Big effects chain and passive pickups

[fenderiarhs]

.....well i have a rather big pedalboard with 12 pedals that i use in front of the clean channel of my amp.......i use the best cables possible e.t.c......I have used in the past active emg pickups and as we all know emg's are quite good with long effects chains...............


I would also like to use passive pickups but all those pedals (btw only one of them is true bypass)......do not work as well as they do with actives........Is there something i could use to reduce the tone loss i get when using my passive equipped guitars????(buffers?/

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

What I've done to reduce some of the tone sucking of my pedals is I run a looping pedal (Boss PSM-5, I think they've replaced them with the Boss LS-2 now). This way I can keep the pedals that I don't use that often out of the signal path . . . maybe this could help you?

 

[baritone]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

Yeah, loop-types of pedals, such as the ones mentioned make your effects essentially true-bypass by taking them completely out of the chain when not in use.

Many people also resort to using maximizer/enhancer types of processors when running a long effect chain. Using an EQ is also an effective method of boosting some of the high frequencies which seem to get trimmed by a long signal chain.

If any effects you are currently using, such as a reverb or a compressor have tone knobs on them, this is a great time to push the treble frequencies a little for compensation, and the results are great.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

I'm running 6 pedals with vintage-style passive pickups (54 Tele and '59) with no problems. However, 4 out of the 6 pedals are Boss, so I'm relying their buffers. There's no tonal difference between the pedalboard and straight-to-amp that I can't correct with the amp controls.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

It sounds like ALL but one are buffered bypass. He needs a looper pedal to remove offending boxes from the chain. Fenderiarhs, can you post your effects chain?

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

Here it is............

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

Here it is............

As you can see there are some tone sucking monsters in there.......the champion is the electric mistress (but i love it )

 

[fingerace]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

How about putting your EQ pedal at the end of the chain (or get another one and put it there) and boost the frequencies that you loose? Keep it on always

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

The Mistress can be converted to True Bypass pretty easily, you can even have it done by the guy that designed half of the vintage effects, Howard Davis. http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/

If you remove the Behringer tuner, Mistress (is the Sans Amp TB?), how is the sound to you? A lot of people here don't mind a string of Boss pedals, but I can definately tell the difference. If all of the Bosses are fine to you, then all you need is a true bypass looper for the offending pedals. If they aren't ok to you, you'd need a bigger true bypass looper and you'd probably need to group two or three pedals into each loop. The premier looper pedeal used to be www.loooper.com but he recently had to stop making stuff due to carpal tunnel syndrome. There are a few good schematics to make your own (Very easy, all you need is a 3PDT switch, led, resistor and enclosure) or a few other companies make them too. I'll have to get back to you on the smaller guys, but here's the latest larger company one:
http://www.voodoolab.com/pedal_control.htm

So I guess the first step is to determine how bad the Bosses are by themselves.

 

[Dirtyking]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

I run everything except my Wah through the effects loop on my amp. That's as straight in as it can get.

 

[Artie]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

12 posts . . . and no one has said: start your train with an SFX01!

 

[ozzynotwood]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

Ditch the BOSS COSM stuff, tone sucking monsters. I've got an ME-50, and running it into my amp with everything off kills my highs, and lower mids. Total poo. Use a looper pedal like the LS-2.

Also, remove the tuner and sit it on ur amp, and give it signal from ur line out.

I've heard the CS-s is a tone sucker too. Check it out. Have 2 delay pedals and a few disto pedals, do you really need all of them at once?

 

[Brow]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

You could use a pedal such as an Homebrew Electronics Dos Mos, which is a 2 channel pre-amp/buffer pedal.

Both channels can be used as volume boosters on their own or together. Channel 1 can also be used on 'buffer' setting to retain as much treble etc as possible with long pedal chains.

 

[fingerace]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

12 posts . . . and no one has said: start your train with an SFX01!

Well, I was close enough

 

[baritone]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

If you have to have all pedals connected at once, start by tweaking the tone parameters on the EQ, compressor, and all your distortion pedals.

Or, my preference would be to divide that pedal board into 2 separate effect chains. I would separate the SansAmp from the Drive Zone, the phaser from the flanger, and the DD-20 from the RV-3. That's if you are okay with having 2 separate effect chains. You could even get an A/B unit or something to select between the 2 chains. Even without a looper or selector, the 2 separate chains would each be really versatile.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

Why is it that people who use a crapload of pedals are concerned about retaining the original tone of the guitar?

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

Why is it that people who use a crapload of pedals are concerned about retaining the original tone of the guitar?

The goal isn't to retain the original tone of the guitar when they're on (well, it kind of is, if you want transparent boosts and overdrives), the goal is to minimize tone degredation when they're off. Just because someone likes to use many pedals doesn't mean they like the associated high end cut that all the cables' capacitace and pedal buffers can bring.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

DiMarzio advertise that the PAF Pro helps retain highs with long effects chains and digital processing.

Something to consider.

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

I would think using the effects loops featured on many amp would be the way to do it. That way your guitar tone is always straight to the amp, and pedals/stompboxes don't affect that. I can't do that right now cause my amp doesn't have that option, but when i get a stack this summer I'll definately be taking advantage of that feature.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Big effects chain and passive pickups

I would think using the effects loops featured on many amp would be the way to do it. That way your guitar tone is always straight to the amp, and pedals/stompboxes don't affect that. I can't do that right now cause my amp doesn't have that option, but when i get a stack this summer I'll definately be taking advantage of that feature.

You'll still get issues when running dozens of buffered pedals when running through the effects loop. Just because you're plugging straight into your amp doesn't magically make all your pedals true bypass . . . and certain pedals sound far worse through the effects loop (boosts, overdrives, wah pedals).