Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

A weekend wasted!!!! Doing this!!


Laney1566

Recommended Posts

Well guys....

Here are the fruits of much $$$ and labor.

I call it the perfect board. 3 years of trying out pedals in order to determine what worked best for me.

What you can't see is the AKG wireless inside. The tip of the antenna just sticks out below the BBE Sonic Stomp. True Bypass except for the 2 double pedals and the Flanger. Stereo outs for killer chorus and delay. I built here from scratch and covered it with Designer Vinyl. Planet waves (A fortunes worth). The octaswitch required 18 straight tips alone.

 

Here's the routing....Wireless>Volume to tuner and out to wah>Super Comp to input of Octa-Switch?

 

Now the loops...Bank 1 through Phase 90,Fulldrive 2, Valve Distortion, Metal Distortion, ISP Decimator, BBE Sonic Stomp, Flanger, Rotovibe,

 

Octa-Switch output to Stereo on the Chorus> Delay-Stereo out to My Left (Fender Twin)and Right (Carvin Legacy) Amps.

I love it and thanks for letting me share!!

IMG_0587.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow.

Cool!

 

I think I might look into doing a pedalboard, just to get everything in one spot.

 

Leave some room for another pedal or two.

 

Got a TU-2 tuner and the Fulltone OCD.

Need a spot for my ABY splitter for my Fender and Marshall amps.

 

Lotsa thought and research before I spend any $$$ though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the condensed version...

 

There are 8 individual loops. You plug each send and return into each of your pedals.

51396-cc30d25f55f9c7e7b520f49251f7396c.jpg

 

 

There are 8 on/off foot-switches, and above each switch is DIP-switch with 8 selectors.

octa_dip_switch.jpg

 

 

Whichever selector is flipped up on the DIP, the pedal plugged into the corresponding loop will be active when you hit that footswitch.

So here's an example...

 

Loop 1 - Overdrive

Loop 2 - Boost

Loop 3 - Chorus

Loop 4 - Flanger

Loop 5 - Phaser

Loop 6 - Wah

Loop 7 - Reverb

Loop 8 - Delay

 

Above switch one, you flip on 1 and 5 for your dirty rhythm sound.

For you dirty lead sound, you go to switch two and flip 1, 2, and 8.

Now you can kick in your boost, turn off the phaser, and add a bit of delay by hitting one switch.

Need to go from your lead sound straight to clean?

On switch three, flip up 3 and 7. Now you've turned off your overdrive, boost, and delay and turned on your chorus and reverb with one tap.

Saves a lot of footwork. You can make up to 8 combinations.

 

As an added bonus, when a pedal is not selected it's completely out of your signal path. That means all of your pedal become true bypass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol. GuitarJunkie gave the best explanation on the Octa-Switch. And when I power up the neighbors don''t see lights flicker, but they can sure hear it.

 

Yes I spent the entire weekend building the board. I used furniture grade plywood for the top and bottom and oak on the sides. A jillion staples hold the vinyl in place. My goal was no visable wires, so inside this beauty is a birdsnest to beat em all. Took me about 6 hours wiring it up. You can imagine all the inputs and each one had to be created to a custom length.

No I wouldn't recommend this for a gigging musician unless you had a roadie or 2.

 

I don't really need midi capability because my sound is created from the clean amp channels.

I write mostly metal and the hardwire pedals give great tone. As a effects loop pedal, the Octa-Switch is perfect. It even has a buffer if you want to use it, but I have it switched off. I now have the best tone I have ever achieved. You mic this setup to PA's and play with the best of them.

I'm loving my sound!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice Job !

I can see why it would take so long to setup...

let alone buy all those pedals.

Did you try many different brands before deciding

which ones made it on your board ?

 

No joke...I tried just about everything over the past several years. My local shop lets you bring back pedals within 30 days for a full refund.

 

Funny thing about pedals I have discovered.....

 

One guy will say it's great and the next will call it trash. I recently realized both opinions might be correct.......Depending on what you run them through and where in the chain you place them. One amp will like a pedal while another amp turns it into a piece of crap.

 

Case in point. For over 7 years I ran a Boss Metal Zone to a Fender Solid State amp and it rocked! When I switched to tube amps it was now a piece of junk. Guitar players should realize this when offering up opinions or insulting others. Maybe a pedal doesn't work for you, but some other guy might actually be getting great tone.

 

The single best tone improvement I have found is running stereo...especially with chorus. The Boss CE-20 Chorus Ensemble is just ok running strait to a amp but run it stereo out to 2 amps and it really comes alive!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No joke...I tried just about everything over the past several years. My local shop lets you bring back pedals within 30 days for a full refund.

 

Funny thing about pedals I have discovered.....

 

One guy will say it's great and the next will call it trash. I recently realized both opinions might be correct.......Depending on what you run them through and where in the chain you place them. One amp will like a pedal while another amp turns it into a piece of crap.

 

Case in point. For over 7 years I ran a Boss Metal Zone to a Fender Solid State amp and it rocked! When I switched to tube amps it was now a piece of junk. Guitar players should realize this when offering up opinions or insulting others. Maybe a pedal doesn't work for you' date=' but some other guy might actually be getting great tone.

 

The single best tone improvement I have found is running stereo...especially with chorus. The Boss CE-20 Chorus Ensemble is just ok running strait to a amp but run it stereo out to 2 amps and it really comes alive!!![/quote']

 

I've noticed that too when I look at reviews about pedals on Harmony Central , there's no middle ground,

they're either praised as the best thing ever or a useless piece of crap.

 

About the stereo effect , I noticed that you're running two different amps (Fender - Carvin)

do you think that helps the stereo effect ? (different frequency response etc ..)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Octa-Switch is great. All Carl Martin stuff I've seen is really high quality.

 

I find Voodoolab's Pedal Switcher, Function Switcher and Commander more to my tastes though as being able to send MIDI program change messages is a plus for me and the buffer input is pretty useful, plus you can combine them with more individual units when you need more of something. But sadly the cost of these units add up really fast. I guess a GCX and a Ground Control would end up at a similar cost, and gets the pedals off the floor and into the rack where they aren't in the way.

 

Ack, decisions, decisions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Pedals?

 

Ok.......Here goes...

 

I run an AKG Wireless system with the Guitar Bug to the following...

 

Ernie Ball VP jr with tuner out. ( Does what it's supposed to do)

Tuner- Korg PitchBlack (This is a great tuner with a great display).

Fulltone Clyde Wah. (Great wah and built like a tank. Quiet operation).

MXR Super Comp. (I preferred it over the Boss. Allows you to retain most of the attack while compressing evenly).

Octa-Switch. (I saw it...Wanted it...Got it. It's is the only thing that does what it does. True bypass programmable effects loops x8)

EVH Phase 90 (Hey..it's a phaser, and a darn good one at that).

Fulltone Fulldrive 2. (Fantastic tone with a boost for very clean to a little dirty. Also works well boosting your amp signal).

Digitech Hardwire Valve Distortion. (Purists might take issue but it really does sound like great valve distortion).

Digitech Hardwire Metal Distortion. (Wow....Great Metal Tone!!)

ISP Decimator (Simply the best Noise reduction pedal on the market. Pick slow pick fast, It will keep up with you without chopping off notes). Tried the Boss and it blew!!

Boss FL-3 Flanger (Really the only one I have ever used. Does what it's supposed to).

BBE Sonic Stomp (My secret little weapon for tone).

Boss CE20 Chorus (Totally programmable with 4 banks to save you favs for a total of 5 possibilities, Stereo outs which I recommend using).

Boss DD20 Digital Delay (I'm still learning all that this can do. Many programmable delays as well as a looper. Stereo as well. One of the setting does a delay that switches back and forth between left and right channels for a great effect!!)

Dunlop RotoVibe (Don't use the tremolo setting but the chorus effect on this creates a tone that I can't live without.

 

Also keep in mind that the order you see on the board is not the actual order going to the Switcher. I placed them for convenience..Not Order.

I needed access to the double pedals as well as the Fulldrive so they are up front on the higher tier while the switcher, volume, wah and rotovibe are on the lower.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've noticed that too when I look at reviews about pedals on Harmony Central ' date=' there's no middle ground,

they're either praised as the best thing ever or a useless piece of crap.

 

About the stereo effect , I noticed that you're running two different amps (Fender - Carvin)

do you think that helps the stereo effect ? (different frequency response etc ..)[/quote']

 

It does in my case.

The Fender Twin is praised for it's clean sound. What has gone largely unoticed is the Carvin Legacy's clean sound. It is great too. Combined with the same effects, there is a big difference in the way they each take effects. The Fender gives my tone more bite and treble response while the Carvin is a Heart thumping tone monster.

The stereo effect the 2 bring is awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is some kind of pedal board! You got a roadie or two to carry that beast? :- Did you build a case to hold/protect it all? I bet the loop switching is nice. Saves a bit of tap dancing! Very cool.

 

Well, it's not leaving the house so there is no need for a top.

I'm 43 now and my younger foolishness has taken a tole on my body. No gigging in my future. I just want to write songs these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No waste of a weekend there that's a great looking pedalboard nice job. HOWEVER your post did cost me $340 dollars that Octaswitch was so cool I had to order one so it's your fault if my wife asks

 

I didn't do a thing. Not me No way:^o :^o :^o or

 

Just tell here you were trying to save money...You could have gone for a Cornish system but was thinking of her.;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...