Abusing Effects

[Engel]

First off I'm bored.  I play more acoustic than electric.  This thread is about abusing effects and the use of  way too many.  I know when I started out playing guitar, it was tempting to go get tons of effects pedals to help me "sound better and cooler".  I was strong and held out for years until I bought my first pedal.  Sadly alot of guitarists fall into this trap and get to a point where they only play with effects because they genuinely sound like shit without them.  I feel that the main reason for this is people getting an electric guitar for their first.  Not to say that you couldn't learn like this, but I believe if you learn on a acoustic first, electric guitar is a breeze.

I have 2 pedals:

korg mt-4 metalzone distortion pedal
crybaby wah wah pedal
I have been wanting to get a phaser pedal (so my van halen covers sound more like them) but dont have one yet.

I rarely play with them unless I am having a gig or band practice.  I feel it is important to learn how to play well and sound badass without effects that way you can get a feel for the natural sounds the strings make and when you do plug up the pedals later on, it's easier to manipulate the sounds and gives you a solid foundation, not just empty playing through a pedal.

I guess just post stories of people that abuse effects and your experiences learning to play with your own effects.  What is your stance on the subject?

[Jerusalem]

I pretty much don't use effects. I have a Zoom 505II which I mess around on every now and then. It's useless for anything practical, as there's a short silence when switching between patches.

As for stuff I actually use, the first distortion pedal I bought (Danelectro French Toast) has a built-in octave effect. It's good for getting a really !#@!ed-up/harsh tone.

Then I have a tremelo pedal (Danelectro Tuna Melt) which I use for some clean stuff or when I'm doing something kinda rockabilly (like some of the electric parts on the acoustic version of "I'm dying...").

That's just been replaced by my gig-fx chopper. I've discovered a great effect where I use the stereo function and have one side go straight into my amp and one into a distortion, so I get a tone that fades from distorted to clean and back. It's great for slow solos.

[ipitythefoool]

I own the following:

Digitech MetalMaster
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
Dunlop Crybaby.

The only other effect pedals that I have interest in puchasing are a MXR Phase 90 (the Van Halen Edition) and possibly a tubescreamer.  I will also be acquiring a tuner and a noise gate, but I don't count those as effects, but tools instead.

I don't really even consider distortion an effect anymore because it's so widely used.  And I actually don't use the effects pedals that much, or in the traditional manner, for example, I prefer to use my Wah as an envelope filter in one position as opposed to the regular chicka-chicka porn thing.  I'll use chorusing for clean parts, or as a solo boost, and sometimes adjust the CH-1 to get a slight flanging effect.  I mainly only want the Phase 90 for use as a solo booster. 

I also very occasionally dial in delay on my Fender G-DEC.  I never really got into using delay all that much.

Also.  I used to think that people gave Kirk Hammet to much crap for using the wah.  I listened to all three disks of Live Shit:  Binge and Purge and I now get where they're coming from.  Almost every solo.  I want to take it away from him.

[.]

i totally agree with you.
i dont really play with effects
i got a digitech RP-50 years ago
and everynow and then i !#@! around on that
and thats actually not a bad pedal.
but i find that you shld only get a pedal if u really need one.
other than that, you mayaswell spend ur money on strings or save for another guitar or something.

[Fingers]

when people are abusing effects, they usually don't understand what the effect is doing to their tone and/or they create lousy mixes.

Its not so much the length, number, or amount of effects in the effects chain, but how they are mixed to create a cool tone.

Some distortion effects make a guitar sound like its mumbling like an idiot, but properly mixed with a clean tone and balanced in the stereo field properly and the same effect can sound great.

[Engel]

Listen to Robert Fripp for some excellent effects use.

also Keller Williams.  He is the master of loop.

[BMM]

I own the following:

Digitech MetalMaster
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
Dunlop Crybaby.

The only other effect pedals that I have interest in puchasing are a MXR Phase 90 (the Van Halen Edition) and possibly a tubescreamer.  I will also be acquiring a tuner and a noise gate, but I don't count those as effects, but tools instead.

I don't really even consider distortion an effect anymore because it's so widely used.  And I actually don't use the effects pedals that much, or in the traditional manner, for example, I prefer to use my Wah as an envelope filter in one position as opposed to the regular chicka-chicka porn thing.  I'll use chorusing for clean parts, or as a solo boost, and sometimes adjust the CH-1 to get a slight flanging effect.  I mainly only want the Phase 90 for use as a solo booster. 

I also very occasionally dial in delay on my Fender G-DEC.  I never really got into using delay all that much.

Also.  I used to think that people gave Kirk Hammet to much crap for using the wah.  I listened to all three disks of Live Shit:  Binge and Purge and I now get where they're coming from.  Almost every solo.  I want to take it away from him.

The only effects in my bag are the Digitech MetalMaster and a Ibanez Weeping Deamon Wah (other than the effects that I can access thru my Line6 AX2/212 amp at a given moment which may be just a varriant of the different channels). I love reverb and delay! Distortion, I agree, is not a effect, so we won't count that one! Reverb though, that's where I believe the depth of the sound comes from. Tubes are where it starts but reverb gives it the "depth".

[ipitythefoool]

I own the following:

Digitech MetalMaster
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
Dunlop Crybaby.

The only other effect pedals that I have interest in puchasing are a MXR Phase 90 (the Van Halen Edition) and possibly a tubescreamer.  I will also be acquiring a tuner and a noise gate, but I don't count those as effects, but tools instead.

I don't really even consider distortion an effect anymore because it's so widely used.  And I actually don't use the effects pedals that much, or in the traditional manner, for example, I prefer to use my Wah as an envelope filter in one position as opposed to the regular chicka-chicka porn thing.  I'll use chorusing for clean parts, or as a solo boost, and sometimes adjust the CH-1 to get a slight flanging effect.  I mainly only want the Phase 90 for use as a solo booster. 

I also very occasionally dial in delay on my Fender G-DEC.  I never really got into using delay all that much.

Also.  I used to think that people gave Kirk Hammet to much crap for using the wah.  I listened to all three disks of Live Shit:  Binge and Purge and I now get where they're coming from.  Almost every solo.  I want to take it away from him.

The only effects in my bag are the Digitech MetalMaster and a Ibanez Weeping Deamon Wah (other than the effects that I can access thru my Line6 AX2/212 amp at a given moment which may be just a varriant of the different channels). I love reverb and delay! Distortion, I agree, is not a effect, so we won't count that one! Reverb though, that's where I believe the depth of the sound comes from. Tubes are where it starts but reverb gives it the "depth".

Oh man, that weeping demon is pretty sweet.  I played one a couple years ago, I love how you don't have to click the footpedal to use it like a regular crybaby.  I think the only reason that I went with the crybaby was that it was cheaper and I felt like I might break the Ibanez one.

[BMM]

I own the following:

Digitech MetalMaster
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
Dunlop Crybaby.

The only other effect pedals that I have interest in puchasing are a MXR Phase 90 (the Van Halen Edition) and possibly a tubescreamer.  I will also be acquiring a tuner and a noise gate, but I don't count those as effects, but tools instead.

I don't really even consider distortion an effect anymore because it's so widely used.  And I actually don't use the effects pedals that much, or in the traditional manner, for example, I prefer to use my Wah as an envelope filter in one position as opposed to the regular chicka-chicka porn thing.  I'll use chorusing for clean parts, or as a solo boost, and sometimes adjust the CH-1 to get a slight flanging effect.  I mainly only want the Phase 90 for use as a solo booster. 

I also very occasionally dial in delay on my Fender G-DEC.  I never really got into using delay all that much.

Also.  I used to think that people gave Kirk Hammet to much crap for using the wah.  I listened to all three disks of Live Shit:  Binge and Purge and I now get where they're coming from.  Almost every solo.  I want to take it away from him.

The only effects in my bag are the Digitech MetalMaster and a Ibanez Weeping Deamon Wah (other than the effects that I can access thru my Line6 AX2/212 amp at a given moment which may be just a varriant of the different channels). I love reverb and delay! Distortion, I agree, is not a effect, so we won't count that one! Reverb though, that's where I believe the depth of the sound comes from. Tubes are where it starts but reverb gives it the "depth".

Oh man, that weeping demon is pretty sweet.  I played one a couple years ago, I love how you don't have to click the footpedal to use it like a regular crybaby.  I think the only reason that I went with the crybaby was that it was cheaper and I felt like I might break the Ibanez one.

No way! It's a !#@!in' tank and I actually did break a Crybaby a few years back.

[Engel]

I lost the rubber feet for my crybaby.  I was trying to get the celephane shit off the bottom and I lost one of them so I took them all off.  Cant find none of 'em now.  Anyone know of any sites where you can get them?

[Jerusalem]

I lost the rubber feet for my crybaby.  I was trying to get the celephane shit off the bottom and I lost one of them so I took them all off.  Cant find none of 'em now.  Anyone know of any sites where you can get them?

You can probably get something similar from any hardware store...

[Valentin Zukovsky]

Listen to Robert Fripp for some excellent effects use.

Did you know that Fripp did some soundscapes for Windows Vista?

[hippæ]

Listen to Robert Fripp for some excellent effects use.

+1

Listen to Robert Fripp for some excellent effects use.

Did you know that Fripp did some soundscapes for Windows Vista?

that is righteous

[nicklz]

I lost the rubber feet for my crybaby.  I was trying to get the celephane shit off the bottom and I lost one of them so I took them all off.  Cant find none of 'em now.  Anyone know of any sites where you can get them?

You can probably get something similar from any hardware store...

Could you use some of that rubbery shelf liner stuff to keep it from sliding? Or get some chair pad grips. Or if all else fails use a low temp hotmelt glue gun if there's an indentation and make a built up gob of that for a temp remedy.

[Engel]

I lost the rubber feet for my crybaby.  I was trying to get the celephane shit off the bottom and I lost one of them so I took them all off.  Cant find none of 'em now.  Anyone know of any sites where you can get them?

You can probably get something similar from any hardware store...

Could you use some of that rubbery shelf liner stuff to keep it from sliding? Or get some chair pad grips. Or if all else fails use a low temp hotmelt glue gun if there's an indentation and make a built up gob of that for a temp remedy.

dang lz' your a genius... I happen to have some extra of that rubber shelf liner... I'll duct tape some of it to the bottom and it will be fine.