Starting A Rig From Scratch

Ozzdoc · #1 08-20-2007, 06:47 PM

I'm getting sick of my setup which consists of : RG-550 >> Boss GT-6 >> Mesa/Boogie F-30

The GT-6 just sounds really fizzy, digital, thin and cheap. It really started to shine it's crappyness when I started to record a song that I'm working on. It's just what I stated above, thin, and just blah.

So here it is, I want to keep my amp, obviously, my guitar, obviously, but ditch the GT-6 and get a whole new setup that will sound great, thick, and not digital, while still maintaining flexibility and the advantage of playing at any level and sounding great. I was thinking I would get a killer stomp box distortion, one of those expensive buggers I always see, and then an effect rack unit like the G-Major or something. I play lots of Jazz, lots of Rock, lots of Fusion, a little Metal etc...I need awesome cleans as well I guess I'm getting at, an awesome middle gain sound for some blues rock kinda stuff, and high gain stuff for obvious reasons.

Thanks for anyone who responds with helpful things, peace.

toshiro · #2 08-20-2007, 07:03 PM

Why not just get a boost/overdrive pedal for when you need high gain, something for effects, and use the amp's gain tone?

Phishphood42 · #3 08-20-2007, 08:10 PM

Are you planning on using the pedal distortion into the clean channel or as a boost?

I don't really understand what you're getting at here. You mention awesome cleans, but that really has nothing to do with the pedals and you say you plan on keeping the F-30

David McCarroll · #4 08-20-2007, 08:13 PM

Get the G-Major, it's great, and you can set it up to do the channel switching on your F-30 via a MIDI foot pedal - I'd imagine the F30 delivers as much gain as you'd ever need, so that just about covers all your needs in one box!

JiMoSiTY · #5 08-20-2007, 09:12 PM

I was a hard core G-Major lover, but since I got the new Digitech GSP1101, there's nothing close in the price range that is as flexible and sounds as good.

It's biggest selling point is the way you can configure it for multiple setups so that you can use it as a modeling preamp (which by the way has better tones than my Pod XT Pro, Behringer V-Amp Pro, Vetta, and basically any other modeling preamp I've ever tried) -- or you can have it use effects only and maintain your tone WITHOUT COLORATION!

I've got a G-Major, Xpression, Intellipitch, XT Pro, V-Amp Pro, TSR-24S, Boss GT-6 and several other things...and none of them are as cool as the 1101.
Get it.

shogun · #6 08-20-2007, 09:16 PM

get a clean boost to take ur dirty channel from halfway to full

Phishphood42 · #7 08-20-2007, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogun

get a clean boost to take ur dirty channel from halfway to full

I think a keeley ds1 would work well. Petrucci uses it for his mk iv so and the f30 is in the same ballpark

The g major is definitely good for the money. Its not exactly high end though so somewhere down the line you may want something more like a g-force, g system, or ecclipse

waylay00 · #8 08-20-2007, 09:44 PM

Are you more concerned with effects? Or just getting good tones out of your amp?

If it is the latter, something like a G-Major would be overkill. No one buys a G-Major strictly for overdrive/distortion (at least not to my knowledge).

I would say get something like the Radial Tonebone (or Keeley DS-1/TS9DX Flexi) and use it in front of your amp's gain channels to give it that extra push.

I use my Keeley TS9DX somewhat as a clean boost to get that extra push in my gain channel. Works wonders.

screamndemon69 · #9 08-20-2007, 10:10 PM

+1 on ToneBone stuff. They get great tones and have alot of flexibility.

+1 on letting your amp do the work too. My pedals sound so much smoother thru a clean tube amp and using your volume on your guitar.

My rig consists of either my Mesa Mark 100wtt head or my Fender '65 Reverb Deluxe and my pedal board. Simple and effective, the FX are either On or OFF without everything else changing (unity gain is a beatuiful thing

). I'd like to buy a POD Pro rack rig for gigs where I don't have space for a bigger rig.

The Pedal Pad box is cool but not cheap. I have had no issues with mine and they make them in alot of configurations with the ability to modify your setup while also powering everything in it, no complaints from me.

Here's a few guitars and most of my rig.

Pedal are from guitar in:
Boss Tu-2, Boss V-wah, Radial Tonebone Hot British, Radial Tonebone TriMode, EVH Phase 90, Digitech Synth Wah and a Boss DD-20 Giga Delay. The only pedals/effects I'd like to add would be tremolo and a rotary speaker

waylay00 · #10 08-20-2007, 10:23 PM

That's a neat rig there

screamndemon69 · #11 08-20-2007, 10:27 PM

Thanks bro. It does the job

Quiksilver98 · #12 08-20-2007, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waylay00

Are you more concerned with effects? Or just getting good tones out of your amp?

If it is the latter, something like a G-Major would be overkill. No one buys a G-Major strictly for overdrive/distortion (at least not to my knowledge).

I would say get something like the Radial Tonebone (or Keeley DS-1/TS9DX Flexi) and use it in front of your amp's gain channels to give it that extra push.

I use my Keeley TS9DX somewhat as a clean boost to get that extra push in my gain channel. Works wonders.

the g- Major doesnt feature any distortions but yet the G-force does. I recommend the g-major it is a very nice processor, I used one for alittle while!

Phishphood42 · #13 08-20-2007, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quiksilver98

the g- Major doesnt feature any distortions but yet the G-force does. I recommend the g-major it is a very nice processor, I used one for alittle while!

Seriously? I wonder why they bothered with distortion on the g force?

Quiksilver98 · #14 08-20-2007, 11:50 PM

Wel it makes your life easier so you don't have to hawl so amny pedals around. With the g-system you can conenct your drive pedals to the loop and then hide them at the back fot he stage and control the pedal with the g-system instead of worrie about palce of the others.

Jemma_Ann's_man · #15 08-20-2007, 11:54 PM

I use a GT-8, which is probably not much different than the GT-6 except that it has more effects.

anyways, try turning off the preamp on the GT-6.

I found that out recently, and the overdrive distortion sounds pretty decent.
(WHEN YOU TURN OFF THE PRE-AMP)
set your output select switch set to "stack amp".

I was about to sell my GT-8 for half of how much I bought it, because the distorion sounded crappy, but after turning of the pre-amp on my GT-8 I actually found the Proco RAT setting pretty nice.

the effects such as delay, chorus and reverb are pretty decent, and the phaser and other effects work nicely, when set correctly.

but the hamonizer sounds very robotic.
the whammy settings are alright, but the digitech whammys are better.

I read the 60 page booklet like 5473461283712 times, and with proper tweakage you could make it sound pretty good.

that's with a GT-8 though, I'm not sure about the GT-6.

if you're looking into a good distortion box, try out Visual sound's Jekall and Hyde. It's a nice pedal, my friend uses one, and it's one hell of a distortion box. Try out the Visual sound's Liquid chorus and echo. nice pedals as well.

but yeah, just some suggesstions.