guitar effect

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dmbfan1981

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I was wondering how to get that classic U2 guitar sound like on "with or without you" is it simply a volume pedal with some echo on it? it has a swell effect. ALSO...i notice a similar effect often used by Tim Reynolds when playing acoustic guitar with Dave Matthews. The best example is on the CD "Live at Luther College" the solo for the song "41" . PLEASE HELP! i would like to use this effect both on my les paul with distortion and ALSO with my acoustic.
 
A stereo delay or delay effect is probably what you are referring to. I'm not sure what they specifically use to create their sound, but I know you can replicate it with a Line 6 DL-4 delay modulator. I'm sure Boss makes products that would do a similar thing.
 
I thought he was just playing a harmonic and doing a volume swell with the knob.
 
i thought it was a fernandez sustainer guitar.

EDIT: heres what i just read about Michael Brook, the guy who designed the guitar he used - "Among them are the Infinite Guitar, played by The Edge of U2, a guitar which is outiftted with a feedback transducer to produce non-decaying sustain of any note. This design has been replicated by commercial devices such as an EBow and Fernandes Sustainer-equipped guitars. (For an example of this sound, listen to the opening of U2's "With or Without You" from "The Joshua Tree".)"
 
Oh, I just realized that I was talking about a sound that was used during different songs by the same guitarists. Edge definitely makes more use of delay on "With or Without You" than he does anything else. On the other hand, the atmospheric sound he makes sounds like some sort of reverbed volume swell. But the main chords in the song sound like they are done with light distortion and delay. Tim Reynolds almost definitely doesn't use an ebow playing those two guitar acoustic shows. In fact, his effects setup for that is fairly limited (I've seen em live together before) and probably consists of a looper, delay and not too much else.
 
Thanks guys. Right now i have a Digitech RP100 effects pedal and wanted to achieve that sound. Would i be better off buying a seperate effects unit, or should i just purchase a volume pedal to add to my chain of effects and use the digital delay on the digitech to achieve that type of sound? thanks again
 
DMBfan, here's your precise info:

Now, as far as electonics go, on the Dave and Tim tours he played through a Morley Pro Series 1 Wah Volume (PWV), a Boss DD-5 digital delay, and then a Countryman direct box.

He still uses the Boss DD-5. The little Boss stomp box is the source of all of Reynolds' electronic trickery. "There's one backwards mode, it plays infinite, and you can mess with that," Reynolds says. "And there are delay modes that you can go infinite. There are a lot of cool little things." Tim has also been using the Line 6 Delay Module in conjuction with the Boss DD5.

"For the delay pedal setting, I usually have it set to mode# 3 for those kind of swells (although 4 is good for spacier stuff). Then the E.level is at about 1 o'clock, F.back at 12 o'clock (which can be varied to taste), and D.time is at the max. I use the reverse function for the weirdest stuff."
(Source: http://timreynolds.com/setup/notes.aspx)

So, it turns out you can use a clever delay setup for anything that Tim plays. :) I can confirm this -- I just got a Line 6 DL-4 and the possibilities are not limited. If that's the sort of thing you're trying to do, a Line 6 or a Boss DD-5 will do the trick.
 
Are you guys talking about the sustaining notes in the intro that play thru the verse? Or the riff he plays 1:52 into the song?
The first part is probably his 'infinite guitar', a switchable feedback built into the pup. Some guy custom built it and only a few of those exist, but its almost the same as a fernandes sustainer.
The second part (1:52 into the song) sounds like just his class A vox amp tone with gobs of reverb, and/or maybe a touch of chorus. Initially it sounded to me like he was using a delay but when I listened carefully...... there are NO noticeable repeats when he lets the last note ring. Could he be somehow delaying the staccoto notes and on the notes left ringing the delay is somehow not noticeable? He's known for EH Memory Man delays all over the place but there might not be any delay here at all.
 
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