What effects can you not live without

[DonP]

I'm a Guitar->Amp head guy. I'm a bedroom player and just jam along to CDs (MP3s).

My favorite amp is a DSL100 with reverb, which is on all the time.

I also have a Randall Lynchbox with about 10 stock modules, and a Laney AOR 50 head (good for JCM800 tones). Both of these are dry without effects.

I'm trying to convince or un-convince myself if I need effects. I've thought on and off about getting a G Major. I'm thinking I might use the other amps a little more if they at least had reverb.

I bought a MidiVerb 4 almost 20 years ago and it is still in the box. Should I experiment with this first or would it be crappy and leave a bad taste in my mouth? I have a PODxt with all upgrades added - is this considered good?

I'm wondering what others out there are using, and curious as to what effects you can't live without. Let me know the effect (delay) and the device (Boss DD3).

Thanks.

[rjohnstone]

I use reverb and a touch of delay most of the time.
On rare occasions I'll add some chorus to a clean channel.
If I feel like getting all accurate on a particular sound, like old VH, I'll add a flanger in the mix.
That's the cool thing about a GT-8. It's like a buffet, take what you want.

[pianoguyy]

Depends on what you call an effect.
Distortion would be top. EQ. Reverb. But, since those 3 are all part of an amp, do they count as an effect?

Give me those 3 and I can take on the world.



But, as to the rest of your statement...
I don't actually use an amp anymore. I am fully digital, my mfx goes direct to the pa.
I will point out, though, we have this discussion all the time over on the mfx board ----
Playing live vs playing in the studio. We usually need more effects in the studio than we do live.

[DRM]

Sonic Stomp, Carbon Copy delay, and a good clean boost.

[DonP]

Depends on what you call an effect.
Distortion would be top. EQ. Reverb. But, since those 3 are all part of an amp, do they count as an effect?

Give me those 3 and I can take on the world.



But, as to the rest of your statement...
I don't actually use an amp anymore. I am fully digital, my mfx goes direct to the pa.
I will point out, though, we have this discussion all the time over on the mfx board ----
Playing live vs playing in the studio. We usually need more effects in the studio than we do live.

Raw tone and EQ's I have. I'm talking mostly post-processing effects that color the raw tone.

Which MFX board? Maybe I need to head there.

[Axewielder]

I have a custom shop one-off Electro-Harmonix pedal that I have always used to generate my signature "toilet tone". I've never played without it. It does the job, but I think the switch is messed up because even when I try to disengage it, I still seem to have "that" sound. But it helps to sculpt my ass tone a bit, I've never had any complaints as far as I know.

[mantis]

I use reverb and a touch of delay most of the time.
On rare occasions I'll add some chorus to a clean channel.
If I feel like getting all accurate on a particular sound, like old VH, I'll add a flanger in the mix.
That's the cool thing about a GT-8. It's like a buffet, take what you want.

The GT 8 is awesome, glad to see people still rocking with it.

[mantis]

I use a Boss GT100 but do not use all the effects or any amp sim's at all.
I use in front of my clean channel a Natural OD then in the effects loop I have on call a Reverb, Analog Delay and Chorus. These are On and Off depending on what I'm doing. There will be times when my sound is completely dry. No effects at all.

On my Dirty Filthy OD channel, I have a Ibanez Tube screamer and a OCTA in front, In the Loop I have the same effects as the Clean channel but with different setups.

If I had to only live with one effect, it would be Delay, I use Delay more then any effect. I use different settings for slow and fast and I even make my delay sound like Room Reverb at times. This is what is incredible about the GT100 is I can set up Delay 100 different ways and save them so I can cal on those settings at will. You can't do that with pedals, you would have to buy many different delay pedals and set them all up differently to get more flexibility out of them. This is why i stick with the GT floor boards from Boss.

As far as Pod? I'm not a Line 6 fan. I find their effects to sound artificial. I never owned one signal Line 6 product I liked and I tried and owned many. They all got sold to people who like the way they perform. There is nothing wrong with Line 6 as it's totally up to the end user what is right and what doesn't work.

Love the Randall Lynch Box. Cool amp dude, nice score.

[metalhobo]

It's so weird... with certain guitars (like my Charvel) I have a Rotovibe that I keep constantly engaged in the chorus mode, at the slowest setting. For some reason in that mode the pedal cuts bass and gives a nice upper midrange boost which gives me a nice, tight, and sharp sound. Sort of like a TS-9 but without the saturation. The chorus effect also gives the sound a nice character on top of that. As long as the gain on my amp is turned up, that Rotovibe is kicked in. I kick it off for more mellow sounds because at lower gain settings it tends to thin things out too much, and it also clips when you hit the strings too hard.

[Vass]

Morpheus drop tune for rehearsals. Keeps me from having to drag around more than one guitar, and since I'm almost always floyded changing tuning on the fly is not really an option.

Sometimes I think it sounds flubby, sometimes I forget it's on. I'd prefer to not use it live, but I have.


And I know no one has mentioned it because- duh, obvious- but a talkbox is essential at all times on every song.

[markD]

My amp these days is a blackface Fender Bassman, so I have a couple of effects that are crucial to making my tone. In front of the amp, I always have a BOSS/Fender reverb and an MXR Dynacomp engaged. I obviously have my distortion pedal, and it is placed after the reverb and compressor.

[diablomozart]

touch of reverb always...maybe a little chorus...delay for leads...that being said i record with only reverb at about .5 (half of one)...it makes layering tracks easier and effects can be added easily in reaper if necessary...my "screw around sound" has reverb chorus and de;ay on about 4 (out of 10) for each level...d.m.

[xenophobe]

The only thing I really need is an EQ. Modded MXR 10 band is just awesome. Get just the distortion I like.

I am thinking about getting an FX unit of some sort just for boredom's sake, but I can live without them all. lol

[paranoid]

I can't live with out the axe fx because I do not have any amps anymore.

[DonP]

Thanks guys. Certainly a lot to consider.

I am thinking about getting an FX unit of some sort just for boredom's sake, but I can live without them all. lol

This is where I am at now. Just looking to spice things up a bit.