Does anyone know anything about guitar effects?

[Crimson Glory]

I'll come clean...

Outside of actually playing the guitar, I know next to nothing. I have alot of technique and that's it.

Effects, maintenance, set-up, theory, etc.

In my 13 years of playing I pretty much only focused on that, and never put any money or time into anything else.

What are your favorite guitar effects?

I've become a big EHX(Electro-Harmonix) fanboy as of late. Bought a Metal Muff for some extra kick to go along with my Traynor Custom Special, liked it and from that point on I've been looking at nothing else but EHX.

Finally truly learned what a Looper Pedal is(had been aware that you could do this, but never knew anything beyond that) and realized you can get an Organ, Keyboard and Synth effect etc.

I've gotta have all of these.







Here I thought I needed to learn how to play keyboard/piano to get these sounds.

 

[Simian Raticus]

When I first started playing Munky and Head from Korn were pretty much the shit, and they were doing some cool stuff with pedals, so a lot of people were imitating them fx wise.

I never had the 7 string but built up a pretty impressive array of mostly boss stomp boxes before I even had a decent amp. i used to get high and twiddle those little knoblets for hours.

Then when I bought my first stack - a peavy 5150 II head and cab, the tone on it was so phat and and crispy I ended up selling all my pedals 'cept the ns1 noise gate.

These days I play through an engel power amp and model all my preamps on a Line 6 podHD. I use subtle fx on my cleans - just a touch of reverb and chorus just to make it sound a little wet.

Definitely time for a Upgrade from the pod but I've spent so much time tweaking my patches at this point that it's a little scary to have to start from scratch.

The Bias Rack piques my interest a lot:



It's based on the Bias guitar plugin, which is amaingt. All the same modelling algorithms just in a rack mount unit with all your typical preamp I/O and knob controls. Very sweet.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

First off, the best way to use effects is after recording instead of using pedals. Thats why all the old records sound better. It lets you really fine tune everything instead of having to be on your knees fudging a bunch of pedals that compromise your tone.

As a traditionalist I almost never use distortion pedals, because the natural overdrive of an old tube amp sounds better. I'll throw some fuzz on a guitar solo but thats about it.

When it comes to delay allways go tube,analog and tape over digital when it comes to recording.

Also compression is something you should understand. Its what makes popular music sound "like a record" instead of a field recording. Makes the drums pop and the guitars sustain. etc

 

[astrozician]

I have a TC Electronic Flashback and that has a lot of settings for analog and digital delays. It also has a chorus setting. I feel like it's a really good box that satisfied my need for having a lot of other pedals. Other than that, I have a Cry Baby wah that I only use for a funky rhythm sound and doesn't get used. Other than that, my amp has a 2 stage overdrive/distortion pedal which is great for switching between rhythm and lead parts. Other than that, I really have no other use for other pedals. Any EQ changes I need to make, I do with either my pickup selection or picking technique/location on the strings. In the future, I MIGHT get a nice reverb, but again, my amp already has a reverb: between that and the delay, having more reverb might be overkill.

I once had a Boss ME-30 but the sound effects sounded too unnatural for my taste. I wore it out, and replaced it with the TC Electronic Flashback. I also once had a DOD-69 Grunge distortion box, which doesn't work anymore. I remember liking the tone, but my musical tastes have changed.

 

[P0NYBOY]

Wah to sound like jerry cantrell likes to sound.
Noise gate........obvious.
Digital delay to sound like "the edge".
Tremolo to sound like johnny marr in "how soon is now" (not fully proper but easy).
Chorus to fattten up clean stuff or thin it way way up....also nirvanaize distorted sounds.
Flanger
Digitech whammy is helpful if you don't have a tremolo on the guitar.
Univibe or an imitator of univibe for the robin trower/buckethead sounds.
The distortion of your choice if your amp isn't up to it.
Compressor.............but only used to sustain harmonics and feedback because it kills your attack....turn it off 90% of the time or it will suck the dynamics out of your sound.

Those are what you need to cover all the bases but you would be amazed at how much subtle use of effects are used for signature sounds................like a wah on but almost totally toe up.

Mostly, my taste for effects is in making the guitar sound nothing like a guitar so I opt for extreme stuff or settings like the wharmonator.

Back in the day, prince used to run a distortion pedal into a flanger and into another distortion pedal or just two distortion pedals chained.

He did that stuff because he endlessly played with effects chains and ordering and settings to get what he wanted for a song.

I would likely go with a few quality effects you really like and use a multi-effects processor for stuff that's way out............or delay and reverb stuff since multi-effect processors have no trouble with delays and reverbs.

Get good with effects and mixing and you, too, can sound like this guy.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Wah to sound like jerry cantrell likes to sound.
Noise gate........obvious.
Digital delay to sound like "the edge".
Tremolo to sound like johnny marr in "how soon is now" (not fully proper but easy).
Chorus to fattten up clean stuff or thin it way way up....also nirvanaize distorted sounds.
Flanger
Digitech whammy is helpful if you don't have a tremolo on the guitar.
Univibe or an imitator of univibe for the robin trower/buckethead sounds.
The distortion of your choice if your amp isn't up to it.
Compressor.............but only used to sustain harmonics and feedback because it kills your attack....turn it off 90% of the time or it will suck the dynamics out of your sound.

Those are what you need to cover all the bases but you would be amazed at how much subtle use of effects are used for signature sounds................like a wah on but almost totally toe up.

Mostly, my taste for effects is in making the guitar sound nothing like a guitar so I opt for extreme stuff or settings like the wharmonator.

Back in the day, prince used to run a distortion pedal into a flanger and into another distortion pedal or just two distortion pedals chained.

He did that stuff because he endlessly played with effects chains and ordering and settings to get what he wanted for a song.

I would likely go with a few quality effects you really like and use a multi-effects processor for stuff that's way out............or delay and reverb stuff since multi-effect processors have no trouble with delays and reverbs.

Get good with effects and mixing and you, too, can sound like this guy.

Marr used two twin reverbs to get that sound. Built in amp effects>pedals imo.

 

[P0NYBOY]

Yes he did but............I sure don't want to spend six hours recording and re-recording while two other people twist knobs on each amp during the playing.

I'd rather use a tremolo pedal like Johnny Marr does now.

Pedal is much easier.

As far as the original question, the basic effects should probably be a dedicated pedal that will likely sound better than anything an effects processor can serve up.

Best to start with a known good effects processor and buy pedals one by one as you run into the processor's limitations and find the flavor you like most.

If you're lucky, you may only need one or two pedals.

 

[ShinkanPo]

I'll come clean...

Outside of actually playing the guitar, I know next to nothing. I have alot of technique and that's it.

Effects, maintenance, set-up, theory, etc.

In my 13 years of playing I pretty much only focused on that, and never put any money or time into anything else.

What are your favorite guitar effects?

I've become a big EHX(Electro-Harmonix) fanboy as of late. Bought a Metal Muff for some extra kick to go along with my Traynor Custom Special, liked it and from that point on I've been looking at nothing else but EHX.

Finally truly learned what a Looper Pedal is(had been aware that you could do this, but never knew anything beyond that) and realized you can get an Organ, Keyboard and Synth effect etc.

I've gotta have all of these.







Here I thought I needed to learn how to play keyboard/piano to get these sounds.

I grew up with Multi FX from the BOSS ME6 to ME-30 but BOSS Just got to expensive for me to buy brand so in 2007 to Behringer effects as a stop gap effects then I got the Zoom G7 in 2008 I am still using that monster to this day its quite good for a Multi FX.

Just recently I started buying stomps again. Truetone Jekly and Hyde and an MXR Carbon copy!

First time I used a true analog delay and it really feels different!! I can solo without cluttering up to much, I have a lot to learn about tone too, I never owned a tube amp, we just use whatever amp the house can offer, sometimes we get a good Marshall or Laney Head but thats it.


I am still thinking what I should add next maybe a noise supressor first then EQ then change the Behtringer compresor!!!