ADVISE needed for amps and pedals.

[ryman150]

I have been searching for the past few years for that "perfect" setup of pedals, amps, etcs. I still haven't found quite what I am looking for, and it seems I just haven't looked in the right place.

Currently I am running with this:

ADA MP-1 Tube Preamp
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
TC Electronic - G-major
BBE 482 Sonic Maximizer.
Ground Control - MIDI Pedal

I play country music, however I also play in a worship band, and would like to have many versitile sounds availble with easy access. I am thinking about just selling everything I have and starting new, but I have no clue as to where to start. If anybody out there could give me some professional advise, that would be very helpful. (AMPS, pedals, etc...) Cost isn't a big thing.

I mainly want to get that "sweet" tele sound like on Brad Paisley's albums, but also be able to get a group of nice effects and sounds used on today's modern country and worship songs. Rich choruses, nice distortion, but nothing like death metal. I am just trying to become a bit educated with all of this, so I can make a good decision.

Also, does anybody know what most country music touring guitar players are using in their setups?? Rack gear, pedals, amps??

Thanks,

Ryan

[andersonguy]

Hey Ryman, what a fun place to be!!
Shopping for new gear is so great.
I am a huge Bogner fan. I run a Bogner Shiva combo with some great Analogman pedal effects in front. I can get the most excellent country sound from this amp as well as modern crunch, smooth blues, and clean that will give you shivers. The only thing it wont do is very heavy metal. The company is like dealing with a friend in the business, very helpfull and good people.
I had tried the TC G-Major and just didnt like it, If you are still looking for rack stuff and like TC, try the G Force or go into a Lexicon for some great effects. If you have a chance to try this amp out, I am sure you wont be dissapointed. One of the best IMHO
I also know there are several Carr fans in this forum, Only heard good things about them too.
You may want to post to this forum for great effects advise:
http://hugeracksinc.com
(Hope that link works)
I have had great luck with effect advise there.

Good luck!!


AG

[tom]

it looks like your effects are the bigger part of your problem. while there are way more expensive amps out there, the deluxe isn't bad. there are tons of pedals you can use in front of your amp that will get you where you want to go. the trick is finding the right ones that work together to get you what you want. if your volume will be very different in your different playing situations, i find it easier to make the pedals work with the amp set pretty clean. if you rely on the amp being loud to sound good you will be in trouble when you have to play quieter. i don't have strong opinions on the delay and modulation type effects, but i just had a great weekend experience with the barber compressor and overdrive pedals. they worked very well with a clean amp. i know lots of guys love the fultone stuff, but for me it didn't work as well with the amp clean. if you can push the amp more they sounded nice. if you are somewhere where you can try lots of stuff out, that's always best. if not this forum offers a nice breadth of players with different playing situations that would love to tell you what they like best. that is always a moving target, but that's the fun of it too.

[Gary F.]

Hi Ryman 150,

Using a BB3 sonic maximizers is like taking a blanket off your amp, isn't it? Pretty amazing. I think the big three effects are overdrive, chorus and delay--at least they're the ones that are indispensable to me. Harmony Central can be a fun place to check stuff out. If you keep it simple to start and buy decent effects (not those Danelectro plastic things), it's pretty hard to booger it too bad. Plus you can always dump your last purchase on ebay as you refine the search for 'your' sound. It's amazing how many boutique pedals (translation=expensive) I've gone through in the quest, yet my board contains relatively pedestrian names like Boss & Maxon.

Good luck!

Gary

[njjessee]

Hey Ryan,

Check this link out .... http://forums.gospelcom.net/view/baloche/baloche/view_post?id=1289

This is Glenn Pearce's response to a similar question. If you don't know of Glenn, he has played on a lot of worship/Christian music CD's and currently tours with Michael W. Smith.

I believe what Glenn and Tom say about the amp is true. Use a good tube amp. I've used a Peavey Classic 50, HK Duotone, and Mesa Boogie F50 and F30. I think the Fender you have is fine. Work on the effects.

Basic pedalboards will have the following; wah, volume, distortion, compressor, delay, chorus, and tremolo. I've played in a worship band for over six years and I find this combination will cover everything thrown at you.

Tom is right about the volume thing, set your amp for a good clean tone, use the effects to take care of the rest. This is especially true in a worship band setting. (You want to make sure the congregation can hear the sermon after the song service! Ha! ha!)

Although I've added and shuffled pedals around, I always come back to this basic set up. I do use a couple of distortions, one for mid gain sounds and the other for heavier gain applications.

90% of my playing is with a hollow classic, but if I want a country sound, the hollow T classic comes out.

You'll have fun choosing pedals, so many to pick from, just buy quality. If you don't like it, it resells better, and if you do like it, it lasts.

Hope this helps.

Noah

[ryman150]

Thanks guys, for all the help. That was very useful. I just need to get out and try out some pedals.

I was looking at Dr. Z amps. I know Brad Paisley uses them, and they seem great. Do you think I would notice a $1000 difference in them and my Fender amp?

Also, any input on the Line 6 Distortion modeler (gold one)

Thanks again,

Ryan

[andersonguy]

Hi Ryman,
Fender makes a good guitar. Anderson makes a better guitar
Which do you prefer?

Fender makes a good amp. Dr. Z makes a better one.
Which do you prefer?

On the line 6 modeler, do you care if its analog or not? Can you try one out?

There are a TON of great drive pedals out there, I say try as many as you can. Even if you use Musicians Fiend you can return the pedal after 90 days.;)
Thats a good amount of trial time.

Good luck!!

AG

[dannopelli]

Hey man!

Ah the quest for tone!

Just one's man's opinion:

I might add that you ask yourself "what sounds do I need?"

I used to use a G major, and a Ground control, and all that.

But basicallly I realized that I use one clean sound, and alter it by switching guitars, and three distortion sounds, again switching guitars as needed. I use a bit of chorus and some delay, so I use a DD5 with tap tempo.

That said, I realized that if I dump all that extra stuff I can spend the same amount of money and by better things, like Anderson, Mesa F30, Fulltone, Barber, etc. that give me the sounds I want.

My point is, you may need all that rack stuff or maybe you don't. But first focus on getting your core sound, the one with the guitar and cable, just right.

Good luck. Hope this helps a bit.

Dan

[ryman150]

I absolutely love Anderson guitars more than fender. I have never played a nicer guitar than an Anderson. Right now I have a Fender 62' Tele Custom, and a TA Drop Top. I am going to sell my expensive rack gear, buy a few nice pedals, and hopefully trade my drop top for a custom hollow t classic. If I do this, I would just need to configure the T to be country sounding, yet versatile with its pickups, but that can be another thread, another day.

Now for a couple pedal questions.

1. What is a compression pedal going to do for me live??

2. What is the main difference in "overdrive" and "distortion"?...AND why are there so many types of these pedals out there. How does one pick. I used to have the DM4, and it was great, but I have heard that pedals like Fulltone, etc. are better. The only thing is, with the LINE 6, I can get 4 voicings, and like 20 different actual sounds for the same cost as ONE Fulltone pedal with ONE overall sound.

Thanks,

Ryan

[tom]

i think you have to listen to each thing without prejudging based on analog or digital. i used the line6 dist for quite a while. the variety is hard to beat, and being able to go from sound to sound with only one click is really nice. you can add a button that also doubles the capacity which just adds to the variety. i really liked having 3 band eq on all models too. it's nice to add a bit of bottom to some of the old devices. i played a lot of analog pedals that i didn't like as well as the line6.
now having said all that, i played with the barber burn unit this weekend, which i mentioned in another thread, and i think i'm going for two of them instead of the line6. definitely more expensive, harder to use, but oh the tone.

[dannopelli]

Hey Ryan,

Tom is dead on right. What sounds good to your ears is what matters.

People bag on Boss stuff all the time, but I love my DD5 and my TU2 tuner. And I use a PW10 wah. I also have a Fulltone Distortion Pro, FD2 and a Barber Tone Press.

What a good compressor, (and there are some crappy ones out there), will do for the most part is level your signal. So your really softly played notes will sound louder and your really hard played notes will sound less loud.

Picture a numer line:

-5-4-3-2-1 0 +1+2+3+4+5.

0 is the center, or volume of your notes when played with a normal attack. -5 is your softest played notes. +5 is your strongest played notes.

When you play without a compressor you get all the volume, nuance, etc of all your notes. When you add a compressor you begin to "compress" the signal closer to 0. You can compress a little or a lot. Compressors will also add some sustain due to the fact that they are attempting to produce a relatively level signal strength. So as your note decays the compressor lifts its signal to the higher level.

That said, better, (and not necessarily more expensive) compressors do this better than others. Some of them make notes sound squashy or you lose pick attack or nuance on softly played notes. (However some people buy those because they want that sound.) Some are true bypass, which for signals going through the front of the amp is often more desired.

You may see terms like "transparancy" when people review compressors. In general that means that the pedal does not color or in any whay change the tone. And it also retains the nuance of your pick attack. You get volume levelling and sustain but retain the "feel" of your playing.

From what I can tell the compressors that seem to do a great job at transparency are the Keely, Carl Martin, and Analogman. These are all $200+. They are all true bypass too.

Then there is the Barber Tone Press. It is unique in that you can blend the uncompressed and compressed signals. IMHO it sounds the least like a compressor, yet does exactly what a compressor should do. IMHO it sounds the most transparent of all the compressors out there. It is true bypass. it is a "boutique" pedal. And it goes for about $139 new, about $110-$120 on Ebay.

It is in my pedal board. It replaced a Boss CS3.

Hope this helps.:cool: