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It takes a lot more than a few stompboxes, Velcro, and a carrying case to thrive in the pedal wilderness. Here we guide you through the common pitfalls encountered when assembling your go-to stomp station.
Maybe because they can significantly improve your sound on the cheap, pedals have become perhaps the single hottest commodity among gearheads. And here at Premier Guitar, the last couple of months have illustrated that more conclusively than ever before: We gave away a pedal every day during our Stompboxtober contest. Our November 2010 "Pedal Issue" included reviews of 30 pedals in five of the most common categories, profiles of five boutique stompbox builders, and a feature on Electro-Harmonix. Still, we were inundated with requests for more pedal action. So we decided to set up online galleries of pedalboards from both readers and pros. The latter gallery quickly went on to become our most popular ever.
In a nutshell, it's clear we're all pedal junkies. But though trying out and collecting stompboxes is the fun part of this addiction, there's one area in which many of us could probably use a primer/refresher course: what exactly is the best way to patch them all together?
Although a few cynics might question the need for a pedalboard—after all, you could just carry all your pedals in a knapsack or your gig bag pouch—most of us agree they're good for a lot more than just transporting pedals. First and foremost, they keep your pedals wired up and plugged in so you can plug in and play instead of having to connect and power each pedal one at a time. This makes a huge difference when you're sandwiched between other acts on a gig and you have to set up and unpack as quickly as possible, or when you're at a recording studio and are continually fighting the clock.
Essentials
If you're not sure which pedals to start with when you're planning out a board that'll meet your needs, guitar tech Scott Appleton (who has worked with guitar gods like Alex Lifeson, Neal Schon, and Slash) has a few suggestions regarding gear that facilitates a versatile tonal palette. "Typically, I'll see a wah-wah, a distortion or overdrive (or two), a chorus, a delay, and sometimes a volume pedal." As for gear that's roadworthy and tone-worthy enough to satisfy a lot of big names, Appleton says, "I see a lot of Tube Screamer-type variations, Dunlop wahs, and delays like the Line 6 DL4, Boss DD-20, and the Eventide TimeFactor. Also the TC Electronic chorus is very common."
That said, there are innumerable worthy options on the market. Appleton says one of the most important things to keep in mind when you're choosing new pedals is that some pedals may sound great on one amp, and poor on the next—it can be a matter of trial and error to find which ones work best.
Order of Effects
Once you've got a bunch of pedals, the next step is to decide what goes where. A typical order of effects is shown above. But there are no hard-and-fast rules: If you like the way a particular "unusual" configuration sounds, then—by all means—go for it.
Analogman Mike Piera (aka AnalogMike), who is considered by many to be a leading authority on effects pedals, offers the following example. "The order of a clean boost and a distortion pedal determines what the clean boost will do. A clean boost into a distortion pedal will add more distortion, because the distortion pedal is already clipping and will clip more when you hit it harder. That's also why a small amp cranked up does not get louder when you hit it with a louder signal—it's already out of headroom, so it can only distort more. A clean boost after a dirt pedal will increase the volume, without adding more distortion."
Planning and Layout
Physically positioning your pedals requires some logistical planning that can be pretty aggravating, depending on the shape of your pedals and the amount of real estate on your pedalboard. But, naturally, where you place things depends on a lot more than where you're able to fit everything on your board. There are practical considerations to be made, too. For instance, if you have two distortions or overdrives (say, for lead and rhythm), you're probably going to have to turn one on and the other off simultaneously with one big stomp across both pedals—unless you have them both plugged into an A/B box. For this reason, it's practical to place the two pedals right next to each other.
John Chandler from pedalboard manufacturer Pedaltrain suggests, "Before even considering a pedalboard size or layout, line all the pedals out in a straight-line signal path and use whatever power source you plan to use on the board. Experiment by trying the various pedals out and seeing how they interact with each other. The goal is to try to get the cleanest signal path with every pedal off, and then on, in the order that sounds good to you." Chandler says to be sure to write down the ideal signal path so it's not lost once you inadvertently move something in the arrangement.
"Next, lay the pedals out in an imaginary pedalboard on the floor or on a tabletop," Chandler continues. "Keep in mind the pedals you will be switching on and off more than others—you'll want to keep tap-tempo pedals close to your feet and spacey weird things you may not use as much further from your toes."
The Pedalboard Landscape
Once you've laid the stompboxes out in an optimal arrangement, you can search for a board that will accommodate that configuration. A good resource for getting a visual sense of how things will fit on a board is pedalboardplanner.com. This useful site features virtual pedals that you can layout on virtual boards—and all for free. Chandler has a useful analog method, too. "Cut a piece of cardboard that will fit everything, and then research which boards have dimensions that may work for your pedal setup."
Boss BCB-30
The Boss BCB-30 is a molded-resin case with a built-in handle and slots for three Boss Compact pedals or similar-sized stompboxes.
If you're not a total pedal junkie but still crave a pedalboard's conveniences, the Boss BCB-30 (Street $39, bossus.com) offers three pre-sized slots for Boss compact pedals (or those with an equally diminutive footprint) and comes in a self-contained, molded-resin case.
Road Runner Pedalboard All-in-1 Gig Bag
The Road Runner Pedalboard All-in-1 Gig Bag measures 21 3/4" x 12" and features zippered utility pockets and a top cover that folds under to act as a nonslip pedalboard bottom.
However, the most common pedalboards consist of a flat surface covered with the "loop" material used in Velcro-style hook-and-loop fastening systems. The most basic examples of this type of pedalboard include the Road Runner Pedalboard All-in-1 Gig Bag (above—Street $39.99, roadrunnercases.com) and Gator GPT Pedal Tote Pedalboard with Carry Bag (below—Street $59.99, gatorcases.com).
Gator GPT Pedal Tote Pedalboard with Carry Bag
The Gator GPT Pedal Tote Pedalboard with Carry Bag measures 16.5" x 12" and features a built-in handle.
SKB PS-45
The SKB PS-45 measures 27" x 15" and features 11 power jacks (eight 9-volt DC and three 120-volt AC) and a hardshell case.
As you move up in price, you get features such as a power supply and effects-loop patch bays. The SKB PS-45 (Street $249, skbcases.com) features eight 9-volt DC jacks, three 120-volt AC plugs for "wall-wart" adapters, and a hardshell case.
Furman SPB-8C
The Furman SPB-8C measures 28.5" x 20.125" and features a hardshell case with wheels and an extendable handle, as well as 12 power outlets (eight 9-volt DC and four 120-volt AC).
While the Furman SPB-8C (Street $349, furmansound.com) includes eight 9-volt DC jacks, four 120-volt AC plugs, a stereo effects loop with amp outputs, and a wheeled hardshell case with an extendable handle.
StageTrix Pedal Riser
The StageTrix Pedal Riser units let you raise stompboxes in the second row of your pedalboard for easier activation, and they also feature a center channel for neater cable routing.
The tricky thing with these types of pedalboards is that, because everything must fit onto one flat surface, it can be hard to keep things tidy and ergonomically practical. This is because the more pedals you use, the more real estate you can lose to unwieldy wires or alternate power supplies. In addition, footswitches on the devices in that row of pedals furthest from your feet can be difficult to activate without hitting the knobs of pedals in the first row. Recently StageTrix addressed this issue with its Pedal Riser (Street $11.99, stagetrixproducts.com), which creates an elevated surface for pedals to create room underneath for wires.
Pedaltrain PT-JR
The Pedaltrain PT-JR measures 17" x 12.5" and features a lightweight metal frame that facilitates neat cable routing and is angled for easier activation of second-row pedals. It's also available with an ATA flight case.
Pedalboard manufacturers aren't unaware of these issues, and many take cable-routing considerations into their designs. Pedaltrain offer pedalboards in various sizes—including the PT-JR (Street $99, prostagegear.com)—and all feature an open-framed, angled construction that facilitates both easier activation of second-row pedals and unobtrusive routing of cables and power supplies.
MKS Professional Stage Products Pedal Pad MPS II Tour Series Boards
The Pedal Pad Pro Series MPS II Tour Series Pedalboard's two-tiered design lets you attach your pedals (with Velcro) to individual metal plates that can be set flat or angled. Its hardshell, carpet-covered case also includes the Power Pad II power supply, which has eight 9-volt DC jacks and one 110-volt AC plug.
MKS Professional Stage Products takes a slightly different tack with its Pedal Pad MPS II Tour Series boards (Street $299.95–$349.95, pedalpad.com), which have a modular, stair-steplike design that uses interchangeable metal panels to let you arrange and fasten pedals in just about any configuration—including flat or angled.
Many pedalboards, including most of those discussed here, come with an option for a gigbag or hardshell case. A hardshell case virtually guarantees pedal safety, and it's the only real option if you're, flying to a gig and need to check your pedalboard as baggage. However, keep in mind that a large board loaded with pedals can rival an amp's weight once you factor in the case itself. If you rely on public transportation to transport your whole rig, then a gigbag is the more practical option.
Attaching the Pedals
Once you choose the right pedalboard you need to make sure your stompboxes stay in place. Otherwise, you risk damaging your precious investments. And for guys who obsess over tone, it's not just pedals that cost a chunk 'o change— it's also the specialized power supplies, patch cords, and cables.
Although Velcro and generic hook-and-loop fasteners have been ubiquitous on pedalboards for a long time now, other solutions are coming on the scene, too. Some players have moved on to 3M's Dual Lock, while products like Godlyke's Power-Grip pedalboard tape (Street $19.95 for one meter, godlyke.com) are made specifically for keeping pedals in place. Each method has its pros and cons, but when you consider them all, which is the best way to keep pedals on a board?
Godlyke's Power-Grip
Godlyke's Power-Grip features multiple rows of mushroom-shaped posts that interlock to create a bond the company says is stronger than other hook-and-loop attachment materials.
"That's a question that I get and wrestle with almost daily," says Pedaltrain's John Chandler. "For years, I have searched for the new holy grail of pedal attachment. I've tried lots of materials and different grades of almost every type of Velcro and Dual Lock adhesive-based methods out there—and some other space-aged things that ultimately led me full circle back to the original hook and loop."
"While Dual Lock and other materials like it tend to hold pedals in place stronger, the ease of use, ease of removal and wide availability of Velcro has made it the preferred method. The adhesives used on most Velcro products are usually not as permanent and, therefore, are easier to remove with minimal residue or damage to a pedal. A lot of folks I've seen over the years have chosen to use Dual Lock and later regretted the decision when it came time to reconfigure their board or sell a pedal. I recommend Dual Lock only when someone knows exactly what pedals they want and the order they want them in—and they don't plan on changing them for a long time. There are very few people I've ever met who are so satisfied with their pedal setup that they will leave it alone for more than six months."
Once you've settled on an attachment mechanism, Chandler has a few basic steps he follows. "As a rule, try to get the bottom as flat as possible—remove rubber feet, pads, etc.—then apply the Velcro to the bare metal or painted surface. Many folks refuse to take the stock rubber pads off the bottom of pedals. For example, Boss pedals all come with that thick rubber pad that folks are reluctant to remove. This will make a huge difference in how well the adhesive works—especially when it's exposed to heat, say, in the hot trunk of a car or trailer. The Velcro's adhesive applied to a rubber pad will have the reverse effect when it gets hot and actually reject its bond."
Once you've applied the adhesive, Chandler says to lay the pedal on the board to see where you can get the most surface-area contact while still having the footswitch accessible.
Pedal Power
With all due respect to Eric Johnson and his views on the tonal differences among battery types, running all your pedals on any kind of battery will cost a fortune over time. Plus, changing batteries in a pedal that's attached to a pedalboard can be a real pain—especially if the compartment is on the bottom of the unit. Some pedalboards come with built-in power supplies that can adequately power most conventional pedals.
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5
The Voodoo Lab ISO-5 (reviewed November 2010) features isolated DC outputs for 9-, 12-, and 18-volt devices.
However, not all pedals use DC power, and not all pedalboards come equipped with a power supply. In these cases, an isolated power supply is the solution. Worthy units include the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5 (Street $109, voodoolab.com)— which includes four 9-volt, one 12-volt, and one 18-volt outputs—and the Visual Sound 1 SPOT (Street $19.95, visualsound.net), which can power up to twenty 9-volt pedals using an optional daisy-chain cable.
The Visual Sound 1 SPOT (top) can power up to eight pedals from one outlet, and it includes an eight-plug cable (left), two battery-clip converters (middle), an L6 converter for Line 6 modeling pedals (third from right), and two 1/8" converter plugs (far right).
"It's okay to share a few analog pedals with one of the outputs from a good power supply," says AnalogMike, "so you don't really need one output for each pedal. But a digital pedal—such as a tuner or digital delay—should not share power with any other pedals."
Noise and Signal Degradation
Most guitarists would probably not be surprised to hear that, the more pedals you add to your pedalboard, the greater the chances of problems. Even if you have relatively noise-free pedals, the extraneous noise from a bunch of them is going to add up. Sometimes it only takes one very cool—but very unruly—pedal to throw your signal chain into turmoil. And tone-robbing pedals can wreak havoc on your sound even when they're turned off.
One solution you hear bandied about a lot is to use true-bypass pedals. When turned off, a true-bypass pedal sends the signal straight from the input jack to the output jack without any connection to the pedal's circuitry, thus bypassing any tone-damaging properties of the pedal. Pedals that don't use true-bypass circuitry send your signal through a buffered section of the circuit even when the pedal is off—it just doesn't go through the effect section of the circuit.
Radial Engineering BigShot EFX True-Bypass Effects Loop Switcher
The Radial Engineering BigShot EFX True-Bypass Effects Loop Switcher features two footswitchable effects loops, allowing you to remove signal-degrading stompboxes from the path and create a true-bypass signal chain.
But Radial Engineering's Peter Janis says it's not as simple as always selecting true-bypass pedals. "There are pluses and minuses to truebypass, just as there are with buffered signals. The problem with true-bypass setups is that they tend to pop' hen the pedal is activated, and if many pedals are being used, noise can often creep into the system. Buffers are often used as a means to circumvent the problem altogether, but this too has a cost. A Stratocaster connected directly to a Marshall will sound different when the signal is buffered."
Radial Engineering Loopbone
The Radial Engineering Loopbone features class-A circuitry, two footswitchable effects loops, a footswitchable VariBoost function, a pickup-load-correction circuit, Slingshot amp-switching capabilities, and a tuner out.
AnalogMike says, "I prefer true-bypass pedals whenever possible, but if you go through several true-bypass pedals and they're all off, you may lose some high end due to all the cabling. However, if you keep one pedal on, like a delay, that should provide enough buffering. A buffered-bypass pedal that is off will often be a good enough buffer. If you often run all your pedals off, a buffer on your pedalboard would be a good idea."
Cusack Pedal Board Tamer
The Cusack Pedal Board Tamer (reviewed November 2010) offers nine effects loops—three of which may be operated in stereo—and has two guitar inputs that can be switched between truebypass and buffered, a mutable tuner output, three tap-tempo outputs, a Mech Mode mechanical looping mode, a Preset Mode with nine programmable presets, and an All Off switch.
If the sounds you seek aren't always available in true-bypass designs, there are still steps you can take to combat noise and improve sound quality. "First, test with batteries to see if the noise is from the power supply," says AnalogMike, "and also disconnect all other pedals when testing one pedal for noise. To test for noise, you have to set the pedal so that it's at the same volume when it's on as it is when it's off—that is, at unity gain. When you turn it up higher, it will amplify any noise that is already there, making it more apparent. If you turn the guitar all the way down, you can hear what's coming from the pedal. A little bit of white noise is normal when it's set at unity gain. There are a million things that can cause noise, so plug in, open up the pedal, and probe around with a chopstick or something and see if you can locate the cause—like a bad solder joint, a failing switch contact, a jack, a pot, etc."
If you have any pedals that just can't be tamed, another solution is to incorporate a loop controller like the Radial BigShot EFX True- Bypass Effects Loop Switcher (Street $79.95, radialeng.com) or the buffered Radial Loopbone Dual Effects Loop (Street $259.99), or the Cusack Pedal Board Tamer (Street $500, cusackeffects.com) to keep them out of the circuit until needed.
Cables
1: George L's Effects Pedal Cable Kit includes 10' of cable and 10 right-angle plugs for creating patch cables at any length you wish—without any tools. 2: The Planet Waves Cable Station Pedalboard Cable Kit includes 10' of cable, 10 gold-plated right-angle plugs, and a cable cutter. 3: The Lava Mini Pedalboard Cable Kit includes 10' of cable, 10 straight solderless plugs, and a wire stripper. 4: The Core X2 Pedalboard Cable Connector Kit includes 20' of cable, gold-plated plugs (two straight and eight right-angle), a cable cutter, and a hex wrench.
Quality cables are also important. "You'd be shocked at the difference in sound quality if you sat down and A/B'd different cables," says guitar-tech Scott Appleton. "If you use great cables, noise really shouldn't be an issue—provided you have everything wired correctly." Many companies offer low-capacitance pedalboard cable kits that seek to minimize signal loss. George L's Effects Pedal Cable Kit (Street $73.47, georgels.com) includes 10' of cable and 10 solderless, right-angle plugs for tool-free creation of patch cables in custom lengths. Planet Waves Cable Station Pedalboard Cable Kit (Street $47.46, planetwaves.com) includes 10' of cable and 10 gold-plated right-angle plugs, and a cable cutter. The Core X2 Pedalboard Cable Connector Kit (Street $49.95, coreoneproduct.com) includes 20' of shielded cable, two straight and eight right-angle gold-plated plugs, a cable cutter, and a hex wrench for assembly. Another option is the Lava Mini Pedalboard Cable Kit (Street $79.95, lavacable.com), which includes 10' of cable, 10 straight solderless plugs that have a 360-degree ground connection, and a wire stripper.
Fingers Trump Feet
At the end of the day, no matter how deckedout your pedalboard is, the most important part of your tonal equation is your fingers and how they interact with what's in your rig. "A common thing I see is that a lot of players are always trying to chase someone else's sound," says hired-gun Joe Augello (Jennifer Hudson, Robin Thicke, Backstreet Boys). "Getting a Univibe and a Fuzz Face because Jimi Hendrix used them isn't going to make you sound like him. Guys like Jimi and Eddie Van Halen were innovators and always experimented with their gear. They weren't using what everyone else was using at that time. It's important to develop your own voice and set yourself apart from everyone else."
[Updated 7/22/21]
John Doe and Billy Zoom keep things spare and powerful, with two basses and a single guitar–and 47 years of shared musical history–between them, as founding members of this historic American band.
There are plenty of mighty American rock bands, but relatively few have had as profound an impact on the international musical landscape as X. Along with other select members of punk’s original Class of 1977, including Patti Smith, Richard Hell, and Talking Heads, the Los Angeles-based outfit proved that rock ’n’ roll could be stripped to its bones and still be as literate and allusive as the best work of the songwriters who emerged during the previous decade and were swept up in the corporate-rock tidal wave that punk rebelled against. X’s first three albums–Los Angles, Wild Gift, and Under the Big Black Sun-were a beautiful and provocative foundation, and rocked like Mt. Rushmore.
Last year, X released a new album, Smoke & Fiction, and, after declaring it would be their last, embarked on what was billed as a goodbye tour, seemingly putting a bow on 47 years of their creative journey. But when PG caught up with X at Memphis’s Minglewood Hall in late fall, vocalist and bassist John Doe let us in on a secret: They are going to continue playing select dates and the occasional mini-tour, and will be part of the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas in April 12.
Not-so-secret is that they still rock like Mt. Rushmore, and that the work of all four of the founders–bassist, singer, and songwriter Doe, vocalist and songwriter Exene Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer D.J. Bonebreak–remains inspired.
Onstage at Minglewood Hall, Doe talked a bit about his lead role in the film-festival-award-winning 2022 remake of the film noir classic D.O.A. But most important, he and Zoom let us in on their minimalist sonic secrets.Brought to you by D’Addario.
Gretsch A Sketch
Since X’s earliest days, Billy Zoom has played Gretsches. In the beginning, it was a Silver Jet, but in recent years he’s preferred the hollowbody G6122T-59 Vintage Select Chet Atkins Country Gentleman. This example roars a little more thanks to the Kent Armstrong P-90 in the neck and a Seymour Duncan DeArmond-style pickup in the bridge. Zoom, who is an electronics wiz, also did some custom wiring and has locking tuners on the guitar.
More DeArmond
Zoom’s sole effect is this vintage DeArmond 602 volume pedal. It helps him reign in the feedback that occasionally comes soaring in, since he stations himself right in front of his amp during shows.
It's a Zoom!
Zoom’s experience with electronics began as a kid, when he began building items from the famed Heath Kit series and made his own CB radio. And since he’s a guitarist, building amps seemed inevitable. This 1x12 was crafted at the request of G&L Guitars, but never came to market. It is switchable between 10 and 30 watts and sports a single Celestion Vintage 30.
Tube Time!
The tube array includes two EL84, 12AX7s in the preamp stage, and a single 12AT7. The rightmost input is for a reverb/tremolo footswitch.
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Big Black Sun
Besides 3-band EQ, reverb, and tremolo, Zoom’s custom wiring allows for a mid-boost that pumps up to 14 dB. Not content with 11, it starts there and goes to 20.
Baby Blue
This amp is also a Zoom creation, with just a tone and volume control (the latter with a low boost). It also relies on 12AX7s and EL84s.
Big Bottom
Here is John Doe’s rig in full: Ampeg and Fender basses, with his simple stack between them. The red head atop his cabs is a rare bird: an Amber Light Walter Woods from the 1970s. These amps are legendary among bass players for their full tone, and especially good for upright bass and eccentric instruments like Doe’s scroll-head Ampeg. “I think they were the first small, solid-state bass amps ever,” Doe offers. They have channels designated for electric and upright basses (Doe says he uses the upright channel, for a mid-dier tone), plus volume, treble, bass, and master volume controls. One of the switches puts the signal out of phase, but he’s not sure what the others do. Then, there’s a Genzler cab with two 12" speakers and four horns, and an Ampeg 4x10.
Scared Scroll
Here’s the headstock of that Ampeg scroll bass, an artifact of the ’60s with a microphone pickup. Doe seems to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this instrument, which has open tuners and through-body f-style holes on its right and left sides. “The interesting thing,” he says, “is that you cannot have any treble on the pickup. If you do, it sounds like shit. With a pick, you can sort of get away with it.” So he mostly rolls off all the treble to shake the earth.
Jazz Bass II
This is the second Fender Jazz Bass that Doe has owned. He bought his first from a friend in Baltimore for $150, and used it to write and record most of X’s early albums. That one no longer leaves home. But this touring instrument came from the Guitar Castle in Salem, Oregon, and was painted to recreate the vintage vibe of Doe’s historic bass.
A dual-channel tube preamp and overdrive pedal inspired by the Top Boost channel of vintage VOX amps.
ROY is designed to deliver sweet, ringing cleans and the "shattered" upper-mid breakup tones without sounding harsh or brittle. It is built around a 12AX7 tube that operates internally at 260VDC, providing natural tube compression and a slightly "spongy" amp-like response.
ROY features two identical channels, each with separate gain and volume controls. This design allows you to switch from clean to overdrive with the press of a footswitch while maintaining control over the volume level. It's like having two separate preamps dialed in for clean and overdrive tones.
Much like the old amplifier, ROY includes a classic dual-band tone stack. This unique EQ features interactive Treble and Bass controls that inversely affect the Mids. Both channels share the EQ section.
Another notable feature of this circuit is the Tone Cut control: a master treble roll-off after the EQ. You can shape your tone using the EQ and then adjust the Tone Cut to reduce harshness in the top end while keeping your core sound.
ROY works well with other pedals and can serve as a clean tube platform at the end of your signal chain. It’s a simple and effective way to add a vintage British voice to any amp or direct rig setup.
ROY offers external channel switching and the option to turn the pedal on/off via a 3.5mm jack. The preamp comes with a wall-mount power supply and a country-specific plug.
Street price is 299 USD. It is available at select retailers and can also be purchased directly from the Tubesteader online store at www.tubesteader.com.
The compact offspring of the Roland SDE-3000 rack unit is simple, flexible, and capable of a few cool new tricks of its own.
Tonalities bridge analog and digital characteristics. Cool polyrhythmic textures and easy-to-access, more-common echo subdivisions. Useful panning and stereo-routing options.
Interactivity among controls can yield some chaos and difficult-to-duplicate sounds.
$219
Boss SDE-3 Dual Digital Delay
boss.info
Though my affection for analog echo dwarfs my sentiments for digital delay, I don’t get doctrinaire about it. If the sound works, I’ll use it. Boss digital delays have been instructive in this way to me before: I used a Boss DD-5 in a A/B amp rig with an Echoplex for a long time, blending the slur and stretch of the reverse echo with the hazy, wobbly tape delay. It was delicious, deep, and complex. And the DD-5 still lives here just in case I get the urge to revisit that place.
Tinkering with theSDE-3 Dual Digital Delay suggested a similar, possibly enduring appeal. As an evolution of the Roland SDE-3000rack unit from the 1980s, it’s a texture machine, bubbling with subtle-to-odd triangle LFO modulations and enhanced dual-delay patterns that make tone mazes from dopey-simple melodies. And with the capacity to use it with two amps in stereo or in panning capacity, it can be much more dimensional. But while the SDE-3 will become indispensable to some for its most complex echo textures, its basic voice possesses warmth that lends personality in pedestrian applications too.
Tapping Into the Source
Some interest in the original SDE-3000 is in its association with Eddie Van Halen, who ran two of them in a wet-dry-wet configuration, using different delay rates and modulation to thicken and lend dimension to solos. But while EVH’s de facto endorsement prompted reissues of the effect as far back as the ’90s, part of the appeal was down to the 3000’s intrinsic elegance and simplicity.
In fact, the original rack unit’s features don’t differ much from what you would find on modern, inexpensive stompbox echoes. But the SDE-3000’s simplicity and reliable predictability made it conducive to fast workflow in the studio. Critically, it also avoided the lo-fi and sterility shortcomings that plagued some lesser rivals—an attribute designer Yoshi Ikegami chalks up to analog components elsewhere in the circuit and a fortuitous clock imprecision that lends organic essence to the repeats.
Evolved Echo Animal
Though the SDE-3 traces a line back to the SDE-3000 in sound and function, it is a very evolved riff on a theme. I don’t have an original SDE-3000 on hand for comparison, but it’s easy to hear how the SDE-3 bridges a gap between analog haze and more clinical, surgical digital sounds in the way that made the original famous. Thanks to the hi-cut control, the SDE-3’s voice can be shaped to enhance the angular aspect of the echoes, or blunt sharp edges. There’s also a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats. That also means you can take advantage of the polyrhythmic effects that are arguably its greatest asset.
“There’s a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats.”
The SDE-3’s offset control, which generates these polyrhythmic echoes, is its heart. The most practical and familiar echos, like quarter, eighth, and dotted-eighth patterns, are easy to access in the second half of the offset knobs range. In the first half of the knob’s throw, however, the offset delays often clang about at less-regular intervals, producing complex polyrhythms that are also cool multipliers of the modulation and EQ effects. For example, when emphasizing top end in repeats, using aggressive effects mixes and pitch-wobble modulation generates eerie ghost notes that swim through and around patterns, adding rhythmic interest and texture without derailing the drive behind a groove. Even at modest settings, these are great alternatives to more staid, regular subdivision patterns. Many of the coolest sounds tend toward the foggy reverb spectrum. Removing high end, piling on feedback, and adding the woozy, drunken drift from modulation creates fascinating backdrops for slow, sparse chord melodies. Faster modulations throb and swirl like old BBC Radiophonic Workshop sci-fi sound designs.
By themselves, the modulations have their own broad appeal. Chorus tones are rarely the archetypal Roland Jazz Chorus or CE type—tending to be a bit darker and mistier. But they do a nice job suggesting that texture without lapsing into caricature. There are also really cool rotary-speaker-like textures and vibrato sounds that offer alternatives to go-to industry standards.
The Verdict
The SDE-3’s many available sounds and textures would be appealing at $219—even without the stereo and panning connectivity options, a useful hold function, and expression pedal control that opens up additional options. The panning capabilities, in particular, sparked all kinds of thoughts about studio applications. Mastering the SDE-3 takes just a little study—certain polyrhythms can be dramatically reshaped by the interactivity of other controls and you need to take care to achieve identical results twice. But this is a pedal that, by virtue of its relative simplicity and richness and breadth of sounds, exceeds the utility of some similarly priced rivals, all while opening up possibilities well outside the simple echo realm
Reader: T. Moody
Hometown: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Guitar: The Green Snake
Reader T. Moody turned this Yamaha Pacifica body into a reptilian rocker.
With a few clicks on Reverb, a reptile-inspired shred machine was born.
With this guitar, I wanted to create a shadowbox-type vibe by adding something you could see inside. I have always loved the Yamaha Pacifica guitars because of the open pickup cavity and the light weight, so I purchased this body off Reverb (I think I am addicted to that website). I also wanted a color that was vivid and bold. The seller had already painted it neon yellow, so when I read in the description, “You can see this body from space,” I immediately clicked the Buy It Now button. I also purchased the neck and pickups off of Reverb.
I have always loved the reverse headstock, simply because nothing says 1987 (the best year in the history of the world) like a reverse headstock. The pickups are both Seymour Duncan—an SH-1N in the neck position and TB-4 in the bridge, both in a very cool lime green color. Right when these pickups got listed, the Buy It Now button once again lit up like the Fourth of July. I am a loyal disciple of Sperzel locking tuners and think Bob Sperzel was a pure genius, so I knew those were going on this project even before I started on it. I also knew that I wanted a Vega-Trem; those units are absolutely amazing.
When the body arrived, I thought it would be cool to do some kind of burst around the yellow so I went with a neon green. It turned out better than I imagined. Next up was the shaping and cutting of the pickguard. I had this crocodile-type, faux-leather material that I glued on the pickguard and then shaped to my liking. I wanted just a single volume control and no tone knob, because, like King Edward (Van Halen) once said, “Your volume is your tone.”
T. Moody
I then shaped and glued the faux-leather material in the cavity. The tuning knobs, volume knob, pickguard, screws, and selector switch were also painted in the lemon-lime paint scheme. I put everything together, installed the pickups, strung it up, set it up, plugged it in, and I was blown away. I think this is the best-playing and -sounding guitar I have ever tried.
The only thing missing was the center piece and strap. The latter was easy because DiMarzio makes their ClipLock in neon green. The center piece was more difficult because originally, I was thinking that some kind of gator-style decoration would be cool. In the end, I went with a green snake, because crocodiles ain’t too flexible—and they’re way too big to fit in a pickup cavity!
The Green Snake’s back is just as striking as the front.