No Pedal thread

[YamahaGuy]

I go either way. Depends mostly on my company or lack thereof. In a band setting, I prefer to have my acoustic pedalboard, which has a Voiceprint DI, tuner of course, Electro-Harmonix Canyon (mainly for shimmer), Strymon Bluesky reverb, TC Electronic Corona chorus, TC Ditto looper, and Ernie Ball VP Jr. Playing worship music, often times I use shimmer to create pad-like tones. If my wife and I are playing out, for a small setup footprint and quick setup/teardown I can make due with plugging in direct. Most of my guitars now sound excellent on their own plugged in direct.

[lkingston]

There are certain solo songs (like the Hans Zimmer theme from Gladiator) where effects really add a heck of a lot.

[Brent Hahn]

I carry a Peterson tuner pedal because it's the only thing I can see outdoors in LA, but that's it.

[YeOldRocker]

For me, there are two main reasons to use pedal effects for an acoustic;
one is to add something specific for a particular song or songs, ambiance and depth, say, or simply having a tonal change from other songs, without having to change guitars constantly. Just adds flavor, as long as you remember it's an acoustic and not a Strat, and that the overall sound should probably remain an acoustic guitar. Otherwise, use a Strat.

But the main (and second) reason, for me, anyway, is simply to compensate for the pickups' inability to don't fully translate the sound of the guitar. So, to compensate for whatever limits the pickup(s) might have in sounding full and warm like the actual guitar, sometimes compression, reverb, or just EQ is needed.

That said, I mostly plug and play with adjustments already available on my installed preamp. Of course, that is, essentially, an effect, just as much as using a pedal doing similar things.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by lkingston

There are certain solo songs (like the Hans Zimmer theme from Gladiator) where effects really add a heck of a lot.

Do you sing Lisa Gerrard's lyrics for the Gladiator theme song Elysium? I think that I would struggle to learn those but it would be a great song to have in my repertoire. I'd really have to think about building a guitar accompaniment for that song. Perhaps working from DADGAD would be the way to go, so I could sing across drones.

How do you arrange the vocal backing on guitar?

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Do you sing Lisa Gerrard's lyrics for the Gladiator theme song Elysium? I think that I would struggle to learn those but it would be a great song to have in my repertoire. I'd really have to think about building a guitar accompaniment for that song. Perhaps working from DADGAD would be the way to go, so I could sing across drones.

How do you arrange the vocal backing on guitar?

I just do it as a solo guitar piece. Drop-D tuning to make it sound a bit bigger. I add harmonic interest where I can. For instance, in one spot I play the melody completely with harmonics. Definitely a song which benefits from ambient space effects. I need to record and post it.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I just do it as a solo guitar piece. Drop-D tuning to make it sound a bit bigger. I add harmonic interest where I can. For instance, in one spot I play the melody completely with harmonics. Definitely a song which benefits from ambient space effects. I need to record and post it.

I'd love to hear it!

[jseth]

I just plug in and play - but, in all honesty, I do run my guitars through a Bose T1 mixer/tone generator, and I add a bit of reverb and delay to my guitar and voice - but it's quite subdued.

When I first acquired my Bose L1 Classic, I was put off by the fact that it didn't have an internal reverb... however, I found that playing and singing through that rig had me realize that I truly didn't need effects; more importantly, playing and singing, "naked", really "upped my game"... there's nowhere to hide when it's just YOU!

Even with my electric guitar, I'm not fond of pedals - I play my Gibson ES-345 through a Silver Face Deluxe Reverb amp - and the reverb and vibrato in that is very workable. I will use a pedal to get a little "grit" at lower volumes, though...

[pcs264]

[QUOTE=Charlie Bernstein;7433032]When I play electric I need reverb and like overdrive and tremolo. Don't like delay, chorus, flange, compressor, wah, or any other soul sucker.

When I play acoustic, I don't want effects. I pay so much for good-sounding acoustic instruments that it would be crazy to mess it up. Any room has natural reverb, so dialed-in reverb sounds fake and artsy. That means that when I'm playing folk guitar (or mando or harp), I only use reverb for recording, where there isn't a big room to bounce the sound around.


I'm 100% with Charlie on this and I couldn't have said it better! Also, someone mentioned using effects for certain cover songs, and here's something I think I've learned over the years: As long as I'm playing the cover song in a recognizable way, everyone in the room likes it and almost no one cares what my guitar tone is like - except for the two guitarists who happen to be there, and no matter what I use, neither of them ever thinks I got the tone right...so I set up and play my guitar for tones and sounds that I like to hear. Trust me, this works!

[mike o]

No pedals for me but… I do go direct into a mixer with tons of pre’s, several fx’s options, Eq, comp/limiter, routing, mute, pre and post settings, etc. all storable for each gig type and location mixed in my iPad. probably missed a few. Yes, I use it all

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by pcs264

Any room has natural reverb, so dialed-in reverb sounds fake and artsy. That means that when I'm playing folk guitar (or mando or harp), I only use reverb for recording, where there isn't a big room to bounce the sound around.

I have a regular gig that is outdoors - zero natural reverb. Playing dry actually sounds odd compared to an indoor room. Also not all reverb/delay pedals are created equal. Good ones, used judiciously, sound fantastic. Cheap ones, used poorly, usually not so much…

[fedexnman]

I used the chorus and reverb on the amp . I want to get a looper eventually . The thing about acoustic guitar pickups is that they need air or reverb as well as eq to tame those nasally quacky hi mids . I'm totally ok with acoustic effects pedals .

[PANDAPANDELO]

I do like effects when playing, but I'm totally fine without them.

Lately, I've been using just a subtle reverb for vocals and acoustic guitar from the Touchmix8, but I'm only doing it because I play mostly in open areas, without reverberation, so it adds a little space. When I play in a closed ambient, I don't use reverb at all.