Help Me Design An Alt-Country Pedalboard

[todd richman]

Hey Grant, thanks again. I think I got a plan:

BOSS FV-500 Volume Pedal (already on my board and good for swells plus a silent link to the tuner)
Durham Crazy Horse (like Doug's Fuzz Factory with more vintage tones)
Xactone Pusher Boost
Xactone Fuzzy Tube Drive
Xactone Precision Multi-Drive (a great and versatile take on a Tube Screamer)
AnalogMan Comprossor (Saffron Squeeze specs that Mike Piera offers)
Ibanez Echomachine (on the board already and a great Echoplex simulator)
EHX XO Deluxe Memory Man (I want analog delay this time and wil run it in my X-Blender for parallel mix)
EHX Holy Grail Plus (some funky lo-fi spring reverb emulation)
Empress Tremolo (had it over a year now and still amazes me)
Earthquaker Devices Pulse Machine (got one one ebay and the PGS demo video convinced me)
ZVex Seek Wah II (listen to Doug's use of it on the Live at the Fillmore Lucinda CD to get a great taste for this funky pedal's sounds)

I would love to add an old Ampeg Gemini or 65 Amps Stone Pony for those classic Stonesy early 70's rhythm things to run simultaneously with my Victoria Tweed Super.

Teles, Esquire, RS Rockabilly Jr and hopefully a Creston and/or Fano one day and something with humbuckers for slide-thinking SG also influenced by Brad's video with Tift and a Trussart ala Doug.

[JayRue]

No wah, Todd? Not real common in Alt C-type stuff, I guess, but two of my favorites-- Gary Louris (Jayhawks) and Cary Hudson (Blue Mountain)-- are devoted wah guys, and it's rubbed off on me. I also saw Buddy Miller rock one with Plant/Krauss, as well as Neil Casal with Ryan Adams. Also guys I dig. Then there's the Black Crowes.... They're a lot rootsier these days, which has been making me very, very happy. Personally, I keep my modded Vox off to the side of my PT Jr, but sounds like you have plenty of room on the board.

I was also curious: once you're committed to a line-up on the LA Sound Design boards, I assume you're REALLY committed, right? No changing things around without a big redesign?

[Realfi]

Originally Posted by todd richman

Hey Grant, thanks again. I think I got a plan:

BOSS FV-500 Volume Pedal (already on my board and good for swells plus a silent link to the tuner)
Skin Pimp Buzzaround Fuzz
Pro Analog Dirt Royale w/ Cheeze (erskin inspired this one and I love mine)
Xactone Pusher Boost
Xactone Fuzzy Tube Drive
Xactone Precision Multi-Drive (a great and versatile take on a Tube Screamer)
AnalogMan Juicer (that Brad Rice slide clip convinced me)
Ibanez Echomachine (on the board already and a great Echoplex simulator)
EHX XO Deluxe Memory Man (I want analog delay this time and wil run it in my X-Blender for parallel mix)
EHX Holy Grail Plus (nice reverb without being too studio quality for clean passages)
Empress Tremolo (had it over a year now and still amazes me)

I think that is it. I would love to add an old Ampeg Gemini or 65 Amps Stone Pony for those classic Stonesy early 70's rhythm things to run simultaneously with my Victoria Tweed Super.

Teles, Esquire, RS Rockabilly Jr and hopefully a Creston one day and something with humbuckers for slide-thinking SG also influenced by Brad's video with Tift.

I'd have option anxiety Todd but that looks like a cool rig!

[todd richman]

JayRue-I tore apart my L.A. board to make way for this revision. Dual Lock is tough but you can remove the pedals with a little work. As for wiring, I will send it back to L.A. for the redo on the wiring and signal path.

Grant, it is a lot but really a few dirt pedals, a boost, a fuzz and compressor plus a few delays and a trem. Not really crazy!

[KmCyPreSs]

Thought i'd throw in my rig to this thread (see Sig). It's a work in progress but I'm really really happy with it.

For anyone with an alt-country sound debating the Timmy; go for it. I debated it for far too long, and yes, it does live up to the hype in my opinion.

The more I play I realize how the EchoTap is such a main part of my sound. Its an awsome delay that doesn't get enough praise on here; has a preset-channel or a tap-channel that I can switch between by holding down the tap-channel. I keep the preset-delay set to a slapback setting for slide and the tap really long so i can swell in with a volume pedal for steel/ambient noise. I have a volume pedal that I add if I'm doing a lot of swelling.I also throw in a Kaden Effects trem and a DLS Chorus~Vib at times if I'm looking for a new element.

Have a fulltone '69 but am not a huge fan...most of it comes from the fact that I'm not much of a fuzz guy. However, one day I'd like to try the sunface.

The only thing I'm really gassing is a new guitar to give me a different sound/feel. It's down to a Les Paul Deluxe or a 335.

[todd richman]

After spending a good part of Sunday watching Doug Pettibone with Lucinda Williams on youtube, I must design my effects selection with his tones in mind. I cannot think of a more similar tone than his that I would like to capture. I wish he was a TGP member. I would love to chat with him about gear and technique. I tweaked the list I posted above to come closer to Doug's rig and the purchases have begun!

[Realfi]

Originally Posted by todd richman

After spending a good part of Sunday watching Doug Pettibone with Lucinda Williams on youtube, I must design my effects selection with his tones in mind. I cannot think of a more similar tone than his that I would like to capture. I wish he was a TGP member. I would love to chat with him about gear and technique. I tweaked the list I posted above to come closer to Doug's rig and the purchases have begun!

Hey Todd,

With all due respect mate perhaps it's about time to define your tone. Sure it gets changed up here and there but to me it's all about having a core tone that lets you play and express without thinking too much because it sort of becomes a part of you.

Funnily enough I think my 80% of the time my core sound pretty much stays the same - it's the other 20% that seems to cost me the most money!

[Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Realfi

I'd have option anxiety Todd but that looks like a cool rig!

Me Too. I gotta keep it simple.

Volume -> Overdrive -> Boost -> Tremolo -> Tuner

Seems about all this guy can handle.

[KmCyPreSs]

Originally Posted by Realfi

Hey Todd,

With all due respect mate perhaps it's about time to define your tone. Sure it gets changed up here and there but to me it's all about having a core tone that lets you play and express without thinking too much because it sort of becomes a part of you.

Funnily enough I think my 80% of the time my core sound pretty much stays the same - it's the other 20% that seems to cost me the most money!

I think this is right on. And the first step to this in my opinion is to find your main two guitars and main amp. Then paint a pallete of that. For me i continued to buy/sell effects thinking I'd find what I was wAs looking for. When I found the sound straight for guitar to amp I had to completely rehaul my effects rig to compliment it.