How do YOU do it? - Page 2

Guitarist-Jonny · #16 08-20-2008, 11:03 AM

After a think, I think it would be best to stick with what I've got and not go for true bypass. Either way, my signal is gonna be altered more when I engage the pedal as it's 'suddenly' going through whatever it's goin through xD, my logic tells me that using the stompboxes i have (been given by my uncle) would be the best option really as this will give me more of a balance when turning the effects on and off- what do you think?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

Guitarist-Jonny · #17 08-20-2008, 11:53 AM

Also, just out of curiosity, which is better- stompboxes (e.g. DD-7, DS-1) or Multi effects (GT-8, ME-50)? Do one type 'filter' better than another? Or, is it just personal preference?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

Petie · #18 08-20-2008, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guitarist-Jonny

The effects loop is in series if it helps

. Petie, would you recommend having a pedal before my amp? I'm using a Boss DD-3 Delay and a Boss CE-2 Chorus at the moment, would you recommend having them before the amp rather than in the effects loop? What difference would it make to the tone? Is it better to have effects like chorus and delay in the loop or before the amp?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

I personally prefer chorus before the amp. It just sounds warmer that way and you can get that nice "Eat 'Em & Smile" tone. I would have the delay in the loop and the chorus between the guitar and amp.

Guitarist-Jonny · #19 08-21-2008, 07:57 PM

Cool stuff, plus can use a boss chorus as a 'buffer' for super long cables (well, if you use two cables instead of one obviously and if ur not into wireless lol) right?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

Petie · #20 08-21-2008, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guitarist-Jonny

Cool stuff, plus can use a boss chorus as a 'buffer' for super long cables (well, if you use two cables instead of one obviously and if ur not into wireless lol) right?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

Yep, that's what I do with my Boss Octave, but even a tuner will do it.

If you get a chance to check out Roger Mayer's Voodoo series pedals, they have one hard bypass output and two buffered outputs, and you can absolutely hear the difference. In bypass mode the buffered output sounded full and clean, while the hard bypass mode was a little soft.

Guitarist-Jonny · #21 08-21-2008, 08:36 PM

What about if you put two pedals in series like a chorus and a tuner? What will happen then?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

Petie · #22 08-21-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guitarist-Jonny

What about if you put two pedals in series like a chorus and a tuner? What will happen then?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

EDIT: Here's a very helpful link. Scroll down a bit to Part 2.

http://www.muzique.com/lab/truebypass.htm

Guitarist-Jonny · #23 08-21-2008, 09:00 PM

Sorry to keep firin' these questions, I'm new to this idea and I'm really curious as this has completely changed my view on effects! What if you have a pedal with lower impedence than another? How would this affect the signal? Lol sorry again :P
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

Petie · #24 08-22-2008, 02:05 AM

Here's another helpful article: http://www.harmony-central.com/artic.../guitar_cords/

Guitarist-Jonny · #25 08-23-2008, 07:03 AM

I got confused :S. I just can't make sense of it sorry I'm relatively new to this type of thing (I only learned yesterday that impedance is the resistance of an AC, right lol?) Is he saying the best thing is to stick with pedals like boss or to get a boss type at the start of the chain and use true bypass for the rest? Also, is 'amp impedance' the input you put your guitar in (High Gain/Low Gain/1/2)? On the dimarzio website it refers to pickups 'output,' is that the output impedance of the pickup?
Thanks again
Regards
Jonny

eviltwin · #26 08-23-2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guitarist-Jonny

I got confused :S. I just can't make sense of it sorry I'm relatively new to this type of thing (I only learned yesterday that impedance is the resistance of an AC, right lol?)

kinda, yeah...although quoting a single figure for impedance (on any input, output, or device) is simplifying things way too far, as impedance will be frequency dependent.

Quote:

Is he saying the best thing is to stick with pedals like boss or to get a boss type at the start of the chain and use true bypass for the rest?

dunno, it will also depend on the type of amp; a lot of people prefer it if the first thing your guitar "sees" is the input tube of a decent tube amp. Besides, lots of other brands will use the same type of constuction and electrical lay-out as Boss.

Quote:

Also, is 'amp impedance' the input you put your guitar in (High Gain/Low Gain/1/2)?

Not really, it usually refers to matching the impedance of the speakers to the output of the amp. Gain has nothing to do with it.

If there are two inputs on an amp with different impedances one is usually labelled "Bright" (vs Dark or similar)

Quote:

On the dimarzio website it refers to pickups 'output,'

On the Dimarzio website pickup "output" is a voltage (Volts AC) nothing to do with impedance. Voltage is the electrical potential.

Quote:

is that the output impedance of the pickup?

No, see above, but DiMarzio do also list resistance for the pups.

Technically this is not correct as a pup is basically a coil around a magnet, so it will have impedance not resistance (and it's distinctly frequency dependent!)

In fact lots of DiMarzio pups feature something known as "dual resonance" which basically means each coil has a distinct and separate center frequency to which each is tuned

Guitarist-Jonny · #27 08-23-2008, 03:32 PM

Wow, thanks dude

! So, with that, what sort of pedal would you recommend (or a mixture- if so, what mixture?) By sort, I mean true bypass or not? Also, is there any other signal based reason to why single pedals are preferred to multi effects? If anything, wouldn't an ME-50 give a cleaner signal than say a Boss AW-3, DS-1, CE-5 and a DD-7?
Thanks
Regards
Jonny

eviltwin · #28 08-24-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guitarist-Jonny

Wow, thanks dude

! So, with that, what sort of pedal would you recommend (or a mixture- if so, what mixture?) By sort, I mean true bypass or not? Also, is there any other signal based reason to why single pedals are preferred to multi effects? If anything, wouldn't an ME-50 give a cleaner signal than say a Boss AW-3, DS-1, CE-5 and a DD-7?

First, let me say that I don't use pedals. I either plug my guitar into a Digitech GSP2101 or go guitar -> crybaby -> JCM900, in which case I'm not too convinced about the bypassed sound.

Secondly, starting with any pedal will not be as transparent as starting with a proper amp input, unless the pedal is a tube preamp type pedal, with the tube up front.

But as many have already mentioned, it might be exactly the sound someone is looking for; roll off a bit of the highs, followed by a grainy overdrive, coupled with some low tech modulation effects.

But it appears you are more interested in very clean and transparent effects, if so, stomboxes are not the way to go, IMHO. Even when using properly buffered pedals up front and true bypass pedal after that, you will still have unnecessary levels of noise and signal degradation.

Stomp boxes will invariably use wall wart power supplies, as such pedal power may become the achilles heel of your set-up, sucking tone and dynamics from your sound.

Lastly, a unit like the ME50 is digital, everything after the input is in the digital domain, so stuff like routing, buffering and impedance is completely irrelevant. Whether or not these units maintain your sound (tone and dynamics) is another matter of debate. In general you will not put them in a pedal chain, instead pedals need to be put in the loop of those units, or in front of them.

Petie · #29 08-24-2008, 08:54 PM

To my ears, digital gear squashes down the dynamic range, taking away some of the 'oomph' from the note. I really liked my Boss GT-8 when I was using it a lot, but after getting to try a lot of different pedals through work, I started to really notice how much more powerful my tone was, compared to with the GT-8 (which I used in the 'four cable method,' which places the amp's preamp in the GT-8's effect loop so you can use your amp distortion and place GT-8 effects before the amp as well as in the effects loop).

On the weekend I bought a Gator G Bus 8 power supply for my pedalboard, and the sound is absolutely clear and clean. No noise or ground hum whatsoever. I had to do all sorts of things to get a quiet sound out of the GT-8: Planet Waves 'twisted pair' cables, a modified guitar cable for amp channel switching, and a ground hum eliminator between the GT-8 output and the amp effects return.