The Secret Ingredients

[jbert]

oh my god your pedal boards are all so clean? Are you guys only playing in the living room.
My board is a dusty mess!!

Hey how is your expierience with the strobostomp. The tempered tunings???

Not in the living room, but only in my basement...! I also keep the board, cables, etc, in one of those large and low plastic storage bins when not in use - keeps the kiddies' hands away from all those cool buttons and dials.

The strobostomp is great - very precise, large bright display. I have not yet tried the tempered tuning. I found my TU-2 a little unstable at times, and I also wanted something more accurate to do my own intonation adjustments.

 

[SteveB]

My pedalboard is still clean 'cause I just built it a few weeks ago.. and I bought all the pedals new over the last few weeks as well, except the Strobostomp which I've had for a few months.

I like the Strobostomp. It takes a little getting used to as far as reading a digital strobe display versus the 'usual' visual devices employed by tuners. I haven't used the tempered tunings either. I, too, wanted something that could be used for intonation. You can also use it like a direct box if you choose.

 

[Mick]

Thanks guys for the info.
Mick

 

[nobozos]

Could have sent you some nice pictures a couple weeks ago, but I just got rid of all my effects pedals in favor of a Vox AD60VTX modeling amp. I decided after getting the right tube amp and the right combination of effects, that the only person that appreciated the quality of the sound was me. Nobody in any audience has ever come up to me and said, "Hey man, great tone".

Hey Koog, I know a lot of good things are said about the Vetta II, but you should really try one of those Vox's. I think it's the most "Tube Amp" sounding solid state amp I've ever played. The amp models and effects are pretty authentic sounding.

Now, instead of having a pedal board full of pedals, and a amp footswitch, I have one pedal board for the amp that runs everything, with a volume and expression pedal on it.

 

[ripley]

ready for a big, fat laugh at me? here goes (and I SWEAR it's true... if my digital cam was working I'd post a picture because it's STUPIDLY complicated):

peterson strobeostomp tuner
EB vol
aphex optical compressor
dunlop 535Q wah
morley bad horsie 2 wah
MXR "wylde" overdrive (mainly for voltage boost)
DOD YJM-208 (again, voltage boost...)
analogman maxon SD-9
analogman ts-9 (once belonged to vinnie moore - no kidding)
keeley boss ds-1 ultra
keeley rat2 (3 way mod set to "phat rat")
1980's rat 2 (un-modded)
MXR phase 90 evh (set on "script")
t.c. electronic chorus/flanger
guyatone micro delay
analogman modded boss dd-6
line 6 delay moddler/sampler
boomerang phrase sampler
aphex guitar exciter (to put back in some of the tone I have drained at this point in the chain)
hush "the pedal"
songworks "little lanilei" spring reverb

and the answer is, no. really don't need it all. it just makes such fantastically bizarre sounds. it's not as noisey as you'd think but it is running off 3 podal power 2 units and batteries on top of that. oh, and it's really 2 pedalboards that get set up in an "L" shape.

 

[tvanveen]

wow

 

[SteveB]

nobozos,

your post made me laugh, 'cause I just did the exact opposite. I went from a nice simple setup (Digitech RP-2000 modeling pedalboard into a Peavey Classic 120/120 power amp, into a 4x12 cabinet) to a more complicated one. (The pedalboard is pictured above, and this is used in conjunction with a Peavey Triple XXX head and my same 4x12 cabinet.

Now, instead of pressing one pedal to change all my settings, I'm back to dancing on individual pedals and amp switching mechanisms! Haha!

Fortunately, I've simplified it to where I use all of my effects in the loop, and I generally just switch the whole loop off and on, or sometimes I just have to swap amp channels and maybe toggle the delay.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

All I have is an MXR Zakk Wylde and a FBV Shortboard running into my LIne 6 Duoverb. Oh, and a Boss Chorus Ensemble in the loop. Musical Bliss!

 

[Ali]

Just got rid of my Boss Gt6. Going back to straight into the amp (Marshall AVT150) with only a little delay for company.....I just don't get on with effects these days. Would rather keep life simple

 

[Jimi D]

Finally got a pic of my current board up...

The chain is: Marshall ED-1 Compressor => Fulltone "Custom Shop" Full-Drive 2 => Budda Wah => Fulltone OCD => Ernie Ball Volume (=> Boss TU-12 tuner) => Visual Sound H20 Delay & Chorus. An old '80s-era Pearl VR-5 voltage regulator powers most of the board from beneath the Boss TU-12, but both Fulltone pedals are chained from a seperate 18V adapter, which gives them a slightly more dynamic, less compressed tone to my ears. This pedal board is wired entirely with George L's and the whole setup adds very little load to the guitar's signal when I'm running through it. I've owned many, many pedals over the years, and every pedal here is a solid, toneful workhorse; something you can step on and be sure it sounds good! It's kind of ironic that after owning a Mesa V-Twin, Matchless HotBox and SIB Varidrive, I finally found the heavy distortion sound I wanted in a solid state Fulltone Obsessive Compulsive Drive pedal, but everything you've heard about this pedal is true - it's brilliant! The Rockcase board is a slick little case with reinforced corners, break-away hinges, decent latches, solid build quality and a great handle. It has some weight with all this hardware in it but doesn't take up much realestate and helps me keep the pedal-itis under control...

 

[Jimi D]

oh my god your pedal boards are all so clean? Are you guys only playing in the living room? My board is a dusty mess!!

hehehe... ya, mine is not only dirty, it doesn't smell too sweet, neither...

 

[MN246]

Here's my current setup:

Morley Pro Series II wah
EB Volume Pedal
Midibuddy midi controller
Preamp/Processor - Rocktron Prophesy

I've never had cleaner, quieter effects than what I get from the Prophesy. The tone absolutely kills any head I've ever had (5150, VHT Pitbull, Triple Rec, etc).

 

[bluebullet]

i keep it pretty simple, a fulltone ocd and a evh phase 90. im looking for a good analog delay and that should be about it.

 

[SteveB]

MN246,

You have a Prophesy? I love the sound of those babies. I think they want too much money for them, though. But man, they have some sweet, sweet tones.

 

[MN246]

The tones I can get out of this thing are just crazy. I can't imagine ever wanting or needing to buy another amp as long as I have this. I power it with a Carvin TS-100 power amp and run it into a 5150 4x12. The thing just rocks, and that's just the preamp. The effects are unbelievable. They are completely silent as far as noise is concerned. You have complete control over where each effect is placed in the signal path. There are three separate EQs so you can shape the tone however you want.

That's just scratching the surface. One of the absolute best features is the cabinet emulator that is built in. During performances, I run two XLR cables, L and R, out in stereo to the mixing console and use a stereo 2x12 for my stage sound. The XLR outputs have cabinet voicings that can be set up in the patches. You can pick cabinet type and speaker size as well as adjust the position of a virtual mic in front of the speaker. Each patch can be set for whatever combination you want. For instance, on my clean patches one has a single 15" speaker open back cabinet and another has an open back 4x10 cabinet. My gain tones all use closed back 4x12 settings. The compression of the cabinets and the reactance of the speakers is very realistic. Also, if I want to adjust my stage volume after soundcheck, I can crank up or down my volume and it doesn't effect the signal out to the console. That in itself is worth volumes to me.

For anyone who is looking for a rack mount preamp/processor, I highly recommend the Prophesy. I've had a lot of different rigs, and this is hands down the best sounding and most versatile.

 

[Raz]

So do you guys recommend the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power then...I'm having humm issues with all of my effects/power...

 

[SteveB]

Raz,

For my two cents worth, I highly recommend the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2. It has 8 isolated power feeds which can independently operate in two modes.

The first mode, available on all 8 feeds, provides 9V suitable for modern Boss, Dunlop etc. pedals.

The other modes are selectable via a DIP switch. Two of the feeds have variable voltage for simulating weak batteries (some fuzz and distortion pedals sound better with a less-than-new batery). Two other feeds can be switched to power certain Line 6 Pedals with higher voltage requirements, and the remaining four can be switched to run older Boss pedals that require the older, higher-voltage Boss ACA power supply.

It's simply brilliant.

 

[Raz]

Raz,

For my two cents worth, I highly recommend the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2. It has 8 isolated power feeds which can independently operate in two modes.

The first mode, available on all 8 feeds, provides 9V suitable for modern Boss, Dunlop etc. pedals.

The other modes are selectable via a DIP switch. Two of the feeds have variable voltage for simulating weak batteries (some fuzz and distortion pedals sound better with a less-than-new batery). Two other feeds can be switched to power certain Line 6 Pedals with higher voltage requirements, and the remaining four can be switched to run older Boss pedals that require the older, higher-voltage Boss ACA power supply.

It's simply brilliant.

Man that's amazing Steve, I just read that from the Pedal Power's spec page and you just summarized that beautifully. Basically I need power to run my Boss ME-50, Ibanez WD-7 Weaping Demon Wah, Digitech Whammy, and my DOD compressor pedal...now I would like it to run my loop effects which is simply my Behringer V-Amp 2.0 (but that has its own power supply) and a DOD EQ...but if not these last two can be off the board...thanks STEVIE BEEE!

 

[caucajun]

i din't git a board yet. but here's my arsenal.....until sump'm git traded.......

ibanez 90's ts-9 re-issue
black russian big muff
vox wah
mxr phase 100

nuthin' fancy, but the panties sho' hits th' deck when i kick in th' phaser!

chick-a chicka- wow-wow!