What effects do you use and what it does for you.

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OldTelecasterMan

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screamingdaisy and I got into an off topic discussion about the effects we use. What each does and how we incorporate them in our sound, how we use them and how they work best. What to do and not to do with a specific pedal and why. What pedals go together, what pedals don't and why that is.

I thought as the Mark V is kinda picky this would be the best place for this post.

Please let everyone know what you have and have experienced. Detail will be greatly appreciated by all.
 
Fulltone Deja'Vibe - I basically use this as my catch-all modulation effect and use it where others would use chorus or phase. I run the gamut with it from slow and subtle to loud and staccato. I like it because it adds movement to the sound without being rhythmically distracting. As an added bonus it changes the guitars attack... Each note drips like your underwater and gives single notes a 3D character.

Cantrell Wah - it's basically for covers of Dirt, Bulls on Parade, Electric Funeral.

Fulltone Full-Drive 2 - I use this as an "under-drive". I set it at a slight volume cut because I don't want to actually drive the amp any harder, just add some compression and upper mid pop when soloing. It mostly functions as my "Oh ****!" button and I kick it on when notes start dying too early, and the boost gets kicked on when I forget to roll the guitar's volume back up for a lead.

Strymon El Capistan - I love tape echo. I own a TTE and a Mark V. The TTE doesn't like effects loops. The El Capistan loves effects loops. I love the El Capistan.

The cool thing with tape echo is that you can mix it really wet and your dry tone will cut through and sit on top of it. The El Capistan captures that effect, so I can run a pretty loud slap back or long ambient repeats without having the delay trying to take over and mess up my sound.
 
I'm brand new to the Mark V and I'm using the miniAmp Gizmo and a Line 6 X3Live.

The effects I use are a chorus and a tape delay in the line 6. The chorus is pre pre-amp and the delay is in the loop.I also have a compressor set before the preamp which I use on the clean channel. I don't find any need for any other gain-type pedals with the Mark V.

I've only played 2 gigs with the Mark V and 1 with the mini amp gizmo. The effect setup is bound to change.

I made the horrible mistake of going to Guitar Effect Canada to buy my Mark V cable for the Mini Amp Gizmo and caught a look at all the pedals on display there. It literally looks like a candy store with all those different coloured pedals. My credit card started screaming for mercy.

Right now using the Line 6 is the cheapest way for me to go.
 
The cool thing with tape echo is that you can mix it really wet and your dry tone will cut through and sit on top of it. The El Capistan captures that effect said:
Can you get the tape effect to go while you are playing other things. AKA. Eric Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eu7ar5EKM
 
I'm running a Mark 5:25 through a THD Hotplate and into a Mesa Traditional Angled 412. The Hotplate is used to control overall volume. For effects I use the following in signal order:

In front of amp
Decibel 11 Pedal Palette (loop controller with 4 loops with order switching)
Wampler Ego Compressor in loop 1
Wampler Plexi Drive Deluxe in loop 2
Wampler Pinnacle Distortion also in loop 2
MXR Analog chorus in loop 3
MXR EVH flanger in loop 4
ISP Decimater between looper and amp
Boss TU2 (soon to be replaced with Polytune 2) connected to tuner out on the Pedal Palette

In amps loop
TC Flashback X4 delay

With this approach I don't feel the need to get the big Mark to get the third channel. I use the amp in fat clean on channel 1 and in MarkIV mode for Mark tones on channel 2. For other dirt, I use the Wampler pedals to get my crunchies and low gain (Plexi Drive Deluxe) and brown sound/higher gain distortion (Pinnacle) with a British flavor on the fat clean in channel 1.
I am going to get the Boss ES8 (or other) loop controller when that starts shipping in June to get me four more loops in the controller. I like the Decibel 11 a lot, but I want a few more loops to separate out the drives more, and get a few more pedals I would like to use integrated with the new board. Also will use the new switcher to control the amp channels. All of this is on a PT-Pro with a Voodoo Mondo supply.

It's a very flexible rig that inspires me to play. I don't gig at all any more, but I use this rig in my home studio.
 
OldTelecasterMan said:
Can you get the tape effect to go while you are playing other things. AKA. Eric Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eu7ar5EKM

Yes.

The El Capistan has a sound on sound mode. You can stike a chord, punch in and out to form a loop, then bypass the delay, which will keep the loop playing but stop recording so that you can play over top of it.

Each time the sound loops there's a sonic degradation depending on how you have the tape quality controls set.
 
I've probably posted a pic of my board and if you've seen it, you know it's a mess...a lot of pedals because I wanted a 'do-it-all' board that will perform equally well with any of my amps or even a random backline amp that might be thrown at me.

What's included...

In front:

1) Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q
I don't really use it that much (mainly for the random Hendrix tune) but if I removed it from the board, I would feel incomplete.

2) Boss PS-6 Harmonist
I mainly use this with an expression pedal to emulate dive bombs (I normally play fixed-bridge Gibsons) but in one or two songs I also use it for harmonies (I'm the only guitarist).

3) Visual Sound Route 66
I originally bought this more for the compressor side than for its TS808-clone OD side and used it as a crutch with new amps before I learned their ins and outs and figured out how to make them sing. Nowadays, I practically never use the compressor but do occasionally use the included OD to tighten up a Recto (drive at zero) or to emulate an 'overdriven Marshall' type of sound (with EL-34powered Edge and Crunch modes on the V or Tweed and Brit modes on the RKII).

4) Wampler Triple Wreck
I bought this to get a Recto-like sound with Mark amps but it doesn't get much use nowadays. It's there in case I want it but I seldom do anymore.

5) Bogner Ecstacy Blue
Two uses, Plexi/JCM-style distortion with almost any Mesa amp (rarely used nowadays) and meaty Plexi-like (semi)cleans (gets some use with 2-channel Rectos).

In the loop:

1) MXR 10-band EQ
I occasionally use this when I want to finetune my amp sound but not often live with the band (except when I have some specific adjustment in mind).

2) TC Electronic NM-1 Nova Modulator
While this can do a plethora of different effects (different flangers, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, different choruses...), I mostly use it just for the chorus effects. Also for the occasional flanging and phasing when I want a different sound from the following...

3) MXR EVH Phase 90
I'm a sucker for phaser sounds, and often use them for atmospheric effects. This is a nice version of the classic Phase 90 sound but I still can't quite make up my mind whether I want this in the loop or in front. In the loop (where it is now), it is too strong, a bit over the top even, - it can make amp sound harsh and brittle, especially when the Script Mode is off. In front, it is smoother and more musical sounding but too mild and subdued, barely audible with a band.
(Does anybody else have this pedal? Where do you place it?)

4) Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
This pedal offers several different delays, including tape delay emulation, modulated delay and a limited looper. But I just use it as a simple delay for the atmosphere.

5) TC Electronic Trinity
Basically the same as Hall of Fame but two marginally useful modes have been replaced with special atmospheric effects 'Ethereal 1' and 'Ethereal 2'. Nice when playing alone but not much used live, for obvious reasons. You don't need reverb from a pedal when it is already provided by room acoustics.
 
Shouldn't this topic be in the Effects section?

I use a ton of effects, largely from my G System. But here is how it breaks down from input to output:

In front -

Compressor. I don't use much, just enough to tame the signal level a bit. Helps that I don't have to work quite so hard to keep things perfectly even, and kills the worst of the transients. I go 5.6:1 for clean and 8:1 for overdrive.

Wah. I don't use it much, but it's great when you want it. I am happy with the one built into the GS.

MXR EVH Phase 90. Definitely one of my "desert island" effects. I could use this thing all day. The G System has a Phaser as well, but in the GS it is AFTER the preamp, and I like this effect up front. If you can have only one swirly effect, this would be the one.

Voodoo Micro Vibe. Really cool effect. This one doesn't have the bells and whistles of the Deja Vibe, and I'll probably upgrade, but it's a very nice effect for what I paid ($60 used). And I am OK with having just one setting. This could almost be my "one swirly effect", but I really like the phaser.

OD808. Great for a bit of boost, especially on the clean channel a'la Stevie Ray. I use just a bit of drive and just a bit of boost and neutral tone. Plays better with some amps than others, so on some it's my go-to, on others it is too nasal. Also good for solo boost with added mid presence.

BB Pre. Another desert-island pedal. I use this to get a bit of gain and boost, so that I can go dirty from my clean channel or push my dirt channel to easy harmonics and feedback. I dial the tone so it is warm and not harsh, great for liquid leads, even on a not-liquid amp.

In the loop -

Chorus. I used to use this a lot, not as much these days. Could easily live without it.

Flanger. This one I use more than I thought I would. Must-have for Barracuda and The Spirit of Radio, but also a nice subtle effect to add some sparkle and liveliness to leads. A staple of Andy Summers.

Delay. Gotta have it. I have actually used a bit of delay in place of reverb for most of my guitar history. Usually 300-400ms, single repeat, not much level. Adds depth to the sound and pulls it back a bit so it's not so out-front. I kick up the level slightly for some leads. I dial it up to "Space Cadet" once in a while, but I really dig it more as a way to adjust the spacial nature of guitar. I am also starting to experiment with slap-back.

Reverb. I always hated spring reverb, even in the best amps. Sorry, Mesa. Personal taste. I use a very subtle amount of digital reverb (usually a "tape echo" setting) just to thicken up the guitar. I tend to use a fairly hot tone with a lot of bite and transient response, and then use reverb and delay to control the ice-pick nature of it. That way I get a lot of pop and sizzle but without so much harshness.

Doubling. I have a little bit of harmonizer effect with a few cents of detune to give me a bit wider/thicker tone. I'm the only guitar in the band, so it can sound a little thin on its own. This is a really nice way to go. Alternatively, a tiny bit of chorus can give a similar effect.
 
First of all...

CH1 fat-bold for clean guitars
CH2 crunch with full gain
CH3 extreme

I use a TC electronics Gsystem connect in 4CM for compressors and 2 loops in front, delays-chorus-phasers-flangers-reverbs-wha-filters-noise reduction-etc pretty much all the power of the Gsystem depending of the sound I want to achieve. Then, 2 more loops in the mark loop FX.

Now, in the loops of the Gsystem I use a maxon OD808 in front for an eventual boost and a marshall JH1 for low gain overdrive (CH2 is full gain in my setup). In the other 2 loops of the Gsystem, the ones that are in the loop of the mark, I use a mxr ten band EQ to obtain different eqs than the mark eq, and a mxr carbon copy delay to play arround, this stomp can blow your head off!!!, play carefully..... I control all (the 8 amp functions and the analog fxs in the loops of the G) with the Gsystem and a mini amp gizmo.

Kind regards
David
 
I have a huge pedal board that mostly consist of Tubescreamer style of OD's set at different drive levels. Used on channel 1, this basically works as a clean channel and for my country gigs, this is where I spend about 90% of my time. This channel takes pedals like a beast.

For rock gigs, I just grab one TS pedal to give me different levels of drive on ch1 and ch2. It'll also add bite to my lead channel if I need it to. Will also use my TC Electronics Flashback X4 for delay (and a tuner of course). That's it, pretty cut-n-dry.

If you look at Styper's setup, they use an EQ with one frequency in the 500-1k boosted pretty high (like 20db)and then increase the level of the over all pedal to really push the front end. They say this is how they get that "Stryper sound". I actually like that sound and can get really close with my TS, gain low and volume up pretty high.
 
I've used a ton of great pedals in the past, but since getting the Mark V most have been cut out. I like that. I still use:

Morley/Vai's Bad Horsie 2 Wah - awesome for high gain lead playing, and the ability to set a second wah boost/contour is a nice bonus for adjusting to a better clean sound.

Xotic SP comp/EP booster - most often use them together. Great little pedals. Always keep the EP on to warm up the thinner sound of my Ibanez RGs and Suhr modern for lead playing, and add the comp for cleans or when I want a "polished" lead sound.

Suhr Koko boost - clean boost for a Vai-like lead tone, but mostly the high-mid or low-mid settings to add bite or chunk to rhythm playing.

Sometimes I'll stick on a Green Rhino (TS808 variant) or my Fulltone OCD as an occasional aggressive lead boost.

In the loop:

Dunlop DVP-1 volume pedal - great for swells, to slightly cut or boost overall volume, or as a mute (I know, the MkV already has a mute button, but oh well).

Eventide H9 - mostly for the Pitchfactor split leads or Modfactor chorus or flange, but sometimes for delays or special verbs when not using the Flashback or HoF/Neunaber.

Flashback x4 - love this pedal's Space Echo, 2290, and lofi delays. Not as tweakable as the H9, but always musical. It has three preset switches and a tap tempo, so has been my mainstay for about three years.

Neunaber Stero Wet reverb - just a super organic sounding reverb that sits perfectly in the mix.

All of the above runs through my rack mounted ISP Decimator ProrackG noise suppressor - a super fine-tuneable, two channel version of their pedal based suppressors. Amazing for metal playing, especially.
 
I'm currently using the pedals below:

CryBaby Wah Wah: Bought it many years ago, never used it much, but I'm starting to play with it more and more since I built my pedal board.

Xotic EP Booster: I use it mainly on clean channel to thicken the tone when needed. Although, the higher I crank the amp master volume, the less I need this pedal, as the overall tone gets much better.

Costalab Choruslab Chorus: I always loved chorus on clean channel. I use it a lot. This pedal can do a very subtle setting, BOSS CH-1 like tones, which is one of the reasons I love it. Can nail David Gilmour tones and Metallica. Also very good with distortion, but I rarely use it.

Mojo Hand Nebula FX Phaser: Bought it most to cover David Gilmour tones, and it sure does. The effect is very nice.

TC Electronic Nova Delay: Amazing pedal. Can do thousands of different delay settings. The build quality is also superb.

BOSS RC-3 Loop Station: IMO a must have pedal to quickly record songs and play solos along with it.

Pure Tone Buffer: Excellent pedal to keep your signal quality and volume if you use too much pedals and/or long cables.

Voodoo Lab Power Supply: Also a must to keep your signal quality good.

All of them are in my pedal board and connected to the FX Loop, except for the Cry Baby Wah Wah. The Chorus and Phaser pedals clips a lot if I don't work on the FX Loop send level settings and also the gain x volume on the clean channel. I don't want to run them in the front because I need to use the footswitch's FX Loop on/off button. I mostly use the loop On at the clean channel all the time and use the on/off button for ch2 and ch3.
 
elvis said:
MXR EVH Phase 90. Definitely one of my "desert island" effects. I could use this thing all day. The G System has a Phaser as well, but in the GS it is AFTER the preamp, and I like this effect up front. If you can have only one swirly effect, this would be the one.

Oh, thanks for answering my question, Elvis! :D

I really need to try it again in front when I have time to rework my pedal board - it is very tightly packed, so that could take a good few hours, a nice little project for a sunny summer holiday day... 8)

My situation is somewhat similar to yours, in addition to the EVH Phase 90, I also have a multieffects unit (Nova Modulator) in the loop. Some time ago, I learned how to dial a very close approximation of the Phase 90 effect on the Nova unit but slightly smoother (less edgy/brittle than the EVH) and with fuller sweep bottom, so I don't really need a dedicated Phase 90 pedal in the loop...I remember when I originally designed and tested my pedalboard, I was worried if the EVH pedal was too subtle to be heard in a band mix when placed in front of the amp but I am tired of its brittle sound in the loop. And a subtler effect could have even more uses than an over-the-top harsh one.
 
The two core pedals I use are the Eventide TimeFactor and ModFactor. I like the flexibility of building my own effects with these pedals (and I got them prior to the H9 being a thing). The TimeFactor is locked in the loop right now, but I have split the ModFactor to be active either before the amp, or in the fx loop. My go to effects are Chorus and Vintage Delay but have worked in Phaser, Wah, Flanger and Rotary from the ModFactor and Tape Echo, Digital and Reverse Delays from the TimeFactor.

I really like the quality of the Eventide pedals, especially the ability to build classic or unique effects. 10/10 would recommend for Mark V (or any effects users).

Alternately, I have a TC Electronics Nova Drive and while it is a pretty decent pedal, haven't been able to really use it with the Mark V in a satisfying way. I found it flattens the tone a bit, but I have that complaint of many OD and Distortion pedals with this amp.

Non-pedal awesomeness:
I also run a Decimator Rack Noise Gate, Furman Power Conditioner, CIOKS Power Brick, Mini Amp Gizmo and Voodoo Labs GFX and Ground Control Pro.
 
This thread is a good read, getting some ideas from it. And I got some settings ideas from some of the other threads too, heading into a weekend practicing with 3 bands in 3 days so excited to try out some new things.

I use an EC Pedals switcher for channel changing and looping the pedals, all the pedals are front of the amp. Channel 1 doesn't get any playing time in my current projects, but I love to get big ringing semi overdriven sounds out of it before and after practice. Channel 2, is Crunch, gain dimed, gets a little air time. Channel 3 is Extreme, for a thick, saturated metal(ish) sound. EQ is always on in a constantly changing Mid Scoop, Reverb is always off (except with Ch1 on occasion). Les Paul Traditional with an SD Invader in the bridge.

Effects, I like to think I have a blue-collar attitude towards them, I mostly stick with simple, easy to acquire classic effects for their classic sounds.

Loop 1: ISP Decimator
Loop 2: Boss SD-1 OD - gain low, volume high, tone varies
Loop 3: MXR Phase 90 - regular block style, in the EVH position
Loop 4: Boss CE-3 - an early one, rate and depth dimed
Loop 5: TCE Alter Ego - I change settings between the digital, analog and tape voices -or-
Loop 5: MXR Carbon Copy - depending on my mood/band, both delays are usually set for long, loud repeats

For main rhythm sounds; the Decimator is on, Channel 3 and that's it. I have presets to throw in either the Boss OD or Chorus when I want to thicken/liven it up.

When I use Channel 2, it's; Crunch, Decimator on, Boss OD on, everything else off.

For leads; the switcher turns on the MkVs Solo boost, Channel 3, the Decimator comes off, I have presets for dry solo, one with Phaser only, one with Delay only.

This set up gets me through 3 sets of Thrash/Crossover, Cutting Classic/Modern Punk, Classic 70s-80s Punk Covers.
I wouldn't want to try any of this without the MkV, the V makes it all perfect!
 
*bump*....

LesPaul70 said:
elvis said:
MXR EVH Phase 90. Definitely one of my "desert island" effects. I could use this thing all day. The G System has a Phaser as well, but in the GS it is AFTER the preamp, and I like this effect up front. If you can have only one swirly effect, this would be the one.

Oh, thanks for answering my question, Elvis! :D

I really need to try it again in front when I have time to rework my pedal board - it is very tightly packed, so that could take a good few hours, a nice little project for a sunny summer holiday day... 8)

Project completed, my EVH Phase 90 now sits between the PS-6 pitch shifter and the Visual Sound Route 66.

It is definitely a much subtler and milder effect than what you get from the same pedal in the loop. In the band mix, you don't really even hear it that much - or maybe you do but nobody else will. And if I engage the Script mode and use a lot of gain, even I don't hear it anymore...

But it is a very pleasant sound in a musical way. It is a bit more filter-like, like a mixture of a very mild phaser + wah sweeping together. Nice phat tone at the bottom of the sweep. You can use the phaser with almost anything, rhythm and solos, clean and distorted, because it is so subtle when placed like this.

And if I, for some reason, need those wild, over-the-top phaser sounds, I just let my T.C. Electronics box (in the loop) rip.

Pleased with the result.
 

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