I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Guitar Toad

Guitar Toad

Toadily Stratologist
...weren't afraid to use pedals.

Occasionally, I see comments that make me feel a bit guilty for wanting to use a stompbox or two. But, then I remember seeing pictures of pedal boards and effects racks from some of the really big guns and that keeps me from feeling so bad.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Guitar Toad said:
...weren't afraid to use pedals.

Occasionally, I see comments that make me feel a bit guilty for wanting to use a stompbox or two. But, then I remember seeing pictures of pedal boards and effects racks from some of the really big guns and that keeps me from feeling so bad.
Click to expand...

Use what you need and feel good about it. Lots of cats get great tones with all kinds of different gear.....don't let yourself be intimidated by what other folks think of your gear.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

I don't think I will ever go back to huger racks, maybe a tuner and some kick ass EQ and Reverb other than that, its all "tone mines" for me. Gillmore and EVH are great examples that its all about what's under you feet.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

I've been having a "discussion" with a dude on here about amps, and he keeps saying "If you need a pedal, it's the wrong amp."

The thing is, I'm not going for one killer tone, or even a clean, rhythm, and lead tone. I love the sound of 2 distortions cascading into one another, and whatever other stuff you can't do with just an amp.

In short, I agree.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

hmmmmmm well I think its a slippery slope
No one is saying NOT to use pedals
They are saying that you should get a fundamentally good tone - Gilmour used handwired Hiwatts, Gibbons a Plexi or 3, same with EVH and Plexis or Soldanos. Edge uses vintage Vox AC30s adn TC Elec 2290 Delays which are the richest most expensive delays on the market.

I think you misunderstood. What people mean is get a great fundamental tone then add pedals for the extra you need - THAT IS WHAT YOUR LIST OF STARS THERE DID.

The slippery slope is that people got so wrapped up in effects you ended up with some of the horrible rack systems of the late 80s - that's where abandoning a great tone can take you.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Unless I decide to go active I've trying to avoid using effects.

It's just too noisey with my cheap equipment to be able to be used realisticly.

Does a kick ass noise gate count?
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

yeah...but then you are just doing what the list of stars did...and they already did it.
i say, go crazy!! mix cheap amps with expensive ones, mix pedals and racks, plug into cheap PC speakers or a Bose surround system- have a blast! There are lots of great tones from unlikely places waiting to be discovered.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Mincer said:
yeah...but then you are just doing what the list of stars did...and they already did it.
Click to expand...

Oh, man! That's the rub! I'd so love to recreate Echos or Dogs or Comfortably Numb but then it's completely unoriginal and so obvious! That's no fun. When you really want to create. But it sure would be fun to slip one of those into a gig once in a while.

Mincer said:
i say, go crazy!! mix cheap amps with expensive ones, mix pedals and racks, plug into cheap PC speakers or a Bose surround system- have a blast! There are lots of great tones from unlikely places waiting to be discovered.
Click to expand...

Go Crazy! Thank you! I love that!

I had started looking at Gilmours stuff and what gear he used. My thought was...use what he used...then it occurred to me. "Why do that!?" "How creative is that"

Some guys got cool tones by using speakers with pencil holes. Mincer, I think your dead on...they made great tones HAPPEN.

Olin...get a great fundamental tone then add pedals for the extra you need...I've got no argument with that. That's sound advice.
 
Last edited:
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

OlinMusic said:
They are saying that you should get a fundamentally good tone - Gilmour used handwired Hiwatts, Gibbons a Plexi or 3, same with EVH and Plexis or Soldanos. Edge uses vintage Vox AC30s adn TC Elec 2290 Delays which are the richest most expensive delays on the market.

I think you misunderstood. What people mean is get a great fundamental tone then add pedals for the extra you need - THAT IS WHAT YOUR LIST OF STARS THERE DID.
Click to expand...

Pedals rule if you know how/when to incorporate them.

I do agree that we don't want to become like our friends in the 80's ( when I was still chasing girls with pigtails at recess) that were over processed.
 
Last edited:
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

I suppose I see your point with alleviating guilt by looking at the stars for a good example. The way I see it there's no problem with using a few pedals; it's when the massive racks and really long signal chains start compromising your tone and overprocessing it that draws the line. Of course, what a massive rack or long signal chain is may be a differing opinion between people.

In my case, I think my wah and noise gate, perhaps a chorus pedal soon, are enough for me. I couldn't imagine needing more effects.

On second thought, if you want to experiment with all sorts of effects to find new, creative song or riff ideas that you can work into something that sounds right to you, just go for it. Maybe that phaser pedal you fool around with in the store inspires you to write a riff that plays off the phasing effect. Perhaps the whammy gives you tasteful ideas to incorporate into a song (think EVH in the first minute of "Ain't Talkin Bout Love").
 
Last edited:
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Thing is, with todays effects, they are a lot better quality, with higher sampling rates, and better digital audio converters than they had in the 80s. You may have needed 2 giant racks to get a certain sound, but now we have more processing power in a little digital pedal than they ever had. And now, 1 or 2 devices can do what it took 2 giant racks to do back then.

I think in the end, the Guitar Culture wants you to fall into either of 2 camps: the more conservative player who likes a good tube amp and vintage styled guitar and is happy recreating classic tones, or the Tweaker who likes to plug stuff in backwards and loves to debate milliseconds of delay times.

But you know, its ok to be between that. I love the classic sounds but sometimes I like the guitar to sound like pianos and bagpipes, then loop them and play them an octave lower and backwards.

Use whatever allows you to get the sounds in your head out of there. Sometimes, we have to be very resourceful because of funds (I certainly did, and do), but it gets us thinking in a different way. *That* is where the fun starts.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Cool that you listed my 5 most influencial players. Most of the time I'm practicing, it's just a guitar/amp tone, and those 5 definitely nail down all the staple tones. I agree with Mincer about diving deep into the available sounds that we're lucky enough to have today. I get just as much out of the green and blue Line 6's, as it used to take a bunch of rack effects and a midi pedal.
I look at it like this....create the musical framework with an acoustic, or simple guitar sounds. Then, color it in. Some songs need no effects, and some parts beg for a unique sound. Even the simplest sounding bands had more going on that you think. I see old-schoolers talking about guitar plugged straight into amp, but if you listen to a lot of old school music, it's covered with subtle effects. It's part of being a complete musician, IMO.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

OlinMusic said:
hmmmmmm well I think its a slippery slope
No one is saying NOT to use pedals
They are saying that you should get a fundamentally good tone - Gilmour used handwired Hiwatts, Gibbons a Plexi or 3, same with EVH and Plexis or Soldanos. Edge uses vintage Vox AC30s adn TC Elec 2290 Delays which are the richest most expensive delays on the market.

I think you misunderstood. What people mean is get a great fundamental tone then add pedals for the extra you need - THAT IS WHAT YOUR LIST OF STARS THERE DID.

The slippery slope is that people got so wrapped up in effects you ended up with some of the horrible rack systems of the late 80s - that's where abandoning a great tone can take you.
Click to expand...
this is very good advice, a pedal will not make up for bad tone. pedals can however, make good tones great.
:beerchug:
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

The point I see a lot of "purists" make is that pedals allow one to get lazy in their approach to playing. You can get away with stuff with pedals you can't get away with guitar-->cord-->amp

Nothing wrong with pedals. They are cool as heck. CHeaper than buying a lot of amps. Every month or two, I start to gas for a pedal that I can analytically testify that I won't own 4 months later. I go through pedals like underwear. Very few stay around for a long time. Joe has me jonesing for a Klon these days. And I really have little need for a boost/overdrive pedal. Yet, the gas is building.
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

To me, effects are just that: effects. I cannot stand the reliance on one or more for my main or basic tone. IMO, Effects should be used sparingly and to great "effect"...no pun intended. They are for tonal color here and there and to enhance certain passages/phrases.

When they are on the majority, or all of the time...like many of the people you listed above :Gilmour..Lifeson , Edge for example..I cannot stand that or those guys tones. Lifeson is a perfect example...early Rush..INCREDIBLE basic Marshall tones with effects used for color on certain parts of a song...eventually his whole sound was effects laden, which makes me want to hurl...blech...not my thing..no thank you.

But thats just me...everyone has different opinions obviously.
 
Last edited:
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

I've always used effects in one form or another. At one point I had about 7 or 8 pedals in front of me. These days, one overdrive or booster, a wah, and the amp channel switcher. I've got some effects at my disposal in my amp but I choose to only use the reverb. But that's me now. I do love my phaser, I just don't use it much anymore.

One thing I loved and still love about EVH is how he uses the flanger. It's not always used throughout an entire part (like Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love's intro). It's more like an extension of his style. The Unchained intro is a perfect example. It's not always on, but he kicks it on just long enough to add a little flair and excitement to it.

The Phaser is another cool one. His (EVH's) reasoning was it gave a slight volume and treble boost for leads, which it does do. That sound just became part of him and everyone and their brother wanted a Phase 90.

It's not just a matter of using effects or not, it's also a matter of "how" you use them.

There is the joke: Why aren't there any leads on Metallica's St. Anger? A: Somebody stole Kirk's wah pedal. :D
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

I'm not sure if this analogy fit here, but it might. When I was getting into photography as a teenager, I bought a Kodak photography technique book. One section of the book discussed the use of color and split-field color filters. Then, the illustration of their use included some safari pics. I remember seeing that and thinking "Are you kidding me, the sky over the Serengetti isn't really red! It's just filters!":laugh2:

Gearjoneser said:
Even the simplest sounding bands had more going on that you think. I see old-schoolers talking about guitar plugged straight into amp, but if you listen to a lot of old school music, it's covered with subtle effects.
Click to expand...

Things are always as they appear, unless you know the tricks.

I'm sure David Gilmour would have left his mark in the music world if had not used his effects so liberally. But, then we wouldn't have Echoes or that awesome solo in Time...
 
Last edited:
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

The only reason why I don't use effects much is cos I'm too cheap to buy more cables :D
 
Re: I sure am glad that David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, EVH, The Edge, Billy Gibbons...

Guitar Toad said:
...weren't afraid to use pedals. Occasionally, I see comments that make me feel a bit guilty for wanting to use a stompbox or two. But, then I remember seeing pictures of pedal boards and effects racks from some of the really big guns and that keeps me from feeling so bad.
Click to expand...

It really just depends on what your needs are. The Edge is a person I admire, and he did it (as he said) because he actually wanted a sound that was a little foreign to the guitar. However, ironically, his sound is one of the most emulated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top