Pedals and such

Dan Salini · From: SLC UTAH USA

Hi gang, My question is, how many of you use an out board pedal of some sort for compression/sustain.
What are you using to enhance your sound ??

Thanks.... Dan

Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

I don't like compression on steel. Spoils the touch and sounds artificial.

And sustain is a natural feature of the instrument, isn't it? Augmented by the "expression pedasl", i.e. volume pedal?

Just my opinion.

Chris

John Daugherty · From: Rolla, Missouri, USA

Boy Howdy Chris !!! I like to be in control.......JD

Per Berner · From: Skovde, Sweden

I always use a Boss CS-2 or CS-3 compressor with my Telecaster; wouldn't play a note without it. I tried it on my steel, but the output from the steel pickup seems to be more than the compressor can handle - even at very subtle settings, the sound is distorted and just awful. If I found one that could handle the steel signal, I would place it before the volume pedal, otherwise the two would fight each other.

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Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, Goodrich 120, Peavey Nashville 1000

Scott Swartz · From: St. Louis, MO

I use an opto based compressor set to do sort of a gentle peak leveling.

Play soft, it does nothing. Played harder it starts to kick in, I set it so a single note line picked hard gets some compression to fatten it up up a little

I place it after my passive volume pedal, so it also acts as a buffer to drive the cord back to the amp, similar to what you get with an active volume pedal (hilton, etc).

The typical guitar compressors (Boss, Dynacomp, etc) do not have enough headroom for steel, but there are several opto based ones that should work on the market (I built the one I use).

David Doggett · Posted 30 Sep 2004 8:52 am

Before my POD XT got stolen I tried the compression with pedal steel. At a really high compression setting, you could just take your foot off the volume pedal. The compressor automatically smoothed the attack and added sustain just like we do manually with the volume pedal. That scared me, and I never used compression again for fear of loosing my touch on the volume pedal (but maybe I'm just a Luddite).

I use reverb from an FX unit or processor because of the variety of types of reverb available, and the ability to set different levels of reverb that you can switch to quickly by stompling (I stomp with my hand, since my feet are occupied on pedal steel).

I also use FX units for fuzz or overdrive when playing pedal steel for blues and rock.

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Like Per, I use a Boss Compressor with my Tele but they sure don't work for steel. I don't use any compression at all with my steel now, just an old Ibanez Analog Delay and a BBE Sonic Maximizer. On my old ShoBud I used to use a Dan Armstrong "Orange Squeezer" compressor which worked great on steel. It even clipped right on the guitar like a BossTone. The only drawback was that it only had an on/off toggle switch on the outside. There were two adjustments but you had to take it apart and adjust them with a small flat blade screwdriver so you couldn't make any fine tuned adjustments on the bandstand while playing. All in all though, I think those things worked so good it was worth it. I wish they still made 'em...JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I used to have an MXR Dyna-comp. I set it so that when I picked the strings hard, it would compress and it kind of gave me the sound similar to the popping sound you hear from telecasters. Sort of like the sound Roy Nichols used to get. I wouldn't use it except for the times I wanted that sound.

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Carter D10 9p/10k, NV400

Dan Salini · From: SLC UTAH USA

Thanks for the feed back, I guess the later half of my question was more what I was after.
I just got a new Peavey 112 and going straight in sure is sounding nice. I think I will keep it simple and worry more about how I play.........

Thanks again.

Dan Salini

Mike Scaggs · From: Nashville, TN

I sometimes use a Roland Space Echo tape echo machine when I record. It completely smokes the boss stuff or anything digital I think. They are pricey and require some maintenance but WOW what a sound. Super warm and delightful sound in my ear and that of most engineers.

Mike

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