Effects Bay

Today’s pedal line is from Michael Stettes. 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 bass (and do some light synth work) in Sam Cooper & The Sleepwalkers, a Wilco-ish, Sun Kil Moon-y sort of band that I love dearly. We just did a winter EP called “Snow” and you can download the three songs off it for FREE at http://samcoopersolo.bandcamp.com/releases. It includes an original as well as two covers. So if you wanna hear some slackers put their own spin on “Kiss From a Rose” as well as the Christmas classic, “Walking in the Air,” boom, do it. I mean, it’s friggin’ Seal, man. Get some.

The Bass: I’m only using one bass guitar right now–a MIM Fender P-bass that’s been completely gutted, sanded down, and rebuilt to emulate a 60′s P-bass in every way. Electronics have been replaced, frets have been sanded, and it’s been repainted with a nitrocellulose laquer (ReRanch Sonic Blue) with the headstock matched. The coat has started to become a little seafoamy with time, but that’s just fine. Here are a few pics, one with me in it from a gig a little while ago. The pic with the driftwood came from the luthier who sold it to me, and he didn’t include the tugbar, but I wouldn’t have used it anyway. I also put a sizable nick in the headstock that I’m irked about, but like the luthier told me to do when I bought it from him, I’ve been “playing the hell out of it.”

The Board: I use a modified Pedal Pad AXSII. It’s really heavy but it’s super durable. I loved the board but since I bought it used, the carpet wasn’t in the best condition. I ripped it off, painted the bare wood black, and drilled some 12″x12″ aluminum sheets into it. They’re lightweight, and good for adhesive strips of velcro. I’m thinking of modding it further by drilling a handle between the wooden flaps so I can lift both up at once.

The Power: I use a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 and have a Visual Sound 1-Spot plugged into the PP2′s outlet. The only thing I don’t like about the PP2 is the fact that because the barrel connectors are straight, it’s hard to fit them in tight spaces, like on pedals with 9v jacks on the side right next to the jacks. That’s where the 1-spot’s angled connectors come in. I have the PP2 attached with velcro to the underside of one of the flaps, reinforced by super glue. Super-glue is awesome. I’ve noticed some minor noise that I think is likely ground-loop related and cuased by the daisy chain, so I’ll likely get a Voodoo Lab ISO-5 at some point to supplement MAH POWAH.

The Cables: Most of the connections on the board are made using Planet Waves Solderless Pedal Board Cables. I strongly recommend them. Easy to make and use. I have a couple of DiMarzio Patch Cables, an Armor Gold one, and a few cheapies of origins unknown. I use a Monster Rock cable from the guitar to the board. People say Monster is overrated, and that’s probably true, but their Rock cables coil extremely well, look good, and have never given me an issue. From the board to the amp, I use an Armor Gold cable.

Korg Pitchblack Tuner: Nice and bright. Does its job and does it well. The footswitch has gotten a little glitchy over the years and I might repair it soon. I’d prolly get another if I had to replace it.

Boss DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion: Many reviews knock the dirt of this pedal, but I actually dig it. However, I don’t use this as a dirt pedal live. I solely use it for its feedback function in combination with my other pedals to create cool, droney soundscapin’, which is why I don’t mind it being in front of the compressor. I’ve toyed with the idea of getting the new Boss FB-2 Feedbacker/Booster as a replacement, and storing the SF-2 for safekeeping since it’s discontinued. Oh, and I had a guy put a purple LED in mine, because fuck red.

Ashdown Dual Band Compressor: A buddy of mine had this sitting around his house and just gave it to me. I had never messed with a bass compressor pedal before. I was definitely missing out. I almost always leave it on now. It’s got a pretty big footprint, but I love the sound it gives me. Plus, the EQ on it is really powerful.

Fender Sub-Lime Bass Fuzz: What a cool pedal in both looks and sounds. Rockin’ ballsy vintage bass fuzz. Comes with a price though: learning curve, weighs a bit, and some of the controls are under the pedal. I’ve thought about having it rehoused by Walrus Audio and renaming it the “Sub-lemon-al Bass Fuzz” (see what I did there?). Still, I love it. This is my go-to pedal for dirt live. I stack it with the El Oso if I need even more.

Devi Ever U.S. Fuzz: Gated, sputtery doom. Lacks a little low end, but I can adjust the amp for that and it’s good for smooth, synthy, saw-like fuzz. It’s actually off my board now (I had stolen it from my guitarist and he wanted it back, d’oh!) I now have a clone of the U.S. Fuzz that Noisekick FX did for me called the “DEUS,” which means “GOD” in Latin, but also pays tribute to the original: Devi Ever US. The clone has an an additional toggle switch for more low end. I combine it with the Hummingbird for cool pulse sounds.

Heavy Electronics El Oso Bass Distortion: Use this when I want a mostly clean tone with a background of sizzle. Thank you Blend knob! Sayer, the proprietor of Heavy Electronics, is an awesome chappie, and you really can’t go wrong with his pedals. Ever.

Earthquaker Devices Hummingbird: This is essentially a tremolo, but Earthquaker refers to it as a repeat percussion pedal, which is probably more accurate. It’s all chop, can get really fast, and its depth goes all the way to silence. Exceptional pedal.

Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus: While this can definitely add some thickness to the dirt and the drones, this is strictly a placeholder pedal. I will soon be replacing this with the Source Audio Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter. And yes, I’m getting the Hot Hands to go with it. I’m torn on whether or not I should get the “Pro” version of it. If I get a bigger board though, I’ll keep the Cool Cat because I like the spund of chorus on bass, but in that instance, I may replace it with the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus.

MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay: You see this bad boy everywhere for a reason. Solid, dark, analog delay. I’ve tweaked the internal controls for more modulation.

Line 6 Verbzilla: There are two main things I use this reverb for. The first is the Octo setting for thickening the feedbacker drones and for other shimmery things. The second is the Ducking verb, which is really ideal for bass guitar. It responds to your playing dynamics. The louder you play, the less reverb you hear, so your signal isn’t muddied, and when a note rings out, the verb fades back in. Plus, the Verbzilla has a trails switch that I think is ideal for delay/reverb pedals.

The Amp: Nothing fancy. Just a little Ampeg BA115 Combo.

Thanks for reading! i know I probably included a lot of details you don’t care about, but I personally like reading that kind of stuff, and thought others might as well! Again! Free songs! Seal! http://samcoopersolo.bandcamp.com/releases

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Earlier this year, I had a chance to grab some lunch and a beer with John Haughm of Agalloch (and his lovely companion Veleda – you have to check out her photography!) to discuss another unrelated project. But recently, I thought it would be great to talk gear with John and how they play a role in Agalloch. Pedals, guitars and amps are always fun to talk about, but what I really like is how they *apply* to music or to the creative process. A simple fuzz pedal to one person is a completely different beast or tool to another, and it’s interesting to see how and WHY they use particular pedals.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of very gear (specifically pedals) oriented interviews by musicians for musicians for a while, so let’s start things off!

Agalloch is a dark metal band based out of Portland, Oregon. For more information, check out the website, Wikipedia, Facebook and MySpace pages! If you get a chance be sure to catch Agalloch on the road, they tour quite a bit (and to Europe).

To start, here is John’s pedal line. He’s using a bi-amp set up with half of the pedals going to one amp (78 Fender Deluxe Reverb Combo) and the other going to the other amp (Orange Rockerverb 100 MKII halfstack) with the option of running both amps (and all effects) at the same time.

Ernie Ball JR Volume Pedal -> Korg DT-10 Tuner (dedicated out from the Vol Pedal) -> TC Electronic Nova Delay -> Radial ABY Amp Switcher

-> Radial ABY for Amp Switcher -> ProCo Rat2 Distortion -> Red Witch Analog Empress Chorus -> Electro-Harmonix Freeze -> 1978 Fender Deluxe Reverb Combo
-> Radial ABY for Amp Switcher -> MXR M-152 Micro Flanger -> Boss DD-6 Digital Delay -> Boss RC-20 Loop Station -> Orange Rockerverb 100 MKII halfstack

Moogerfooger Analog Delay MF-104Z (effects loop on the Orange)
All housed on a Pedaltrain PT-2 and powered by a BBE Supa-charger

- John, how would you describe your music to someone completely unfamiliar with Agalloch?
JH: There is a long answer and a short answer to this question. The short answer is “Dark Metal”. The long answer…well we have a lot of influences that range from black metal like Bathory and Ulver to doomy stuff like Bethlehem and Katatonia all the way to stuff like Fields Of The Nephilim, Swans, Coil, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Arvo Part, Death In June, Steve Reich, and Joy Division. Our style combines a great deal of opposing musical genres to create some really dark, eclectic, heavily layered, and often longwinded compositions that ebb and flow with varying degrees of mood and depth. We have sprawling 17 minute long dynamic epics and we have 3 minute acoustic pieces. Plus ambient drone, noisy stuff, experimental folk, progressive rock tendencies, etc…

Also, my favorite band in the world is Rush. You can hear their influence all over our songwriting and especially Alex Lifeson’s influence in my playing.

- Ok, I’m sure you get asked this a lot, where/how did the name Agalloch come about?
JH: It is a rare type of wood that is burned for its aromatic smoke. The name sounded good and it didn’t pigeonhole us to a single, tangible heavy metal stereotype.

- How critical are your pedals for creating the Agalloch’s sonic atmosphere?
JH: For me especially, they are crucial because most of my parts totally depend on them. My bi-amping alone creates half of the wall of sound live.

- Has a pedal (or combination) actually gave birth to a song?
JH: Yeah, in fact I started writing a new composition the day I bought the Nova Delay. It ended up being a song on our last album called “Ghosts Of The Midwinter Fires”.

- How has the Travis Bean guitar influenced your song writing, if at all?
JH: Well I have only owned a Travis Bean since early 2009 but that guitar definitely cleaned up my very “loose and dirty” playing style. I had to get used to a guitar with such precise clarity that any sloppiness would be heard. I have played a lot of different guitars over the years but the Travis Bean is far and away the best instrument I have owned. I own three of them now (2 standards and an Artist). It is amazing what that tone can do to certain songs that used to not sound that great live….but now sound completely revitalized.

- I’m assuming everything is powered up with the Voodoo Lab PedalPower 2+ underneath?
JH: It is a BBE Supa-charger under the Pedal Train PT2. We use the Supa-charger for the voltage switching since we tour Europe a lot.

- You have 3 very different delay pedals. The MoogerFooger Analog Delay, the Boss DD-6 and the TC Electronic Nova Delay. Can you describe the differences and how they apply for your sound?
JH: The Moogerfooger is used primarily for leads and solos. The DD-6 is used with just the Orange for really noisy distorted delays. The TC Electronic is used for both the Orange and Fender simultaneously. I use it a lot for clean tone passages that require a very U2-ish pinging delay but I also use it for those moments when I want both amps effected for a full wall-of-sound atmospheric experience.

- Why do you prefer to run the MoogerFooger through the effects loop rather than through the input?
JH: It sounds cleaner. I use it for solos and leads primarily and I want those delays to be smooth and understated.

- How do you feel the Boss DD-6 holds up compared to the MoogerFooger and Nova?
JH: It’s reliable. I’ve never had a problem with it which is great for a cheap delay pedal that I’ve had forever. Sound-wise it does what I want it to do which is basically the more nasty distorted delays. I don’t like that it is not true-bypass but whatever. It doesn’t seem to affect my tone at all.

- Is there a specific task that the DD-6 can do that others can’t do as easily?
JH: It does have this cool haunting vibe to it with the settings I use. The other pedals could probably get that vibe too, but I use them for other specific sounds. But yeah…for a wicked haunting distorted delay sound from a cheap pedal that’s built like a tank, the DD-6 is just fine. Of course I’m always trying new pedals out and changing my board around so will likely replace the DD-6 eventually. For now though, it does its job.

- I see the ProCo RAT is on the the ’78 Fender Deluxe Reverb, why did you opt for that particular distortion pedal for the Fender?
JH: The RAT was recommended to me by several people so I checked it out and thought it sounded really great with the Fender, especially with that amp’s reverb. I mostly use it for texture on top of the normal gain I use from the Orange.

- Can you explain how the EHX Freeze is used? It appears to be in the effects loop, which I don’t see that often for that pedal. Is it with the Fender? Do you primarily use it in ‘latch’ mode? If so.. why?
JH: There are a couple newer songs that require a sustained note here and there. I also use it for one of our show intros which involves a very ritualistic drone that slowly builds into the first song.

- For modulation, you are using the Red Witch Chorus/Vibrato and the MXR Micro Flanger each to their respective amps. Can you let me know why you chose those modulation pedals over others?
JH: I have always loved Red Witch stuff so their chorus pedal was high on my list. Totally satisfied. Killer pedal. The MXR was something I tried in the studio. That pedal through the clean tone of a vintage Hiwatt was like a voodoo experience. I literally couldn’t stop playing ’80s post punk riffs! I had to get one! It is a great little chorus pedal that often does its job too well.

- Have you messed around with modulation in the effects loop?
JH: Yeah, whenever I get a new pedal I’ll try it with every possible configuration until I get whatever sound I’m looking for.

- There is something strange in the water over there in Portland (and in the NW in general) that promotes effects building. Have you dabbled with any of the effects that are made in your neck of the woods? Prescription Electronics, Devi Ever, Spaceman Effects, Jack Deville Electronics, VFE Electronics (WA), Catalinbread (WA) are just a few names that come to mind.
JH: I bought the Catlinbread Semaphore pedal but ended up giving it to the other guitarist in the band since he plays the majority of tremolo parts and he was looking for a killer tremolo pedal for his board. The others I haven’t tried. Our bassist uses a Monolith Lodestone which is made locally. My friend Daniel Menche (local noise legend) has a pedal made from an Altoids can! It’s awesome! Built by another local pedal artisan…

- How important is the RC-20 looper? Does Agalloch do a lot of loops?
JH: Well…we tend to use programmed ambient loops between songs while we tune. I also use it for layers of noise at the end of our set. Its clunky and takes up a lot of space….but we do use it a lot. Eventually we might just have our soundguy run these sounds through the PA but for now I kind of like being in control of them.

- I’ve asked this as a ‘community question’ in the past on EffectsBay, but if you could only keep one pedal on your board.. .what would be that pedal?
JH: Tough question….probably the Moogerfooger Analog Delay. Funny story…a Line 6 rep sent me a DL-4 for free along with a European A/C adapter for it. He’s a fan and wanted me to check out some of their stuff. I thought “Cool, I’ll use this overseas instead of the Moogerfooger”. Well, I did that and just found myself missing the Moogerfooger. The Dl-4 isn’t a bad pedal. It has some cool modulation effects that are nice for noise and such but…it just is not a replacement for the Moogerfooger Analog Delay!

- Is there a pedal or effect that you’re thinking about picking up next? If so, what are you thinking?
JH: I have been thinking more and more about guitar synth technology and maybe trying it out. I’d also like to check out more boutique delay pedals. Luckily in Portland there are several shops that carry a vast array of strange pedals that I can check out anytime.

- Is there a bastard step-child pedal on the board? Something that always bugs you, yet it remains?
JH: Not so much anymore. I have had problems with pedals in the past that I simply ditched after one tour. I had a Voodoo Lab tremolo pedal that I just hated. It lasted one show. Again, the RC-20 takes up a lot of space and we only use it between songs…which is important….but I could probably do the same with a smaller looping pedal. Another annoyance is the voltage switch on the Supa-charger is in a really bad spot under the PT2 so switching back to 120V literally involves either a toothpick and flashlight or simply unscrewing it from its mount. Not a great design.

I would like to thank John Haughm for spending a few minutes and geeking out with me. I would like to continue this series – if you’re a touring/recording guitarist/bassist or have contacts to someone that might be interested in non-traditional gear focused interview, please contact me!

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John Mayer is another guitar player that I’m not a big fan of, but I definitely respect his guitar tone and quality of play. This guy can really lay down some awesome guitar. I remember catching a few live performances on TV that really impressed me, so when I came across this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown I wanted to share this. It’s a little old (9/8/10), but I would assume some of the pedals are still in the line up.. if not all of them.

This video really shows what’s all involved with his guitar tone. Premier Guitar’s Rebecca Dirks interviews Rene Martinez (guitar tech for Stevie Ray Vaughn, Prince, Mick Jones). Video submitted by PremierGuitar

As you notice, Rene doesn’t go into detail about the pedals except for the fact that they’re using a Bradshaw switching system.. and that they’re on in the trays. I wish he would have talk about a few of them – ie: the Roger Linn pedals, etc. I was able to get good screen snaps off all the pedals and was able to identify all of them. Here is the breakdown of pedals below.

Rack 1

Eventide Timefactor Delay
Way Huge Electronics Aqua Puss (vintage mk1)

Rack 2

Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Eventide Timefactor Delay
Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer
Roger Linn Adrenalinn III

Rack 3

Marshall Blues Breaker
Analogman 3 knob compressor
Klon Centaur (silver)
Korg G4 Rotary Speaker Simulator

Rack 4

Roger Linn AdrenaLinn
Roger Linn AdrenaLinn II

Floor 1

Bradshaw foot controller
Boss TU-2 x3
MXR MC401 CAE Boost / Line Driver

Floor 2

Keeley Katana
RMC8-Guitar Eqwahlyzer
Radial JDI passive direct box
Custom A/B/Mute Box w/XLR out for Acoustic
Keeley True Bypass Looper

Floor 3

Uni-Vibe w/foot controller (vintage Unicord/Univox U-915 Shiftee Uni-Vibe)

If you see anything that’s incorrect, or notice something that I missed, please let me know by commenting below!

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Last week I got an email from Ryan Rukavina of Rukavina Guitars letting me know about a cool video by tcelectronic. This video features Eric Baech, guitar tech of Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age), and he goes over Troy’s set up. This includes his main pedal board, rack/amps and guitars.

I broke down, into detail, what was seen (since Eric doesn’t go into detail of each pedal). I have everything worked out pretty well except for two unknown pedals. They’re listed below, so if you can help shed some light, please comment below and I’ll get the  list updated.

Here is the video by tcelectronic:

Below are screen snaps of the video with a break down of pedals.

Pedal Board (Floor)
Dunlop DVP1 Volume Pedal
MXR MC404 CAE Crybaby Dual Inductor Wah
Digitech Whammy
Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro
MXR Custom Audio Electronics MC-402 Boost/Overdrive
Korg Pitchblack Tuner
Way Huge Aqua-Puss MkII Analog Delay
Custom Audio Electronics G-Force Controller (Tap | A/B)
Custom Audio Electronics G-Force Controller (Tap | A/B)

Pedal Tray One
Dunlop Uni-Vibe UV1 Chorus/Vibrato  
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Fulltone Ultimate Octave
Way Huge WHE201 Pork Loin Soft Clip Injection Overdrive
MXR Crybaby QZ-1 Q Zone
Unknown single pedal (one knob/one switch – says “Gain”, footswitch says “MODE”)

Pedal Tray Two
Electro-Harmonix Holiest Grail
MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay

Pedal Board – Steel Guitar Board
Whirlwind Selector A/B Box
Boss TU-3 Tuner
Dunlop DVP1 Volume Pedal
Way Huge Green Rhino MkII Overdrive
Line 6 DL 4 Delay Modeler
Boss RV-5 Reverb
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+
Korg MONOTRON 16-Key Synthesizer

If you see any errors or can help ID the missing pedals, please contact me or comment below!

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Today’s pedal line is from Richard Western. 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 guitar with backing vocals for Stone Giant. We are a Vancouver Island Slug Rock band. I can’t provide you with audio samples… sorry. I plug my Les Paul into the awesome and powerful Twosome by Blackout Effectors, which is really two pedals. One; their Fix’d Fuzz with an outstanding retro feel and the Musket, furious distortion. Then to a Korg tuner. I used to go into the tuner first but it’s such a tight fit into the pedal case I would have to unplug the Twosome each time. I mostly use the tuner as an audio cut off anyway. From there we continue our voyage into the Analog MXR Delay. The Modulation button will change your life. Next is for more subtle distortion, Turbo Rat. I use this mostly for looping rhythm. Now, the Looper; Boss Loop Station RC-30 with enough recording time to record a whole set plus two more. That feeds into my Marshall AVT-2000. It’s not the most popular head, but it is with me. The sound, mixed with these pedals are bodacious. That feeds into a Line 6 4×12 cab. That other pedal you see is only on the board in storage. When set up it sits next to the board but is wired into the Loop Station and out to a PA. It’s the best vocal effects combo. I think TC Helicon is breaking their line into single pedals now.

There’s more, one more very important piece… the board! I made it out of a chunk of plywood I had kicking around. I put one long leg on the back to angle it and a riser in the opposite angle on the top, back to flatten and raise the resting place for the back pedals. I hot glued very heavy cloth I picked up from a fabric store. It’s a long haired, shag, animal pattern fur. I’ve secured all my stomp boxes to it with zap straps. If you’re really daring, you can drill two holes in the bottom of your pedals to attach the zap straps, so you can’t see them. I only did this with one, the Rat.

-Richard Western

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Today’s pedal line is from Gary Coday. 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.

Hello, here is my humble submission for your pedal line Friday. This is my setup that I use at my church. I am the bass player for the praise team at Lebanon Family Church in Lebanon, Mo. We play contemporary music including Planetshakers, Hillsong, Generation Unleashed just to name a few.

I start out with a Ernie Ball VPJR 6181 volume pedal and a Korg DTR-1000 hooked to the tuner out jack of the volume pedal.
Next is a Boss OBD-3 Bass Overdrive Pedal.
Next is a Boss DD-3 Delay Pedal.
Next is a SansAmp Programmable Bass Driver DI.
From there I go into the house system.
I power my pedals with a 1spot AC adapter which seems to work pretty well.

If I am playing out I go into an Ampeg B-2RE amp and two Ampeg 4-10 cabinets.

Thanks,
Gary Coday

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Today’s pedal line is from Shane Pachica (@Shane_TheCowboy). 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 double board

Boards:

Furman sbp8
home made pedal board with electric tape

One Spot w/ daisy chain connected to the furman to power the homemade pedal board

Pedal Chain:

(amp) Crate V33H class A tube head on a Crate V212 cab >
- Line 6 echo park- tons of features, tape, analog or digital delay sounds, swell, dotted eighth, triplets, ducking, panning, and 2 random rhythm modes, tap tempo
- Rogues analog delay- to beefen up solos, cheap one trick pony
- TC Electronics Nova Modulator- my newest toy, unbelievable amount of features, yet can be very simple if you want it. You can have it in manual mode and use it like a single effect, or program up to 18 presets,. You can set each preset to have two different effects at the same time. Modes are: Chorus, Trichorus, Flanger, Through Zero Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, and Vibrato. Perfect for saving space and money if you use modulation sparingly. Tap tempo
- BBE Sonic Maximizer- cleans up the muddiness of any amp, gives life and punch back to your sound. This pedal is ALWAYS ON
- Digitech Bad Monkey OD- great sound and versatility for a very small price
- Vox Valvetone V810 OD- discontinued. Very sweet, transparent, Vox-y sounding OD. Killer looks with its chrome design, and that signature VOX logo. You stay classy San Diego!
- Rogue Compressor- when you need that extra squeeze and sustain out of your solos
- Boss FV50 Volume pedal- for siren swells, or to control the grit on my OD’s
- (tuner out) Korg Pitch Black Tuner- if all I could have is one pedal… The tuner is left on constantly, connected to the volume pedals tuner out, so i can tune with sound, or silently depending on the volume pedal
- Digitech EX-7 Expression Factory- 7 modes, Crybaby Wah, Vox Wah, Digitech Space Station, Digitech Whammy, Unichord Univibe, Leslie 145 Rotary Speaker, A/DAFlanger. Amazing sounds, great versatility, great features, especially for the money. Plus there is a Digitech DF7 distortion factory built inside. Space Station and Whammy alone are worth the price
- (home made FS3X footswitch) allows me to go up or down the modes, or turn on the distortion on the EX-7
- Digitech Flanger- my old langer, no longer needed since i got the Nova Mod. Although, it does have a lot of features including trigger flange, constant fall/rise flange, and a synth-like step flanger
- Danelectro Fish and Chips EQ- used as a mid/volume boost, and also coupled with distortion to get that underwater distortion sound
- Marshall JH-1 Jackhammer Metal Distortion- a very convincing Marshall stack crunch
- Digitech DF-7 Distortion Factory- 7 classic distortion modes that sound fantastic. TS9, DOD 250, Boss DS1, ProCo RAT, Boss Metal Zone, Digitech Metal Master, and Big Muff Pi Fuzz
- Morley Tremonti Wah- ultimate shrieking solo wah

> (guitar) Les Paul Ultra II- Classic LP with quilt top and a Shadow Nanomag
> Acoustic pickup in the 24th fret, w/ stereo outputs

- (not connected) BBE AM64 American Metal distortion

And those are my babies, each with their own individual characteristics. And I know the ins and outs of all of them. Since I play in a worship team at church, I need all my equipment to be very versatile, without compromising tone. I have to be able to get virtually any kind of sound out of my rig. The left board is the main, worship essential board. No heavy distortion needed, just layered OD, and multiple delays with tap tempo. Volume pedal and Space station for ethereal swells, and angel like organ sounds. I guess the second board is for heavier rock. Marshall Jackhammer, EQ and a solo wah. With all my equipment, I get what I want… a lot of versatility, and great tone!

thanks,
Shane

twitter – Shane_TheCowboy

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Today’s pedal line is from  Jay Cavero. 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.

Pedaltrain Pedalboard ~ AKG WMS40 ProFlexx Wireless ~ Dunlop/MXR Smart Gate (6yrs.) ~ Korg Pitchblack ~ Dunlop Rotovibe (11yrs.) ~ Dunlop Crybaby Cantrell (Wah’s 26yrs.) ~ Bogner Footswitch. This is all I need , my essentials. But the pedal that I absolutely can’t live without is my Dunlop Wah (Cantrell , Hendrix or Classic) !!!

The best way for me to illustrate myself and the local cover band “The Buzz” (official website / Facebook). I could go on forever about music !!!

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Today’s pedal line is from Steven Espaniola. 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.

Hello, just though I would share my pedals for your Pedal Line Friday blog…I am a Hawaiian musician and my current setup is pretty simple, transparent and most importantly mobile. My current setup includes:  LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI , Home Brew Electronics HBE Mimic Mock II Analog delay, and a  Korg Pitch Black tuner. My general rule of thumb is that effects should not be too colorful or overpowering and should in fact go unnoticed to your audience. Thanks for considering my photo!

Sites:
www.stevenespaniola.com
www.twitter.com/stevenespaniola
www.stevenespaniola.tumblr.com

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Today’s pedal line is from Sam Binder. 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 also wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone!

This is my ‘pedal line’, although it includes some stuff that is pretty clearly not pedals. It’s kind of a tangled rat’s nest of cables, but I still manage to play out with it pretty well (although my half-hour setup/teardown time leaves something to be desired).

Let’s start with the guitar line.
I use a Korean made S101 strat [tuned to Bb F C F Bb Bb] and a Oscar Schmidt/Washburn Delta King [in standard] into a a pedal line that goes something like this:
Korg Pitchblack -> Boss OC-3-> Cusack Screamer-> Boss HF-2 -> DOD FX90 [delay] -> DOD DFX9 [digital delay] -> Danelectro FAB Echo [modded] -> Boss PS-3 -> Boss FDR-1 -> Biyang FZ7 -> Boss RV-5 -> Boss EH-2 ->
[mixing board input 3]

The Korg Pitchblack is best tuner [imo], although it doesn’t have the bypass out, which I kind of miss- I liked being able to have my old Boss TU-2 ‘read’ my solos and stuff as I was playing so I knew how to do them again,

The Boss OC-3 [Super Duper Octave] is probably the worst overdrive pedal I’ve ever owned, but in combination with a fuzz that can re-voice the sound properly, delivers some massive bass [which is probably more what it should be doing anyways]. I also use it to pretend I have a bass that works. Occasionally, I’ll swap it out for a WSoU bitcrusher [the red one hanging out in the top of the pedal board] or a Digitech XBW Bass Synth Wah [envelope follower].

The Cusack Screamer was kind of a fluke purchase- I went into guitar center to putter around with used gear and thought it was an acceptable overdrive for $60. I had just gotten my tax return back so I picked it up pretty much with the intention of flipping it. However, with the drive down, it’s a ridiculously good sounding pre-amp, and in conjunction with the Boss EH-2 at the end of my pedal line, gave me a really good electric guitar sound for when I play direct in to a PA/mixer. I keep it after the octaver because it screws with the tracking on the OC-3. I raise the level control when I play with a slide.

The Boss HF-2 I picked up at a pawn shop while I was on vacation in upstate New York. I was staying with some musician friends and got to brag  to them that I won at their city [Rochester] harder than they did. It’s a pretty great sounding analog flanger [it's got an MN3007, if you're wondering, which would make it similar to the ADA flanger and the DOD FX75B]. It also doesn’t quite sound like a normal flanger, and is definitely worth the purchase if you see one for under $100. Occasionally [generally while recording, or if I'm bored using the same stuff all the time], I’ll swap it out for my EHX Small Stone, but I don’t really like playing out with that one, too worried something will happen to it.

The DOD FX90 I picked up on ebay while I was looking for a ‘good’ analog delay. I figured it would be pretty mediocre, given the cheap price (BIN for $40)- no, this is a terrific sounding pedal with the same compander circuit as the Boss DM-2 (slightly different delay circuit, but I’m of the opinion that the analog delay ‘tone’ comes from the compander) and a nice ‘underwater’ or ‘on drugs’ sound is produced. No crisp highs at all, but plenty of terrific sounds. Unless I really want a sharp, sudden sound, I have this pedal on all the time.

The DOD DFX9 I got in a trade for a Boss RV-2 and I love it. The grainy, bitcrushed delays sound awesome and glitchy, especially when combined with feeding multiple notes into the octave pedal before it. It’s got the repeat hold function, but I haven’t really played around with it.

The Danelectro FAB echo I bought fairly cheap [$20?] from a guy on my message board who mods pedals. The delay times go to about 6.3 seconds and it self oscillates [furiously] with the repeats anywhere near half. I mostly use it for spaceman sounds due to the lone knob mounted on the top that i can bump around with my foot, making wooshes and ‘thumb on the edge of the record’ type effects.

The Boss PS-3 is a real gem of a pedal. It’s probably the pedal I’d be most devastated at losing because it’s got a very unique mode (#7) that can sound like strings. I traded a Boss PS-5 for it and i’m 100% certain I got the better deal. No other single compact pedal makes the sounds this one does.

The Boss FDR-1 I use for the spring reverb [which I think sounds better than the spring setting on the RV-5]. I keep it before the FZ7 because it likes
to over-ride volume settings [via gain/level controls], resulting in a very ‘limiter-ed’, neutered distortion if they’re the other way around.

The Biyang FZ7 is a chinese made pedal that is supposed to sound like a big muff. It fails miserably at that, but, depending on the settings, I think can sound more furious, or, with the gain at the minimum [which, last time I checked, would mute the signal on a big muff], produces a nice, crisp overdrive sound [nice and crunchy]. I’d say the closest pedal it sounds like is a Barber Direct Drive but it’s not really that either. You can order them from the ebay seller hazedconfused or order them directly from Biyang [with a really weird 'name your price' type system]. I got mine for about $60. Occasionally, I’ll run a DOD FX76 [punkifier- an overdrive/fuzz combo pedal that sounds like the guitars on the Blur album '13'] instead, or, if the gig dictates I can’t get rowdy, i’ll replace it with the Biyang TR8 [tremolo], which I don’t really use much but prevents me from indulging in the temptation of blowing away the audience at, say, an art gallery.

The Boss RV-5 I traded an Boss RV-3 for. I liked the RV-3′s reverbs better, but there was much less control over what was all going on with that one [also, it completed the other person's collection of non-DD/DM/DSD Boss Delays, which was pretty cool]. I mostly use it on the ‘Modulated’ setting, but get plenty of use out of the spring, hall and plate settings too. It’s not really the ideal reverb sound i’m looking for- I actually found that sound out of a Muza FD90 [along with the bonus of having a 12 second looper on my board], which was kind of a slightly bitcrushed, modulated reverb with tons of tweakability, but the Muza is not exactly made for use playing out
and, as a result, I had to replace it.

The Boss EH-2 is kind of the secret weapon of recording guitar directly. It’s not a DI box, but maybe consider it closer to a cab emulator in terms of sound- not noticeable if it’s there, but turn it off and you’ll know something’s missing. These [along with their DOD counterparts, the FX85 and FX87] pop up on ebay pretty frequently for around $60-100.

After that, I have a synth pedal chain that goes like this:

Roland Juno-D -> Alesis Ampliton -> Alesis FAZE -> Moogerfooger MF105 MuRF -> DOD FX32 -> Delta Labs Chorus -> mixer channel 4

The Ampliton and FAZE modules [I call them modules because, being made entirely of plastic, with the knobs far too close to the bypass button, you don't want to stomp on them] are really quite fantastic for the money. Tap tempo on both, plus plenty of options on either. I use the Ampliton in the tap tempo square wave mode [with the autopanner off- they can be synced or independent] so the rate knob acts as a multiplier. I use the FAZE on the ‘classic’ sound and ‘Envelope following’ reaction [you can set those independently] which not only gives a nice ‘swoosh’ to synth leads, but allows for dubstep ‘wobble bass’ when used with the right patch and the FX32.

The Moogerfooger…. it is just a dang ridiculous pedal. I dunno. It’s probably the most ridiculous pedal i’ve ever used in terms of effects offered by one ‘box’ without being considered a multi-effects unit. I think it sounds best with my synth (versus my guitar) on account of the synth providing a more predictable sound response without me having to use a compressor/limiter. I don’t really think i’m using this to its full potential, but it’s good for adding bubbly filter sounds to my synth tones.

The DOD FX32 [Meatbox] is another pedal I picked up in Rochester [for far below its ebay price]. It is a bass boost with EQs at 30 and 60Hz and a 30Hz synth chip [on a blend control]. I mostly play with the synth chip blended out of the signal and the others on about 3o’clock. Just gives ridiculous bass emphasis, especially useful for making wubstep or really strong organ bass lines. It’s blown out more than its share of amps when attached directly- nowadays I keep some stuff inbetween it and the PA.

The Deltalabs Chorus is pretty mediocre, actually. not weird enough to justify having it on for anything but organ modulation, and honestly, I’m really only using it for its true-bypass-ness- as a mute pedal for my synth line. I’m almost ashamed to mention I bought it because the sales girl was cute and making eyes at me.

These and vocals are run into a Behringer 1002 mixer [with the vocals having an FX send/return to, in the order applied, a Digitech RDS 3.6 and an ART FXR], along with a Kaossilator in the last channel, each channel’s pan knob deteimining it’s signal route- Left goes to the 2880 Looper, Right to the Nady mixer.

A pro-tip for guitarists who want a weird delay or a nice digital flanger/chorus- the RDS 3.6′s [or really, any of the RDS line] are really cheap on ebay right now and can be built into the base of a pedal board. They have an LFO that can vary the signal up to two octaves from the original pitch, resulting in spaceman sounds or vibrato or whatever you want, and they are arranged like a pedal- no putzing with presets or menus or minor .02ms tweaks on the time- very WYSIWYG. Apparently they’re very similar to the PDS line (the PDS 8000 being the king of these), they just don’t have the footswitches on them. They also have footswitch inputs for both the repeat hold and the bypassing

The 2880 Looper is midi synched to a Korg ER-1 mkII beat machine [which is in turn hooked up to a midi-synched EA-1mkII, for basslines/bleeps/bloops], which runs through a Korg KP-2. The left and right outputs of the 2880 then go to a Morley Volume [left channel] and a Cheapie Washburn overdrive [right channel] with everything set to zero, to be able to mute individual parts. Those go into a Boss LS-2 to be able to combine the signals into one. The drum machine goes to a Danelectro Chili Dog octaver pedal [for adding sub-bass], then to the Korg KP-2, then to a Danelectro Fabtone with all the knobs set to zero, so I can cut the drums out on songs with a foot [useful when playing guitar].The EA-1mkII has the first synth out running to a Danelectro French Toast, for better distortion than the on-board.

This all sounds about as clear as mud, I’m sure, so I’ve attached a signal routing diagram.

Those two channels go to the Nady mixer and I end up with just one guitar cable coming out, which I run to a mute switch and then a DOD 285 DI box, ending up with just one XLR cable coming out of the whole mess and no chance for a soundguy who doesn’t know what he’s doing to screw up my sound [unless he starts putzing with my EQ. I hate it when they do that.]

You can find my tunes at www.sambinder.bandcamp.com and follow me on twitter at @sambinder

Happy Playing!

Sam

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