Any guitar players

[Dren]

I'm sure i might get smited for this however i am on the path of becoming a guitar player and i have a bass and electric guitar, nuthin special, i have a rp300 multi-effects petal and well i am comin along well with it, i have basically taken my imagination and keyboard skills and transfered them basically, i also hit up the tabs for other songs to practice, however i ask whut is the best effects to utilize when using distortion, whut i basically mean is to adapt chorus or not etc. basically just a rundown of whut is best to reserve that hard sound.

[everybody's x]

if you mean hard sound as in metal/hard rock I say no effects
natural tube distortion thumbsup

all that chorusey crap sounds great alone in your bedroom, sounds like ass onstage or on record


this is obviously my personal opinion

and Im talking rhythm gtrs not lead, go crazy on it for that

[Dren]

nice thanx

[r0ck1r0ck2]

effects are great in the headphones.....but with a group they are a cover for shyness.....

just start playing with other people one or 2 nights a week....
make sure they don't care if you suk....get really drunk
get it good with a light effect treatment that allows you to hear the actual guitar....
slap your a$$ right into shape.....

and then you can worry about effects....
try a crybaby all the way forward.....make it slank
try a small (10w) amp with every knob on ten

chorus is acceptable for keyboards.....
that's probably it......
unless you're Blatz.....and they used a flanger.....sparingly

[Telecastr]

Originally Posted by everybody's x

all that chorusey crap...sounds like ass onstage or on record

Amen to that.

[max cooper]

I've always used a Marshall so that the only effect I need is a cord.

[everybody's x]

Originally Posted by max cooper

I've always used a Marshall so that the only effect I need is a cord.

thumbsup thumbsup thumbsup thumbsup thumbsup thumbsup

[Seamus]

Originally Posted by max cooper

I've always used a Marshall so that the only effect I need is a cord.

Pedals are for pussies.

The exception to the rule is a really good fuzz box, but only for a few parts a set. Really, guys learning how to play often use pedals as safety nets. Start naked, get a feel for the instrument, and after a few years add a pedal if you still think it's necessary.

[kats]

Hey boys - what about a wah wah pedal!!!!!!! Ya can't say no to that can you?

[r0ck1r0ck2]

no no no...pedals=good.....
fire=bad

it's just too easy to get carried away and wind up with 40 of the damn things like a pud.....
you get a 3' x 5' pedal board and then all hell breaks loose.....you can't shake your rump on stage for fear of harming the little shits....and you loose concentration on plaing the damn guitar...

find 1 or 2....maybe 3 including a TUNER/Mute......
i use a stupid ancient ibanez overdrive and a tuner and turn my amp up to ten....

then i shake my ass like a fourteen year old girl...
it's embarrasng (sp?)

[everybody's x]

Im definitely down with the wah wah thumbsup

[r0ck1r0ck2]

all the way forward.....
THat's slash/trash!!

[eligit]

Originally Posted by r0ck1r0ck2

all the way forward.....
THat's slash/trash!!

that would be the solo on the album version of whole lotta love. so good! you can hear him push the wah down on the first note and then just park that puppy there.

[r0ck1r0ck2]

.....
try chaining 2 wahs all the way forward....
jumpin' jeezus on a pogo stick....
ouch....
but damn...
but ouch...

[beechstudio]

My first rig (back in 1978) was a Marshall Plexi 100 watt head with 4/12 cab, a Les Paul and an old MXR distortion + pedal. The best sounding rig I've ever had! Starting in the 80's I had rack mount rigs full of toys.....sounded like arsss played live or recorded. Now its back to amp and guitar. Nothing else! Just goes to show that simplicity is the best approach... IMHO

[max cooper]

I do like effects, but my experience with pedals at shows is that some kid's gonna stage dive and unplug everything, or I'm gonna stomp on something and turn my self off. Usually it's mayhem, so nobody's gonna hear some effect anyway.

[pan60]

Originally Posted by max cooper

I've always used a Marshall so that the only effect I need is a cord.

more into my fender but the only effect I need is a cord.
the only effect I need is a cord.
effect cord.
effect cord.
effect cord.
cord.
cord.
cord.

[cdog]

Originally Posted by Seamus

Pedals are for pussies.

You talking to me foo????

[Seamus]

Originally Posted by cdog

You talking to me foo????

Unfortunately, yes. But Bootsy played great sans effects with the JB's.

Link Wray only needed a ballpoint to shove into the cone and that was some might fine tone.

[r0ck1r0ck2]

sorry........but the jb's just stomp the living shi+ outta p-funk

[max cooper]

My band was playing at the old Prince club in Minneapolis; I think it's called Quest now. I asked one of the guys there what the wildest thing he ever saw was, and he said one night at a PF All Stars gig, a limo pulled up and Bootsy got out, then another one pulled up and his bass was in it. But one of the other bass players in the All Stars makes my brain fall out. He usually plays a Jazz and he may be the smoothest bass player I've ever heard.

I really hope each of the pickups on that star bass has it's own output.

[Gregg Sartiano]

Originally Posted by Dren

I'm sure i might get smited for this however i am on the path of becoming a guitar player and i have a bass and electric guitar, nuthin special, i have a rp300 multi-effects petal and well i am comin along well with it, i have basically taken my imagination and keyboard skills and transfered them basically, i also hit up the tabs for other songs to practice, however i ask whut is the best effects to utilize when using distortion, whut i basically mean is to adapt chorus or not etc. basically just a rundown of whut is best to reserve that hard sound.

O.K. -- hard sound, distortion, so we're talking hard rock or metal, obviously. Name some records you really like and guitar tones you really dig -- you never know, some of the people on this board may know first-hand how the sounds were gotten

Are you recording yourself or just playing? Creating and capturing heavy guitar sounds are two very different disciplines (o.k., not THAT different...).

As somebody who used to teach guitar, I say focus on the technique -- rhythm, tuning, style, vibrato, intonation (tension from sloppy hand positioning can drive notes/chords sharp, especially higher on the neck). If you're playing hard rock/metal, the FX aren't >making< the song. In fact, if anything, the LACK of FX is helping the song sound better. There's a reason most hard rock rhythm sounds are cut with one-channel amps -- tonal purity is a virtue. It's like comparing the girl at the Wal-Mart with the caked-on makeup to the Hollywood actress with perfect skin -- you can't fix ANYTHING with more makeup. Of course, you can't fix most Hollywood actresses (ahem...WAITRESSES!), either, but that's an entirely different subject...

Get a one-channel JCM 800 (VINTAGE!!! F&*K THE REISSUE!) and a Korg DTR rack tuner ALWAYS hooked up to the D.I. out. Keep your strings fresh and have your guitar intonated professionally. Turn the distortion up to where you like it and then take it down a couple of notches -- less is more, especially in a mix or in a rehearsal -- for all the beauty distortion brings, it takes away dynamics and "spank" or "bark." Use the very least you feel you can get away with -- even for heavy s&^t. When you're recording, doubling the track and hard panning left/right will smear the sound out while making it bigger -- less distorted tracks will become huge, more distorted tracks will become mush when doubled. Again, less is more.

And I saved the best for last -- record yourself with drum loops, a drum machine, or at least a click track. Listen back and discipline yourself to REALLY nail the beat. If you're working on a DAW, zoom in on those waveforms and see if you're actually behind/ahead of the beat or not. If you can't play metronomically, don't even TRY to convince me that I should consider your 'elastic' meter "PLAYING WITH FEEL."

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by Seamus

Pedals are for pussies.

The exception to the rule is a really good fuzz box, but only for a few parts a set. Really, guys learning how to play often use pedals as safety nets. Start naked, get a feel for the instrument, and after a few years add a pedal if you still think it's necessary.

I find Taurus pedals kinda fisshizzzllledeeeee, myself - course it helps if you're an organist (which I'm not - but one can dream)! Obviously, a whole different ball game. Geddy Lee's insane - btw

Coordination medals of honor go to:

any one who can play bass, taurus pedals and keyboards, sing and jump around, simultaneously

anyone who can play organ (2 or 3 keyboards + stops, bass pipes and swell pedals), read in multiple clefs, sing in other languages, conduct a choir and IMPROVISE in multiple voices, simlutaneously

IOW, hats off to Geddy Lee and (somewhat tangentially) to all the talented organists in the world

We get so caught up with GEAR (and I know this is the place for it), we forget there are some SERIOUS musicians out there

[Jason Poulin]

If you want hard sound,

save your money and get a bad ass mesa rig.

All tubes and hard as hell.


My current fav are the F-100 2x12 combo series. Easy to tweak and more ballz than queer convention!


Good luck!

ps: I don't use any effects while playing with distorted guitars... the 80's are over!


You can run a range of stomp boxes in series or parallel through the fx loop... there's a wet/dry mix option to select the amount of blend.

[ozraves]

I sort of like the interplay of just plugging the guitar straight to the amp and turning up the knobs. It's sort of fun riding a loud rig on the edge of feedback.

As far as effects go... Effects can be good. Some of my faves are the Electro Harmonix Memory Man and Small Clone as well as the Boss DS-1. Less usually gets you bigger sonics.

[Sqye]

I find that plugging the guitar straight into my ears usually works really well. If not, sometimes I'll just plug it into my butt for that rich warm sound .

[r0ck1r0ck2]

what fun....

[keep it reel]

theres no f...ing rules
do and use whatever you want
if people never experimented there wouldnt have been amazing players like hendrix, van halen, joe satriani, steve vai
btw i love my 50w jcm 800 with just a boss eq pedal for extra crank
now thats one awesome grunty sound

[Yoni]

I'm not into playing with lots of effects either but I do like pedals for having different gain stages. Keeley makes some killer boosts and mods. I have his Katana clean boost, TS-9 mod, and java boost and use them in various combos to get different kinds of overdrive as well as sometimes just straight into the amp. Depends on what sound I have in my head.

Even if you don't want anything to do with overdrive pedals it's worth checking out the Katana. All it's doing is pushing the next thing in your chain hotter. Great for getting a nice breakup from your amp at low levels.