Members Silverburst LP Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I thought this would be an interesting place for people to post how they get the best sounds from their boards, for those of us who don't have a 3-wide trailer-sized layout for effects, or $300+ to spend per pedal for EVERY pedal we own. I really love the "Current Pedalboard" thread and some of that stuff is amazing eye candy, and I bet there are infinite sounds one could get with a board loaded with, say, 3 DL4's, a MoogerFooger, a Whetstone Phaser, a Choralflange, 4 TS9 Keeley mods, 3 original proco rats, a Clyde wah, and a 500$ volume swell, with a bunch of other crap mixed in there... and that's all great and dandy. But some of us aren't full time giggers who need such an elaborate setup, or lawyers or architects or studio pros who can afford these wonderful toys; so we have to make due with what we got, and what we cut corners to buy. In doing so, you learn to maximize tone and work with the tools you do have. Some surgeons have fancy high-end scalpels and all kinds of electrical doohickies to assure a precision operation. Sometimes a field doc has a medical bag with some basic {censored} to make a temporary splint, or stitch a wound, and clean it with some medicated wipes. For those of us in the latter group, let us share some of the secrets to getting decent sounds with minimal gear. And pehaps some of the folks with high-end boards can chime in if they've got some pointers as well. I'll go first. My board is pretty simple; I've got a few nice pedals, some vintage stuff, and some cheaper stuff, but I make it work, and people usually tell me they like my tone. So the way this works is you post your board, or type it out if you don't have pics (like me, yet--soon). Then you just post what you do or how you order stuff for optimal sound/different effects/created sounds. Mine's like this: Buddy Guy wah>CP9(80's Maxon/Ibanez) Compressor, Bad Monkey, Carbon Copy, CS9 (also vintage) Stereo Chorus, Devi Aenima, TB Small Stone, Guv'Nor 2 Plus, Behringer EQ700 7-band EQ>Amp. I'm gonna talk right now about getting my Bad Monkey to sound as good or better (depends who ya ask) than a TS9/BD2/DX/808--mods or stock. This may sound absurd to some boutique and Keeley snobs, but it is possible. I know because I've compared it to a few--Keeley BD-2, Keeley ts9dx, TS9 stock, and a BYOC 808. Now keep in mind that the pedals I mentioned were straight from guitar to amp versus the chain and configuration on my board with my BM, and rightfully so, it might be fair to say that any of those great modded dirt pedals would likely kick my BM's ass in my chain were it replaced, but this is for practicality's sake--getting a "high end" OD/Tubescreamer sound on a budget, and utilizing what you've got. Basically, a big part of the trick is to use the compressor. I realize this is a rare pedal and not any joe can get ahold of one, but any basic compressor with a level of some sort should do the trick. You've gotta set the attack speed at minimal, as in "instant squish". The level needs to be raised to about 2 o'clock, or between halfway and 3/4. The threshold, or compression amount, should be at about the same. This will function as tight, crisp clean boost, adding a hair of grit. Alone, it's a decent sound, but it won't jump out at ya, but paired with a TS type pedal right after, it'll give a 50$ budget OD a high-octane kick in the nuts, sending it from dull drive to in your face, crisp, quality grit. The compressor also helps the BM stand up to the TS pedals in that it adds some natural mids, a trademark of the famous green stomps. To further beautify this simple pedal, I have my EQ set with a bass (100) frequency boost, the mid (800) freq dropped a bit, but the two next to it kicked up about 8-10db's. This gives it high and low mid clarity and punch without the mid-mid overkill, which gets too brittle and muddy. Keep the 2nd bass freq. (200) around -2 db's or a hair lower if you have HB's--this will allow clarity for full on chords, even if the gain is maxed. Raise your two highs(3.2, 6.4) somewhere between 2-5 db's, and the overall level about 2 db's. For me, this provides a very clear, driving, quality tone that has sustain for days. The Bad Monkey settings are a hair over unity gain for the level, the bass at 2:00, the treb. at 4:00, the gain at 5:00, with a little headroom so I can go a little more extreme if I want, but this seems to be the sweet spot. As an added bonus, I'll sometimes use the Guv'nor on low gain but high volume, and some bass rolled up as a "thick boost," which still sounds like the BM, but with a little more beef and rhythm drive. This could be compared to the TS9DX's added ballsier modes. Anyway, that's how I get great Tubescreamer/OD tone on a budget. Please feel free to share your tips on anything from getting a 30$ DS-1 to rock your face off to Gilmour psychedelia out of a few Dano or Behringer pedals, and the inevitable smart ass comments are also welcome. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NetStar Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I BUY CHEAP PEDALS AND I'M GOING TO BOAST ABOUT IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Tubescreamer/OD tone on a budget. does he realize that here the REAL tubescreamer is a budget pedal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 oh and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boytbpc Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 wow, somebody contributed something that they thought to be useful and everybody is being a cock about it. It may not have been Effectology, but it is something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IRG Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Long thread is long. Since when is a compressor a "rare pedal that not anyone can get a hold of" are you serious? They are about as rare as a Bad Monkey. I've owned 3-4, and most people on this board either have one, or have used one. Here's a better tip. Save your yourself the $ and unnecessary extra pedal and just get a decent overdrive, sans compressor (unless you truly have need for this pedal for other reasons). I have a Bad Monkey, it's fine on its own. In my signal chain though, it rapes the tone from all of my other dirt pedals. Simple fix, get rid of the BM. Bought a MI Audio Blues Pro. Not an expensive pedal, especially when you factor in not getting a compressor. SOunds great, better than any ts pedal I've owned, including a Keeley TS. I think you're overthinking this whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Silverburst LP Posted October 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Long thread is long. Since when is a compressor a "rare pedal that not anyone can get a hold of" are you serious? They are about as rare as a Bad Monkey. I've owned 3-4, and most people on this board either have one, or have used one. Yeah, they have '82 MIJ Maxon CP9's at every WalMart. Dirt Cheap, too. :poke: Here's a better tip. Save your yourself the $ and unnecessary extra pedal and just get a decent overdrive, sans compressor (unless you truly have need for this pedal for other reasons). I have a Bad Monkey, it's fine on its own. In my signal chain though, it rapes the tone from all of my other dirt pedals. Simple fix, get rid of the BM. Bought a MI Audio Blues Pro. Not an expensive pedal, especially when you factor in not getting a compressor. SOunds great, better than any ts pedal I've owned, including a Keeley TS. I think you're overthinking this whole thing. And I think you're the kind of guy who digs in threads just for an excuse to say something negative and condescending. If you don't have a use for the "budget pedal tips" why the {censored} you here? Just to say something and pretend your life doesn't suck, I guess. Post on... 13k, here you come, winner! See? I can be a real {censored}ing dick for no reason, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tron Murphy Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Yeah, they have '82 MIJ Maxon CP9's at every WalMart. Dirt Cheap, too. :poke: And I think you're the kind of guy who digs in threads just for an excuse to say something negative and condescending. If you don't have a use for the "budget pedal tips" why the {censored} you here? Just to say something and pretend your life doesn't suck, I guess. Post on... 13k, here you come, winner! See? I can be a real {censored}ing dick for no reason, too. Burn...told'd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 when I come home, you better be cookin my {censored}in supper beoitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chrisjnyc Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I think the big secret is to find cheap pedals that sound good to you... Dano cool catsold DOD pedalsIbanez sound tank pedalsetc Personally I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IRG Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Sorry to put you in a bad mood man, not my intention. I never dig into threads just for "digging" purposes. I actually like the concept of this post, and it had some good merits to it. It just a got a bit long and I was in a rush. You have nice gear, most of it is not what I would considered budget gear, but I get it. You have a little of everything. I've been wanting to try that Buddy Guy wah btw. Overall, I think most boards can be done with fewer pedals, and with some good choices, don't have to cost a ton. A good overdrive, a good fuzz, some delay and/or reverb, and maybe a modulation pedal or two are the foundations of any good board. I agree overall, there are some wicked cool boards here, but some do seem over the top, TGP even worse. I was guilty of this too perhaps, but Ive been simplifying things lately, hard to do sometimes. Are we friends now? Yeah, they have '82 MIJ Maxon CP9's at every WalMart. Dirt Cheap, too. :poke: And I think you're the kind of guy who digs in threads just for an excuse to say something negative and condescending. If you don't have a use for the "budget pedal tips" why the {censored} you here? Just to say something and pretend your life doesn't suck, I guess. Post on... 13k, here you come, winner! See? I can be a real {censored}ing dick for no reason, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keef84 Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I have bought some behringer and even a target:eek: chorus pedal in the past. Out of budget pedals I would say the Dano cool cats are the best. I've learned though to just buy what you really want and you'll save money in the long run. I'm happy with my board now. May want to add a compressor again someday (Not sure if it's needed tho) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnderMocs Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 i have a mix of expensive stuff and cheap. my board has a 40 dollar dano cool cat vibe, and a 40 dollar dod phaser. but i also have a timmy and skrecho. Timmy was well worth the 160 I paid for it, best od i've heard. I got the skrecho as an investment, tonefactor had them, I can flip it for profit whenever I want/need to. For now, it sounds {censored}ing amazing. All the other boutique stuff I have is on the cheaper end of things, malekko spring chicken, nitefly's microamp. I have no problem with mass produced, I just want stuff that works and sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hivedestruction Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 But some of us aren't full time giggers who need such an elaborate setup Keep in mind, 90% of the dudes here that have these ridiculous elaborate set ups, don't even gig. That said, I think more of a "budget" board is better for gigging musicians, as there's so much {censored} that can happen (like drinks getting spilled on gear, stuff getting stolen, etc). Not a lot of people here want to admit they can get the same tone out of a $80 fuzz, as they can with their $400 inflated as {censored} discontinued fuzz. It's a lot about internet cred around these parts. Kayzer is a perfect example of being smart about your gear. He has thousands upon thousands of dollars invested in amazing pedals, yet his gigging board is a few boss pedals. end rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rushfan Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 wow, somebody contributed something that they thought to be useful and everybody is being a cock about it. It may not have been Effectology, but it is something. Don't tell me you're actually surprised at Robo being a complete dick to someone who is trying to contribute? Oh wait, it'd be WAY more helpful to put up a thread about a cheese wheel.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gonkboy Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 In reply to the original post, I would like to contribute some thoughts of my own. Buying pedals second hand is a good way to save money. Doing some research about budget pedals is always a good idea. Some Behringer pedals are real diamonds in the rough. Some are not. The same goes for Danelectro. Go to the user reviews section of this site for more info. Where possible try pedals before you buy them. Most of all, don't be embarassed or ashamed to use a particular brand of pedal. If you think your Dod Grunge pedal sounds good then use it. If you like the sound of the Danelectro Fab chorus then play that sucker. If you have the skills you'll sound great regardless. Get out there and PLAY. I realise this is preaching to the choir but it may be of use to someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dissentience Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 This budget enough? If it sounds good, who cares if its a cheapo, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Naterel Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 knobs, it doesnt matter how much you paid its about how much love you give the knobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IRG Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I'll "contribute" again. Three things I would do, if I started over. Assuming you don't have much if any of a setup at this point. 1. Start with a smallish size board. A Pedaltrain Mini, Jr. or PT2 being the largest, and stay within those confines. It makes you think instead of adding every pedal you can, to pick and choose just a few. A PT mini with an overdrive, fuzz, reverb, delay and modulation can do a lot. 2. Splurge on 1 or 2 pedals that will get the most use. Spend less on those used less frequently. 3. Don't feel you have to get it all at once. It's tempting to get a bunch of Behringer pedals or whatever is the ebay special of the month, so you can "cover all the basses" but I think less is more. ANd yes, buying used can be a great way to get better gear for less. Lots of good deals here and at TGP. Just do some research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Parah Salin Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 The more knobs there are the more I have to tweak. I hate tweaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members orourke Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 As I've mentioned here about a thousand times I use a Boss GT-3 as part of a larger pedalboard. Using a cheap multi for some time based effects can really work well. Some of the Zoom stuff is cheap and have great sounding delays. Just use external dirt boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Krank'N Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I find that due to lack of buffering and not so true_bypass can hurt your sound and often just add noise. Its better to have a few pedals that are compatible than a bunch that sound like a Dirt-devil when looped. If your not sure then try to get pedals from the same maker as they usually have simalar levels. Boss pedals work great by themselves but can be noisy when put in the wrong signal chain. Fulltone pedals are also very sensitive to combinations . A BBE sonic maximizer will improve modulation effects if its before a chorus/flanger/phaser in the line-but will detract from the effect if placed after those pedals. If your relying on amp distortion then putting your delays/reverb in the FX loop rather than the board often works best. An eq ,compressor and some noise reduction in the fx loop can make a mediocre amp sound like it cost twice as much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ItchyFingers Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Nice call orourke - I was gonna say multi-effects too. My first effect pedal was a Crybaby, my second was this crappy plastic DOD multi-FX unit. It didn't have the greatest tone, but it helped me learn which effects I liked for my sound, and which I didn't jive with. Then I went out and bought individual pedals based on what I learned from the DOD. Another tip I've learned from being at HCFX - don't buy into the hype of the flavor of the month pedal around here. It can get costly, and you probably already have a similar (and usually cheaper) type of pedal on your board that sounds just as good in your rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Please feel free to share your tips on anything from getting a 30$ DS-1 to rock your face off to Gilmour psychedelia out of a few Dano or Behringer pedals, and the inevitable smart ass comments are also welcome. Here's a good budget Gilmour rig (one I'm currently designing) Fuzz face (I'd recommend the JH-1 or a Monsterpiece NPN. I'm probably getting the JH-1 just cause I like looking at that big blue saucer shaped pedal) - wah pedal (Dunlop or Vox, I personally think Vox sounds better with fuzz) - Rat - Monte Allums BD-2 - Boss RT-20 - Boss RE-20 This rig is not completely budget ie full of Dano and Behringer pedals, but you'll be able to replicate any of the sounds created by boutique pedals and some products that are real investments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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