Making my pedalboard even smaller

The world seems to get smaller in so many ways, even oldfashioned guitar gear is shrinking.

Nice and square - fitting a fuzz, delay and echo in one row and still having enough space for a tuner and the power supply. Neat.

Five fuzzes for every occasion, easy to carry around.

Building a basic pedalboard with affordable effects

A little compressor first, then the nice Digitech Bad Monkey into the Nobels ODR-1 and finally a little bit of "Analog Delay". Oh, and a Korg tuner of course.

This serves my needs a a simple practice setup, nothing special but a few tonal options.
I sometimes add a volume pedal and a wah when I'm in the mood.

Trying to keep it as compact as possible.
These are all inexpensive tools to provide some options while jamming and I don't have to worry about breaking something boutique or unique.

Epiphone G-400 '65 Reissue w/Maestro Vibrola - An Update

I got this a while ago, a Gibson Angus Young signature pickup had already been installed.
I found a nice Gibson Classic 57 Plus pickup for the neck position - I quite like that combination now.

Korean - made, back in the year 2005.

Tuning is standard but a half step down with quite thin strings for the short scale length.

Fender Telecaster - Update

The serial number dates it back to 1992 - 1993.

I was lucky when changing the strings today - the string saddles are rusted tight to the point of keeping them where they are or breaking everything in half - but as long as I keep the same string gauge the intonation will be fine. Other option would mean getting new string saddles - I'll postpone that.

Standard tuning with 9.5 to 44 strings.

Cort S 2900 - Specifications Update

I did a post about this one a while ago (http://bartbowlesblog.blogspot.co.at/2010/03/one-word-great.html) knowing close to nothing about the model's name and its specifications.

Recently I stumbled upon some detailed information and I'm quite positive that the description fits my particular instrument.

Part of the Cort Sterling series, the S2900 was made in Korea from 1999 to 2000 as a variant of the Cort S2500 model, only difference being the quilted maple top on the arched alder body.

Mine's got a red sunburst finish.

Sperzel Trim-lok tuners and a Wilkinson VS50K Tremolo.
1 Volume and 1 tone control with a 5 - way selector switch.

It has a bolt - on maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard and the scale length is 25.5 inches.

It comes equipped with 2 Seymour Duncan SSL-1 pickups and 1 Seymour Duncan TB - 4 Jeff Beck Trembucker in the bridge position.

So finally I am able to put a name to one of my favourite instruments.

Epiphone G-310

I had three old Fenix pickups and no place to put them into...

Then I found this Epiphone SG in Antique Ivory for close to no money.

Not a remarkable instrument in any way but it looks nice and plays well enough.

Epiphone G-400 Tony Iommi Signature

Since Black Sabbath are on their farewell tour apparently and Epiphone came out with a new Iommi signature model in 2015, I take this as an opportune moment to talk about my G-400.

I got it a few years back by sheer luck and I have been quite happy with it ever since.

I must confess I did not try the new model yet, so I can't provide a comparison.

The most important argument for me has always been Gibson's Tony Iommi signature pickups and both models have those built in, so for once I don't have to tinker with the guitar and swap stuff out.

Would I get the new model too? Probably, if the deal is right.
Do I feel the need to replace the old model with the new one?
As I said - pickups are the same so I see no need to do that.

Will the guitar provide automatic Iommi tone?
Does the guitar turn every player into an instant Doom Metal God?
Unsurprisingly no, Witchcraft is not included, it's still just a plank of wood with the benefit of two nice sounding Gibson pickups readily installed.

Settings - TC Electronic Mojo Mojo and Dark Matter

Nice and very flexible overdrive (MojoMojo) and a great "amp in the box" pedal (Dark Matter).
They can be combined quite well but I use them individually at the moment - running into the clean channel of the amp.

The Dark Matter gives me instant Doom Metal tones from back in the days.
Just put the guitar on the bridge pickup and roll back the volume a little bit.

Settings - Joyo Vintage and Ultimate Drive

Trying some well known clones to get a classic setup - "Tube Screamer-ish" box as a volume boost going into an "OCD-ish" pedal, giving the "clean-ish" channel of the amp some distorted variations.

Playing the guitar on different pickup combinations, trying the volume knob to control the amount of distortion.
Bridge+ Middle pickup sounds very nice.

A Cowboy's Prayer

Sound Carpet with Delays - The Chain Gang #13

I use this setup for long - ringing, drawn - out chords or when I finger - pick and I want to blend the single notes into each other gradually.
The delays and the reverb provide a nice base behind the actual chords.

The goal is to hide the repeats of the delays so that they don't sound pronounced but rather give the effect of a continuous combination of notes in the background.
That's why I dial the mix back a bit on the delays.
The repeats are set quite high and the time setting is best matched to the individual song.

The reverb pedal is meant to make the repeated notes even more "smeared" and stuck together.
Also, I'm trying to avoid getting the repats too bright, when using analog delays or an eq to dampen the highs, the feedback gets duller and the individual repeats don't stick out so much.

Two pedals to drone - The Chain Gang #12

Infinite notes created by long reverb tails.

A reverb pedal set to 100% wet can achieve this on its own, the delay pedal just makes the wall of sound bigger.

Since I want to mask the transients of my notes, my guitar volume is all the way up but I make an effort to hit the strings very gently and keep my attack consistent.

A compressor pedal could also help with the guitar's attack and volume.

So, the "Time Core" delay is set to a quite high amount of time and repeats.

The mix knob can go all the way, depending of how pronounced you want to hear the notes that you add to your drone.

Turn up to blend new notes in, turn down to hear them more clearly.

The "Snake Bite" takes out the original guitar signal completely, leaving only the very long reverb tail to ring on and on and on...

Reverb's here to stay - The Chain Gang #11

A very nice effect on this particular pedal - I have to post it before I forget.

Tweaked like this the "Snake Bite" gives me reverb that never goes away - similar to a delay with high feedback / repeat settings.

The notes you play keep on sounding and you can play over them but unlike said delays or loopers, with the reverb pedal you get a more eerie, ambient sound.
It's less controllable but at the same time less predictable.

A warped wall of sound through reverb - full of lovely sonic surprises.

Organ Experiments - The Chain Gang #10

Well, there's the "Tube Rotosphere" out there and it is no longer in production.
Reading about it led me to a funny experiement:

Let's take a tube overdrive (Hughes & Kettner "Tube Factor") and two chorus pedals and try to set up a Leslie emulation.

So, from left to right:

• Volume pedal to conrtol the attack of my guitar, the amount of drive from the Tube Factor and to do some volume swells.
• Tube Factor with channel 2 engaged for a bit of overdrive.
• The EHX stereo pulsar to split the signal and to give some tremolo effect.
• The "Super Chorus" with an EQ pedal for the low frequencies.
• The "Ultra Chorus" and a EQ pedal for the high frequencies.
• The "Time Core" stereo delay for a bit of room adding to the parallel chorus effects.

From there you could go to a stereo preamp or a two channel recording interface or even two separate amps. Even one guitar amp and one bass amp would be worth a try, I think.

For me it was an idea to try out, let me know about your results, if you ever tried something similar.

There's also a more practical application for the two chorus pedals I came across during this experiment:

The overdrive pedal, combined with the chorus pedals, this time in series.

Switching on the "Ultra Chorus" adds a sweet harmonic overtone to my guitar signal.

Adding the "Super Chorus" creates some additional space and ambient room for single notes.

Just keep the depth knob dialed down almost all the way to "mask" the chorus worble.

Le Faux Leslie - The Chain Gang #9

No Hammond or Leslie within my reach so a makeshift will have to do.

Of course it's not the real thing but it's good enough to inspire my playing.

The "Highway Man" is ment to simulate the tube drive of the Leslie cabinet, it also allows me to cut highs and boost the bass to my liking.

The "Super Chorus" gives various warbles and worbles.

The "Pulsar" tremolo simulates the volume changes of the rotating speakers inside the Leslie cabinet.

Everything is set to pretty fast, there is no way to simulate the slow setting on the Leslie with this set up.

I use my B.C. Rich Mockingbird on the bridge pickup.

With the volume almost all the way back clean chords sound quite nice to my ear.

I turn up the volume or switch to the middle position when I want more drive out of the Highwayman.

Delayed Delay Delayed - The Chain Gang #8

Stacking delays has gotten fashionable, this is just my idea of a starting point.
Thes two delays go from 25ms - 600 ms, which is quite enough for the application I use here.

The "Time Space" is set between 450 and 550 ms, a delay time that works as a basic setting for most common song tempos or for trying out ideas with a bit of nice ambience added to the guitar sound.
I like the feedback so that two repeats are clearly heard befor the effect dies off.
This pedal on its own works behind the sound so to speak, giving your chords more volume and fills the space between single notes.

The "Blue Ocean" is set to a matching sub division of the longer delay with fewer repeats.
When both delays are engaged, the delay is kind of multiplied - like switching from quarter note  to 16th note repeats.

Depending on the correlation of the delay intervals there are some nice rhythmic variations to have.

Two Overdrives for Clean Tone - The Chain Gang #7

The clean tone of the Crate Palomino can be a bit bass heavy and the highs of the cheap tube amp are piercing my eras in certain situations.
The amp's EQ can only do so much, but with this two overdrive pedals in front, I am able to enhance the clean sound and tailor it to my liking.

The guitar's volume is dialed back a bit which filters out some of the highs already.
I use the neck pickup for single notes and the middle position for strumming chords.

The signal then goes into the "Orange Burst", a medium overdrive / booster.
The volume of the pedal is almost all the way up, gain is turned down completely.

The "Pure Sky" is a low gain overdrive which is set up with the gain all the way down and the volume is set to unity level when both pedals are on, compared to the pure signal of amp and guitar.

Both pedals provide a treble and bass knob to reign in the harsh highs and booming lows.
So two overdrives provide quite an effective way to eq the guitar signal before it meets my amp.

There are a multiple of ways to achieve the same goal, you could of course use a dedicated EQ pedal, some sort of booster or filter and every combination will yield different tonal results.
This variant worked for me, so I post it before it vanishes into the obscurity of my fleeting mind.

Electro Harmonix Double Muff & Soul Preacher - The Chain Gang #6

Many people are left irritated and confused by the Double Muff. Me too.
It is one of those very sensitive effects and its sound is highly dependant on where you put it and what you choose to put into it.
It likes to be first in the signal chain, getting a high impedance signal (1 Mohm) from your guitar.
So there seems to be only one way of using it - as an overdrive in front of your already dirty amp, giving you more drive (Works nicely with some bass guitars actually).
And that's pretty much what it was intended for too.
Not very versatile.
I like to combine it with a compressor - and behold - the classic compressor into overdrive combination opens new doors.
Let's see:

I set my amp to slightly dirty, the volume of the guitar drives the preamp. With the Crate Palomino I use the Overdrive channel, setting the gain knob and the volume knob of the guitar so that I hear some crunch and setting the master volume as loud as I dare.
One might use the clean channel too but the Double muff gives such a huge volume boost when engaged that my amp simply gets too loud before I can reach the tone I am looking for.

Settings on the B.C.Rich Mockingbird - I like it with the neck pickup, the middle and bridge position gives me more treble if I want it. Tones are rolled back slightly, volume is set so that the pure guitar signal pushes the amp into overdrive. When I find "the spot" I prefer to leave it where it is at.

On to the pedals.
Setting the Double Muff is simple - just switch it to "single" and turn the "Muff 1" knob all the way up.
With that your amp receives additional volume and clipping and gets pushed further into overdrive.

Putting the Soul Preacher in front of the Double muff enables you to "overdrive the overdrive", tricking the double muff into thinking it's a distortion pedal.
The sustain knob of the compressor is all the way down, I just need the volume boost of the Soul Preacher to push the input of the Double Muff.

So with just two pedals I am able to cover the "core sounds" I am after:

Switch on the Soul Preacher into the dirty amp and play kind of clean.
Switch on the Double Muff without the Soul Preacher into the dirty amp and play crunchy rhythm.
Switch on both the Double Muff and the Soul Preacher for distorted lead sounds.

As I like to keep unity gain between my switching options, the hardest thing was to get the volumes at an even level.
The treble changes too when switching things on and off but once I found the right balance between amp, guitar and pedals, I was very happy.
As always, this is a mere reminder for myself, I tend to forget things and settings, so don't take this as a guarantee for great tone.

Electro Harmonix Soul Food & Soul Preacher - The Chain Gang #5

Praise the healer!
EHX allowed me to enhane the sound of my old Vietnamese amp so much, I might never switch off those two pedals anymore. Soul Preacher into Soul Food, what a lovely combination.

I have to post this "Chain Gang", lest I forget.
But keep in mind - these aren't any kind of recommended settings, just what sounds best with my setup.

So guitar goes into the Preacher, which goes into the Soul Food, which goes into the amp's intput.
The levels of the pedals are set at about unity gain, the pedals are both on all the time.
The Preacher gives me an even signal from the guitar, the different strings and pickup combinations.
The Soul Food provides a little bit of drive for the slighty dirty clean channel of the amp.

The amp is not set totally clean, the level is high enough to make the clean channel brake up when hit hard by the guitar signal alone.

Settings on the B.C.Rich Mockingbird, playing in the middle position, master volume rolled off a bit, as well as the two tone controls.
Now, if I changed to another guitar, the settings on the rest of the signal chain will of course change accordingly.

But as it is now, this combination just works great for me.

Compressor, my guitar's closest friend - The Chain Gang #4

There are three big reasons why I love to use a compressor as the first pedal in the signal chain:

1. To get the strings to equal volume.
2. To get the pickups to equal volume.
3. To push the pedal that comes after the compressor.

I like to play with my fingers most of the time. Now if you pick several strings at once and you don't have the perfect technique down all of the time, chances are that the strings will not sound equally loud and might not ring out equally long. The compressor mitigates volume and sustain differences for me.

I like to mix and match pickups on my guitars which often leads to huge output differences between two pickups.
So let's say you like the sound of two pickups working together in the middle position of a humbucker guitar but if you switch to one single pickup position, there's a change in output.
Now that may be exactly what you want, you might get a higher output and have an instant lead switch on the guitar to get a volume boost for your solos - say you play rhythm in the middle position and then switch to the bridge pickup for your louder leads.
Yes, I know that you can also try to even out the volumes of the pickups with the screws but that will only work as far as the turning of the screw goes and maybe you already found the perfect sound of your guitar in the middle position and don't want to change the height of the pickups around anymore.
So if you really just want to change the tone of the guitar without the increase or decrease in output, a compressor can even out the output differences of your pickups.

I like to use the classic compressor - overdrive - combination. You can use the compressor for a nice clean sound, use the overdrive for rhythm and engage overdrive and compressor at the same time for a lead sound. Stacking compressors and overdrives gives you a nice push in drive (not necessarily volume) and it enhances the harmonics of the overdriven signal.
So with say a single channel amp and two pedals you'll have the core sounds covered.

Hughes & Kettner Tubeman II -The Chain Gang #3

Clean, rhythm and lead at the tip of your toe. Quite ancient preamp now but it works well for certain situations.
With two low impedance outputs you can put it in the FX loop if you want to avoid your amp's preamp section or you can use the "Mixer signal" with the built in Red Box Pro straight into the line - in of your recording interface.

Don't put it in front of your amp though, stacking two preamp sections might work but most of the time it doesn't.

Technical Specs:

Input
Impedance 1 Mohm
Min. level -40 dB
Nominal level -26 dB
Max. level +17 dB

Output to Guitar Power Amp
Impedance 220 ohms
Max. level +12 dB

Output to Mixer
Impedance 220 ohms
Max. level +6 dB

Current consumption 540 mA at 13.1 V
Max. power draw 7.1 VA
Tube type 1 ECC 83 or 12AX7A

What to do with my amp's EQ - The Chain Gang #2

Depending on where you're at your sound is going change - change rooms, change position - Captain obvious strikes again...

I like to set my amp's EQ like thus:

Play the open low e and a string - set your bassknob.
Play the open d and g string - set your middle knob.
Play the open b and high e srting - set your treble knob.

Now that won't work all the time, but for me it is a good starting point.

Crate Palomino V32 - The Chain Gang #1

I'm still using it as a kind of practise amp.
30watts valve amp, 1x12 Celestion 70/80 speaker, spring reverb, FX loop, footswitch for the channels and the boost function.

Concerning channel switching: There's "clean" and "overdrive" and if I'm not mistaken, switching to the "overdrive channel" basically adds two clipping diodes (LED) to the existing circuit.

So in my eyes, the Palomino is essentially a one channel amp with two built - in pedals: A diode overdrive and a +10db mid boost, both accesible per the foot switch that comes with it.
There's no master volume but you could work around that by putting a volume pedal into the FX loop.

I tend to stay on "clean" which actually stays clean up to three or four on the volume knob, then it starts to break up and you get overdrive.

Since my guitars (luckily!) all sound quite different, I like to have this amp set rather "neutral" to check the "character" of an instrument. The Palomino reacts nicely to the guitars volume and tone pots (as a valve amp should) and it also takes pedals well.

As a bedroom amp it is actually way overpowered, it could easily hold its own at band rehearsals or small venues but I suppose it would not survive the hardship of everyday gigging and if I were a working musician I would never rely on it as my main amp.
Yet it still lives after all this years so that must say at least something about its built quality.

The bass response is very boomy - so you have to dial the bass EQ down quite a bit.
All other settings depend on the instrument and gear you put in front of it.

Two settings:

V32 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

OUTPUT POWER RATING 30Watts RMS @ 6 % THD, 8 ohm load, 120VACSIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO 71dB TypicalGAIN Clean 56dB, Overdrive 101dBTREBLE 12dB range @ 6kHzBOOST +10dB @ 900HzMID 10dB range @ 1kHzBASS 8dB range @ 150Hz
PRESENCE +8dB @ 10kHz
INTERNAL SPEAKER 12”, 80W Celestion, 8 ohm, 1.75” voice coil dia, 30oz magnet
PREAMP TUBES (3) 12AX7A
POWER AMP TUBES (4) EL84
POWER REQUIREMENTS 120VAC, 60 Hz, 35VA
100/115 VAC, 50/60Hz, 35VA
230 VAC, 50/60Hz, 35VA
SIZE AND WEIGHT 21” H x 17-1/2” W x 10” D, 44 lbs.