Let's Build RaVen a Pedalboard!

[RaVenCAD]

OK fellas, the GAS has hit again, and now it's time to stomp stuff..

 

Currently I possess:

 

BBE Sonic Stomp

 

 

Boss CS-3

 

 

Ibanez TS808

 

 

 

Ditto Looper.

 

 

 

For my board, I'm thinking a Temple Duo 24

 

Looking for a good EQ, wah, delay (probably 2, in stereo for ambient type stuff..), tuner (Polytune probably) and probably a chorus. I've been strongly considering a DOD Looking Glass to augment the TS808.

 

​I plan to split at the end of the signal and feed two amps (Valveking 212 and a Mustang IV).. Yes I know my looper is mono.

 

​Any suggestions for pedals I'm missing? Problems I'm creating with my choices?

[RaVenCAD]

Wow, those came through life sized! Sorry...

[Grant Harding]

For your delay I had a play with one of these and it sounded awesome, plus it does 2 delays simultaneously.

 

http://www.strymon.net/dig/

[Grant Harding]

For the tuner I prefer the Turbo tuner to the Polytune. The "all 6 strings" mode has been no use to me. It doesn't agree with the individual string tuning.

 

https://www.turbo-tuner.com

[Grant Harding]

Probably my next wah due to the small footprint and weight:

 

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/cbm95-crybaby-mini

[RaVenCAD]

I love the idea of a small wah, but then my big foot hits it and I realize that a small wah isn't for me. Gotta have the fullsize version unfortunately. I also need a volume pedal and something akin to an old DOD Octoplus. Probably just gonna get an old DOD Octoplus lol

 

​Also, on the delay... I'm a fan of ping pong delays, which is why I'm thinking 2 independent delays.

 

Here is my chain plan so far:

 

​guitar > EQ > overdrives > (Octoplus) volume > wah > compressor > BBE > Ditto > Valveking

 

Then from the Valveking effects loop send:

 

(Octoplus) Chorus > A/B/Y > Delay 1 back to Valveking effects return / Delay 2 to Mustang effects return, bypassing the Mustang's effects and preamp

 

​Not sure if the Octoplus will be better in the loop or in front.

 

Dang I'm gonna need a lot of cables..

 

​

 

[RaVenCAD]

 

That isn't gonna be cheap lol

[RaVenCAD]

Also, I'm not sure all that will fit on a Duo 24. Might need the Trio...

[GAS Man]

I only had one particular thought when I saw this thread (since I really don't know what kind of tone you want to go for) but I've bought a lot of pedals over the years, still have them all (except a DOD Flashback Fuzz) and one of the few that has really stuck out as being a "glad I did" is a vintage Ibanez AD9, made in Japan. I got it off of ebay. Its battery clip wire was missing, but I bought it anyway, with all its chips and dings.

 

But I love its warm analog tone. I have quite a few other delays, Wampler Tape Echo, AquaPuss, Carbon Copy, Boss RV-2, Earthquaker Device Dispatch Master, Boss RE-20, plus a couple rack units and probably one or two others I'm forgetting. But what I like about the AD9 is that it's one of those delays that could replace a reverb pedal. And delay is more compatible with metal tones (which is what I understand is something you enjoy) than reverb (which can accentuate brittle tones) It's simple to use and every setting I dial in sounds very good. It lacks the extremes of more modern pedals, but it has the tone, depth, and delay levels you need.

 

It looks like you know have to go to ebay to find the full size AD9 with stereo out, but they are reasonably priced.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ibanez-AD9-Analog-Delay-MADE-IN-JAPAN-/152310573169#shpCntId

 

 

 

Now OTOH, Joe Bonamassa would tell you to buy a Boss digital delay.

 

 

 

[RaVenCAD]

Steve Vai would tell me to get a Boss as well, but I like the MXR. I've never tried an AD9, but I'll watch for one at GC. They get a lot of vintage-y pedals at my local one. I had an Ibanez DPL-10 digital pan delay back in the day and it was really cool. It ate a brand new 9v battery in about an hour though. Ouch!

[RaVenCAD]

Any thoughts on this?

 

[video=youtube;v4VCoGZh50k]

 

​Digging that ping-pong effect... Also, I like digital and analog, so I'm not hung up either way. Yeah, made in China.. Good reviews though.

[hellion_213]

Have you tried the Sonic Stomp in the loop instead of the chain? I realize you're running two amps, so obviously that won't work for both. I'm doing the same at the moment, and am going to have to spring for the rack mount for the two outs. Anyway, in the loop makes the BBE more effective. Almost like putting your stereo in 3D mode. Really made me appreciate the BBE more, and it's already a constant on the board.

As far as different/more suggestions, I personally can't think of life without a noise gate. And a Whammy always has a place on my board. So many uses, outside of the typical high octave setting. Though that one is fun as well.

As far as wahs, depends on the money you're looking to spend. Bad Horsie would be my preference, though I'm using the GCB95. The 95 may be tried and true, but finding that half-cock position in a pinch, when the switch is so hard to turn on quickly, is rather a pita.

[GAS Man]

The MXR Carbon Copy actually sounds a little closer to digital delay to my ears. To be fair, probably somewhere between the two. But I recently pulled mine back out and found that at a lower fx level, say around 9:30 to 10 O'clock on the dial, it sounds more analog to my ears. The argument that Joe B made is that for playing live, the clearer digital delay works better. He said like "some guys might be hearing something different playing in their rooms", and frankly I get that comment and I can wear it.

[RaVenCAD]

I can relate to the Crybaby being difficult to turn on, but if you loosen the nuts on the switch, you can adjust to up towards the pedal by a couple pitches and it becomes really easy to click.

 

​And no, I haven't tried the BBE in the loop yet. The good thing is, once I get all this set up, if I put it in my loop, it'll effectively be in both loops since I'm splitting off the VK's loop to feed the Mustang.

 

[Les Paul Lover]

I would recommend 2 pedals.

 

Tuner:

 

Hardwire HT 6 polyphonic tuner.

Being able to check all strings at once is fantastic. Sturdy box, and the display is great, and tracks pretty fast on single note tuning (also switches from poly to single string tuning really fast)

 

Delay:

 

Vox Time Machine. Not particularly expensive, especially 2nd hand, sounds GREAT, the repeats can be fine tuned between analog type (dark and warmer with treble roll off and sound degradation on very long repeats) to digital modern, which stays bright and more accurate. I prefer the analog mode, but play thw modern voicing as it cuts through better in band mix (thanks to the remaining treble). An added bonus on the pedal is the tap tempo...... Tout Can set massive repeat times so easily, on the fly and change during songs. A really great delay that doesn't get much acclaim.

 

As.for your set up, it also has 2 outputs - wet and dry, which you may find useful in your bi-amp set up.

[hellion_213]

I'll give that a whirl, thanks man.

[Ancient Mariner]

Crybaby is my fave wah, and the Carbon Copy is a great delay. My all time favourite chorus is the Rocktron Deep Blue - no idea if it's still in production now, but as well as doing all the lush wobble stuff, it can also really broaden out the soundscape.

[thatsbunk]

I don't see why you need 2 delays. How often will you be using delay on one amp and none on the other? My delay is a boss DD-6 which has stereo outs that I connect to 2 amps (I had a carbon copy but got rid of it as I didn't think it was noticeably different than the digital delay). I find the stereo outs from that pedal gives a nice effect when you place two amps away from each other...

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/boss-dd-6-digital-delay-guitar-effects-pedal

[Phil O'Keefe]

Raven, one of the biggest issues you'll need to worry about is ground loops.

 

I LOVE stereo effects, but as soon as you start running dual amps, odds of experiencing ground loop issues increases dramatically.

 

You'll want a iso transformer to break the loop. Radial's Bigshot ABY is one of the cheaper ways to get one.

 

http://www.radialeng.com/bigshotaby.php

 

Don't use it as an AB switch, just run the output from one delay into the Radial, and use the transformer output, with the transformer engaged, to send that to the second amp. The hum issues will go away. You can run the signal from the other delay directly to the first amp.

[WRGKMC]

I used to use a Dunlop. It had good tone but the thing I didn't like was the loss of real estate for only being a Wah and the fact the pot wears out and becomes crackly. The one I had would suck tone and volume down when it was on too. Some of that's can or has been modded out on newer designs. The cost of new pots is high so and instead replacing it and moding the pedal up I killed two birds with one stone and bought a Morley Wah Volume pedal.

 

Morley has no pots. They use photo cells and LED's and the treadle cuts the light beam to change resistance.

The volume and wah are both very good and since I use volume more then Wah I can do it all with one pedal.

The other thing is the wah switch isn't part of the pedal - it sets along side and is activated separately.

 

The other cool part is it has a volume for the wah level. You can actually set the wah volume louder then the normal level so when you kick the wah on for leads you can get several Db of boost. The treadle is super smooth too. It doesn't have that dam rack gear to deal with nor the switch that limits its tone range.

 

Its only drawback is the wah tone isn't quite as deep as the Dunlop, but compared to the benefits and the fact its also a smooth volume pedal its a no brainer for me.

 

They also make a Bad Horse version which is really cool too. Its Got the wah set up so when you turn the pedal all the way down it reverts to a normal mode. You can set a timer on it too and have it revert back to normal after none use. The wah can kick in when you push down on the treadle. No switching involved which is really nice. Nothing worse then coming out of a lead part and having to deal with switching the dam thing off. Wah pedals have made me look like a fool more times then once because of their crappy switch designs. Getting the thing shut off by simply lifting the treadle is a great advancement.

 

Of course you could just get a loop pedal and leave the thing on too. You'd still be dealing with a switch however.

[Grant Harding]

I never knew that! Thanks.

[Phil O'Keefe]

You're welcome.

[RaVenCAD]

Explore the concept of "dual mono" and maybe you'll understand why I want two totally independent delays. I'm not playing "normal" music with the gear. I'm into ambient guitar right now, and it's all about immersion in the sound. I'm very tempted to run another out from the chorus so I can add a third delay and a third amp. The idea of surround sound guitar playing kind of describes my intent here.

[RaVenCAD]

Keep in mind, this setup isn't going to move to other locations. It's a man cave kind of thing I'm building towards. I'm not saying I won't have issues, but I won't have different environments to contend with.

[RaVenCAD]

I had a Morley wah back in the day, but I always preferred the Crybaby's sound. I may skip the wah entirely for this though. Ambient and wah aren't entirely related.