Have I lost the plot?

TelePaul

TelePaul

J to the R O C
At some point in the last two weeks I realised that my very long pedal chain was degrading my sound. I had almost forgotten what a bypassed signal sounded like, and when I plugged directly into an amp I came to my senses.

Well, kinda.

The thing is, I really like pedals. I like the flexibility they offer and the tones they produce. So I got to thinking - what if I could run shorter pedal chains by splitting my effects over three amps; one for cleans, one for OD and one for distortion? I thought about this some more and decided a Morley Tripler would let me A/B/Y things. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my proposed rig:


Pedal Chain by paulrichardoleary, on Flickr


Seriously, is this a stupid idea? Have I overlooked something basic? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
 
Anyhow, there's another solution. There are several companies that make FX loop stations that allow you to set up customized FX loops without having to run cable through each one. I'll see if I can find one and post a link.
 
Not always, but at times, yes, I might have about 15+ in use. All the modulation go through an fx loop which obviously helps a nit. I do know there are options with customised rigs, but they seem a bit expensive, and I'm not really sure how they work. The Gig Rig gets a few mentions on this side of the pond: pedal boards.

Will what I'm suggesting work?
 
I'm not familiar with the Morley Tripler, but if it does what your diagram suggests, I don't see why not.

Hell of a rig! :D
 
Dude, you don't need a tripler, you need a freakin' stomp box addiction support group! :eek:

Actually, I'm just jealous. :D

The tripler would probably work, but only if you don't run any of them simultaneously. Even then, I think you've still got enough pedals in each chain that I would imagine that your signal is still going to be pretty degraded.

Seriously, you need help man. If you decide to sober up and get rid of some of those pedals, well, you know the address. ;)
 
Also, aren't the Champ and Vox kind of redundant? I mean, I know the sound is different, but I would've put them both in sort of the same category, overdriven blues. Otoh, I guess the only AC4TV I've heard was an AC4TV8.
 
Damn Paul, are you playing gigs with this setup-and what is your setup time?

I use a 50 watt tube amp with channel switching and about 4 pedals on a pedal board-a tremolo, a univibe copy, a digital delay and a volume pedal-and the volume pedal gets the most attention.

Too many boxes and wiring have always been my kryptonite....:laughings:
 
TelePaul said:
At some point in the last two weeks I realized that my very long pedal chain was degrading my sound.
Click to expand...

What would make you think that?

:laughings:

;)


Yeah man...if you really need to have that many pedals available at one time...get a few pedal loopers:

Loop-Master Pedals
(there are other brands)

That way, you just step on the looper's bypass...and whatever pedals are plugged into that looper, they will ALL be bypassed at one time. Depending how many loopers you get and which kind you use and how you group your pedals per looper...you could have a LOT of pedals, but still be able to minimize how many at any one time your signal is actually going through, while still having all the other pedals "on tap".

That said...I can understand wanting to have the variety at your fingertips...but man, do you really need 15+ pedals at your immediate disposal...??? :eek:

TelePaul said:
Have I lost the plot?
Click to expand...

Naaaaa....though maybe your mind! :D
 
Have you considered picking up something like an Avid Eleven Rack or one of the Pod units?

You could probably get pretty close to your desired tone without the degradation...
 
Well, lots of well-informed feedback, I really appreciate it. It seems like I may have jumped the gun somewhat when it comes to multiple chains, though these loopers have me somewhat baffled. Seems like they break down a pedal chain into several smaller chains which can be linked but the pedals not in use can still be bypassed?

Just to put things in context; the only reason I employ so many pedals is for convenience. I don't gig - if I did, I'd confine things to a CS3, Blackstar HT 5 boost and Holy Grail - and I don't use the chain when recording, just the pedal I need at the time. I like having them in a chain when I'm jamming along to an itunes playlist which might cover country, blues, jazzier-elements, heavy rock etc. Playing to certain songs may also see me incorporate four or five pedals at once (Purple Rain sees me use the CS3, HT-Boost, DS2, NS2, Akai Headrush and Holy Grail).

A note on the amps - to me, the Champ 600 isn't really capable of blues-y breakup. I'm open to correction, but for me, it has never really enjoyed being pushed. With a compressor and some reverb though, it does cleans very well. I included the GE 7 in the chain to bring out some sparkle and kill some of the boxy-tone. The AC4TV is a great amp, with very fat sounding cleans and takes a TS9 well - it's overdriven Beatles territory. AVT 50 is just a bit of a work-horse and gets the POG because it has a bigger speaker.

So it seems like maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew here. Maybe not, I'll have to see how things go with the Morley when it gets here on Monday. I know i could liquidate some of the pedals, especially some of the boss units I picked up on the 'bay. But I like them :o
 
the tripler will work .... you'll essentially have 3 different pedal boards that you can choose between ............. but man, you have a LOT of redundency there ..... a Memory Man AND a Headrush for instance. Yeah, they sound different but they do basically the same thing.

The choruses I'm a bit more sympathetic about ..... different choruses do sound very different.

If it's set-up in your studio then that's probably a decent way to set it up. And you could easily plug the boards into different amps.
Also ..... if you got some kind of junction for the back end of them you could actually run all 3 boards into a single amp and choose which board you were going thru.

If you're gigging though I'd maybe make 3 actual different boards and just take the one I feel like using.
THAT many pedals doesn't make much sense. ......... well, people tell me I bring too much stuff to gigs so who am I to say anything?
 
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TelePaul said:
Well, lots of well-informed feedback, I really appreciate it. It seems like I may have jumped the gun somewhat when it comes to multiple chains, though these loopers have me somewhat baffled. Seems like they break down a pedal chain into several smaller chains which can be linked but the pedals not in use can still be bypassed?
Click to expand...

Yes...you can think of it as bypassing the "group" of pedals attached to a given "looper" box.

They have all kinds of loop boxes, with various signal routing/splitting options and you can go from just a 2-3 pedal looper to one that has many more pedal inputs...though of course, the more pedals, the more you are "tying" them together as one group...BUT...keep in mind that while a given looper box is active, you can still INDIVIDUALLY control/bypass pedals in that looper by stepping on their buttons...OR...bypass the looper with ALL its pedals in one shot.

Some crazy combinations can be had....very handy for a large pedal rig!
 
Build yourself a true bypass loop pedal. If you can solder, you can get one going for under 50 bucks (unless you want to use relays like some of the fancier ones). I can post pictures/explain some of the ins and outs of the one I built if you like. It really helps by taking some of the noiser pedals out of the chain when they aren't in use.
 
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