Updated Pedalboard – 12/15/2007 December 15, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Effects, Guitar.9 comments
I rearranged my board so that I can fit my phaser on there. As you can see, the aesthetics are, uh, less than professional, but it sounds good. I tried painting orange, but I screwed it up. I then started to sand the paint off, when I realized that I didn’t really care about how this thing looks.
While I’m at it, here’s a picture of my amp and guitar: 
This is just a cab that I use at home. It’s an old Crate 1×12″ closed back with a Celestion G12H30 clone made by Warehouse Speakers. It’s good enough to use at home. I leave my main cab at the church – it’s too much of a pain to haul back and forth.
my board December 2, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Effects, Guitar.15 comments
Here’s an updated pic of my pedalboard.
The white pedal is a boost that a friend of mine made for me. It’s based on the AMZ boost, which is the same design as the Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso. It sounds pretty much exactly the same, and it was much cheaper. I don’t usually have the gain maxed on it (or the LTD), but I was messing around with something before I took the picture and forgot to change the settings. Anyway, this pedal makes my amp sound really good.
Here’s the signal chain: guitar > Teese RMC Picture Wah > EB VP Jr. > Peterson StroboStomp tuner > Barber LTD Silver > Barber Small Fry > Pure boost > Line 6 Echo Park Delay > amp (Reeves Custom 6)
I’m pretty happy with this setup, except that I’m out of room. I can’t really fit any more pedals on there, and my phaser is getting jealous. I need to get some higher quality cables, but that will have to wait.
Barber Silver LTD November 16, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Effects, Guitar, Music.4 comments
I just thought I’d chime in again about this pedal. It’s really a fantastic-sounding box. I normally use it as a medium gain overdrive, but last night at practice I decided to crank the gain and see what happens. I was really surprised by the great tone I got. I have my amp set so that it’s breaking up pretty good, so I was getting a great palm-muting rhythm tone. The lead tone was pretty sweet, too. I was getting this sick sustain with my Les Paul – you know, the kind that just blooms into feedback.
David Barber makes some great stuff. It’s all hand assembled and the build quality is totally top-notch. Best of all, his prices are very reasonable for the boutique effects pedal market (in the $100-150 range), especially if you’re willing to buy used. Remember: buy used and play for free.
I’m still trying to figure out the Small Fry. It sounds really good, but I’m not sure how to use these pedals together. The way that I’m using the LTD, it seems like there’s a lot of overlap. Hmm. Any other Barber users out there?
Break-in November 15, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Church, Effects, Guitar, Worship.5 comments
Our church was broken into last week and a money box containing several hundred dollars was stolen. Nothing else was taken, fortunately.
We have an alarm system, and the police were onsite within a couple of minutes, so the money box is all they had time to grab. However, there are a couple of amp heads behind the stage that are worth a heck of a lot more than whatever was in that money box. I also had my pedals up there. I’m really glad that whoever did this didn’t grab that stuff.
I really hate the idea of lugging that stuff back and forth twice a week.
“Good tone” night October 19, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Effects, Guitar, Live Sound, Music.3 comments
I’ve been experiencing a love/hate relationship with my Reeves amp lately, but it was definitely working for me last night at practice. I have come to realize that the Custom 6 is a very midrangey amp, and I hadn’t really been setting the EQ right. Last night, I decided to try to settings that would probably sound like crap on any other amp. I set the bass at about 12:00, the mids at about 8:30 (almost all the way down), and the treble around 3:30 (almost all the way up). The gain was at 1:00 and I was using the low input.
I was getting a really rich, chimey tone and it was very touch sensitive. When doing light picking or strumming, I was getting nice Tom Petty-ish (for lack of a better word) tone. If I really hit the strings hard, I could almost pull off “Back in Black.”
I’m still trying to figure out my distortion pedal situation. For a lot of songs, I’m able to go without pedals, which is nice. Other songs really need a kick in the pants to really take off, and I’m struggling with how to set my Barber pedals. I have the Small Fry, which excels at high gain stuff, and I have the LTD Silver, which has better low to medium gain settings. I’m thinking that the SF will be my heavy rhythm/palm-muting pedal, while the LTD handles lead tones. I’ll probably change my mind 30 times before this weekend, though. Both pedals are awesome, I’m just not sure if they’re redundant.
My next amp? October 16, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Guitar, Music.3 comments
I’ve been emailing back and forth with Nik over at Ceriatone Amps, and I think I’ve found my next amp. If you didn’t know, Ceriatone sells clones of amps designed by Marshall, Fender, Matchless, and Trainwreck.
Anyway, I have been talking to Nik about some possible mods of his existing designs. I’ve been really interested in his Matchless DC-30 clone (which is basically a clone of the Vox AC-30), but 30 watts is way too loud for me. What he has proposed for me is this:
- Single EF86 channel
- Pentode/Triode mode for the EF86
- EZ81 tube rectifier
- 15 watts with 1/2 power switch
- Push/pull master
- Push/pull boost (w/footswitch)
- Bright switch
- Effects loop
If I’m not mistaken, this sounds very similar to a Vox AC-15. The AC-15 is an amp that I’ve wanted for a long time. I played one of the Chinese AC-15cc models at Guitar Center and it sounded really nice, but I’ve heard horror stories about reliability issues. The Ceriatone will be wired by hand (no PCB use), so it should be significantly more reliable. Once I sell my guitar I’ll probably pull the trigger on one of these.
technical difficulties October 1, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Church, Effects, Guitar, Live Sound, Music, Worship.2 comments
The second service yesterday was pretty rough.
I played the entire set without a monitor. The first service was fine, but when I played the first chord, I heard nothing. I checked my amp to make sure that no one had turned it off or accidentally unplugged the cord, but it was on. I have taken great pains to isolate the amp from the house so that there’s no bleed into the audience, and that really backfired yesterday.
I could sort of hear myself coming out of the mains as the sound waves bounced off of the back wall, but most of the time I felt like I was playing air guitar and stepping on pedals at seemingly random intervals. I would think “I stepped on this pedal in the first service and it sounded okay – hopefully it’ll work this time…”
I still don’t know what the problem is/was. Our (volunteer) sound guys couldn’t figure it out either. The weird thing about the whole thing is that I got more positive comments about my playing yesterday than I have in a long time. Go figure.
how I use boost pedals September 19, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Effects, Guitar, Live Sound, Music.7 comments
There are a couple of uses for boost pedals. One use is to create a pure volume increase without changing your basic sound. Another use is to push the preamp section of your amp to create a more distorted tone without drastically effecting the overall tone of the amp. I want to focus on the second part.
There are two stages in which gain is added to your signal in a guitar amplifier. The first is the preamp stage (12AX7, 12AT7, 12AU7, etc) and the second is the power amp stage (EL84, EL34, 6L6, 6V6, etc). If you have a master volume control, you can crank the gain and turn the master volume down. This causes your preamp tubes to get hot and start clipping, while your power amp tubes stay relatively cool. I don’t have a master volume on my amp, so the details on your setup will be a little different if your amp has one.
I start by turning the amp up to about 1:00 on the gain knob. As I mentioned, I don’t have a master volume control, so my volume increases as the gain increases. This setting allows me to play lightly and get a nice clean tone, but I can also hit the strings harder and get some crunch.
Stepping on a boost ramps up the signal that I’m sending to the preamp. When this beefed-up signal hits the preamp, it causes it to clip (or distort) more than it did before. If I had my amp on a lower gain setting, or if I had an amp with more clean headroom, the boost would simply increase the volume without adding any gain.
Basically, I’m using the boost as a kind of distortion pedal doesn’t color the basic character of my amp too much. Does that make sense?
gear update: boosts (pt. 2), amps, cabs September 18, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Church, Effects, Guitar, Live Sound, Music, Worship.4 comments
Here’s a quick update on the boost situation. My buddy finished the boost over the weekend and had it ready for me to try out on Sunday morning. I got it set during sound check and used it during both services. In fact, it’s pretty much the only pedal that I used for dirt. I tried the Silver Kiss for some added gain during a solo, but it changed the character of the amp a little too much.
The boost that he had ready for me this weekend is kind of a dirty boost, as opposed to a clean boost. It not only boosts the overall volume output, but it adds a little gain. I had to set the level pretty low with my Les Paul, or else it gets a little too “woolly,” for lack of a better word. [Have I mentioned that I love that LP? It is an amazing instrument.] I need to try out the boost at higher levels with my ’94 Strat.
He’s working on a mosfet clean boost this week, and I think that I’ll probably use both of them. One for crunch and one for leads. Maybe I’ll look at some stacking options. If this works out, I may just eschew distortion pedals altogether. It seems silly to use solid state pedals (transistor and diode clipping) for distortion when you’ve got a great tube amplifier just begging to be cranked.
Speaking of which, I’m really beginning to love the Reeves Custom 6. I think that I’m finally figuring out how to use it properly. Playing with a loud tube amp is very different from using modelers or a clean amp with pedals. I have it turned up to about 1:00 on the gain (no master volume on this amp), and it can go from clean to crunch depending on your pick attack. Stepping on a boost makes the signal hit the preamp stage harder and causes it to clip (or distort) a little more. It’s pretty amazing how versatile this setup is.
I got a new empty cab from Avatar Speakers on ebay this weekend for a pretty ridiculous price. I already have a 12″ speaker cab, but it’s not that great. I’m really eager to check it out and hear the difference. I wanted to get a 2×12″ cab, but it’d be too big for the isolation box that I’m using right now.
I guess that’s it for now. I hope that someone is able to glean some insight from all my rambling… =)
Boost pedals, etc. September 13, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Effects, Guitar, Music.2 comments
Well, it seems like I just posted about getting a Lovepedal CoT50, but I just sold it in search of something else. It’s a very cool little pedal, but I couldn’t quite bond with it in a live situation. I was hoping that it could be my medium gain rhythm pedal, but it didn’t quite work out like that. It only has the one control (labeled ‘bias’) and as you turn it up, both the gain and volume increases. For me to get the amount of distortion that I wanted, the volume would be just a little too loud. I really liked the tone that I was getting out of it, but there was just too much of it. If I backed the bias control down so that the volume was right, the tone was a little too thin. Oh well, the search goes on…
Anyway, I like to push my amp so that it’s kinda gritty, so I rarely play totally clean. I can be pretty clean if I don’t dig in too hard with my right hand or if I back off the guitar volume a little. I’m looking for a pedal to really slam the front end of my amp but doesn’t totally color the tone too much.
Having said all that, a boost seems like the thing for me. Here are a few of the options that I am considering:
1) Catalinbread Super Chile Picoso
2) Barber Launch Pad
3) MI Audio Boost ‘n’ Buff
4) ZVEX Super Hard On – meaning that it’s super hard on your amp =)
Right now I’m leaning toward the Super Chile Picoso. It’s pretty small and not too expensive. I have the Catalinbread Silver Kiss and I’m pretty happy with it. [The Silver Kiss can be used as a boost if you lower the gain control, but I really like it as my high gain pedal. Maybe I could get another one…] I’ve heard a lot of positive stuff about the Barber, but it’s kinda big and my pedalboard is already pretty cramped. The MI Audio is supposed to be pretty cool, and it has the added bonus of being a line buffer when the boost is not engaged. The ZVEX is supposed to be awesome, but it’s by far the most expensive choice.
A fifth option is that a buddy of mine is working on a homemade boost. He’s our rhythm guitarist and he’s been dabbling in pedal design lately. He told me that he might have a prototype ready for me to check out tonight, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve been playing around with a fuzz face clone that he designed for the last week, and it’s pretty nice. I’m not a big fuzz guy, but it’s been pretty fun to play around with.
In other gear news, I’ll be ordering a new speaker cab for my amp pretty soon. I’m currently using a 1×12″ closed-back cab, and I’ll be getting another 1×12″, but this one will be open-back. I have not been happy with my tone lately. For whatever reason, my current cab kinda squashes the bass frequencies, and it’s especially noticeable with medium- to high-gain rhythms on the E and A strings. Pretty much any “chugga chugga” palm-muting parts get totally lost on the bottom.
Here’s the new cab that I’m getting:
It should match my amp: a Reeves Custom 6 (in orange, of course).
WorshipGuitarist 