepy Fingers Fuzz a prototype, or standard issue. Can anyone get that same exact fuzz?
You can get the same, but I have #1!!!!!!!

- Have you always been a germanium type of fuzz dude, or did you dabble in some silicon based transistors in the past?
Rarely. If it sounds good though I’ll play it.

- In my experience, you can get some pretty crazy reaction with a buffer in front of the fuzz. Have you ever explored that?
No I haven’t.

- Have you considered having multiple fuzzes on the board for different tone options?
Yes, but I haven’t yet. I just recently got a pedal board with power. I was going old school with 9volts for years. More pedals in that respect = more crap to worry about in my opinion.

- Why do you prefer the fuzz to be the first pedal in the line?
For a bigger sounding Wah.

- When I look at your board, I like the simplicity. Fuzz, Wah, Delay, Phase. I can see how this is perfect for Fu Manchu. Do you have other projects (or even with PlayThisRiff.com) that you need a board with more variety?
I have been working with tap tempo pedals a lot more with my own stuff. PlayThisRiff.com is mostly other bands showing what they play, so anything goes there.

- After your fuzz, you have the Boss NS-2 noise suppressor. Is there a particular reason why you have that in that location?
If it is on the other side of the wah it takes away a ton of sweep. I learned that the hard way after buying a new wah. Damn!

- In the past you use to ride the MXR Phase 100, but now you’re using the BBE Soul Vibe. What caused you to change? And why did you pick the BBE Soul Vibe?
BBE gave me that, and it sounds killer. I originally used a MXR that I bought off of J from WHITE ZOMBIE. After touring with WHITE ZOMBIE and FU MANCHU that Phaser got phased out. Our singer still plays his MXR though.

- If memory serves me correct, you use to run the phaser through the effects loop. What were the pros/cons of going through the effects loop with the modulation?
It just sounded more intense with the Marshall 2000. I used to play an 800 and it didn’t need the loop.

- Have you ever placed the delay in the effects loop?
Yes. I like it both ways for different reasons.

- You’re currently running the Electro-Harmonix Memory Man w/Hazarai.. a great sounding and feature rich pedal for sure. What other delays were in the line up in the past, and how is this Memory Man superior to those other delays?
I had a MXR carbon copy, and a Boss Digital Delay. I used to have a Washburn Analog too. The Memory Man is by far my favorite. I still discover new sounds on that thing after 1 year of touring with it.

- What amp(s) are you using right now?
Marshall 2000.

- For someone interested in playing heavier music, and wanting to pick up some effects, what would you recommend as a good introduction?
Creepy Fingers!

- Here are some EffectsBay staple questions that I like to ask…If you could only keep one pedal on your board, what pedal would that be? and why? The deserted island question.
Probably the Fuzz in FU MANCHU. Delay otherwise.

- What pedal are you most interested in adding.. something that’s been in the back of the mind, and just waiting for the right reason to pull the trigger on it
I want to get any delay from this link http://bit.ly/y3CHwa

- What pedal on your board do you not like, yet it consistently remains.. and you have no idea why? If any?
None really. They all serve a purpose.

- What pedal on your board, if any, would you like to upgrade or try something different?
Wah for sure. I’ve had it modded before, but I never tried any other ones. Oh wait, Lightning Bolt wah I think it was called. That thing is rare and badass. I used it on the intro to the FU song “Webfoot Witchhat.” Check it out!

Thanks Bob! Make sure you follow PlayThisRiff on Twitter and ‘like’ them on Facebook for daily lessons and news!

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I had a chance to speak with the guitarist/vocalist in one of my favorite bands, Arma Secreta (for those of you that aren’t certain on the pronunciation of Secreta – It rhymes with Beretta). Chris Wark is the singer and sole guitarist in the 3 piece band out of Memphis, TN. I remember catching a live performance on YouTube, and that clip sold me right away. Chris plays Travis Bean guitars (I love aluminum neck instruments) and he utilizes live guitar loops to create the signature Arma Secreta sound. Their sound is all about tension, intensity, melody and energy. The definitely have elements of math-rock, which I’m a big fan of, but I only like “math rock” if it maintains melody and emotion.

You can learn more about Arma Secreta from the following links : Arma Secreta BandCamp | Arma Secreta Facebook | Arma Secreta YouTube

Chris Wark is also a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer in 2003 (26 years old) and radically changed his diet and avoided chemotherapy to overcome the cancer. He has a great blog (chrisbeatcancer.com) which talks about diet for a healthier lifestyle. But what I like about that blog… it’s not preachy or annoying. It’s very informative and realistic, from a musician’s point of view.

Recently, Arma Secreta just released a new album titled – Dependent Lividity and is a fantastic recording. The album that I was super psyched on and had many plays in the office was their last album – A Century’s Remains. Great, great album!

I mentioned that I wanted to do some interviews with musicians and have very gear-centric discussions. I started things off with John Haughm so I’m very pleased to follow that up with Chris Wark. Below is a shot of his pedal board

TC Electronic Polytune Tuner
Boss TR-2 Tremolo
Boss PS-6 Harmonist
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Harmonic Percolator (Made by Chuck Collins)
Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb (not pictured, older unit)
Line 6 Echo Park Delay (not pictured)
Boss LS-2 Line Selector
Akai Headrush E1
Boss RC-20 Loop Station

- How would you best describe what Arma Secreta is all about?
Clubbin, thuggin, chuggin, huggin, jugglin… but no druggin.

- What pedal is the most crucial to achieving your sound in Arma Secreta?
None of the pedals are “critical” to our sound.  The sound of the band really shaped most by the guitars and amps and they way we play them. The pedals all contribute in small ways and add textures to certain musical sections, which I thinks makes for more interesting music; providing sonic variety and surprises. The Boss Harmonist is responsible for some of the weirder guitar sounds for sure.  I use it to triple my signal adding an octave above and an octave below.  That has become a familiar part of our sound as it makes appearances in many songs. I will say that the Akai Headrush is the most critical to the music we make, as I loop guitar parts often. Many of our songs would be impossible to play without it.

- I see you have an Akai Headrush (older version) and a Boss RC-20 loop station. Do you loop guitar signals with both loopers?
I only loop with the Headrush. It’s very user friendly in a live setting and I’ve been using it for 10+ years. So I’m pretty good at tight loops, which our drummer appreciates. The loop station is only used to trigger pre-recorded and saved samples.

- Do you split the signal to different amps with the Akai?
Nope.

- What are some of the pros and cons with the Akai Headrush?
Pros are: ease of use, it’s built like a tank, never had to replace it. I really like the sound and decay of the tape delay setting on it as well.
Cons for some would be that it only will loop 22 seconds if you plan on looping multiple layers. And it doesn’t save loops. The first time I saw/heard one in action was Ian from Don Cabellero on the “American Don” tour in the late 90′s. Had to have it.

- Are there features that the Akai has that the RC-20 does not.. and vice versa?
The RC-20 has a longer recording time and saves 10 loops, but it’s difficult to make tight loops live. I use it because I own it, but I wouldn’t really recommend it.

- Have you considered picking up the Akai Headrush E2?
Yes, mainly because it’s got a longer recording/looping time. I’ll definitely get one if mine ever dies…

- How are you liking the TC Electronic Polytune?
I love it. It’s amazing.  You can play a six string chord and it tells you which strings are in or out of tune. The screen is large and bright and easy to read onstage.

- Chuck Collins Harmonic Percolator – was that a Steve Albini influence in that purchase?
Yes and like the Travis Bean guitars the scarcity of it was also an attraction.

- How would you describe the Harmonic Percolator to someone unfamiliar with that effect?
A little back story first: Chuck Collins acquired some spare parts from Interfax after they went out of business.  And apparently hacked the schematics from several percolators.  The original circuit boards were glued together for prevent anyone from stealing the circuit design. When I bought mine around 2001 he told me that it was one of the last ones he was going to build because he was basically out of original parts. The Harmonic Percolator is a distortion pedal. Mine has a silicon and a germanium transistor.  There are two faders: volume and distortion. The input jacks are backwards, consistent with the original, and it only takes a battery, which is a pain. At a low distortion setting it produces a broad spectrum fuzz/noise as apposed to a tight buzz.  When the distortion is wide open it produces an incredibly nasty, fat, compressed noise distortion.  There’s a ton of low end and sounds like it’s melting on the inside and frying the guitar signal.  You would think the pedal is literally smoking, which is pretty awesome.  I typically use it on the lower distortion side, on about 5 out of 11, with 11 being wide open of course.  Dialing it down gives individual notes more clarity, but some times I push it full blast.

- Since you and Steve Albini both use Travis Beans and Harmonic Percolators, do you think that pedal compliments Travis Beans in particular or is the Percolator great for other guitars?
Not necessarily, but I do think it sounds best with single coil pickups.

- Have you played around with other delays?
Not really no.  I’ve never been on a “delay quest” to find the best delay pedal on the planet or whatever.

I use the Line 6 Echo Park mostly for short delays (3-4 repeats), which fills out certain picking parts, which I do a lot of. I’m definitely a picker.  That’s the most recent addition to the arsenal. A gearhead/guitar tech buddy of mine who has literally owned every delay pedal ever made swore by it.  It has a lot of delay options, tap tempo, etc.  I really like it a lot.

- What do you primarily use the Boss Delay for.. long repeats? Slap backs? etc.
The DD-3 has one useful function for me: The hold function on infinite delay. It lets you control delay in the same manner you would control sustain on a piano.  As long as you are pressing down on the pedal the delay is on.  When you let up the delay stops. This allows me to reset the delay with each chord change.  I can play a chord and hold the delay while I play another part over it.  I wrote a song called Kilowatt Lake which centers around the function of that pedal.  It’s on our new record Dependent Lividity.

- How are you liking the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail?
I like the large knob as I adjust the reverb mix with my foot from one part to the next.

- Similar question to the delay, have you tried any other reverbs out there?
It does what I need it to do so I haven’t had any reason to try any others.

- Are you using the Boss LS-2 as a selector between instruments or are you splitting off effects in a loop or switching signals to the amp?
I use it to A/B my amps.  It has several A/B options and a signal boost which is really nice. I use it on “Bypass / A+B” setting.  When the pedal is off and bypassed you hear my Fender Bassman, when I kick it on “A+B” the Sovtek Mig-60 comes in and the Fender signal gets a boost.

- Are there any pedals that your interested in that you’re thinking about picking up?
I recently acquired an Xotic EP Booster, MXR DynaComp, and MXR Boost Line Driver from a buddy that needed cash.  I’m playing around with those right now. I’m definitely interested in broadening my horizons, I know it when I hear it.

- If you could keep one effect from the board, what effect would that be? Your deserted island pedal.
Definitely the Akai Headrush. It’s great songwriting tool.

- Looking at the photo, I noticed the black and red tape on the boxes? What’s the story there?
Years ago I covered all my pedals with electrical tape so no one could tell what I was using.  If someone really wanted to know they had to come up and ask me after the show and I would tell them. A girl came up to me at our record release show and told me my pedal board “sounded amazing” and that she’d seen a lot of them having dated several guitar players. That was definitely the first and probably the last time a girl will ever comment on my pedal board.

- Is that a home brew pedal board and case? What’s the story there?
Yep also made that years ago.  I didn’t want to spend $250 on a large pedal board so I built one with 3/4″ plywood and black spray paint.  It has two tiers which made the second row of pedals easier to get to. I bought a gun case to carry the pedal board in.  Actually I bought the gun case first, then built the pedal board to fit inside it. I think it cost me around $50 bucks total and it’s held up really well.

- When you’re picking up effects, what is the most important factor when buying? Build durability, quality of tone, etc.  
I really have never considered either of those factors.  I’m more interested in what the pedal does and how I can use it.  Yes some pedals color my tone but it’s negligible.  I’m a practical guy and am very content with the pedals I have. Aside from adding a few here and there I really haven’t changed anything out on my board since it was originally assembled.

- I know you use a couple of Travis Beans in Arma Secreta, do you use any other guitars live or for recording?
I play the Travis Bean TB 500 the most, and on the neck pickup exclusively. Nothing sounds like it and it has shaped my playing style to such an extent that I really don’t want to play any other guitar. It has a warm hollow sound that’s also metallic and brittle, which I realize doesn’t make sense at all. And it’s incredibly responsive. I ask, and it delivers.  It’s always funny when other guitar players ask me to play it.  You just can’t play it like any other guitar and so they have no idea what to do with it.  They will fiddle with the pickup positions and the amp eq, but they can’t get it to sound like a normal guitar and invariably put it down confused.  I bought a Dan Armstrong style lucite/aluminum neck guitar built by Electrical Guitar Company in early 2011.  It’s the closest to the TB500 that I’ve heard, but still very different. It’s more of a tight, hard, and focused sound, less articulate and with less individual string clarity. But I like it. I’ve been playing that live along with the TB500.  I also have a TB1000 Artist, Fender Bass VI, a Telecaster, and a Peavey T-60.  They don’t get much attention.

Let’s talk about the amp set up for a bit.
- How did you come about using the Sovtek Mig 60 head?
I played through one in a guitar shop 15 years ago and liked it.  A few years after that I saw one in a pawn shop and bought it.  It’s super loud , great natural distortion, and built to military specs with Russian cold war surplus parts. It’s never failed me ever.

- You mentioned your 70s Fender Bassman Ten was modded to blackface specs. Did you request the modification, or did you pick it up that way.   What does that mod give you over stock Bassman?
I read up on it and I had it modded. The blackface Fenders did not have a master volume, so that is bypassed.  There were some other tweaks involved but I forget what they are now.  That was years ago. I should Google it, but I’m too lazy.  Definitely tonal and overdrive improvement.

- I played with a bass player that used the Hartke 4×10 cabinet and that thing weighed like a tank. How is the 4×12 guitar cab?
It’s never struck me as being particularly heavy, it’s not deep like a bass cab.  That’s another item that sounds super weird. Aluminum guitar speakers sound much more metallic than aluminum bass speakers. I never play it by itself. It is always running in tandem with the Fender.  The Bassman 10 has four 10″ speakers and produces a loosely distorted noisy sparkly “fender tone”.  The Sovtek Mig-60 running through the Hartke 412 produces an EL34 Marshall Plexi-style distortion, it’s creamy with a tight low end and a cold metallic ring in the upper frequencies.  The Fender and Sovtek together make an incredibly huge and complex tonal blend and are critical to the Arma Secreta sound.  I once had a guitar player ask to borrow the Hartke cab at a show after his Marshall cab blew, and he couldn’t figure out the tone. It confused him like a TB 500 would. After much knob turning, he got so frustrated that he went found another cab to play through.  Probably why they don’t make that guitar cabinet anymore. On the plus side, it’s easy to talk people out of borrowing it. Incidentally I bought the Bassman for $75, the Sovtek for $150, and the Hartke cab for $100 bucks about 10 or 11 years ago.

Thanks Chris for the great interview. Now, for those of you wanted a little taste of Arma Secreta.. here is 60 seconds with Arma Secreta, Live From Memphis:

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