Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Do people still use phase/flange/chorus in their music anymore? Those effects sound extremely dated to me. (shrugs)

I can also see how using dirt pedals is popular for a lot of players from a cost standpoint. You can drop a hundred bucks here and there trying out different gain tones. Not everyone can fork out two, three or even four grand on amps and heads.
I was able to give away a lot of my pedals to people who needed them and put some in storage a couple years ago since finding better results solely using just amps to achieve my sound. So it depends on one's individual situation. Unfortunate that assumptions get made and words like snob get thrown around though. (shrugs again)

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Use what works for you. Some famous bands have used Axe FXs to replace their pedalboards and they seem to manage just fine. One of my musical idols, Johnny Marr, just plugs into a Boss GT-100 and I'd say his tone has always been excellent. I have borderline ADD, so focusing on making music is difficult when I'm getting lost in settings. I'm more of a "set and forget" kinda guy and I only like a few basic tones to work with. The world would be a boring place if there were no people like Andy Summers or the Edge.

[wahwah]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Do people still use phase/flange/chorus in their music anymore? Those effects sound extremely dated to me.

I can also see how using dirt pedals is popular for a lot of players from a cost standpoint. You can drop a hundred bucks here and there trying out different gain tones. Not everyone can fork out two, three or even four grand on amps and heads.

To be honest, in terms of modern popular music, the GUITAR sounds dated. But not everyone is attempting to create tones that are necessarily 'current', whatever they are. In my own case, I work with an artist who had substantial hits here over several decades, so era appropriate modulation effects are exactly what is required. The issue of the cost of buying amps is not as relevant as the prohibitive logistics of transporting multiple heads and cabs, as opposed to carrying a pedal board in a case. The latter is totally capable of producing tones at the highest professional level, as has been proven for decades by most of the greatest guitar players of all time. To each, their own, of course.



Cheers………………………………. wahwah

[hydro]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

In my line of art and work, pedals are an essential element. The majority of my gigs involve interstate air travel, and I stopped relying on inconsistent hired back line many years ago, so I like to carry my tone creation tools with me. Since the gain structure requirements dictate that I have a broad range of gain available for instant changes, pedals provide the solution. I don't endure any suffering attached to constant tweaking or meddling, I have simply found the specific pedals that provide exactly what I'm after, adjust them to their optimum settings for their required purpose, and then play. I actually enjoyed the process of finding the right pedals, it wasn't a burden but a pleasure. From that point, no more searching was required, although I will always keep my mind open to the possibility of further tonal improvement.

We do a lot of large scale shows, and by the time the few millivolts of signal required at the FOH console meet the line array, the clean, overdriven and distorted signals from my amp and pedal setup are more than adequate to kick yer teeth in! Here's a shot from a gig a couple of weeks ago, and there's me and my pedals! Pic courtesy of Brett Kingman aka Burgerman.






Cheers…………………………………… wahwah

This makes a lot of sense to me. Most of my gigs are local and we bring our own amps, but in cases where you often may have a backline you are not familiar with, the "pedals into clean amp" approach seems very practical.

[wahwah]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

This makes a lot of sense to me. Most of my gigs are local and we bring our own amps, but in cases where you often may have a backline you are not familiar with, the "pedals into clean amp" approach seems very practical.

For sure. I fly a small amp around with me to avoid inconsistent backline, but multiple amps would be out of the question.



Cheers……………………………….. wahwah

[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

For sure. I fly a small amp around with me to avoid inconsistent backline, but multiple amps would be out of the question.

That's a definite plus for a cross continental touring artist, but I'm not certain that is the motivation behind most recreational players reason for pedal use in their rigs.
From my experience, that larger demagraph of players use pedals because they employ effects throughout their playing, or because they actually believe their cherished pedal sounds better than an amps natural tube breakup and or onboard distortion. But like already said, whatever works.
Admittingly, there is a small place inside me that doesn't want other players to have better tone than me, so do as you may I say lol!

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

all depends on what works for you... For the most part I prefer the gain on my Fryette. the boost is rad too. Ive yet to encounter an overdrive or distortion that can match the amps gain tone or touch sensitivity. The two dirt pedals I do use do a very specific thing, that the amp just cant do.

Delays and Reverbs on the other hand are my sh*t!!! I tweak away in the studio.

[wahwah]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

That's a day definite plus for a cross continental touring artist, but I'm not certain that is the motivation behind most recreational players reason for pedal use in their rigs.
From my experience, that larger demagraph of players use pedals because they employ effects throughout their playing, or because they actually believe their cherished pedal sounds better than an amps natural tube breakup and or onboard distortion. But like already said, whatever works.
Admittingly, there is a small place inside me that doesn't want other players to have better tone than me, so do as you may I say lol!

I can't really speak for the recreational player, but I can only imagine that without any responsibility to make a contribution to the sonic quality of a band or FOH mix, you can pretty much conjure up whatever sound you please and noodle away to your heart's content. Since it would only be for your own amusement, the criteria are lax, and whatever sound you find satisfying will do, however it may be achieved. In the bigger picture, it would be inconsequential to anyone but yourself. The pressure to provide a broad range of quality tones for song parts is non-existent, and the overall quality of the tone is ultimately irrelevant to anyone but yourself.

It is certainly not the case that ANY amp's cranked sound is going to be 'better' than ANY pedal. There are many amps that are at their best with low gain and high headroom, with the power stage running clean. Many of them will sound much better with a high quality gain pedal in front of them than they would by overdriving the preamp of power stage, which is why so many great guitar players throughout history have taken the route of using pedals to create their most iconic tones. As with many things, there is no 'one right way' of achieving an outcome. For me, the acid test for guitar tones is how they translate to a FOH rig and how they project into the room and sit in the band mix.




Cheers…………………………………….. wahwah

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Or maybe some people like the tone of good distortion pedals into loud clean tube amps ??



Seriously though it is all preference and like I said there is no right or wrong when it comes to YOUR setup. I think the other user posted the right thing about amp users being snobs cause they think they are somehow better than pedal users... My opinion on the matter is that usually folks who don't use pedals have the same sound for a whole set and it gets boring and stale after 2 songs... Why limit yourself ? why not have different flavors of fuzz/distortion and different delays etc.. Just my 2 cents

[Progbusters]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

If I'm not feeling it without them, i can change my tone with pedals, when recording.

[jon the art guy]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

You missed the point of that statement.

no, I got it. The idea was to amplify the guitar signal as best as possible, and guitar amps...didn't do that. They did something else and it was a wonderful mistake, but the original idea, before clipping was embraced, was to make that clean jazz reach to the back of the room.

I mean, I'm down for plugging into a PA speaker, but I'll have a POD in between the guitar and it, mainly because I'm too poor to have the Carvin and Hovercraft amps on a/b.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

You still missed the point, dude.

[jon the art guy]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

You still missed the point, dude.

yea, I probably did. (shrug)