I had a Danelectro baritone guitar with a wooden sitar bridge on loan for a little while, and recently gave it back. The sound it made through a hi-gain amp was gloriously Evil. I want that sound back!
Problem is, the wooden sitar bridge is no longer made, and very rare to find. The guy who made them would custom fit the bridge into the Dan-o baritones only, and he doesn't do it anymore.
It comes to mind that there is probably a good sitar effects box out there. Anybody know of one? Should I be looking at a Line6 or... ?
I'll tell you this...stay away from the Danelectro "Sitar Swami" pedal. Worst pedal I ever heard/owned...nothing at all like a sitar, despite the name.
You may be better off getting an electric sitar like here:
I've read that the Rocktron Xpression has a sitar patch, as does the Boss GT-8, Digitech Weapon, Zoom 3030, Roland VG-88, Roland VG-99, etc... How good are they? you'll have to see for yourself.
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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I have a Pro One, but I ain't no Vince Clarke!
Danelectro makes a ton of different effects pedals. I wonder if any of them are good. I'll skip their sitar box, thanks.
I've seen the Rogue sitar on ebay before. It looks cool, but I'd be concerned about keeping all 19 strings in tune and dealing with setup problems when the time comes. The Jerry Jones version would be great. His Dan-o instruments are way better than real Dan-o's.
Well, it looks like it may be time to use Guitar Center's 30 day return policy and hunt down some of the boxes you mentioned. Too bad none of those are dedicated to a sitar effect only. I've found that almost all multi-efx stomps are terrible...
Danelectro makes a ton of different effects pedals. I wonder if any of them are good.
I use both the Dan Echo and Fab Tone and they both are great, I use them along with some much expensiver boutique stuff (T.Rex/Z.Vex/etc) and they totally hold up.
The only reference I have to that bridge is from the guy who let me borrow his Dan-o guitar. According to him, the plastic version of the bridge doesn't sound good at all... but this one appears to be metal.
i have a Danelectro "Sitar Swami" pedal...i used it once and put it in the box then put it in my closet..im waiting for it to become vintage so i can get 500 bucks for it..
I guess I'm going against the grain, but the sitar swami is pretty cool for a more bizarre sounding guitar effect. It does lie though, it sounds nothing like a sitar, and chords sound like ass with it, but if you get a gypsie scale sort of feel going with single notes you can get some cool sounds, you just need to experiment with it. Sounds good through my Jeckyll & Hyde with only overdrive on. Deffinately not a pedal for the pop artist though.
I have a Rogue and think it's a cool instrument, but eventually I got to the point where I broke down and bought a real sitar, and I could not be happier. If you have the room, and a little more patience for tuning, pull the trigger and get the real deal. (You can use them with transducer mics if an amp or live shows is what your after)
Hit up Zone in Cotati, they have an real sitar sitting there in the entrance ready to roll (or they did yesterday). Better than any pedal :D
OK, if you don't fancy that then the poor mans method (pretty terrible, but maybe for background tracks), set a delay to a really incredibly short period with a lot of feedback, maybe add in a touch of modulation and a side-chained auto modulator. It has to be at the point of feeding back, not quite, but almost. Then you can use that to create drone and sitarish a like noises.
I've had a couple of the Jerry Jones coral sitars,
In the end I just bought a nice sitar and learned how to play it,
after that I sold the Jerry Jones, although it's novel and convienient
it really sounds absolutely nothing like a real sitar.
I know this comment is kinda off-topic and the thread is a bit old, but the Korg multieffect floor units AXIB/G both have a setting called "drone" that mimics the instruments that back a sitar in trad Indian music.
I have the rogue and I view it more as an effect than a guitar, and at that it does a good job when needed for that sound... here's a youtube video that's pretty much represents what you'll get out of it:
I have the rogue and I view it more as an effect than a guitar, and at that it does a good job when needed for that sound... here's a youtube video that's pretty much represents what you'll get out of it:
Thank you, whatever your name is. That was some beautiful playing. Just made my afternoon a little better.
I would rather get the Rogue or Jerry Jones than a sitar effect now. I'm glad this thread came back to life with this video.
The Roland VG-99 does a great Sitar emulation.
The VG-99 does not use midi as its not a synthesizer.
Simply put its just an effects box.
It has 6 separate effect units,one for each string.
Each string has its own pitch shift,distortion,filters envelopes ect.
Thats how sounds like these can be made with a regular guitar.
It even has freeze hold to you can hang on to chords like the drone in this example.
Its a sadly misunderstood box and the best thing Roland has ever made.
Below is the sitar effect:
The Vg99 is cool, but I'm more into organic sounds from real instruments, amps and effects. I listened to a lot of demos of the VG and it does some of the standard cleans and rock distortions fairly well, but with everything coming from that box, I can hear the final edge of digital emulation that just kills it for me.
Going back to the topic, the sitar sound on it is good but in a synth sounding way. I'd rather have the real instrument or a close cousin like the rogue.
Hi, just thought some may be interested in this version, especially for those who are looking for a more acoustic sound.......... Any way check it out Godden Music
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