Controlling effects

Julian Goldwhite · Post by **Julian Goldwhite** » 3 Apr 2009 2:28 pm

Now I know for some of the PSG players out there, anything more than the judicious use of a little reverb is heresy, but for those who employ other sorts of effects, I was curious how you go about controlling them? I have a few pedals that I have been bending down between songs to switch on and off and have been wondering if there was a better way. Between the pedals for the copedant and volume pedal, I'm not seeing much real estate on the floor for a pedal board...

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 3 Apr 2009 2:37 pm

I bought a Gator pedalboard with built in power supply. Handles 6 pedals with room but claims to handle 8. I set it up on a stand/box/anything so I can reach it and engage the stomp pads by hand. Got a sustain, chorus, tubefex and Bobro in the chain.

I've seen them staged to the steel players right or left on the floor.

Already having a Profex II in the loop it's overkill but they are fun toys to play with and see how bad things can sound...

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 3 Apr 2009 2:49 pm

I've been all over the map on this. I'm currently using a Pod XT and I'm totally spoiled by the convenience. This sidetracked me from a project that needs a lot of improvement. I took a good size pedal board and put a pair of fold-out legs---think of one pair of the legs on a pakaseat---and another foldout support leg. The stomp boxes are mounted on shelves that fold open so that everything is horizontal instead of vertical----this was essential because in order to turn a box on or off, if you pushed the stomp switch you would knock the whole thing over. Presented on the shelf you can squeeze the whole box with your hand instead of hitting the switch.
I actually posted pics long ago. On seeing them a touring friend showed me pics of his solution and I was totally embarrassed. His is a top dollar setup built on the same concept except that instead of worrying about the shelves and the physics of activating the stomp switches the whole thing is wired to a panel of individual true bypass toggles so that all the effects are always on but you punch them in & out of the signal path via the panel. But all the fx boxes are still right there on the upright pedalboard for your tweaking pleasure.

It's a challenge, for sure. I'm planning on getting back into this project because I'm growing a bit disenchanted with the Pod and I've got lots and lots of good pedals.

I'll see if I can find those picks of my standup board.

ok here's one---looking for more

aha--found them.

John Phinney · Post by **John Phinney** » 3 Apr 2009 2:54 pm

There are probably prettier solutions, but here's my setup.

I'm using an REI bag/folding chair that I got in an office xmas gift exchange (it doubles as my cable, volume pedal, extra strings, etc. gig bag) on top of a road ready case. I carry my homemade pedal board and the cables needed for it in the road ready case along with a holy grail reverb which I run through the fx loop on my amp.

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 3 Apr 2009 6:50 pm

Ray, I also have The Gator Board. Good size, powered, has a canvas carrying case. Mine is on top of a plastic file container. Good height for access, without wrenching your back.

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 3 Apr 2009 6:55 pm

I use the Studio Quad 4 in a rackcase, When ever I need to use effects, I look to my right and there they are for me with no stooping under to get to them.
Tommy

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 3 Apr 2009 7:21 pm

I am usually a guitar to volume pedal to Fender tube amp purist. I am playing with one band that is all about effects. I use a Gator powered pedal board on a 60's Ludwig snare stand.... works great and the 60's stands are very small when folded.

Pat Comeau · Post by **Pat Comeau** » 3 Apr 2009 10:38 pm

I don't understand why people in this stage of age still use a bunch of separate pedals and patch cords and adapters $:\$ ... when they can use a multi-effects that has dozens of different effects and you can programme your own patches for different songs and is alot cheaper than buying separate pedals and the quality in effects sound is uncomparable to analog pedals, almost all new multi-effects these days are 24 bit 96k or higher .

just my 2 cents.

Scott Appleton · Post by **Scott Appleton** » 3 Apr 2009 11:19 pm

because they sound the way they want them to. I have had 5 or 6 all in ones at one time or another and not one of them could do it all and sound good for
every efx. One would have great delays but the distortion was too guitarish
or the rotory sound was not smooth enough .. everyone has fav's they really
like. i know a guy who has 5 rack processors which he uses only one or two
efx from each because its what sounds good .. just leaves the rest off ..
I have to agree .. when you find that sound you really like and it adds depth to your live sound its what you need .. if its 7 stomps on a weird rack or 10
rack units chained to a footswitch ..its very subjective.. and personal ..

Matthew Keon · Post by **Matthew Keon** » 4 Apr 2009 3:57 am

I'll bet that's a BYOC Mighty Mouse on the right side!

Matt

John Phinney wrote:There are probably prettier solutions, but here's my setup.

I'm using an REI bag/folding chair that I got in an office xmas gift exchange (it doubles as my cable, volume pedal, extra strings, etc. gig bag) on top of a road ready case. I carry my homemade pedal board and the cables needed for it in the road ready case along with a holy grail reverb which I run through the fx loop on my amp.

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 4 Apr 2009 4:32 am

Pat,
I use analog pedals..... because they are analog. The two Carbon Copy delays are actually a compromise for me, because I would rather take my two tube Echoplex units. I have tried half a dozen multi fx units, but none of them sounded right to me, especially delay and distortion. I find that I can program some cool sounding stuff in a POD (or other similar unit) but the sounds really wash out on stage. The Eventide box on my board is digital, of course, but I use it for really whacked out digital stuff.... so it's cool.
Another advantage of individual boxes is that you can decide which units go pre volume pedal and which go post. I always want distortion pre volume pedal, and most everything else post.

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 4 Apr 2009 5:06 am

IT'S FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 4 Apr 2009 5:32 am

Collect them! Trade them with your friends! Clothes-pin them to your bicycle wheel!

I have yet to find a multiFX processor with which you can turn off just the OD, change the speed of the tremolo, add multi-repeats to the delay, etc---any or all of these things on the fly while you are playing, for a particular bridge part, for instance.
For me it is about max versatility and custom-tailored sound.
If any of these or the previously posted uses don't interest or apply to another player....fine. Whatever.
The original question was not "do you like stomp boxes."

John Phinney · Post by **John Phinney** » 4 Apr 2009 8:14 am

Matthew Keon - Yes sir it is a BYOC Mighty Mouse. Best sounding OD I have, and I did build it myself. Highly recommended for all you solder jockeys in need of a very versatile overdrive.

On why I don't use multi-fx unit, I was playing with a PODxt for awhile (still use it for recording), but the built in OD and distortion were not as responsive as the pedals I use for OD (tubescreamer, RAT, Creamy Dreamer, now Mighty Mouse) and IMHO the PODxt distortions didn't sound good with the PSG. The modulation effects in the PODxt are great, but you can use only one at a time. Sometimes I like to use two modulation fx simultaneously (phaser into tremelo usually), especially if the 6 string player is taking an extended solo! Controlling the order the fx are in allows me to come up with unique sounds, which I make sure to use sparingly because the PSG by itself sounds great as is.

I play with a few bands and the pedal board thing is my setup for the band Travel By Sea. For the band Damngivers its PSG-->volume pedal-->amp (I use the pedal board for 6 string guitar in that band).

Pat Comeau · Post by **Pat Comeau** » 4 Apr 2009 9:01 am

All i can say is...you didn't try good multi-effects, with some of todays multi-FX you can programme anything you can imagine for patches and it's really fast to recall and switch from one to another and good ones are easy and fully programmable, i know there's some cheap multiFX out there but there's also some top notch ones and the quality is superior to any analog ones.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 4 Apr 2009 9:36 am

Jon - Didn't you used to have a Zebco?

John Phinney · Post by **John Phinney** » 4 Apr 2009 9:52 am

Pat - Hey you could be right...And any time you want to gift me a couple grand I'll be happy to drop it on a high end multi-fx box and come back to tell everyone how right you are!

Cliff Kane · Post by **Cliff Kane** » 4 Apr 2009 11:00 am

Hey Julian,
I guess the easiest route is just use the amp's effects or something multi purpose and small like an RV-3. I used to use a Yamaha DG-Stomp and it worked pretty well. I like pedals and I used to deal with plugging in individual pedals and it was always a hassle, especially when factoring the set-up time for the pedal steel. I finally bit the bullet and put a versatile and useful pedalboard together, and it's great. I'm using a Pedal Train board with a hard case. I set the pedalboard on top of the case at the side of my guitar and the case raises the board so that everything is easy to reach from sitting behind the guitar. The case has some extra space, so I could get away with not carrying my pack-a-seat and throw my cables, tuner, strings and tools in the case with the pedalboard and carry a small drum stool if I want reduce cartage, but as it is my guitar, amp, pack-a-seat, and pedalboard case is only two trips with the hand cart. Half of the space on my pedalboard is taken up by a Road Rage true-bypass strip (excellent and reasonably priced, and a great guy to deal with, btw) and a VooDoo Labs Amp Selector which is a level controllable switching box. The Amp Selector lets me switch and blend amp channels, different amps, a line-out to a board, and it has a tuner-out jack. Obviously all of this can be accomplished by simply replugging things, but this is a system that I designed for my particular needs and it works great for me. Well worth the time and money to put it together, and I already had the pedals and the George L cable and plugs. I also use this rig for effects for my home studio (it is an awesome lo-fi analog effects rack!), so it is very easy to move the board between home, rehearsals, and gigs.

Julian Goldwhite · Post by **Julian Goldwhite** » 4 Apr 2009 7:47 pm

I'm appreciating all the different approaches mentioned so far. I use individual pedals for many of the reasons already discussed, primarily because they sound right to me and so far I haven't come across a multi-effects unit that wasn't a compromise in one department or another for what I like to hear.

I have been contemplating leaving pedals on the floor, since I don't make too many adjustments on the fly, and making some kind of looper that I can mount on the leg of the steel with switches to bring the individual effects into the signal chain as needed.

Best,

Julian

Cliff Kane · Post by **Cliff Kane** » 4 Apr 2009 8:53 pm

You should talk to Mike Perlowin. He used to attach a board to his steel guitar's leg that had some pedals and a switching/looper on it

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 5 Apr 2009 8:28 pm

Here's Mike Perlowin's Leg o' Stuff, circa 2003 Los Angeles Perl Jam.

What would steel players do without legs to clamp all this crap to?!

Note a couple of things: the top box with toggles is an in/out controller, so everything is always on, but bypassed until needed.

And: his Pedal Leg is so big, his Goodrich doohickey had to be clamped to the front right leg! Also observe that it's upside down, I'm guessing that somehow improves tone, inverts the polarity, gets rid of single coil hum, attracts drunk chicks, or some such thing.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 6 Apr 2009 6:18 am

^

Man, I LOVE you guys!
Okay, in a platonic way of course, but this is one thing i really love about steel players. You guys arent afraid to REALLY tinker around and cobble together something out of Rube Goldbergs nightmares.

Perlowins leg effetcs thing is just an awesome sight to behold. I see script logo phase 90 and dynacomp, a vintage mxr 6 band that appears to be chopped in half? Is that a big muff under there? and that red box way underneath...?... old dod?

Mike if your reading...please tell me about this setup. cool stuff man. Ive always wondered about using compresion on steel, how and where do you use that dynacomp?

Loren Claypool · Post by **Loren Claypool** » 6 Apr 2009 7:16 am

I have a bevy of pedals that I regularly use (see the gear page at www.lorenclaypool.com for a complete list) but I most often use a POD X3 Pro that I have mounted in a Gator Case and control it with an FBV Express. Typically I'll set up a "family" of settings with four options and use the A, B, C, and D pedals to turn an effect on or off. This approach feels like a stomp box setup. For example, you can turn Overdrive on and off while keeping the same amp setup, etc. This approach works well for me.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 6 Apr 2009 7:37 am

oosp double post

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 6 Apr 2009 10:53 am

I've not seen that Perlowin rig before. Very impressive. I would not want to try to set it up for a single set slot with 10 minutes between bands.

Here's what I was doing back when I foolishly believed that I could get by with just 3 or 4 pedals--

And yes, Lee--the Zebco was an important part of the rig---the inexhaustible 3rd string dispenser.