I don't know any working players who use effects to mask poor chops or bad technique. To repeat myself ad nauseum, effects are just another tool to expand your sound palette. If you and your fellow musicians are happy hearing a single sound all night, that's all that matters.
Many working bands cover a wide range of music styles. So, if you need a little edge, brighter tone, tremolo, maybe organ or horn sounds, etc., effects can help you achieve the desired sounds and add another dimension to the group's versatility.
These are particularly helpful if you double on say, guitar or slide, for instance as the multi units and modelers let you select a different eq and tone settings.
Sometimes, if it's a strictly classic country event, I can do without the mult-fx units, but always have at least a smidge of delay added to the 'verb.
No Effects?
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David Doggett
- Posts: 8088
- Joined: 20 Aug 2002 12:01 am
- Location: Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
For country I use a silver-face Fender tube amp (several sizes ranging from Super Twin to Princeton) and amp spring reverb. I normally use the reverb around 3-4, and will turn it up to 5-6 for slow ballads. If I didn't use tube amps, I would use a tube preamp to get some warmth. Nothing else seems necessary for traditional country, although some people like delay instead of or in addition to reverb. If an amp doesn't have reverb (it's broken on a couple of mine), I will use the medium hall reverb of a POD XT. This actually sounds less tinny than spring reverb; but, if my amp has reverb, I don't bother with bringing the POD.
For jazz I use the same minimal setup, but with little or no reverb, and I dial the EQ a little darker.
My SF Fender tube amps are setup to play clean to the top, and wont distort. So for modern rock-country, blues, funk, rock, fusion, etc. I use a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube box before the volume pedal to add some moderate pick-sensitive tube distortion, but not on every song - slow songs in any genre I tend to play clean and with a little more reverb. Most other guitar dirt boxes seem too muddy to me for steel. And I haven't had the time or impetus to experiment with the many other effects rock guitarists use. But that's just me. Outside of traditional country and jazz, the sky's the limit. Simple and clean has no particular virtue. It's just one of the many sounds available to give variety and texture to pop genres. Too much of any of them, including simple and clean, gets boring quick. I have heard top steelers ruin their performances (for me) with too much and too heavy chorus, Dobro simulator, etc.
If you want to see how complicated effects have gotten in the guitar world, check out the Holiday Issue of Guitar Player. It shows the stage rigs of 15 top guitar acts. There is no point in arguing to these guys that there is any virtue in simplicity. These are the top guys, and they know their business. Their effects are an extension of their instrument, and having extensive abilities in using effects is considered an essential part of technique.
I think we get away with fewer effects on steel because a steel guitar is one big effects unit, when you consider how expressive we are with the bar, the volume pedal, and the variety of picking techniques from single-string, two-string, three- or four-string harmony, both below and above the lead line, harmonics, picking close or far from the pickup, etc.
For jazz I use the same minimal setup, but with little or no reverb, and I dial the EQ a little darker.
My SF Fender tube amps are setup to play clean to the top, and wont distort. So for modern rock-country, blues, funk, rock, fusion, etc. I use a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube box before the volume pedal to add some moderate pick-sensitive tube distortion, but not on every song - slow songs in any genre I tend to play clean and with a little more reverb. Most other guitar dirt boxes seem too muddy to me for steel. And I haven't had the time or impetus to experiment with the many other effects rock guitarists use. But that's just me. Outside of traditional country and jazz, the sky's the limit. Simple and clean has no particular virtue. It's just one of the many sounds available to give variety and texture to pop genres. Too much of any of them, including simple and clean, gets boring quick. I have heard top steelers ruin their performances (for me) with too much and too heavy chorus, Dobro simulator, etc.
If you want to see how complicated effects have gotten in the guitar world, check out the Holiday Issue of Guitar Player. It shows the stage rigs of 15 top guitar acts. There is no point in arguing to these guys that there is any virtue in simplicity. These are the top guys, and they know their business. Their effects are an extension of their instrument, and having extensive abilities in using effects is considered an essential part of technique.
I think we get away with fewer effects on steel because a steel guitar is one big effects unit, when you consider how expressive we are with the bar, the volume pedal, and the variety of picking techniques from single-string, two-string, three- or four-string harmony, both below and above the lead line, harmonics, picking close or far from the pickup, etc.
I often use my Mesa/Boogie Maverick without additional effects. It has two channels (clean and distorted) and a separate reverb control for each. There's a footswitch to change from one channel to the other, or it can be switched from the front panel.
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Mike Christensen
- Posts: 393
- Joined: 11 Apr 2005 12:01 am
- Location: Cook Minnesota
I prefer just a bit of delay at all times. Some slower songs I use my RV-5. I hook up,Guitar-Echo Park-RV-5-Foxville 400. I prefer to run my pot VP's through the Pre-Eq patch. I like that sound better.I know some say there is a lot of signal loss using all those cords but I have found it to be really indecernable to my ear. A fancy machine might measure it but not my ear. Just my way. For now. All subject to possible change at a later date. Happy Trails.