Author Topic: Effects . . .yet again! (Read 598 times)

mpisanek · « **on:** September 27, 2005, 01:46:39 AM »

I know this has probably been discussed here before but I can't seem to find the thread, so here goes.

I love the tone of my Alembic and am thinking about using some effects along with it. The question that I have is this. Does anyone make an effect of a very high audio quality that will not completely discolour the sound of my instrument?

The likes of Boss make both pedals and a multi-FX unit. Are these of the same audio quality? Are they even good audio quality? Are there any botique effects manufacturers around?

If I do decide to use effects, I would stick to very straight forward effects and apply them very sparingly, but I was just wondering which effects are known for their high audio quality.

Thanks.

drz · « **Reply #1 on:** September 27, 2005, 08:39:32 AM »

I use a Bass POD XT Live as part of my rig, Ampeg SVT 4 Pro/Classic 810 and 215 enclosures. The amp modeling, compression, a touch of reverb, and a little chorus make my Alembic really shine. Rule of thumb, a little goes a long way. I have tried almost all the others and this one seems to work best for me.

gare · « **Reply #2 on:** September 27, 2005, 10:00:14 AM »

Michael
What type of effects are you after ? Chorus, reverb, delay, pitchshift, etc. ?
I stay away from pedals, to my ear they're noisey, most rack mount efx processors are quieter.
Checkout units from Lexicon, TC Electronics, Alesis, Boss, Line. etc. About the only thing you wont get from an effects processor is distortion (on most units).
I have both TC Elec and Alesis units, the TC is quieter and more versatile (IE:more effects), but its also double the price of the Alesis. And if you have a bunch more to spend theres always Eventide.
Good luck on your hunt.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #3 on:** September 27, 2005, 10:55:27 AM »

I' m more of a puritan. don't use any effects on my bass.
I do with guitars but only when absolutely neccesssary. When I do, I prefer the analogue stomp boxes as the bypass sound is more natural. Digital multiFX box's don't seem to have a hardwired bypass. Even in off mode the input ( bass, guitar or whatever) always goes through the analogue to digital converters.
I dislike the way they remove your sound. I use an SF-2 as a tone control and i can keep my natural sound and add as much of the SF-2 as I like.
Thats about it.

Personal thing really.

edwin · « **Reply #4 on:** September 27, 2005, 12:01:06 PM »

I use a Lexicon G2. It has a hardwired bypass, so when you are bypassed there are no a/d or d/a conversions happening (although there is still a buffer amp in the circuit. This has bothered some guitarist purists, but I don't have a problem with it as the Alembic and pretty much every other bass I play is preamped to begin with). It's very versatile and should have everything you need in it. Only bummer is that it is discontinued.

Edwin

beelee · « **Reply #5 on:** September 27, 2005, 03:22:08 PM »

I prefer a rack unit over pedals, I have them in my Amps fx loop. ( never have to worry about dead batteries)

As others have said, used sparingly...less is more

Rig #1 is a SWR SM-900 with an ART SGX Nitro and X-15 or X-12 foot controller.

Rig #2 is a SWR SM-500 with a Lexicon MPX G2 and MPX R1 foot controller

Rig #3 is a SWR Super Redhead with a ART SGX Nitro and the above controllers.

I do use 3 pedals on occasion: Crybaby 105Q bass Waa, Digitech Bass Whammy and Tubeworks Blue Tube.

I use Chorus the most out of all the FX, and have created presets for Flanger, Phaser, Octaver ( -12), Delay (slapback and long) , Reverb, Overdrive/Distortion, some harmony ( 4ths & 5ths) which I 've not really used yet.

The Lexicon G2 is real nice, I'd say its on the same level as a POD, I just got another one and might be swapping the ART out of Rig #2, It is discontinued and can only be found on the used market. Michael Manring was using Lexicon, and Steve Lawson uses a G2 I believe.

The ART SGX Nitro is similar to a G2 or a POD, but is also discontinued.
They made some nice gear, I believe ART was started by former MXR employees.
I have 2 ART Nightbass pre-amps/fx units as well, Stu Hamm was using them and on Chris Squire's website he has one in his rack.
ART is a good company, they still support all their old gear, offer upgrades and great service, all the times I have dealt with them.

although I have no experience with them, I've heard good things about TC Electronics and Line 6 gear.

I don't always play my Alembics, but have been using the above for many years with all my different basses, its all been reliable and I can get any sound I need/want to.

enough of my blabbing on........lol

different things work for different people, it depends on what you want to do and personal preference.

Bruce

jalevinemd · « **Reply #6 on:** September 27, 2005, 07:13:49 PM »

After experiemnting with loads of different effects and a couple of different amps, I've come to a painful conclusion...I don't know s**t about either! Despite my own trial and error, plus several articles, I'm still convinced I don't have my pedals in the correct order. The active electronics in my Alembics behave clearly differently than my passive guitars. Despite playing at low volumes, I seem to get a lot of noise, neccesitating an MXR Smart Gate. I still don't quite understand the difference between overdrive and distortion. Nor have I found anyone who can explain it. And I don't even want to get into the subject of effects loops. So, after much soul searching, I decided to enlist the services of master tone guru, Pete Cornish. I spoke with him about a fairly basic custom pedalboard (Wah, overdrive/distortion, delay, chorus, flanger, phase). Basically everything I'll pretty much need. Unfortunately, David Gilmour has him tied up for the rest of the year, so it'll be quite a wait. What a gentleman, though. He spent about an hour on the phone with me discussing amps, tone, his work with Brian May, Yes, David Gilmour, etc... It was a lot like speaking with the folks at Alembic. Here you have a guy whose client list reads like a who's who of rock legends and yet he takes the time to talk with an absolute nobody. He'll be able to design separate inputs to account for the varying outputs of active/passive guitars and will have everything wired so that the true sound of each effect comes through...not the sonic muddy water I've got sitting on my floor. I'm very excited. Gotta start saving now!

lbpesq · « **Reply #7 on:** September 27, 2005, 08:59:40 PM »

Jonathan:

You might want to check out a book called Getting Great Guitar Sounds by Michael Ross, published by Hal Leonard. A wonderful and very useful overview of the different types of effects, suggestions on order of placement, how to get certain sounds, etc. It's probably only about $10 or $15. Well worth it if you track it down.

Bill, tgo

kmh364 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 28, 2005, 05:05:54 AM »

Ah Jonathan!

You beat me to it. I was about to suggest Mr. Cornish myself. I've been hemming and hawing for a year or so about a custom Cornish pedalboard, but I neither know what I want nor do I have the money ($10k or so) to spare to spend on it.

I guess I'll have to live vicariously through guys like yourself for now. Once you decide exactly what you wanna do, I'd love to see you start a thread here to document the process. From what I understand, Pete will send you progress pix and dialogue during the entire process just like Alembic.

Good luck in your quest for TONE!

Cheers,

Kevin

jalevinemd · « **Reply #9 on:** September 28, 2005, 10:48:30 PM »

Bill...thanks for the tip. I found the book on the Hal Leonard website.

Kevin...I'll keep you posted, though it'll be awhile before things get going. I am a bit nervous though. As it is now, if I want to add or remove an effect from the pedalboard, it's as easy as 1,2 3. Once Mr. Cornish builds me one of his masterpieces, those effects are set in stone.

kmh364 · « **Reply #10 on:** September 29, 2005, 07:56:02 AM »

Thanks, Jonathan.

Don't sweat it, though...lean heavily on Pete's vast knowledge and experience to guide you. He can also make sure that you can add additional stuff later via buffered loops, if desired. You are only limited by your imagination and your wallet, LOL!

I would also recommend that you contact Messrs. John Roscoe (jroscoe@comcast.net) and Ray Johnson (drjohnson2@msn.com) as they both have $10k-plus custom '04 Cornish pedal boards. Both have also posted reviews of same on http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/

I have corresponded with John in the past with regards to his Cornish board and find him to be very approachable and just a plain nice guy. His website (dedicated to David Gilmour)is also very good and gives lots of info on his board and Pete himself (including Gilmour's custom TUBE pedalboard).

http://www.tonefromheaven.com/

Enjoy,

Kevin

BTW, did you ever get a Reeves UK amp rig? I ck'ed them out on their site and am quite impressed. They're quite a deal for anyone that wants that classic Hiwatt sound/look and are hand-made/hardwired with all premium components just like the old Dave Reeves/Sound City-era amps. They even have the Dave Gilmour custom 100W signature head (without Dave's name, of course).

http://www.reevesamps.com/

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Reeves_Amplification/

(Message edited by kmh364 on September 29, 2005)

jalevinemd · « **Reply #11 on:** October 12, 2005, 06:33:25 PM »

Does anyone know which of the old Boss CE-2 pedals is supposed to be superior...the green label or the black label? I know the Japanese is preferred over the Taiwanese.

Jonathan

kmh364 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 13, 2005, 06:02:47 AM »

Jon,

Try dropping Pete a line, he probably knows...he knows EVERYTHING, LOL! I'm Not kidding!

Cheers,

Kevin

FWIW, Besides a Cry Baby Wah, an MXR Distortion +, and an Ibanez Chorus (same vintage and style as the classic Tube Screamer), I've owned very few stomp boxes. I do still have an 80's vintage TSR&D Rockman IID and a rack-mount Yamaha multi-effector (SPX-50D) that both sound great. The Rockman is noisy and non-versatile, and the Yammy has great distortion (and it's DIGITAL!!!!!), but doesn't allow for effects chain reconfiguration, however.

These days, it's guitar straight thru the amp(s), but I still dream of that custom Cornish PB!

jalevinemd · « **Reply #13 on:** October 13, 2005, 07:33:52 AM »

Actually, it was Pete who told me to get a hold of a CE-2 for the pedalboard. In his opinion, it's the best chorus pedal made. I just didn't want to bother him again with this detail if I didn't have to.

lbpesq · « **Reply #14 on:** October 13, 2005, 07:40:27 AM »

So let me see if I have this right. You search high and low to find your desired effects. Then some guy in England mounts them all in one box and charges $10,000 to do it? There's something I'm missing here.

Bill, tgo

Author Topic: Effects . . .yet again! (Read 598 times)

mpisanek