After 41 years, my first pedal board

[doveman]

OK ... I've played for more than 4 decades through Fenders, Music Man, Ampegs, Marshalls and for about the last 3 decades a Boogie amp ... with nothing but a chord. Added a tuner the last couple of years. This year I built a Brown Note D'Lite 22/33. I love the amp with all my guitars.

Well a few months ago, I was approached by a really good band to replace one of their guitarists. To do some of the covers, I needed a harder edged Marshall-like sound. But I wanted to keep the pure overdrive Brown Note sound too.

I already had an Xotic RC ... picked up an Xotic BB. I then discovered that my trusty Boss TU-2 tuner might be sapping a bit of the tone off these two pedals so I replaced it with a Korg Pitchblack true bypass. It did make a big difference. These all go in front of the amp but I still run them into the OD channel.

While I was at it ... I've been playing without reverb for a long time. So I added a loop to the Brown Note and the Digitech Hardwire (Reverb & Delay/Looper) in the loop. These new pedals are really nice.

Here's the loop before it was all snugged in around the chassis:

I decided to order a specific pedalboard ... my son mentioned that he had one somebody gave him in his closet ... a Core with a built in lid. I added a 1-Spot power supply for all 5 units and I was done.

Well ... I'm really pleased:

• The reverb in the loop sounds great ... very smooth with Lexicon reverbs.
• The BB gives me a marshall like OD (let's me play the covers)
• The RC gives a boosted but totally transparent BN sound
• With both off ... the straight BN sound ... no loss at all
• With both the RC & BB on and the guitar volume backed off just a tad it's a thicker version of the Marshall tone. Just about getting loose.
• The pitchblack tuner is true bypass and really lets the two exotic pedals shine without changing their tone.
• The delay is something I'd like include in some new material.
• Not much noise at all.

So here is where I landed ... combined with the Iron Sounds active loop ... sweet. 8)

How I do as a pedalboard newbie :33:

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: After 41 years, my first pedal board

OK ... I've played for more than 4 decades through Fenders, Music Man, Ampegs, Marshalls and for about the last 3 decades a Boogie amp ... with nothing but a chord. Added a tuner the last couple of years. This year I built a Brown Note D'Lite 22/33. I love the amp with all my guitars.

Well a few months ago, I was approached by a really good band to replace one of their guitarists. To do some of the covers, I needed a harder edged Marshall-like sound. But I wanted to keep the pure overdrive Brown Note sound too.

I already had an Xotic RC ... picked up an Xotic BB. I then discovered that my trusty Boss TU-2 tuner might be sapping a bit of the tone off these two pedals so I replaced it with a Korg Pitchblack true bypass. It did make a big difference. These all go in front of the amp but I still run them into the OD channel.

While I was at it ... I've been playing without reverb for a long time. So I added a loop to the Brown Note and the Digitech Hardwire (Reverb & Delay/Looper) in the loop. These new pedals are really nice.

Here's the loop before it was all snugged in around the chassis:

I decided to order a specific pedalboard ... my son mentioned that he had one somebody gave him in his closet ... a Core with a built in lid. I added a 1-Spot power supply for all 5 units and I was done.

Well ... I'm really pleased:

• The reverb in the loop sounds great ... very smooth with Lexicon reverbs.
• The BB gives me a marshall like OD (let's me play the covers)
• The RC gives a boosted but totally transparent BN sound
• With both off ... the straight BN sound ... no loss at all
• With both the RC & BB on and the guitar volume backed off just a tad it's a thicker version of the Marshall tone. Just about getting loose.
• The pitchblack tuner is true bypass and really lets the two exotic pedals shine without changing their tone.
• The delay is something I'd like include in some new material.
• Not much noise at all.

So here is where I landed ... combined with the Iron Sounds active loop ... sweet. 8)

How I do as a pedalboard newbie :33:

I basically wrote off Hardwire pedals shortly after they hit the market but since I already have respect for you bro I'm going to give them a 2nd look! I like concise pedalboards too. Mine is very similar but with 2 more pedals Seriously though bro it would be fantastic if you would put up a clip or two of those hardwires.

 

[doveman]

Re: After 41 years, my first pedal board

I basically wrote off Hardwire pedals shortly after they hit the market but since I already have respect for you bro I'm going to give them a 2nd look! I like concise pedalboards too. Mine is very similar but with 2 more pedals

These are nothing like the Digitech pedals I've tried before. They are really well built, have the option of "true bypass" but since I'm running them in the loop I have them set to finish the reverb and delay sounds by setting the "tails" to on. They also are designed for a bit higher input so they sit well in the loop. Since the Brown Note takes the loop off the master volume, it can overwhelm some pedals input ... these have been run cranked up with no problem. The Lexicon reverbs seem quite nice (spring and plate are my favorites). The loop has a true bypass setting, as well. So I can play the brown note totally stock if I like. The Delay/Looper is better than I expected by a long way ... digital, tape, analog, low-fi, tap tempo, nice looper, tap tempo available on all types. They both surpassed my expectations. Reasonably priced to boot.

 

[kjrocks]

Re: After 41 years, my first pedal board

Looks like great, simple working mans board. Those two Xotics must be a nice pair.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: After 41 years, my first pedal board

These are nothing like the Digitech pedals I've tried before. They are really well built, have the option of "true bypass" but since I'm running them in the loop I have them set to finish the reverb and delay sounds by setting the "tails" to on. They also are designed for a bit higher input so they sit well in the loop. Since the Brown Note takes the loop off the master volume, it can overwhelm some pedals input ... these have been run cranked up with no problem. The Lexicon reverbs seem quite nice (spring and plate are my favorites). The loop has a true bypass setting, as well. So I can play the brown note totally stock if I like. The Delay/Looper is better than I expected by a long way ... digital, tape, analog, low-fi, tap tempo, nice looper, tap tempo available on all types. They both surpassed my expectations. Reasonably priced to boot.

Fantastic. I want to try one out. Great to see you around the forums again Doveman. Let me know when you put up more sounds!

 

[doveman]

Re: After 41 years, my first pedal board

Looks like great, simple working mans board. Those two Xotics must be a nice pair.

The Xotics are nice. The RC is a very clean boost but just adds a bit to just about anything. The BB is designed to have a Marshall sort of thing going on. Neither has the TS9 mid-push that I just can't quite get into (I gave my TS9 to my son). Both have active bass and treble controls that actually add or remove ... so you can really tweak out the tones. I set mine to where the RC & BB are exactly the same volume as the Brown Note raw. That also allows me to occasionally run both. It's exactly what I needed for this new live band project.

Fantastic. I want to try one out. Great to see you around the forums again Doveman. Let me know when you put up more sounds!

Thanks ... I haven't been recording much. I've been learning the set list for this new band. Looks like I'll be playing live in a few weeks. Really excited. Great bunch of guys ... excellent players ... great gear. Two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and 4 part harmony. We can do a lot ... I think pretty well. Top notch PA gear, monitors, lights, etc. I've been having a blast but working really hard.