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Guitar Effect Pedalphile Thread


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On 7/2/2023 at 4:07 PM, Chad Fuck said:

Bumping this because I have a pedal problem.  No, this isn't that kind of confession.  I am not ready to concede that my pedal buying has gotten out of control.

No, rather, this is a very specific issue.  I have a long time friend from college who's husband passed away a couple years ago.  He was pretty involved in the Denton music scene and had a fair bit of gear.  She finally decided to part with some of it, and figuring I could both expand my collection and do a solid to an old friend, I bought a couple of the decedent's old pedals.  Feeling pretty good about myself for a very modest act of charity combined with GAS, I was very pleased to find a package on my porch containing a moderately used MXR Phase 90 and a Bigshot ABY pedal.  Here's the problem:  they fucking reek of patchouli.  I mean, it smells like Eeyore's Birthday party on steroids has inhabited these pedals.  

Anyone got any ideas how to get rid of this smell?  

Find a small plastic tub with a lid.   Place the pedals in the tub, then fill up 2-3 coffee cups half full with bleach and set them in the tub and seal it up with the lid.  Replace the bleach every day for a week.  The bleach should soak up a lot of the odor.  It might help to take the bottoms off the pedals to let the hippy juice more easily escape.  

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44 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Find a small plastic tub with a lid.   Place the pedals in the tub, then fill up 2-3 coffee cups half full with bleach and set them in the tub and seal it up with the lid.  Replace the bleach every day for a week.  The bleach should soak up a lot of the odor.  It might help to take the bottoms off the pedals to let the hippy juice more easily escape.  

So you're saying I should have my hippie pedals drink bleach?

So far setting them outside has been working.  Though there is some velcro on the bottom of one that still has the stink in it.  I think I'm just going to have to peel it off and get busy with the Goo Gone.

 

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So I was just watching that ZZ Top live "Just got paid" video from 1980, and this video lesson popped up. 

I thought to myself, that's a pretty damn good sounding fuzz.  And I don't have a fuzz.   Plus its a small footprint on the ole pedalboard.

Thoughts on fuzz?  I'm sure this has been done here, but I'm not going back through the thread for it. Besides, new information may've come to light.

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43 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

So I was just watching that ZZ Top live "Just got paid" video from 1980, and this video lesson popped up. 

I thought to myself, that's a pretty damn good sounding fuzz.  And I don't have a fuzz.   Plus its a small footprint on the ole pedalboard.

Thoughts on fuzz?  I'm sure this has been done here, but I'm not going back through the thread for it. Besides, new information may've come to light.

Never buy gear based on how it sounds when Andy plays. You will always be disappointed at how it sounds when someone other than Andy is using it.  

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2 minutes ago, Deej said:

Never buy gear based on how it sounds when Andy plays. You will always be disappointed at how it sounds when someone other than Andy is using it.  

Dude, if I didn't buy gear based on how other guys played it, I'd never buy shit.

Hell, I bought my first guitar trying to be Jimmy Page.  Still trying, still buying. 

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32 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Dude, if I didn't buy gear based on how other guys played it, I'd never buy shit.

Hell, I bought my first guitar trying to be Jimmy Page.  Still trying, still buying. 

In just saying that Andy has a way of making every piece of gear he demos sounds like the greatest thing ever. He's such a great player. 

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11 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

So I was just watching that ZZ Top live "Just got paid" video from 1980, and this video lesson popped up. 

I thought to myself, that's a pretty damn good sounding fuzz.  And I don't have a fuzz.   Plus its a small footprint on the ole pedalboard.

Thoughts on fuzz?  I'm sure this has been done here, but I'm not going back through the thread for it. Besides, new information may've come to light.

 

I have an Analogman Sunlion and it may be the nicest pedal I've ever heard. Plus you get a Rangemaster on one side. The other use for fizz people don't think about is actually for glassing up your clean tone. Turn on the fuzz and roll you volume back.

 

All that said Just Got Paid is a Les Paul into a brown Deluxe that's melting down. Play through one once and you will be like holy shit that's the sound.

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On 7/11/2023 at 4:57 PM, Chad Fuck said:

So I was just watching that ZZ Top live "Just got paid" video from 1980, and this video lesson popped up. 

I thought to myself, that's a pretty damn good sounding fuzz.  And I don't have a fuzz.   Plus its a small footprint on the ole pedalboard.

Thoughts on fuzz?  I'm sure this has been done here, but I'm not going back through the thread for it. Besides, new information may've come to light.

That's weird how he can stretch between the 3rd and 5th frets with his index and middle fingers. Maybe that's why I suck.

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10 hours ago, DougO said:

That's weird how he can stretch between the 3rd and 5th frets with his index and middle fingers. Maybe that's why I suck.

It sure is.  Reminds of pics of Andres Segovia's sausage fingers or Django Reinhardt's fused fingers.  

But on the slow version later in the video (3:30), he plays the riff with index and ring.  I wonder if he was just showing off.  The bastard.

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On 7/11/2023 at 4:57 PM, Chad Fuck said:

Thoughts on fuzz?  

I've been through two fuzz pedals (Analogman Sunbender and Astrotone), which have sounded great in demos with other people playing them.  But they just don't suit my style of playing and I've sold them both and satisfied myself with various flavors of overdrive.  Definitely worth exploring, but I've bought my last fuzz.

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2 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

It sure is.  Reminds of pics of Andres Segovia's sausage fingers or Django Reinhardt's fused fingers.  

But on the slow version later in the video (3:30), he plays the riff with index and ring.  I wonder if he was just showing off.  The bastard.

I noticed that, too. I can't even do the Spock thing or spread any of my fat fingers apart so easily.

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On 7/13/2023 at 12:22 PM, dcbc said:

I've been through two fuzz pedals (Analogman Sunbender and Astrotone), which have sounded great in demos with other people playing them.  But they just don't suit my style of playing and I've sold them both and satisfied myself with various flavors of overdrive.  Definitely worth exploring, but I've bought my last fuzz.

 

So I meditated on this for a bit, as I've had not necessarily what I would call a love/hate relationship with fuzz my whole life, but maybe a tortuous enjoyment/annoyance. When I canned a bunch of pedals about 20 years ago, I kept a few things that I had used on tracks we had cut, but also, I kept my old orange FX52 DOD fuzz. Which I hadn't used since the mid 90s at best. Not sure why to this day, sentimental I guess. Certainly not because it was an outstanding fuzz, that's for sure. It was the first pedal I ever bought I think.

 

So at any rate, I got rid of a pile of pedals long ago because I came to accept I am an amp distortion guy, the pedal platform thing just has never tickled me the right way. Overdrive pedals in general just aren't my thing really, my 808 is about all I'm good for, and it's drive way down and level up just as an EQ and boost. I made a go again last year with the Effects Gizmo to try and run the album tones live, and while I haven't given up on that yet, I'm sorta, ehhh... But I run the Sunlion on the floor always on to glass up the cleans, and I have to say it's is an almost perfect thing. It has the Rangemaster side for a boost to eliminate the 808, and if I feel it just wack on the volume and getting absolute melting down fuzz for shits and giggles. So I'm not a traditional fuzz user at all, but I'd have a hard time not using this pedal.

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It sure is.  Reminds of pics of Andres Segovia's sausage fingers or Django Reinhardt's fused fingers.  
But on the slow version later in the video (3:30), he plays the riff with index and ring.  I wonder if he was just showing off.  The bastard.

There’s a video out there of Tommy Emmanuel showing off his finger stretching/flexibility. Straight mutant.
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A friend of mine is a guitar enthusiast.  I'm sure he's purchased any pedals that he wants, if he knows about them.   Can you guys suggest a cool/funky pedal that's a bit under the radar and not crafted out of unobtanium and Clapton's ball sweat.   It's a gift and I just want to get him something interesting and fun.  Something he wouldn't think to get for himself.   I have no idea what pedals he currently has, hence the unusual/under the radar criteria.    maybe an auto wah ???

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Here’s something to consider. The 30 Volt Overdrive by Freaking Sick Electronics.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/npd-freaking-sick-30-volt-overdrive.1784636/





These pedals are made by a local amp guy here in Phx named Lowell Hunt. I have one and it’s a great pedal. Those clips tell the story pretty well. If anyone remembers the edge of seventeen clip I posted a while back that’s what I was using (through an old boogie). Not sure if Lowell is still making these or not but you could always just call him up. Super nice guy. He might just make you one up a la cart if he has the parts around. Would def be something your buddy couldn’t get anywhere else.

http://www.huntamps.com
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I mean if you are down for a laugh, get him a DOD Grunge.
But for something serious, check out my buddy up at Night Owl Industries. Hand makes his stuff in NY. He makes an tube based clean boost called the Edison which is super nice. Very rare.
 
https://www.nightowl.industries/edison-preamp

This seems cool. Wonder how it would sound in an acoustic rig.
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Thanks for the feedback and ideas.  I started looking at the calendar and realized I needed something to get there sooner than later.  So I ended up going with this...

wt7usgjxuzks09d5zdhg.jpg

Yeah it's gimmicky, but I'm sure he'll have a good time trying various liquids.  It's my understanding that various alcohols seem to work best.  

 

#teamjameson&ginger

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  • 1 month later...
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So my old phaser was the Empress one.   As phaser pedals go, it's extremely complex, with several modes, numerous switches and knobs.  I bought it because I was writing a funk/disco record, and the Empress has some modes where it's more of an envelope filter than a phaser, so you can get some pretty cool quacking things from it.  

But I almost never used all that functionality because it was way too hard to see what you're doing when it's on the back row of a board.  

The Waylon phaser has some versatility, but it doesn't try to do all of those sweeping, quacking things.  It lets you dial back the depth, so the phasing can be more subtle (which, for me = more useful).  

I shot it out against the Mobius.  The Mobius sounds thicker but also seems to lose some of the dry signal's high-end sparkle.  

I don't own an MXR phaser anymore.  In the past, I've had a couple different versions of the Phase90, and I'm pretty sure I'd pick the Waylon phaser over any of those (more versatile for sure).  

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Tip of the hat to tbone in the RS guitarist thread - who posted his first distortion pedals.  

First three pedals I ever owned below.  I have no idea where they came from, but I can tell you there was no auditioning involved, and likely these were sold to me by my "older" friends who played guitar (older = 16 or 17).  

Screenshot-2023-10-17-at-1-02-24-PM.png

Screenshot-2023-10-17-at-1-08-17-PM.png

Screenshot-2023-10-17-at-1-09-18-PM.png

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Paul Wesley said:

Tip of the hat to tbone in the RS guitarist thread - who posted his first distortion pedals.  

First three pedals I ever owned below.  I have no idea where they came from, but I can tell you there was no auditioning involved, and likely these were sold to me by my "older" friends who played guitar (older = 16 or 17).  

Screenshot-2023-10-17-at-1-02-24-PM.png

Screenshot-2023-10-17-at-1-08-17-PM.png

Screenshot-2023-10-17-at-1-09-18-PM.png

 

 

 

 

 

I had 1, but let a friend borrow it and it just kinda became his.  He's a good dude so I didn't mind

Never had 2. 

Still have 3. 

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Now that I think about it, I think my mxr distortion pedal was purchased from one of the older guys in my church youth group.  
 

He joined the army at the end of high school, and he obviously got some kind of bonus, because he showed up at church the next week with a sunburst Les Paul, a Fender amp, and the most awe-inspiring rainbow of Boss pedals.  I think I bought his old mxr distortion from him, and saved up for my own Boss chorus pedal (what with it being so futuristic and all).   

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Could someone explain why I need a compression pedal and of the two types (limiter or whatever the other one is). 
All the explanation videos I have watched don’t really translate audibly to me as being improved sound. I understand it’s not an effect per se.  

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