Guitar Effect Daisy Chains?

[sondriven]

Hello,

Im trying to set up my guitar rig and am having trouble getting a good flange and wah sound out of my set-up. Heres what I have:

Ibanez Chorus/Flange Pedal
Big Muff Distortion Pedal
Dunlop Wah Pedal
Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal

I have been trying to toy with having the flange first and then distortions and then the wah last, but in this the wah is a little to harsh, but the flange is ok. I switch it the other way and the opposite happens, the wah is better and I lose the flange almost entirely.

Could it be that I have junk pedals or could my arrangement of pedals be done a different way. If some of you could let me know a couple of examples that work well, I would appreciate it. THanks.

John

 

[SBax]

I don't think those pedals are junk. They're not boutique but who cares? There are no rules. For example, on Pink Floyd's Echoes (off the 1971 album Meddle) Dave Gilmour plugged his wah in backwards to make whale sounds. The usual order is wah-od or distortion-chorus/flange. So, you are saying that you are looking for wah and flange at the same time? Unless it is a specific sound in your head that you are looking for, I would expect the wah to overwhelm the flange. Does your amp have an effects loop? Put the flange there. If not, I would try a different flange. By the way, if you're rich the Fulltone Choralflange is wonderful and would laugh at the wah and od pedals.

 

[sondriven]

No not rich at all.....I am thinking about trading in the Ibanez Flanger for a Boss one. I heard they are more of a better quality pedal. Its not that I want Flange and Wah at the same time, its when I do a link of effects, one of the effects suffers for some reason. Actually Im running my rig through a Pod not an amp. I thank you for your help, and Im still switching things around to what happens, I was just thinking that there was a good starting point to link effects. Thanks again, John

 

[Montra]

yeah good stuff sbax, also,yeah the boss flanger is good sondriven, but i'd also like to suggest the mxr flanger by mxr, I have the mxr phase 90 pedal, it's very kewl but noisy, ,,,,,,also, check out the tune love thing by joe satriani (i think that is what it is called) it has a great clean wah sound, i 'm kinda into checking that wah pedal board he is using, i think it is a newer digitech pedal board,,,,,i have used all of the retro wahs and think they are great but for me, i like the real clean positive wah sound that that digi has, i guess i'm thinking that it will be good and clean for recording (hope i'm clear enough in my explanation lol) peace, good luck

 

[charger]

I would replace that Flanger with a Phaser, MXR Phase 90. I have never found flange to be a useful effect... but that's just my personal opinion. a lot of times, people put the flange after anything else, or else between the way and the distortion. I also always arrange my distortion pedals in order of heaviness, makes things easier in the heat of the moment.

So:

Wah > DS-1 > Big Muff > Flange

or

Wah > Flange > DS-1 > Big Muff

 

[sondriven]

Thanks Charger I tried those 2 ways and found the top working out. I never was trying to put the flanger in last (dont ask me why, I tried almost every other way) and it works pretty good.

I have another question for ya. Do you record at all with a Pod? If so, this is whats happening. I record in a small place and when I go to record guitars I turn off my monitor because my pickups produce that crappy noisy frequency stuff, but only on the bridge pickup and not in the middle or top position. Is there anything else in a (small studio) that would cause the noise?

John

 

[charger]

I almost always have to turn my monitor off too. It's just like a big gun shooting electrons at your pickups. I wish there was another way... have you tried moving into an adjoining room with the guitar?

 

[sondriven]

I never had to really walk away before up until a week ago. I just always had to turn the monitor off, so Im kinda at a lost on why its all of a sudden doing it now.

 

[charger]

Right, you have to turn the monitor off... or walk away. Because, like I said, your monitor is like a big gun shooting electrons at your pickups.

 

[baldguy]

Wah-distortion-flange.

I second the phasor recommendation and the modulation effects in the effects loop.

Do you have single coils? My strat makes noises when I've got my TV on. You might try a power conditioner. I've seen them work miracles.

 

[toyL]

hi sondriven...I don't think you really need two dist. effects...the big-muff is plenty...I always have my wah and whammy first, then everything else...I always have my big-muff last on the floor--but then it goes to my processor for reverb and delays...

 

[sondriven]

Yeah, the Big Muff is all Im really using now anyway, the DS-1 is getting kind of old hat to me. My guitar is a Gibson SG Standard with stock pick-ups. I dont get any noise when the pick-up is in the middle setting.