Neil Young / Weld or Ragged Glory effects

I don't know about the actual "effects" (flange, octave, reverb...), but I think the Rx Overdriver (around $100 on ebay) gets very close to the crunch and those exploding tweed deluxe type sounds. At least it does in combination with my AC30.

 

Jeff Tweedy doesn't call the rxOverdriver "Neil Young In A Box" for nothing.

The Crazy Horse is killer for copping Neil - better than anything else I've come across. That said, you should be able to get in the ball park with just about any high gainer, providing you have a P-90 equipped LP with a bigsby.

It has far more to do with the guitar and technique than with effects, IMO.

 

Interesting. I actually bought it because of him, but didn't know he called it that. Do you know where that quote is from?

 

I can't remember where I read it, but a Google search reveals that "Neil Young in a box" and "the Girlfriend Eliminator" were both coined by REMs gear tech in reference to the rx Overdriver.

My guess is the terms caught on and spread about through word of mouth.

Both certainly apply to the pedal in my experience.

 

I want one of each .

any clips of the Rx Overdriver, around ?

 

in case anyone else is interested here's is some info from '92 (Weld was '91)

in 1992, the red box had: a stobe tuner for each open string on the neck, MXR analog delay, Mutron octave divider, old Boss flanger, Alesis Microverb, and an Echoplex.

source: http://www.thrasherswheat.org/friends/amps.htm

"He activates the settings via foot switches on the red box that's always in front of him. Across the slanted part that's always closest to him are five buttons: Four for buttons control the volume on the Whizzer, and one for the reverb kill. Inside the box are all these relays and the actual effects devices. There are seven buttons on the top plateau of the box. The one on the left hand side is mute and tune: You step on that and no sound comes out of the amplifier. We have 5 Strobe-O-Tuners up there, one for each note in standard tuning. The next one is for a green, AC powered MXR analog delay that's mainly used in conjunction with the next button, an ancient Mutron octave divider. That's used for "Out of the Blue", when we really want to fatten up the octave divider. The next button is for a master loop that switches any of the top devices in and out, except the tube reverb. The next one is for a real strange unit, a large very old Boss flanger in a blue cast metal box. He hits that only when he wants to get totally crazy. The next one controls an Alesis Microverb that's in a strange setting that's 100% reverb. When he plays it its almost atonal and you can hardly tell what note it is. It gets the high frequency feedback squeal. Used in conjunction with other things, it gets some very bizarre sounds. The next button is for the main effect, the Echoplex, which remains on a lot. He'll leave the Echoplex on and hit the loop button on and of to activate other stuff. We use sizzling hot cable-not guitar cable, but hard RF stuff-and we don't lose anything in the loop. From there the signal goes into the Deluxe."

:BEER

 

Here's a clip from the Music Toys page/RX Page.

 

lovepedal woodrow

 

I second the Overdriver suggestion, and also recommend the Homebrew Power Screamer-- the far-right diode selection gets some nice sag action.

Also, if you haven't already, check out Eric Ambel's version of "Cocaine Eyes" on his myspace page. If I'm not mistaken, he kicks on a Danelectro Black Licorice distortion/octave pedal during the solo. It sounds insanely cool. Not dead-on Neil, but still insanely cool.

 

Another fun trick to try is running a fuzz into an OD. You can really push the fuzz into shredding territory and then tame it with an OD. It's amazing how close you get to NY tone and still get the flexibility of buying a separate fuzz and OD suited to your tastes.

 

He does use quite a bit of spring reverb in addition to the "wall of gain," which makes it even harder to tell when the echoplex is on. I hear a lot of ambience on certain albums and of course live, but usually can't tell if it's delay, cranked verb, both, sheer volume, or just his fluid playing style that doesn't leave a lot of empty space. Maybe that's how he wants it?