The Steel Guitar Forum

When I was playing in a blues rock band (2002 and 2003) I used distortion on about half the tunes. The nature of the music required it.

Effects are like seasoning in food. Used properly, they can enhance the music. But it's real easy to use too much and ruin everything.

I like to use different sounds in different songs for variety. That's the main thing I use effects for. I use rotary, phase, distortion, echo, autowah, whatever. It some bands it's not necessary as all they want is to hear "that pedal steel sound" when they point at me. I'm happy to do that too, but I usually add a touch of reverb because I'm not a confident enough player to do it totally dry.

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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6)</font>

My constant references to JERRY BYRD and his playing is not an attempt to convert anyone else's preferences. I merely believe the man to be a musical genius and not just another steel picker who managed to have a single instrumental hit or whatever.
Jerry reminded me that when he'd go in to the studio to do a session, he merely took the amp and guitar, plugged it in, and they'd prop a mike up in front of it and that was all the affects there were. They sit play until it was done and then pack up and leave.
He never even had an occasion to measure up the size of the speaker in his amp; guessed it was maybe 8 or 10 inch. He knew if he played too loud, it would blow the speaker out.
No one even had "reverb" in those earliest days when Jerry put out some of his finest performance. Take a listen to the three tunes on "Jerry's Music".....installed today, on the jerrybyrdfanclub.com site and see if you agree or not.
Personally, the subtle use on occasion of any affects is appropriate however I'd have to say that any number of folks tend to go a little over board on all the stomp boxes. Now I'm NOT referring to anyone in my local region of the Pacific Northwest.

Sustain, pure and simple. The guitar played 'clean' just doesn't cut it for me.

Witches Brew without a delay and an envelope follower would be a little tricky....

I'm about to leave to go to church to set up for our singing night. Will be playing my steel and I am debating whether to use my effects pedals. I'm leaning toward a little delay. I don't really know if anyone in the audience can tell whether it is being used or not. A very close friend of mine, here in town who is a very good steel player and I have had a conversation many times about steel guitar sounds and effects. We think that the normal person in the audience does not know what you are using and definitely cannot tell what brand steel and amp you are using.
Shoot, if I shut my eyes where they are being played I don't think I can tell what they are either. I know I can't. I use to think I could tell a Sho-Bud apart from the others but I don't know anymore. They all sound good and when an effects unit is added it just makes it that much more difficult. WJ

Here's a little food for thought, Walter.

One reason I use effects is to make up for the fact that the smaller rooms -- bars and clubs, etc. -- where I typically play, do not have great acoustics with natural reverb and echo like many church sanctuaries. I don't know how good the acoustics are in your church, but you might put this into the equation.

I don't play in church. If I did I would probably REALLY back off on both the verb and delay.

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<small>Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Steel guitar is a wonderful instrument and we all are wonderful players. Reverb and delay just take up the slack and make us sound even more wonderful.A foolish fighter is one who dose'nt use all his weapons.

I never use effects when practicing.The reverb is broke on my Evans amp. I find when I play through my Stereo Steel setup I use very little effects ( probably because I'm use to the sound anyways) My Fessy is presently my practice guitar and it has E-66 pickups. I find it VERY unforgiving if my guitar is the least bit out of tune. In fact it drives me nuts until things are in tune. On my Emmons I have TrueTone 17.5'S. They don't seem nearly as touchy. Is it the guitars or the Pickups? Emmons is formica, Fessy is finished wood. I also find that in any case the effects seem to erase some of the bar technique.

I never use reverb when playing through tube gear. The slight tube breakup that I like chews up the digital reverb. I use different tempo delays instead.

Rotary is a nice effect if you are in a band without B3. Steel can occupy the same space as B3, so the B3-type licks fit well once in a while. Especially on the rockin' stuff.

My favorite is slapback delay. It fattens things up a bit, and it cannot get in the way, no matter the tempo.

I don't use chorus, but some guys have great chorus sounds. Maybe someone could suggest a good chorus unit?

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IMHO the absolute best chorus was the Yamaha 1005 chorus delay they made in the late 70s/early 80s. They also made a rack one similar to this called a 1010 (this is all by memory) which isn't as good. It's really, really subtle, more of a doubler. It's one of JD's secret weapons, he has several of them in case one of them dies. He told me that he usually records with it. Stupid me, I sold it for nothing a decade or so ago when I entered the 12 step chorus users self help group (I was seriously addicted to this pedal).

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www.tyack.com

Chorus effects work by slightly detuning and delaying a portion of your signal. I like them for playing parts, but you do need to practice your intonation clean.

Dan, is this it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23790&item=7304536366&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

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Some people mentioned using a compressor, I use one too for certain things. I love my DBX 266XL.
Just a thought....isn't it counter-productive to use both a compressor and a volume pedal at the same time? A volume pedal increases your dynamic possibilties while a compressor limits them. Anyone agree/disagree?

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www.natelapointe.net

That's it, Kevin. Something about that chorus works really well with steel.

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www.tyack.com

I think most folk put the Comp before the volume pedal, thereby getting you the string lively-ness the Comp provides, and the traditional V-Ped effectiveness as well.

If you find the need for a reverb, check out the 63 Fender re-issue.

Nate,

The compressor goes on the output of the steel to give it a little punch. The volume pedal should be after that. If the volume pedal is feeding the compressor, then you are right...it would be counter-productive.

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Every day is a Great day,
Mike
(aka Sideman)

Been holdin' back, might as well jump in...

While, as mentioned earlier in this string, most folks won't know if you're using effects or not, the bottom line is that the power of music is in the subconscious emotional responses that are called up by the sounds we produce. Whether or not you play with reverb, delay, distortion, etc. the emotional response to the sound of a guitar in a huge space (the definitive rock guitar solo sound - distant and huge) is going to be different that the same guitar played in a tiny room (more appropriate for an intimate acoustic sound - close and "touchable"). Time delay effects such as chorusing, doubling, delay and reverb allow us to to manipulate the ambient context of the notes that we play and whether or not the audience knows that is what they are hearing, this has an undeniable impact on their emotional perception of the music.

Johhny Cash never needed reverb or delay on his voice. A lot of other very fine singers would sound wrong without it. There is no "Right" or "Wrong" - it has to do with the intrinsic qualities of the voice and the nature of the material being performed.

One other point - while stomp-box compressors are designed to use with guitar pickups they offer very little in the way of fine adjustment and are generally used to supply heavy compression in pursuit of endless sustain and modify the tonality of the instrument significantly. If this is the desired sound then yes, they are best applied BEFORE the volume pedal.

HOWEVER, virtually ALL high-quality comp/limiters are line-level units and do not have the correct input impedance or gain structure to use in this fashion. For many years I have used several great comps (dbx 160x, Ashly SC50, UREI LA22, Audio Arts 1200) AFTER the volume pedal and EQ and BEFORE the effects. When used in this fashion it should be adjusted to compress the peaks with the volume pedal all the way up. This eliminates the volume pedal vs. compressor battle and while helping with sustain it is particularly helpful in controlling transient peaks, keeping the overall string attack level more consistent (or am I the only one that occasionally hits a string a bit harder than intended?).

All this being said, these days I mostly play straight into the amp and use the internal spring tank (it is a good one, though). I still have all the whistles and bells on hand for the song that is just asking for it, though.

Cheers

<font size="2">Edited aggenn an aginn cuzz I hain't lerrnt to spehll rite yett</font>

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<font size="2"><img align=right src="http://www.pdxaudio.com/dgsept03.jpg" width="114 height="114">Dave Grafe - email: dg@pdxaudio.com
Production
Pickin', etc.

1978 ShoBud Pro I E9, Randall Steel Man 500, 1960 Les Paul (SG) Deluxe, 1963 Precision Bass, 1954 Gibson LGO, 1897 Washburn Hawaiian Steel Conversion</font>
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 05 March 2005 at 11:26 AM.]</p></FONT>

I use a Pod 2.0, but I don't use an amp. I use the twin reverb setting, some reverb which sounds much like the original Fender reverb, and sometimes just a trace of compression, depending on the room. So, yes, I use an effects unit, but really only to simulate a good old amp so that I have one less heavy burden to carry around on my weary old back.

But, I don't see a yes or no answer to this. I've gone through about a dozen different digital pianos trying to find one that really inspires me, so why should we deal with the steel guitar and its sound enhancements any differently.

It's not about what they hear, it's really about what WE, the players hear that matters because we are the ones who need to connect with our instruments in a way that inspires us to play our best.

Aside from improving my playing, it's reall all about the pursuit of tone.

I quit playing from the late 70's until late 2003. During my time away from music, there were many changes in style and and equipment.
I had the tube amp sound in my mind and couldn't get my "old" sound back with my newer solid state amp. As a result, I added a Profex 2 to give me just a little more "life" to my sound. I use amplifier reverb and a small amount of added delay to overcome what I call a dry tone from my SS amp.
Jack Kondora

I read an interview/article with Stevie Wonder a long time ago.
He described an additional "Pot" that he added on each channel of his studio mixing board
that he called the "Third Dimension".
There is the Standard Left & Right "Pan" pot . . .
But, he added a pot that faded between "UP-FRONT" or "FAR-AWAY" !
This is why & how I use my effects . . .
To get the "dimensional position" of my instrument within the "mix"!
Adding reverb and/or delay to created a "room dimension"
or to get an "instrument position" within the "room".
The only other effect that I might use is a Vibrato/Chorus/Flanger
to simulate a Leslie/Organ sound . . .
Or a "ERA Period" effect like a "Phasor".
BTW. . . Yes, I use a compressor all of the time. . .
To keep my level, attack & sustain constant.
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Dan Balde
U-12/8&5, S-7/D 3&1, S-6/E,A & G3<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by db on 12 March 2005 at 11:14 PM.]</p></FONT>

I've been using an SE-50 the last couple of weeks from Boss and find it to be a really great unit for reverbs. Last night while setting up the new guitar player had a newer model Vox amp and a pedal board with effects from Vox in front of him. One of the guys setting up the PA cabinets stepped on one of the chords going into the pedal board and put it out of commission. I never heard a Vox amp sound so good and with a Telecaster being played through it with no effects. I used only reverb last night to kind of balance out the effects and it was great to hear the true sound of the instruments. The effects are great tools just long as you don't over-do them.