Members One_Dude Posted February 22, 2017 Members Share Posted February 22, 2017 I am a long-time guitarist playing mostly light jazz and easy listening stuff. The last several years I have been concentrating on playing mandolin in a Bluegrass band, and bass at church and for fill-in gigs. When I play guitar on jazz numbers I use reverb and an otherwise clean sound. A few days ago I saw a guitarist playing at the local Home & Garden show, and I found his sound to be amazing. Ultra clean with lots of definition, and what seems like plenty of audio space between notes. By comparison, I think my sound strikes me as being "lifeless". He was using a Fractal (SP?) FX-8 effects board, with a Gibson Les Paul, and a small amp. His sound was very natural with no hint of any signal processing in it. I'm sorry I didn't have the opportunity to talk to him and learn what I could about his set-up. When it comes to guitar effects beyond reverb I really know nothing. I have picked up a few older processors and find that the only sound I can get from them is distortion, phase shift, and flange. I don't find that any of these effects fit well into the music I play. I priced the effects board this fellow was using and it's way too pricey for me. I have also seen a Boss ME-80 online and find that is more in my budget. But the question I have is this: What exactly do I need to give life to the lifeless sound that I currently have, and at the same time get a sound that does not seem to be "processed". Is there one effects pedal that provides what I am looking for? Thanks in advance for you thoughts. One_Dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t_e_l_e Posted February 23, 2017 Members Share Posted February 23, 2017 your post has anything mentioned but no delay pedal. i guess thats what you are missing, in some form or the other. it seems you are a bit green in the world of effects? starting out with a multi fx unit can be quite difficult when you don't know how the efx's work and how they can be combined etc. you can get easily fustrated cause tweaking can be complicated and you can't find a sound you like and you will only switch between factory presets without using the full potential of the pedal using single pedals is not as versatile, but you can buy one pedal and learn how it works and what its does and then buy the next one. if you are a tweaker you could also buy some kind of multi fx and learn it from there, but i think using single pedals is easier to handle, at least for me. so have a look on youtube or manufactures sites and look some demos, what delay pedals can do and see if this is the ingredient you are searching for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 If you're primarily into clean types of sounds, then the effects I think would be of the greatest use to you would be things like compression, EQ, enhancers / exciters, and possibly things like chorus, reverb and delay. Line 6 makes a fairly cost-effective multi-effect called the M9. It's digital and uses modelling to replicate the sound of many popular effects pedals, and since it has gobs of them onboard (you can use up to three at any one time), it's also an excellent introduction to a very wide range of effects and effects types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoldJim Posted February 23, 2017 Members Share Posted February 23, 2017 I agree with Phil on this, but I think the M9 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M9?adpos=1t1&creative=175866238716&device=c&matchtype=b&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAiArbrFBRDL4Oiz97GP2nISJAAmJMFa05JkqF5Ig74HR8e38GGyy1g2eYSGq7BdxQLa30F9ARoCWqPw_wcB can be more confusing to use than its BOSS counterpart, the ME 80 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ME80. The ME 80 is laid out straightforward while still providing the ability to save patches. The ME 80's switches correspond to the individual effects, so if you choose compression and you click the compressor button, it activates. No guess work as to what patch had what effects. Also, you can turn these effects on and off on the fly within patches, if that's how you decide to go. IMHO, it will give you the best of both worlds: A multi-effects pedal and control of individual effects on the fly. Not to top the M9, but you can have 8 effects at a time on the ME 80, and you have an expression pedal for volume, wah, etc. Either of these pedals has a computer interface and you can download patches for them to upload from your computer. Also, I will say this about ANY multi-effects processor - the pre-programmed effects are GARBAGE! Don't be daunted by the over blown, over saturated, show-off crap presets. You will need to take some time to dial in or download some of your own. Whatever you decide, rock on! (is Jazz on a thing? ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One_Dude Posted February 25, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 25, 2017 Hi Guys, Thanks for the suggestions; I will be on the lookout for some of the units you recommended. Until then, while rummaging around my music room, I found an effects unit I bought a few years back at a local guitar show. It's a Yamaha REX50. It has 30 memories with factory programmed effects, some of which are multiple effects, while most are singles. It also has 60 memories for user programmable effects, all of which the previous owner saved. Lots of reverb and distortion choices, but also compression, delay, chorus, and pitch change selections. Each effect has its own set of parameters that can be customized by the user. I'm sure this unit is primitive compared to the ones available today, but I can use it to help learn what the different effects sound like. This unit is circa 1988, and I suspect it was a decently advanced unit in its day. On the down side, you cannot blend separate effects that are not already factory programmed together; so it's one effect at a time. I also don't know if you can switch from one effect to another seamlessly during a song, although there is a jack called "switch memory" on the back of the unit. And, there is no "boost" effect available. It does have a bypass function, so I will have to see if one of my foot switches will work with that and with the switch memory function. Maybe by using this unit I can decide if effects pedals or an effects board is something I want to try. Thanks again for your help, and if anyone has experience with the Yamaha REX50, I'd be interested in hearing about it. One_Dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted February 25, 2017 Members Share Posted February 25, 2017 I've been using a Boss ME-25 which is a scaled down version of the ME-90 and I find the compression and the COSM amp emulation with a bit of delay and/or reverb add some life to the sound without going over the top. If you are interested in some samples, I recorded a few things for Red Ant's Community Jam Forum using the ME-25... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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