Effects Question

[naz420]

Im kind of new to electric guitar. Ive had a pretty sweet set up( see sig. ) for a long time but dont play much electric. Ive been playing for 7-8 years but i always play acoustic. Every time i plugged in i never got the tones or effects i liked maybe because i had a boss GT-6 which i could never figure out. I simplified, got some pedals and now im loving it. Now i have a few questions.

 

my set up goes guitar into pedals, into amp. Should I have my guitar going straight to the amp and effcts going to the effect loop( marshall jcm dsl 2000 100w half stack )or some effects through the loop and some between the guitar and amp?

 

How do i get harmonics to sound like this?

[Prages]

You'd normally run distortion, overdrive, fuzz...stuff like that between the guitar and the amp.

 

Delays, reverbs, and modulation effects normally go in the loop.

 

That said, if you're using pedals for distortion, then running your delays/reverbs/modulation effects after the distortion pedal should sound pretty much the same as running them in the loop. You generally just don't want delays and reverbs BEFORE your distortion.

['s mel gibson]

If you want to do the FX loop thing, it ought to be for stuff like reverb, and,....nah!

 

To tell you the truth, I like my stuff between the guitar and the amp(s). Chorus's and echo delay units come in stereo models so being between guitar and amp(s) is a must.

 

Distortion/overdrive, wah pedals and compressors should be there too.

 

My set up is guitar>tuner>wah>overdrive>Boss Deluxe Reverb>Chorus Factory>DigiDelay>amp(s)

[bisticles]

For the effects, the short and lame yet correct answer is to do whatever sounds best. TYPICALLY, people put tonal-based effects (overdrive, compression, wah, sometimes phaser) before the amp and time/modulation based effects in the effects loop (reverb, delay, chorus). This matters more if you're actually using overdrive on your amp, but if it's too much of a hassle, you can absolutely run everything out front. It just might get a little bit jumbled together, sound-wise, if you're laying on the effects really thick.

 

As for the harmonics, those are called pinch harmonics. If you roll your thumb down close to the pointy edge of the pick and/or tilt your hand so that the string just barely brushes against the skin of your thumb after you hit a string, it will create a harmonic like you're hearing. It's easier to pick up on these with lots of gain. What you're basically doing is creating another point on the string for it to wobble around, just like how you're doubling the pitch of the open E string when you do a harmonic at the 12th fret. The cool thing about pinch harmonics is that the pitch changes depending on where you picked/pinched the note. It takes some practice, but after a while, you'll be able to pull out a squealed pinch harmonic whenever you want to.

[naz420]

 

For the effects, the short and lame yet correct answer is to do whatever sounds best. TYPICALLY, people put tonal-based effects (overdrive, compression, wah, sometimes phaser) before the amp and time/modulation based effects in the effects loop (reverb, delay, chorus). This matters more if you're actually using overdrive on your amp, but if it's too much of a hassle, you can absolutely run everything out front. It just might get a little bit jumbled together, sound-wise, if you're laying on the effects really thick. As for the harmonics, those are called pinch harmonics. If you roll your thumb down close to the pointy edge of the pick and/or tilt your hand so that the string just barely brushes against the skin of your thumb after you hit a string, it will create a harmonic like you're hearing. It's easier to pick up on these with lots of gain. What you're basically doing is creating another point on the string for it to wobble around, just like how you're doubling the pitch of the open E string when you do a harmonic at the 12th fret. The cool thing about pinch harmonics is that the pitch changes depending on where you picked/pinched the note. It takes some practice, but after a while, you'll be able to pull out a squealed pinch harmonic whenever you want to.

 

 

Thanks guys that answered my questions about set up.I know how to do pinch harmonics but they just dont sound like that. Is there some kind of effect on there. I have a metal muff dist pedal should i be able to pull those off with that.

 

another question- When you guys use distortion pedals do you use them with your clean channel? Or do get as much distortion out of your amp as u can then add hit you pedal

 

What is the differance between distortion and overdrive? Should they be used together or is it one or the other?

 

Sorry for all the questions. These are just questions ive had for a long time but never new there was a place to ask them. Thanks for the help

[Prages]

 

Thanks guys that answered my questions about set up.I know how to do pinch harmonics but they just dont sound like that. Is there some kind of effect on there. I have a metal muff dist pedal should i be able to pull those off with that. another question- When you guys use distortion pedals do you use them with your clean channel? Or do get as much distortion out of your amp as u can then add hit you pedal What is the differance between distortion and overdrive? Should they be used together or is it one or the other? Sorry for all the questions. These are just questions ive had for a long time but never new there was a place to ask them. Thanks for the help

 

 

I generally use distortion and overdrive pedals on the clean channel.

 

You can use them on an already overdriven amp to increase the distortion or provide a lead boost, though.

 

Overdrive pedals generally don't have as much gain as distortion pedals. Both pedals add gain, but distortion pedals are usually used for fairly high gain tones, while OD pedals are generally better at lower gain stuff.

 

There are some distortion pedals that excell at low gain, and some OD pedals that excell at high gain though.

[bisticles]

They're just regular pinch harmonics, but he was so good at nailing them (plus, there is a TON of gain) that they really stand out. After playing the same song for a long time, you get to learn exactly where to place your picking hand to get the pitched squeal that you want.

 

Overdrive/distortion is a can of worms, but here goes. When you overdrive an audio circuit, that is, you feed it more current than it can handle, the resulting signal is clipped on the top and bottom. While this is technically "distortion caused by overdrive", we call it overdrive. As the circuit becomes further and further overdriven, more and more of that signal becomes flattened or otherwise distorted, which puts it in the area of what we call distortion. Taken even further, where you start to get harmonics based on the newly-created waveform, you get into the area of fuzz, which is where the signal is so distorted that very little of the original sound is left, and you've basically got the wave bouncing back and forth between the top and bottom of the waveform. Here, you've basically got a square wave, which is why it sometimes resembles a synthesizer.

 

As for personal preference, I try to use the overdrive channel on my amp as much as possible, and only use a light overdrive as a boost up front to further push the amp into breakup (overdrive) territory.

[CoqBelliqueux]

I had a Marshall 6100 and a GT3 for a while, quite similar to your setup. I basically used everything. OD and DIST into the clean channel or gain channels. You don't even have to use more gain on the amp, you can split the gain 50/50 between amp and pedal. Some people will use a distortion pedal into the clean amp and boost the pedal with an overdrive pedal as if it were an amp.

[CoqBelliqueux]

As for the Dime thing, the guitar and pickups are the most important things. Gain and treble will always help, of course.

['s mel gibson]

I start with a clean sound on any of my Marshalls or Roland 60w Cubes.

They all have channel switching pedals. The next step up is a slightly crunchy rhythm. If there' s a 3rd channel, a bit more.

 

I use my overdrive/distortion pedal on it's overdrive side with a bit of OD and a bit more volume. It's more like a boostpedal with a bit more gain. With the amp's natural OD I don't need much more. To me, distortion is closer to Fuzz and I don't want that.

[naz420]

They're just regular pinch harmonics, but he was so good at nailing them (plus, there is a TON of gain) that they really stand out. After playing the same song for a long time, you get to learn exactly where to place your picking hand to get the pitched squeal that you want. Overdrive/distortion is a can of worms, but here goes. When you overdrive an audio circuit, that is, you feed it more current than it can handle, the resulting signal is clipped on the top and bottom. While this is technically "distortion caused by overdrive", we call it overdrive. As the circuit becomes further and further overdriven, more and more of that signal becomes flattened or otherwise distorted, which puts it in the area of what we call distortion. Taken even further, where you start to get harmonics based on the newly-created waveform, you get into the area of fuzz, which is where the signal is so distorted that very little of the original sound is left, and you've basically got the wave bouncing back and forth between the top and bottom of the waveform. Here, you've basically got a square wave, which is why it sometimes resembles a synthesizer. As for personal preference, I try to use the overdrive channel on my amp as much as possible, and only use a light overdrive as a boost up front to further push the amp into breakup (overdrive) territory.

 

Great explanation! I think i got it know. just one more dumb question. what exactly is gain. lol

[Prages]

Great explanation! I think i got it know. just one more dumb question. what exactly is gain. lol

 

Gain is basically making a signal stronger. When you raise the gain above a certain level, instead of the signal becoming louder, it becomes more distorted.

[bisticles]

Great explanation! I think i got it know. just one more dumb question. what exactly is gain. lol

 

Haha, no problem. Gain is basically the volume knob... how much amplification you're trying to add. More gain = more volume (until the circuit starts clipping) = more overdrive = increased harmonics.

[naz420]

Ok that was my last dumb question for the day. Thanks for the help. I cant wait to get out of work and go play and piss my neighbors off. Its ok i'm moving this weekend.lol

[Angry Tele]

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/chairmen-boards/apr-08/35211