charlie brown Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 Yeah, I'm not "against" pedals, at all....just amused, and somewhat surprised, by the persons reaction/stubborness(?) that I had mentioned, initially. I use, (only as needed for the song) a Blues Driver, a Compression/Sustainer (mostly for my Rickenbacker 12-string for that "Byrds" type tone, and other things, too), a Rotary speaker simulator (once in awhile), and Wah-wah! But I can play, quite effectively, with just the guitar, cord and amp! The volume and tone knobs do wonders, if one only uses them. LOL! But, it's interesting to hear everyone's other ideas/responses. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Sure if you want to play particular songs you need specific pedals. If I want to do certain Beatles I need a Leslie pedal, etc... For covering certain songs, pedals are obviously required gear. But the idea of altering your sound with the trick of a stomp box is very distasteful. I have a Vox and a Ric...that is a certain sound that I love so I spent the money on that gear. Why would I want to stomp on a box and change that in any way? If one wants to sound like a Marshall, buy a Marshall. If one wants a guitar to sound like a bluesy Strat, buy a Strat. The sound from stomp boxes are not real. I mean, come on, an acoustic guitar simulator stomp box? With pedals you are no longer playing your guitar and your amp. Might as well just play a $90 Squier into a $50 practice amp. Hook up a Fender Bassman pedal, a Blues Driver and you are now Stevie Ray. It ain't real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
generation zero Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Sure if you want to play particular songs you need specific pedals. If I want to do certain Beatles I need a Leslie pedal' date=' etc... For covering certain songs, pedals are obviously required gear. But the idea of altering your sound with the trick of a stomp box is very distasteful. I have a Vox and a Ric...that is a certain sound that I love so I spent the money on that gear. Why would I want to stomp on a box and change that in any way? If one wants to sound like a Marshall, buy a Marshall. If one wants a guitar to sound like a bluesy Strat, buy a Strat. The sound from stomp boxes are not real. I mean, come on, an acoustic guitar simulator stomp box? With pedals you are no longer playing your guitar and your amp. Might as well just play a $90 Squier into a $50 practice amp. Hook up a Fender Bassman pedal, a Blues Driver and you are now Stevie Ray. It ain't real.[/quote'] I actually had one of those Boss AC-3 acoustic simulator pedals, and it did a decent job of pulling off a passable acoustic tone if you needed it for one part of one or two songs, but I would never take that pedal and a strat to an acoustic jam. I got rid of it mainly because it is designed for use with single coils, and my LPs overdrove it like crazy, even with the volume lowered on the guitar. Adding a coil split to my custom worked, but once I put the 59s in my plain top, it was over. Those are 2 wire pups, so no splitting option. They sounded better though, so I was in a jam... But the problem solved itself when the band where I needed an acoustic tone for broke up, LOL. Pedal sold, problem solved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarxBros Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Sure if you want to play particular songs you need specific pedals. If I want to do certain Beatles I need a Leslie pedal' date=' etc... For covering certain songs, pedals are obviously required gear. But the idea of altering your sound with the trick of a stomp box is very distasteful. I have a Vox and a Ric...that is a certain sound that I love so I spent the money on that gear. Why would I want to stomp on a box and change that in any way? If one wants to sound like a Marshall, buy a Marshall. If one wants a guitar to sound like a bluesy Strat, buy a Strat. The sound from stomp boxes are not real. I mean, come on, an acoustic guitar simulator stomp box? With pedals you are no longer playing your guitar and your amp. Might as well just play a $90 Squier into a $50 practice amp. Hook up a Fender Bassman pedal, a Blues Driver and you are now Stevie Ray. It ain't real.[/quote']I challenge this thinking. It's real if it works for the player. I don't care if they need a mixmaster hooked up to their guitar, whatever it takes, do it. Conventional or unconventional, I'll never judge anyone because they "need" something to pull off what they are trying to do. To the point of I'll even defend the guy who wouldn't play without his stomp boxes. I'm an artist; I won't paint unless I have certain brushes, canvas, and paint. You can say I'm limited, those are crutches, BS...whatever the artist feels he NEEDS is his prerogative, his muse. If as a poet I NEED a rotten apple under my desk to write my poetry and if I can't write without that rotten apple does not detract one iota from me being a poet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 If as a poet I NEED a rotten apple under my desk to write my poetry.... Yes, but that poet is not using the rotten apple IN his poetry. A poet uses paper and pen, period. He is not looking for something other than the basics. A guitarist must make the most use of his basics - his guitar and amp. The guitar provides a certain sound, the amp provides a certain sound. If you seek another sound, get another guitar and amp. (Sure some quirky sounds can only be obtained from pedals. Use them and you are essentially turning your music into a novelty. Does the talk-box ring a bell?) Once again, a Fender Twin stomp box? Do you really think that is going to sound like a Fender Twin? Pedals are essentially poor substitutes. They are merely filling in. Like substitute teachers. Remember how you never took them seriously? Well, why take pedals seriously? They ain't the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarxBros Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Yes' date=' but that poet is not using the rotten apple IN his poetry. A poet uses paper and pen, period. He is not looking for something other than the basics. A guitarist must make the most use of his basics - his guitar and amp. The guitar provides a certain sound, the amp provides a certain sound. If you seek another sound, get another guitar and amp. (Sure some quirky sounds can only be obtained from pedals. Use them and you are essentially turning your music into a novelty. Does the talk-box ring a bell?) Once again, a Fender Twin stomp box? Do you really think that is going to sound like a Fender Twin? Pedals are essentially poor substitutes. They are merely filling in. Like substitute teachers. Remember how you never took them seriously? Well, why take pedals seriously? They ain't the real thing.[/quote']Let me say this first, I hate moddeling amps, emulators, all that crap. I'm WAY too opinionated on too many things....... But I'll never judge whatever someone deems necessary to do their thing, even if their setup don't mean crap to me, it might be a pile of nonsense, if in their mind it floats their boat, then it does. I'm probably not getting my point across, I'm a bit tired and ready to hit the sack, but I think you probably get the gist of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Dude, I agree. Who am I to say what is right for someone else? If a man likes his pedals, good for him. But can you not see that pedals can be: - a poor player's smokescreen - a poor substitute for something real and genuine and better - a money making scam to make you think you need the latest and the greatest new hot sound around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
generation zero Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Dude' date=' I agree. Who am I to say what is right for someone else? If a man likes his pedals, good for him. But can you not see that pedals can be: - a poor player's smokescreen - a poor substitute for something real and genuine and better - a money making scam to make you think you need the latest and the greatest new hot sound around [/quote'] Dude, I kinda see what you are getting at, but I think your point is too general. On one end, I agree, if you want to sound like you're playing through a fender twin, buy a fender twin, not a Boss stompbox that says fender twin on it. I used to run through a behringer V-Amp into a power amp, because it could emulate 32 different amps. I had it for a year or two, and found I liked the sound of the Mesa Dual Rectifier model the best. So, I went out and bought a Mesa Dual Rectifier. However, as for "effect" pedals, as opposed to modeling pedals... Am I to assume by your logic that you think David Gilmour is a "poor player using a smokescreen" because he doesn't plug his Strat directly into a HiWatt? Are you saying that Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, and Animals would have been better albums without the use of delay? Or are you saying that when he plays those songs today, he is using "a poor substitute for something real and genuine and better" because he uses more reliable, modern delay units, as opposed to the old vintage Binson tape delay units he used in the '60s? Your logic is flawed sir, or at best your viewpoint is narrow-minded. If all music sounded like either AC/DC or B.B. King, then I could see being adamantly against using pedals of any kind, they would be unnecessary. But this is 2009, there is no reason to blanketly dismiss technological advances that are more than capable of adding plenty of depth and dimension to this art we all love called music. The original point that I was agreeing with the anti-pedal side on was the idea of refusing to just pick up a guitar and join in on a jam without a certain set of pedals. I do find that laughable, and that guitarist is most definitely relying on a crutch. If Marx is an artist who will only paint with certain brushes, paints, and canvas, I am sure he would still be willing to pick up a marker and play Pictionary with us next year at the first annual Epi forums Christmas party... If he refused to do so unless we let him take his turn with his brushes and canvas, then he would be as much of a ****** as the guy who wouldn't jam without his pedals. I doubt that would be the case though... I think he would be more than happy to apply his artistic skills to the best of his ability with the limited tools available to him in the less than formal setting, and draw his *** off for the sake of just having fun. (For the record, by the way, I want Marx on my team when we play Pictionary.) I hope that clarifies the disagreement sufficiently, because my phone is about to die now, LOL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexygibson Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I have never been a pedal guy. Oh, I have had them on occasion for a specific purpose. I had an amp at one time that I just couldn't tweak the way i would have liked so i bought a Boss EQ pedal that did the trick. Most recently I was playing with a cover band and needed an array of tones so I purchased a Digitech multi-effects pedal. I have since traded it. I read an interview with Paul Stanley of Kiss where he was asked what effects he used. He replied, " none; if you can't get the tone you want with your guitar and amp than you need a new guitar and amp". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreal77 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I pedal like crazy.. Guess I could blame Gilmour. Look at my signature. To each its own. I just love effects and use them in all my songs and recordings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Nice !!! This has been a nice civil thread .... all points and views are valid, no bickering. I like it !!! Carry on, all y'all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexygibson Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 If there is one pedal that I would buy it would have to be the Digitech Jimi Hendrix Signature pedal. I have heard this pedal and it absolutely nails some of Jimis tones. It would be alot of fun to play around with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I can sort of understand if that guy at the jam night isn't confident about his technique and feels he needs a compressor or overdrive of some sort to get enough sustain to get by on lead playing. Took me a long time to learn that £500 worth of amp plus £100 worth of pedals sounds better than £100 worth of amp and £500 worth of pedals...if you see what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYSohn Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Pedal or not, the tone is in the fingers of a player. (That's why my tone SUCKS!!!) :- I remember reading a story of EVH and Ted Nugent in some magazine somewhere. It was before EVH became really big, and they were opening for Ted Nugent. During rehearsal, Ted Nugent became so intrigued by Eddie's tone he asked Eddie to play his gear. But when Ted Nugent played through Eddie's rig (same guitar, same amp, same effects, same signal chain, etc---), he just could not reproduce Eddie's tone. So Ted Nugent just shrugged off and gave the guitar back to Eddie. Now, on the other hand, I bet Eddie couldn't have reproduced Ted Nugent's tone either if he tried. Because it's all in the player and his/her fingers. But even though it is all in the fingers, some, feels better or play better with pedals. However, I don't think those who have to use pedals are less of guitarist than those who don't. I'm thinking Eric Johnson. He's known for his obsession for that "perfect" tone. (Not necessarily your or my perfect tone, though---) And he's using several pedals to nail his tone (like, Tube Driver, Tape Echo, Chorus---). Can he play without any pedals? Sure he can. And I bet it will sound great to my ears. But at the same time, I bet he very much prefers having those pedals in his signal chain. Hey, for as long as we rock on and be happy, right?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Well, again...I wasn't knocking the use of pedals, at all. Just baffled, that someone would come to a "Jam/Open Mic" with those kinds of expectations, without bringing his own gear with him...just expecting wherever he went, to Kow Tow to his every demand. LOL! Now that's Nuts...IMHO. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rock Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 There was a bunch of pedals in the sound of Hendrix! Don't forget it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYSohn Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Well' date=' again...I wasn't knocking the use of pedals, at all. Just baffled, that someone would come to a "Jam/Open Mic" with [i']those kinds of expectations[/i], without bringing his own gear with him...just expecting wherever he went, to Kow Tow to his every demand. LOL! Now that's Nuts...IMHO. CB I hear you, bro. And I know that you aren't knocking the use of pedals. And you are absolutely right. If one who has to have pedals shows up for a Jam/Open Mic empty-handed and still expect all gears he wants to be there waiting for him, then yeah that's NUTS!!! If you have to have pedals, then it should be B. Y. O. P(edals). :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aphawki Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I like pedals. But I think the reason that I do is because I like toys. I like to be able to mess with stuff. Maybe I just have OCD...hmmm...I will look into that and get back to all of you! Now just because I like them doesn't mean that if I didn't have them around I wouldn't be able to play!!! That's just a bit over the top. I wouldn't pass on playing just cause there wasn't a pedal around. But hey...to each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 There was a bunch of pedals in the sound of Hendrix!Don't forget it!! Fuzz Face, Univibe, Wah-Wah, and Octavia...mostly. But, as embellishments, not as a substitute for real tone...he already had that, by the ton! Jimi, Strat, Marshall Stack! He did develop some custom effects, and of course, recording techniques. But, most of Jimi's tone, was his hands, heart, Strat and Marshall(s). CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Norm Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Well' date=' again...I wasn't knocking the use of pedals, at all. Just baffled, that someone would come to a "Jam/Open Mic" with[i']those kinds of expectations[/i], without bringing his own gear with him...just expecting wherever he went, to Kow Tow to his every demand. LOL! Now that's Nuts...IMHO. CB Exactly what I think.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I like my pedals, maybe more than the next guy. But even with out the right guitar and amp the pedals don't give me the tone I want. I think the issue here has already been addressed, better than I can. I would not play simply because I don't have my pedal board. I really am not in a situation where I would be playing at an open mic night. However, we are gonna start having some rehearsals on Wed. night at church in the choir room for new musicians that want to get involved. I've got an amp, cord, and guitar in there. It is adequate for what I need. I can get a tone that is very workable. I'm not a pro by any means, but I know my way around the neck and I know the tone I want. I'm mainly in there to help new guitar players, plus I enjoy the opportunity to play with other musicians. I wouldn't say no to this simply because I only had an guitar, cord and amp. I teach music at two elementary schools as well. I have an amp, cord, and guitar at both schools. I'm getting to old to lug stuff around. I am happy with the sound I get there as well, no pedals. BUT, if I had my choice, and I was playing a set that had been practiced, or maybe not practiced, but I was playing live, I would prefer playing my guitar into my pedals into my Marshall. I really don't think that makes me any less of a player because I prefer pedals. Also as a side note, I have played in situations when no amps were allowed on the stage. The guitar went to a direct box that went to the mixer. I really don't like playing that way at all, but I did. Without pedals it would have been really difficult, if not impossible to get anything even remotely close to getting a sound I wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy1281734128 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I play with boss pedal board with - from left to right - boss tremolo, boss flange, boss delay, ibanez tubescreamer, cry baby wah. i prefer not to use them, but certain songs need a certain effect. doesnt matter how good you are, you cant play a tremolo. the best thing to do is use them for effect and not depend on them to make you sound better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Pedals are cool and sure make a cover band guitarsist's life easier, but they can become crutches if you rely on them too much. But as far as what the thread topic seems to be asking, I'd take it a bit further and ask, "Can you play without what you're used to?" If you usually play with Delay, Chorus, Distortion, and Phaser for "Your" sound, can you Sit in and jam using only an Amp with no reverb? Likewise if your a minimalist who gets to sit in with a bar band an the guy who loans you his guitar has a Cornish pedal board hooked up to two marshall Half Stacks, can you wrangle all that stuff into a playable sound? Are you able to go from Electric to Pure un-amplified campfire acoustic, and vise-versa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostindesert Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I could play without pedals but like to use a TS808 or Full-Drive 2 for some crunch/boost. I don't like to play without reverb though, just a little is enough. My latest pedal is a Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb wich i use on a Fender Champion 600. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gashole Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 ......I don't like to play without reverb though' date=' just a little is enough. My latest pedal is a Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb wich i use on a Fender Champion 600. Peter[/quote'] I'm with you-reverb (or slap back-fills the same purpose) is my only MUST have effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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