ot: chorus and reverb effect.

[MCBTunes]

I'm kinda new to effects, and seeing as all I do is play clean I figured I should add a little depth to my sound. I do a lot of strumming, major chords etc. I might add a touch of distortion later as well.

So outta the 2, chorus is just a little more intense correct? I would still like to stay slightly articulate so would reverb be the better option?

 

[SteveB]

Here are my OPINIONS on effects:

Reverb and Chorus really don't sound anything like each other.

Phaser, Chorus, Flanger - all of these introduce a 'swish' sound into your signal. I listed them from the mildest to the most severe, IMHO.

I think Phaser sounds kinda cheesy in most cases.

Chorus makes a lush, full clean sound if not overdone.

Flanger is very intense, and I find it unusable for clean (and with very limited use anywhere else).


Reverb, on the other hand, affects the decay of your notes. You can make your guitar sound like you're playing alone in a giant, empty hall.. or like you're playing in a garage, or in a carpeted room. This is more of an ambient effect than chorusing.

A Delay pedal will let you produce audible 'echoes' that repeat. This is different from reverb and chorus.. although delay is a key component of chorus-type effects.

For your purpose, I'd probably start with the chorus. You can dial in some sweet sweeping, airy clean sounds with it.

 

[mhorse]

+1

 

[ripley]

I tend to think of spring reverbs as part of the amp's sound, and digital reverbs as atmospheric padding for my tone... same with chorus. putting the two together in small ammounts (depending on your room) can render a large, full sound without sapping your tone... but I've found that the more I add of either, the thinner my sound gets.

 

[jongitarz]

I use my flanger with my chorus...I like that sound.

 

[Monster]

i agree get a chorus pedal first, then maybe a good Dist pedal,

but i use a zoom 505 pedal and that has everything i need for home use... untill i can poney up more money for more effects.. and better pedals..

 

[Beth]

Effects are great when used to add a little flavor to your sound. IMO, effects are best used in small doses. I was at a former EB employee's house once listening to their band practice and the guitarist felt it necessary to use ALL of his 5 pedal effects at once. I thought my head was going to pop. It literally made me sick to my stomach. It was almost sea sickness...

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

Find a mulit-FX pedal that allows you to dial in the percentage of "wet / processed" to "dry / raw" sounds. My main patches run only 25%-32% wet. Depending on the room I'm playing, I'll dial a little more or a little less to fit the ambience needed. You just want a little seasoning on your sound unless you are doing something that requires some over the top weirdness.

 

[blackspy]

I use my flanger with my chorus...I like that sound.

You can do a cool Cabo Wabo tone with that combo.

 

[SteveB]

Beth,

Yeah, it's easy to overdo it. But you *can* combine multiple effects and have a nice sound.

My 'essential' setup is this:

Chorus -> Delay -> Reverb


I like all three of them 'on' for most clean stuff.. all tweaked appropriately of course. When I switch the amp to it's distorted channels, I either leave them on (for lead) or switch out the whole set of 'em as one 'unit' (for rhythm).

I use the Boss Chorus Ensemble pedal configured for a very mild, slow chorus. Nothing too fast or radical about it. I just use it for 'sparkle'.

If I had to get rid of one, I'd lose the delay first, even though it's probably the most versatile of the three.

 

[blackspy]

I might be the oddball here but I use a Boss Pitch Shifter, as a chorus-like effect. I set up a couple of cents octave up, a couple octave down. This gives the 'chorus' effect without the modulation (swirly sound). I never cared for the swirl it added, but I liked the thickening effect.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I might be the oddball here but I use a Boss Pitch Shifter, as a chorus-like effect. I set up a couple of cents octave up, a couple octave down. This gives the 'chorus' effect without the modulation (swirly sound). I never cared for the swirl it added, but I liked the thickening effect.

THAT is a great idea! I've got to try that. Which specific model do you use?

 

[blackspy]

THAT is a great idea! I've got to try that. Which specific model do you use?

I like the old Boss PS-3. It's also a Digital Delay if you change the mode.

 

[SteveB]

Blackspy,

That's a very interesting choice. Do you have any sound clips? I'd love to hear that effect! Cool idea.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I like the old Boss PS-3. It's also a Digital Delay if you change the mode.

Got any clips posted anywhere I could here that? I'm not a big fan of the "swishy" sound either!

 

[Adwex]

I always use reverb and chorus on my clean sound. Not too much though. I use delay also, but it's optional.

 

[blackspy]

Blackspy,

That's a very interesting choice. Do you have any sound clips? I'd love to hear that effect! Cool idea.

No, I don't have anything hosted anywhere. I don't know if I can arrange that before this thread dies out. I let you know if I can.

 

[MCBTunes]

hm, not much love for the verb pedal. I'm not sure what to think, sounds likepeople are only using verb whe nthey have a chorus to go with it.

blackspy, get the clip up whenever ya can, we'll make sure it gets heard

 

[SteveB]

MCB..

I wouldn't say there's not much love for the reverb pedal. A lot of amps come with reverb on board, and these generally sound better than the pedals. (If the amp has a reverb tank. If the amp is just doing digital reverb then it won't sound any better than the pedal probably.)

It's hard to find a good sounding reverb pedal. I have the Boss RV5 which does a pretty decent job. I also thought the Digitech X-series reverb pedal sounded pretty good.

Most of us seem to prefer both reverb and chorus for cleans. Reverb to give you the ambient 'space' for your sound, and chorus to 'swirl' it around a little. I don't set my chorus sounds too severe, so you really don't hear the 'swirl' too much.. just the effect of it on the guitar sounds. But you can dial in really audible 'swish' depending upon your tastes. (Think of the guitar in Cyndi Lauper's tune "Time After Time".. very noticable chorus.. but it works for the song.)

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

MCB..

It's hard to find a good sounding reverb pedal. I have the Boss RV5 which does a pretty decent job. I also thought the Digitech X-series reverb pedal sounded pretty good.

The POD XT Live is a good all around choice. You can turn off the amp section and just use it for effects in front of or in the loop of your main amp. It's got a great section of modeled pedals to choose from.