Blues Rock guys, do you set your pedals for clean, dirty rhythm and lead?

[coolhand78]

just wondering if the Blues/rock guys set their pedal boards up or
work around those 3 sounds, clean, dirty rhythm and lead...

i have a large pedal board but try to work with these sounds in mind, then i add certain things to them like univibe or wah when the moment hits me...

if you are doing this can u post a pic and description of your rig... how you use it... even a clip.. :)

cheers

[Tonemeister69]

Not necessarily blues rock, but when I'm using my grab and go rig it goes like this:

tele or strat or PRS into

Tuner
Tone Press
Timmy or Hotcake (low gain)
DS-1 Pro/BB Preamp (more gain)
everything else
Sexdrive (leads)

BadCat CubIIR set for mild breakup (depending on venue)

[shredtrash]

I set my board up to give me a good dirty rhythm sound that I can clean up with the volume knob. Then I boost for leads and add delay, vibe and wah depending on what I want at the moment. Currently, my setup is:

LP or SG into Picture Wah>Strobostomp>Mini-Deja Vibe>Fuzz Head>Time Machine Boost (I mostly use the 1973 mode w/occasional Modern mode as well)>Keeley Flexi 4x2 for leads(TS9 mode)>Keeley AD9 into a MV Amps Matchless Lightning set to some breakup.

Pretty simple rig but I can get a variety of clean and dirty tones with my volume knob and a stomp.

[twostring]

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/twostring/02082009153.jpg

Signal Path...

Digitech Whammy (sometimes)
TwoString Wah
BYOC 5K Compressor
Boss Blues Driver
Fulltone Deja Vibe
Xotic BB Preamp
TwoString Tribute Overdrive
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
Boss DD-3 Delay
BYOC Tremolo
Fulltone Choralflange
Korg Pitchblack Tuner

The Blues Driver is set up for a rather clean boost with a touch of clipping. It's there when I need a little more "sparkle" out of the neck pickup on my Strat.

The BB Preamp is for the rhythm stuff since it brings out a bit more sparkle in the treble and a clang to the bass at moderate gain settings. The Tribute and the BB have traded places in the signal chain since this picture.

The Tribute Overdrive is my take on what I would consider the "essential" Tube Screamer sound. The typical mod areas were fiddled with and changed to my favorate values, along with two clipping options that allow for bright distortion and a smoother, full overdrive push. This is the lead pedal (although it will most likely be replaced by my Tweak Overdrive as soon as it's finished).

The Deja is also used as a "drive" pedal of sorts sometimes. I've always suspected that Kenny Wayne Shepherd used his Univibe for the same thing on certain songs. As soon as I placed mine in front of my drive pedals and turned it on with the intensity control turned down to around 20% in Modern/Chorus mode, I knew...it was like instant KWS. If he doesn't do this, then I'll just say it's a happy accident. The drive is bright, the chords have tons of definition, and there's a slight chorus mixed in that makes everything sound a bit fatter.

[jiml]

Currently running two OD's, Lovepedal LO and a Woodrow. Don't really have them set for distinct duties yet, kinda pop them on or off or run them together and twiddle the volume knob on the guitar if I need to solo.

[huskerjohn]

I'm a blues/classic rock person if you will. I currently play into a clean fender just on the edge that will crunch a bit when you hit the strings hard.

I use the Keeley Designs pull for the mild OD and for fullness when noodling. The eternity is my main dirt for most chord work. For some of my bluesy stuff, I find the screwdriver, set correctly, can get you this in shades. Using the any two of these pedals in combination can get you a wide range of tones, from clean, to light blues, to hard classic rock. Add fuzz as needed.

It takes awhile to build you board with pedals that interact with other pedals the way you want them to. This is even more true as you add modulation. I almost always have one of my two delays on, sometimes both! I use my deja vibe amd trem a bunch too.

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll144/huskerjohn/Picture012-1-1.jpg

[fr8_trane]

My rig is currently

wah
tuner
Bad monkey or...
Brownie
Serrano boost
DD-20

Clean is just my heritage victory with a touch of reverb (always on) and usually some delay

Low gain dirty rhythm is the timmy
Med gain is Timmy + BM
High gain is Brownie alone or + timmy
Leads usually (but not always) involve the serrano boost

[tim boehlert]

Still playing with my board, but I guess my style qualifies for this one:

Gtr -> 5 Loop LOOOPER pedal -> Teese WAH -> OD/DIST pedal1 -> OD/DIST pedal2 -> OD/DIST pedal3 -> VOLUME PEDAL -> DD7 -> CE-5 -> Buffer -> Mesa Boogie MkI RI combo - set to 18W (60 watt setting with Tweed Switch enabled) and Weber Beam Blocker and Celestion Vintage 30 8ohm speaker. Backing off the guitar volume control and using the Volume pedal to hit it hard.

The theory is that you setup your EQ devices FIRST inline, then any OD/Dist and then your volume pedal - this way you can get that DISTORTION cranked at ANY volume whereas if the DIST os AFTER the VOLUME pedal, you don't get the cranked sound at any volume. Then Chorus/Delay or Delay/Chorus into a buffer/line driver and out to the amp.

The LOOOPER allows me to have one or more OD's on in series and or to preset 'presets'.

I try to use the amp's preamp sound to get the most out of it that I can - not too clean but not too dirty. Then I have my pedalboard setup to use three different OD/DISTORTIONs - a Keeley modded SD-1, a Keeley Modded DS-1 and a Keeley Modded MT-2. My favorite is the DS-1 and then the MT-2 - it has a parametric EQ nothc to it that sound like you have a wah (lite) engaged - ala Santana and others.

[Ronsonic]

I like having the amp wound up enough that it starts to sing all by itself with the guitar volume all the way up. That let's me get clean to gritty lead and fill with no pedals. In front of the amp I've got an OD pedal, the Hero I build, but could be a Timmy, Hotcake whatever flavor suits you. Now you can hit that and have yet more range with the guitar's volume for gritty rhythm sounds or leads. In front of that I run a Guru treble booster, could be any boost pedal that doesn't turn muddy when stacked or even an EQ will do the job fine. With the TB and amp you've got more distortion available, or you can turn the guitar down and get cool clean R&B sounds, this really wakes up the neck pickup. Or you can run the booster into the OD and do the screaming lead thing.

Two pedals and a near infinite range of gain and distortion. Doesn't get better than that.

[coolhand78]

heaps of great rigs..

basically i use the Blues Devil and either my Tube Driver or London Fuzz 2 for my leads and am really looking for a good 'dirty rhythm' sound i'll have to have a play with my Blues Devil to try and get something out if it now that my lead tone has changed...

[rockstarjay]

My setups way simpler.

Wah - Distortion - OD/Boost- Stereo Chorus driving two Bassman Heads

My tuner never goes in line with the signal.

Set the distortion at unity with the clean. Step on the OD to boost for leads. Gives you Clean and dirty plus two different lead sounds from just the 2 boxes.

This really only works with a tube amp set cleanish.

The current crop of gigging pedalsa is a Vox 847, DOD death metal (surprisingly rock sounding if you cut the treble), Bad Monkey and a Cs-9. I've used plenty others, the principle is the same.

[Dr. Jimmy]

I use a Classic 50 with 2 12's on the clean channel, my board has a DOD 250 (modded by Analogman) for my overdrive sound (like AC/DC or Free type crunch) and a DS-1 (again modded by Analogman) for the more gainy stuff. I use a Boss line selector to switch between this and a straight clean sound. At the end of the line is a SCP for boosting either the clean, overdrive or gain sounds. Works great for me.

[Strat58]

Hi currently I am using from mine guitar:
Vox wah (area51+buffer)-TS9-TS9 (modded for more treble)-Super Chili Picoso-Korg Pitch Black tuner-> Fender Super Reverb or Deluxe Reverb or Marshall Bluesbreaker.
Guitars Gibson Les Paul VOS R8 and Fender Stratocaster 62 or 57 vintage R.
Maybe going to change the 2 TS9 pedlas for 1 Blues Pro and Blue Boy.
Peace Strat58

[clothwiring]

Strat > Wah > Tuner > Wah > RC Booster (straight clean boost) > Timmy (OD) > Matchless.

I set it up so that I can hit the RC for solos which just drives the rig a tad harder and offers a very slight compression, and for cleans I am able to roll my volume back and good to go. I consider it to be one setting.

[somedude]

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m197/screamingdaisy_album/Guitar%20Kit/Pedalboards/IMG_1548.jpg

Clean - Les Paul, neck pickup

Crunch - switch to bridge pickup

Heavy crunch - Kick on Fulldrive 2

Cutting lead - Same tone as heavy crunch

Cutting lead's good, but I need more sustain - Kick on Fulldrive's boost.

Fat lead - '70.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell...

[madscientist]

My current rig:
Fender Strat into:
Buddy Guy Wah-->
Turbo Tuner-->
MJM Phantom OD (set for light/medium gain)-->
Marshall Bluesbreaker clone (set for low gain)--->
Pedalworx Tejas (set for lowish gain)-->
Fulltone OCD (set for medium gain...gets pushed by the Tejas into high gain)--->
CMatmods Deelay--->
Fulltone Fat Boost I (for solos)--->

Fargen Blackbird set clean


keep in mind that there's endless possibilities with the two 808 type pedals and the bluesbreaker

[somedude]

I like my tone 5/7 days in the week. The other two days, I have to remind myself that I usually like my tone, and not to take out the credit card.


Haha... ain't that the truth. :bow

[bbrunskill]

I just use a modded BD-2, on all the time. If I need clean I use a Strat. If I need overdrive I use a hot pickup-ed tele. I have a fuzz for high gain.

[underdog]

OCD is my main drive pedal. I use it for 70's cranked marshall sounds. I clean up with the volume knob for a more bluesy sound. For leads, I usually add some delay.
Then I have a stock TS9 to boost that sound for more modern marshall tones like van halen guns n roses etc. Very gilmour like if I play with single coils(ambience effects are too important in here of course).
And my third drive pedal is a Keeley Ds-1 for more higher gain stuff like satriani, vai with delay on.

[FenderBigot]

I use the 2nd channel of my Blues Deville 4x10, a TS-9 and a BD-2. The TS-9 is for a clean boost with a tiny bit of bite, the BD-2 is my OD for rhythm or fills and I add the drive channel of the amp to drive the tone of both pedals. I will also use the drive channel alone without pedals for some Pearl Jam like "clean" tones too.