The joy of minimal effects

Everyone needs a stompbox.
Post Reply
User avatar
triviani
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1361
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:56 am
Location: Osaka

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by triviani » Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:37 pm

I saw once a video on youtube from someone from HCFX, was a live song, kinda rock. The guitar player had this huge board, and he was, literally, stomping/tweaking it every 3 seconds! Not only looked silly, but I swear I couldn't notice any changes except the fuzz on/off.

I guess that when you are playing at home you can have a board with a range of effects, just for the shake of it and to have the toys around. But for live shows I find effects dilute with the band mix, and I don't really need to bring more than 2-3 pedals. Even for noise stuff a delay and a phaser may be all I need.
An AC30 fired in anger can peel the paint from your automobile...

User avatar
rustywire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 306
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:48 pm
Location: The Pit (Dark World)

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by rustywire » Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:14 pm

That's a strong foundation. Only thing missing [for me] is some sort of filter.

Minimal effects can mean a number of things to different users; barebones circuits, only 1 of each type, a single multi-fx unit, subtle settings-only...and so on.
I try to find pairings and trios, the occasional connect-4 that really mesh together for a variety of sounds without necessarily changing settings.

I've been doing a lot of zoning out with only the Harmonic Percolator > Radical Red Reverberator > Street Sweeper
The 2nd most popular, alternate setup has been Germanium FF (Fulltone '69) > DMM > Frostwave Resonator

Also Multiplex on RE-201 (The Out Sound Spaceheater) setting in place of DMM
The hunt is on, and on and on...

User avatar
s_mcsleazy
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 18423
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:30 am
Location: glasgow

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:45 am

my board aint minimal by normal definitions but my definition of minimal pedalboards is: a pedalboard where no pedal is used only once.

if we go by that definition then my pedalboard is minimal.
Image

when i write music, i have to think of 2 guitar players with diffrent styles and sounds. which means i have to have a pedalboard that meets my own needs along with 2 other guitar players. this gets to the point where i have wrote songs thinking "what would stuart do here? what would gemma do here? what effects would stuart use for this kind of part? what effects would gemma use?" so quite often i have big long lists of paper reading somthing like

"gemma intro: chorus, distortion, reverb
stuart intro: distortion
me intro: chorus, distortion"

this is usually for entire songs.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

User avatar
OffYourFace
Mods
Mods
Posts: 13681
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 2:59 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by OffYourFace » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:22 pm

i keep trying to make my board simpler but I can't seem to find two dirt pedals to cover everything in every song.
other than having two dirt pedals (usually an old Rat and a Muff), I have two delay pedals (one subtle and one extreme) and a Whammy.

Ideally, I'd like to have great overdrive from my amp and a distortion/fuzz (that I won't get sick of) to push the front end... but then I'll need an FX Loop in my amp to make the delays work nicely (all my main amps are old so i'd have to mod them). Also, I am really getting sick of the sound of clipping diodes.

I would love to only have 3-4 pedals but I can't do it with my current gear.

User avatar
cpeck
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 828
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:50 pm
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by cpeck » Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:16 pm

I've had a slightly different experience. When I was younger/working part-time and in university, my goal was to have one of every basic sound (distortion, phase, delay, etc)...almost all EHX/Boss stuff. I didn't play much guitar and collected gear whenever I could, mostly from eBay. I played in a few bands and recorded a demo or two, but the gear was mostly just to look at and theorize about.

Now that I have a small studio and make a record or two a year/tour on those records, my collection of guitars, amps, and pedals has grown considerably. When I started thinking more about actually making records and spending time getting sounds to sit with each other, I started going outside my standard Fender guitar -> Big Muff -> Fender amp setup and tailoring sounds to fit songs. Spending time with some people who know how to make great sounding (to my ears, anyway) records has been very useful. I like having options. My live rig is 5-6 pedals and a few rack units, but I probably have 30 distortion pedals in my "lab", and all of them get used now and again.

User avatar
choice_of_meat
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 74
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:54 am

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by choice_of_meat » Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:26 am

Really enjoyed reading this thread up to this point. I can agree with pretty much everyone's thoughts, so here's mine, and sorry if I repeat something already said...
I hope this does not come across as pretentious.
I'm 39, and yeah it took a long time to learn from experience that simplifying is good. Practicing being content is what it's about for me (pedals AND relationships etc.. )
Our culture of consumerism is a lot about making us feel discontent about ourselves, or what we have, so we constantly search to fill that void. (which fuels the constant exchange of money...)
I resent when money gets tied up into the production of music, but it does.

The best commentary I have heard on that subject is that money (and possessions) are amplifiers of what you already are.

So if you are unhappy, Pedals will not make you happy, in fact owning and going through lots of gear will probably make you more unhappy, if each time your reminded of your discontent (or something). If your unhappy, that awesome fuzz feels good for a bit, but that feeling does not really last, as others have said.

But if your happy, wow! There's a lot of cool creative things out there to play with that are fun. And fun is good.

Ultimately based on this, I think you can do whatever... I have a lot of pedals, etc... and for me pedals are an ocean of exploration in sound. I love the discovery of tone. I'm not afraid to admit that I like timbre more than arrangement and song writing. Yeah Mozart's songs for the most part can be played on a piano, but heck, with all the sounds of an orchestra, it's awesome!

Also, my smart ass response to this thread (please take in the spirit of fun): Electricity! That ain't minimal! Heck six strings are too much! Buy an offset Uke and be done with it!
Which ironically, is the stance I had when I was younger, I had gone very far down the minimal path... only to get pulled back in years later to "Wanting" amps, pedals, guitars etc...

User avatar
rustywire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 306
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:48 pm
Location: The Pit (Dark World)

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by rustywire » Tue Feb 25, 2014 7:24 am

Yes the very act of using electricity to make noise and/or amplify acoustic instruments is an effect in of itself.

I realized that my general electric ethos with music has been to embrace minimal setups; because the fewer components there are in a circuit or signal chain, the greater each individual component's contribution to the tone equation. This has been done to learn by doing, as adjusting a single parameter can have dramatic effect. It's like I'm an explorer, because I could go to music school to learn the basics...but discovering what works by ear is much more interesting. And it forces you to really listen to everything. IMO, such listening is what seems to elevate users and help them close the gap in reaching that next level.

After hunting for pairings, one likely finds a few tools that become interactive when used together, creating an environment where it really seems to enrich personal growth and technique...and the creative potential only increases.
The hunt is on, and on and on...

User avatar
randylahey
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon May 05, 2014 12:41 pm

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by randylahey » Mon May 05, 2014 5:35 pm

John frusciante used only three pedals for the Blood sugar sex magik album. You really don't need as many as you think.

User avatar
CS
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:49 am

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by CS » Tue May 06, 2014 10:01 am

What I use changes with each application. Last year I was in a covers band and needed a fairly large board to cover all the sounds I was asked to supply. I was also in another band where I needed a fairly large board, was using backline so needed overdrive options and needed a couple of guitars. I'm currently playing bass in a band and swap to guitar for a couple of songs. I'm borrowing a guitar and amp and I use one overdrive. I'm toying with reviving my old band that used a lot of fuzz. When I play at home I generally use an SG amp a fuzz and a delay. I often play an archtop unplugged.

Now the point here is that I am probably a minimalist in terms of guitars amps and effects. So for fun I set up all my guitar gear for a pic. What I use most of the time is on the right.


Image

Just because you have it doesnt mean you have to use it all the time. Just because you dont use it doesnt mean that you have to sell it. From 2007 to 2012 I had my Kl*n on the board and mostly on. Now I rarely use it. I would be nuts to sell it as I would never get another. Same with a lot of pedals. My small board consists of a fuzz and delay and that suits my current use.

User avatar
JazzBlaster
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 9474
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:34 pm
Location: United States
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by JazzBlaster » Tue May 06, 2014 2:04 pm

Last practice I just used a V5 muff, TS9x and twotimer delay. It was honestly just laziness of not wanting to set everything up seeing as I don't currently have a board.

User avatar
veryredtomatoes
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 961
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:23 am
Location: STL MO
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by veryredtomatoes » Tue May 06, 2014 2:52 pm

Interesting thread. Your opinions have really made me think hard about what's on my board.

Thanks!
Today is a good day to die.

User avatar
rhythmjones
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2995
Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 4:18 pm
Location: Peoria, Il
Contact:

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by rhythmjones » Tue May 06, 2014 5:04 pm

hatbox_ghost wrote:There is truly nothing better than turning off all of your pedals and realizing your guitar sounds absolutely stunning, if not better, on its own.
I recently acquired on of my all-time dream amps ('60's Ampeg Gemini) and it's not getting along with my pedals. I wrote half my band's songs around certain effects, and I was under the mistaken impression that I NEEDED them for my sound.

But the Ampeg just fucking sings by itself, it has amazing on-board reverb and vibrato. Next band practice, I'm going to see about going guitar->OD->Amp.

That set up served me well for 9 years and 3 bands back in the day. There's no reason it can't work now.
- Mitch

User avatar
countertext
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4142
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2011 6:25 pm
Location: Tacoma

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by countertext » Tue May 06, 2014 5:19 pm

I was an "OD+delay only" kinda guy for years and years, but I started adding pedals with a gazey psych band I joined about a year and a half ago. Had to build a new board to hold all my stuff. Maybe six months back, we (by 'we', I mean the singer/boss) added another guitarist with a huge, Strymon-and-Earthquaker-loaded board and a hundred sounds at the ready. The singer also plays and already had a big board PLUS a separate board for his vocals.

I started dropping pedals one at a time until I was down to OD and reverb - there just wasn't ehough air to hold all the sounds we were making, so I focused on my amp tone and the kick and snare.

Then I stopped getting invited to practices and gigs.

(sad trombone)

User avatar
nikkij
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 582
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:21 pm
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by nikkij » Wed May 07, 2014 1:19 am

This morning I had 9 pedals on my board, including 2 fuzzes, an OD, a boost, a noise suppressor, a looper, a wah, a tremolo, and a delay. I really thought I needed all of them.

At around 10 o'clock this morning I read this thread, and began to seriously contemplate if I needed all those pedals. I realized I really was spending too much time deciding which particular fuzz or drive or modulation to use in a part instead of just writing music. I set out on a mission to eliminate the pedals I don't need. After 4 hours of playing with essentially only 2 pedals, I realized that with the appropriate use of the volume knob and a little more creativity in my playing, I could get rid of more than half the pedals on my board.

My rig is now guitar -> noise suppressor -> ToneBender clone -> Memory Boy -> Loop Station -> amps. So really I'm only using 2 "effects". I couldn't be more stoked. I posted the extra pedals on Craigslist immediately - to avoid the temptation of keeping them - and in the four hours since placing the ad have already set meetings to sell my Big Muff and my tremolo pedal.

The point is, effects are fun but I feel like I personally get too caught up in them. I have never had more fun playing guitar than I did today with the minimalist setup, and I'm glad I made the switch.

I'm 19 by the way. It's not just the older, wiser folk, we kids can do it too ;D

User avatar
CS
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:49 am

Re: The joy of minimal effects

Post by CS » Wed May 07, 2014 1:58 am

My solo project board consists of a Fuzz Factory AB switch to tuner and a Deluxe Memoryman. The Fuuz Factory and volume knob gives a range of gain from heavy od to crazy, they DMM gives me echo and chorus. AS the previous poster states you can do more with less pedals.

I'll still keep my main board as is.

Post Reply