Help me sort my pedalboard

shadow1

Okay i thought i had my pedalboard down to a fine art until i got a mxr phase 90 yesterday (thanks Mr M 8))
I then sat down and ended up redoing my entire chain. (I am still trying the ph90 before and after the drive pedals,not sure which sound i prefer)
I am very tone consious and especially when playing my blues with my strat. My sound seems to be somewhat not the best it could be.
I then started reading about buffers today, OMG now im totally unsure on my effects chain.

Please advise what order you would rock and why and any other advise.
I know i need to sort out power aswell because i am daisy chaining alot of pedals but no power supply out seems to power all these pedals,especially the digitech whammy (which i might sell....altho i love my MUSE and pitchshifting)
@ MATTA yes i still REALLY need to come to you to get some decent patch cables done,im sure that would help

Here is the current setup:

Guitar > korg tuner > crybaby > digitech whammy > crunchbox > route 66 > maxon od808 > mxr phase90 > Ns2 > nova delay > AMP

Looking foward to some help.

DonovanB

Doesn't the digitech Whammy run on AC power?

DonovanB

Another question....

Is this what Pedal boards normally look like? That is rather messy. Although I am only seeing it in 2 dimensions so I have no idea how high the cables and pedals are.

Isn't that a mission to work with?

Vick

Yea,bufferd bypass is not the devil all imply it to be....
But rather then putting buffered bypass pedals into your chain(90% of the time the buffers alter your tone in a negative way) rather go for a good,and I mean proper boost pedal,depending on what you want your tone to be,as transparent as possible...
Put it in your chain,mine is about in the middle of the chain, then set it for a light boost and leave it on ?

Good boost pedals:
-fulltone vat boost(mainly for the lp lover)
-mi audio Boost n buff(original better then v2 in my opinion ? )

shadow1

@Donovan banks, yip thats my board,not the neatest,but its actually not all that bad,pic makes it look worse. Not a mission to work with at all. Yip Whammy is AC.

thanks Vic.

Okay seems that not many peeps on the forum are running stomps or maybe my board/effects order is PERFECT ?

matta

Yeah, I have to agree that the board isn't the neatest and with those cheap cables you are prob getting alot of tone loss as well. The shielding on those cheap chinese jobbies are terrible and also running your power across your audio lines like that isn't very good either.

This is an example of one of the boards I did for a the guitarist from Plush/jacSharp and just wrapped up Ard Matthews from Just Jinjer's board as well (he was in such a rush I didn't get a chance to snap any pics).

You really want to use the least amount of cable as possible, the longer the runs, the more tone loss as the capacitance increases, the top end being the first to go.

RE buffers, yeah, having a whole bunch of buffered pedals do effect your tone, but buffers in many respects are a necessary evil, esp. if you have alot of pedals and alot of cable, they just help the signal along, so it is a catch 22, ideally you want to not have all your pedals buffered, but one or 2 are not bad, and best to have them at the front or end of the chain.

Your order seems pretty good, only thing for me is the need for the VS Route 66 and the Maxon, do you really need 2 TS's? The 66 is pretty much a part for part clone of a TS.

Cheers

Matt

DonovanB

while that one looks a lot better Matta, I still can't get my head around it. Especially the dimensions of having a taller pedal closer than the shorter one.

I must try get a picture of Ross from Avade's pedal board. His one is gigantic. It is more than a metre wide.... and his one is messy.

I am far too lazy to try manage all that.

AlanRatcliffe

IMO, the Phase 90 generally works better in front of drives.
Those moulded patch cords are a nightmare.

As far as the rest of the chain goes, I'd probably start with this:
Guitar > korg tuner > crybaby1 > whammy2 > (NS-2 IN) > (NS-2 SEND)3 > route 664 >mxr phase90 > crunchbox > maxon od808 > (NS-2 RETURN) > (NS-2 OUT) > nova delay > AMP

1 - Crybabies can be a little temperamental, so you might have to swap that with the tuner. Should be OK.
2 - Might be worth putting this after the Route 66. Not for noise - pitch effects often like a compressor in front of them and a compressor should never be in front of a noise suppressor as they affect the threshold.
3 - Using an NS-2 in single ended gate mode on more than one or two pedals is worse than useless, so I've added it in properly, utilising the loop and trigger input.
4 - The route 66 is an odd one, being both a compressor and a drive. Makes it difficult to place just so, but I've done what I would try. Might be worth swapping the order of the Route 66 and the Phase 90.

matta

Donovan Banks wrote: while that one looks a lot better Matta, I still can't get my head around it. Especially the dimensions of having a taller pedal closer than the shorter one.

Not sure what you don't get? Signal flow is right to left, in the order the pedals flow, it is very logical? Also a shorter, wider board is more practical as you are not stepping over 3+ layers of pedals and there is less chance of accidentally stepping on another pedal by accident, which is my most professional pedal boards, from the likes of Pedal Train, Trailer Trash etc are in this format.

Cheers

Matt

guitarboy2828

matta wrote: Yeah, I have to agree that the board isn't the neatest and with those cheap cables you are prob getting alot of tone loss as well. The shielding on those cheap chinese jobbies are terrible and also running your power across your audio lines like that isn't very good either.

This is an example of one of the boards I did for a the guitarist from Plush/jacSharp and just wrapped up Ard Matthews from Just Jinjer's board as well (he was in such a rush I didn't get a chance to snap any pics).

You really want to use the least amount of cable as possible, the longer the runs, the more tone loss as the capacitance increases, the top end being the first to go.

RE buffers, yeah, having a whole bunch of buffered pedals do effect your tone, but buffers in many respects are a necessary evil, esp. if you have alot of pedals and alot of cable, they just help the signal along, so it is a catch 22, ideally you want to not have all your pedals buffered, but one or 2 are not bad, and best to have them at the front or end of the chain.

Your order seems pretty good, only thing for me is the need for the VS Route 66 and the Maxon, do you really need 2 TS's? The 66 is pretty much a part for part clone of a TS.

Cheers

Matt

Great looking board Matt, really like this one. Are those cables custom made for this board? If so, where can you get right angled jacks from? I'm trying to find short cables like this, the only one's i've found are like R80-R120 each.. :O

matta

Yip, all custom cables, nothing is off the shelf. When I wire boards I make cables custom to the size of the clients needs, requirments, it looks neater and more functional.

I do also make a generic 20cm patch cable, most of the Chinese ones are 25cm, but are too long, 20cm will get 2 Boss style effects next to each other with an inch between them with ease.

And yip, you are right, those are the prices of okay to decent patches, I saw a solderless kit to make 5 cables at Marshall for R1,500, which is insane!

I'm not going to share what I charge, but will say I'm on par with the lowest prices in those above, but with much better cabling and jacks.

Cheers

Matt

shadow1

thanks guys,heres some nice meaty answers ?

@Matta - yip i need 2 ts808's definately. i use one on full gain and one on quarter gain...works beautifully for me.

@Alan - i tried using that loop in the ns2 and it works fantastic to remove the humm/hiss etc BUT it creates a volume swell,so its useless.As you hit a note the volume progresses in from soft to loud,if that makes sense.

If i decide to sell my digitech whammy then i will have some cash,i think then my board needs a trip to MATTA ? it seems thats my main problem.

Phase 90 will go infront of drives...that seems the best decision.

thank you all for the responses

DonovanB

matta wrote: Not sure what you don't get? Signal flow is right to left, in the order the pedals flow, it is very logical? Also a shorter, wider board is more practical as you are not stepping over 3+ layers of pedals and there is less chance of accidentally stepping on another pedal by accident, which is my most professional pedal boards, from the likes of Pedal Train, Trailer Trash etc are in this format.

Cheers

Matt

I think that's it. I would imagine the signal flow to be directional, but the chance of accidentally stepping on another pedal is what bothers me.

I must really get a pic of that board I mentioned. it is a rats nest. That's the only pedal board I've seen that has more functions than a GT10... It is ridiculous, but he works with it somehow.

But then for simplicity purposes look at these 2 pics

I guess once I am playing in one band, with one sound I will probably go the pedal board route. But for now I experiment a lot with the different effects. I admire how much effort others put into their effects setup.

AlanRatcliffe

shadow1 wrote: @Alan - i tried using that loop in the ns2 and it works fantastic to remove the humm/hiss etc BUT it creates a volume swell,so its useless.As you hit a note the volume progresses in from soft to loud,if that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. That is what's known as the attack, which is preset on the NS-2. I found the attack to be quite natural when I tried one (and on the NS-50 I used to use), but it's possible the setting has drifted (I'm not sure if it can be adjusted inside the pedal - Matt?) in yours. Lower settings (faster) are more natural, but more prone to hysteresis (where the gate "chatters" between open and closed). Lowering your threshold will also help a lot.