Pedal Settings

[GGJJGG]

Is there already a discussion of people’s favorite pedals and how they have them set?

I was tempted to suggest that this would be great for insight into individuals’ approach to their sound (which it indeed may be…), but in all candor, I am a bit pressed for guitar time (and a perhaps a bit, just a bit, lazy) and wanted to cut to the chase of great tone.

 

[helmi]

If your just curious, thats one thing, but if your looking for specifics, I really dont think it’s going to be that cut and dried of an answer for you. the same pedal, will have to be adjusted, most times, differently for whatever amp and other pedals are being used. EXAMPLE: how I set my Durham sexdrive, which goes from my Heritage into my tweed deluxe clone, with no other pedals, and how you set the same pedal, going from your strat through 10 other pedals into your 5150 might be completely different.

 

[jak3af3r]

Unfortunately, the variance in tolerances in componentry won't allow you to just set the knobs to the same rotational setting the get the same results.

 

[JasonE]

I agree with what Helmi said. I will also add to this that what you want from the pedal will also really dictate this. I know I change the settings on my OD pedals depending on which amp I am using. Some amps have more overhead and take more drive to get where I want to be and others are pushed into drive much easier. I also stack pedals and that changes how I set them. I tend to set the pedals to give me my lead tone and then dial my volume back to get my rhythm tones. We would also need to know the exact pedals you are wanting to know about and what amp you are using to even get in the ballpark.

 

[GGJJGG]

In hindsight, I was probably thinking more general than specific. Some ideas to start.

 

[d4rkst4r]

Your ears offer the best opinion. The experimentation is half the fun!

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

A general way I set many of the OD’s I’ve used, is to boost level exactly how much I want for solo boost, add a bit of gain, and a bit of treble. With some, I add mids also, depending on where the mids knob is centered. On some, like the Timmy, i cut some bass as well.

 

[ruger9]

Well, "general idea to start": it's more about the PEDAL than the settings... for example, a Tube Screamer and a Timmy don't sound alike. You need to figure out what overdrive sound you like, then buy the pedal that is similar to that. the settings will come as you sit with the pedal.

My DGT sounds great through most overdrives, altho a Tube Screamer type would not be one of them. I like the Timmy, Fulldrive 2, Xotic EP booster (this one is really just for further overdriving an amp that is breaking up already). The great thing about the Timmy is it has a bass control. All overdrives should have a bass control, IMO. And the MXR Timmy is a bargain and sounds great, no need to buy an overpriced used original one.

 

[JasonE]

This gets kind of deep fast. Adding to the post above.
Are you running into a clean amp? If so, how much headroom does it have? If it has a lot of headroom it will stay cleaner sounding with the gain of the pedal ran into it. If the amp doesn't have much headroom, it will push into OD much faster as you add the pedal.

Do you know much about pedal clipping? There is OpAmp clipping, soft clipping and hard clipping and probably other types but these are the most common. They all break up differently and sound different. They all feel different under the fingers and also provide different levels of distortion. How they sound and feel all plays into the amp and whether it is running clean and how much headroom it has.

There are a few very popular OD circuits out there and they don't all sound great with every amp. Many of the pedals on the market today started with an old popular circuit that was modified in some way to create something new. This is very common. You have the Tube Screamer circuit that has a mid hump in it that has been modified to death and rebranded many times that is still getting modified for new pedals. Then you have circuits that don't have the mid hump like the Blues Breaker circuit and the Blues Drive circuit. These have been used for many pedals as well and sound and react different that the TS circuit. Another really popular circuit is the Fuzz Face. There are a ton of fuzz pedals that are modified as well as vintage correct out there. You typically go up in gain from a Boost, to an OD, to a Distortion to a Fuzz.

Once you start to understand these things you can start to figure out what you like and try things in that vein. I have a pretty big OD collection. I am someone that really enjoys the nuances in them.

I saw someone recommending a compressor. That is another whole topic that can get pretty deep as well. I have been using compressors for years and I tend to go with ones that have the controls on them that I want. There is a lot to be learned here as well. Compressors are one of the most misunderstood pedals there is. I try to help people understand how they actually work so they can get the results they are looking for. There are a number of pretty good compressors out there in a few different price ranges.

 

[Lewguitar]

In hindsight, I was probably thinking more general than specific. Some ideas to start.

Sounds like a thread for the kidz...

 

[Tony M.]

Tell Alice I said hi.

 

[László]

A general way I set many of the OD’s I’ve used, is to boost level exactly how much I want for solo boost, add a bit of gain, and a bit of treble. With some, I add mids also, depending on where the mids knob is centered. On some, like the Timmy, i cut some bass as well.

This is pretty much how I wind up setting mine, too. For recording, I find that, as DTR suggests, cutting a little bass makes everything sit better in a mix so you can eliminate mud and hear the bass and kick better.

I do tweak the settings for the amp and guitar I'm using, too.

 

[Bogner]

Walks Into Thread...Has A Look Around At All The Rabbit Holes...Walks Out.

 

[ruger9]

Tell Alice I said hi.

Walks Into Thread...Has A Look Around At All The Rabbit Holes...Walks Out.

A deep rabbit hole indeed. I was down there for many years. Let me give everyone a "hint" (or two):

2 big differences in ODs.
Ones that boost the mids (like a Tubescreamer) and ones that don't (like a Timmy)... the latter often called "transparent". Don't get too hung up on that word, it doesn't mean much. Mid boosting ODs work better with mid scooped amps or mid scooped pickups, and "transparent" ODs work better with NOT mid scooped amps and more middy pickups.

Also: not all ODs sound good into a clean amp, as mentioned above. This is a big one. The only way to know is to try, because while all amps might do "clean", not all amps take pedals well. The amp + pedal really is a combination you'll have to discover on your own.

Now for a couple of examples:
"I play a tele into a deluxe reverb, and I want an OD to give me a decent amount of dirt like SRV": Tubescreamer.
... and if it's "I want a dirty channel out of it": Rockett The Dude.

"I play a Les Paul into a Tweed Deluxe and want to get grind at lower volumes": Timmy or other "transparent" OD.

Just my $0.02, built on about 15 years of buying, trying, selling overdrive pedals. I currently still own way too many: 9, and that doesn't include the ones in the "SELL" box lol

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Walks Into Thread...Has A Look Around At All The Rabbit Holes...Walks Out.

Wimp!

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

This is pretty much how I wind up setting mine, too. For recording, I find that, as DTR suggests, cutting a little bass makes everything sit better in a mix so you can eliminate mud and hear the bass and kick better.

I do tweak the settings for the amp and guitar I'm using, too.

Many pedals cut bass by default. In fact, the EQ in pedals alone is a WHOLE topic of discussion that could go on forever. However, it's VERY important and some understanding of it goes a long way in helping you find which ones work best for your tastes and gear.

As J said, this is a deep subject. So I'll just add a quick one for now. What the Timmy does that is so smart, is that it removes bass from the circuit pre-clipping. It's well know that overdrive circuits don't handle bass well. What the Timmy does that is so slick, is remove it pre-clipping, and then add it back in afterwards with a control to dial how much you add back. The end result is that you can cut some, or alot, or even end up boosting it, but whatever bass you add back has NOT gone through the clipping circuit. This is brilliant and the end result is outstanding. Even if you do put all the bass back that you took out up front of the circuit, it would be cleaner, tighter, punchier, etc.

At one point in my pedal building/modding days, I was going to get a scope and run a flat signal through various pedals and run frequency plots on the outputs, to show just how much these pedals vary. And...

YES, there are many types and levels of clipping that influence the sound, but IMO, these frequency differences are often MORE important than that, in our decisions of what works best for our tonal preferences and gear. Think about it. (Or just play with a graphic EQ in front of your amp!) When you shape the frequencies before they go into a tube amp circuit, it changes many things about how the amp itself reacts to your playing. Cutting or boosting bass, treble or mids, and the center frequency of the control in question, significantly changes how an amp responds, clips, etc.

Oh wait, this was going to be a quick reply.

 

[László]

Many pedals cut bass by default. In fact, the EQ in pedals along is a WHOLE topic of discussion that could go on forever. However, it's VERY important and some understanding of it goes a long way in helping you find which ones work best for your tastes and gear.

As J said, this is a deep subject. So I'll just add a quick one for now. What the Timmy does that is so smart, is that it removes bass from the circuit pre-clipping. It's well know that overdrive circuits don't handle bass well. What the Timmy does that is so slick, is remove it pre-clipping, and then add it back in afterwards with a control to dial how much you add back. The end result is that you can cut some, or alot, or even end up boosting it, but whatever bass you add back has NOT gone through the clipping circuit. This is brilliant and the end result is outstanding. Even if you do put all the bass back that you took out up front of the circuit, it would be cleaner, tighter, punchier, etc.

At one point in my pedal building/modding days, I was going to get a scope and run a flat signal through various pedals and run frequency plots on the outputs, to show just how much these pedals vary. And...

YES, there are many types and levels of clipping that influence the sound, but IMO, these frequency differences are often MORE important than that, in our decisions of what works best for our tonal preferences and gear. Think about it. (Or just play with a graphic EQ in front of your amp!) When you shape the frequencies before they go into a tube amp circuit, it changes many things about how the amp itself reacts to your playing. Cutting or boosting bass, treble or mids, and the center frequency of the control in question, significantly changes how an amp responds, clips, etc.

Oh wait, this was going to be a quick reply.

You're 100% right.

Bass frequencies are hardest on any amplification device, including whole circuits, tubes, transistors, ICs, etc. Bass frequencies aren't exactly easy on transducers like speakers or microphones, either!

In addition, put an EQ in front of a compressor, and it sounds different than a compressor in front of an EQ. It's interesting how that all works sonically.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

You're 100% right.

Bass frequencies are hardest on any amplification device, including whole circuits, tubes, transistors, ICs, etc. Bass frequencies aren't exactly easy on transducers like speakers or microphones, either!

In addition, put an EQ in front of a compressor, and it sounds different than a compressor in front of an EQ. It's interesting how that all works sonically.

One of the best tools I used when I was recording things a few years back, was a multi-band compressor. THAT is one fascinating tool! (IMO)

 

[László]

One of the best tools I used when I was recording things a few years back, was a multi-band compressor. THAT is one fascinating tool! (IMO)

They're great. I use several in both mixing and mastering (where they're actually most useful).

In the hardware days I used a TC multi band rack mount mastering compressor called the Finalizer that was found in a lot of studios around the late '90s. It was a bit revolutionary for the time.

With plugins, there are quite a few interesting ones from a variety of vendors. One of these that gets a lot of use here is DMG Audio's 'Limitless'. For years I used Sonalksis' CQ1, and it sounds great but the GUI is kinda small, so I switched.

Plugin Alliance and Waves have excellent multi band compressors also. PA's Lindell 354 emulates 3 Neve compressors, each operating in its own, adjustable frequency band, and sounds very vintage. However the other ones I use are more flexible. So I make choices.

What's just as interesting lately are dynamic EQs - dynamics can be applied to the eq in various frequency bands. Tomo's Lisa. SPL's PQ, Sonalksis' DQ1 and several others are something innovative and relatively new.

Another absolutely insane tool (that can be a little hard to get your head around at first) is ADPTR Sculpt, which reshapes dynamics, tone, transients and other details in very interesting ways. I've only scratched the surface of what it can do.

Ozone 11 Advanced also has various swappable combinations of mastering tools combined with AI. I'm not all that crazy about AI on its own, but it can help identify problems, and it sometimes provides a good starting point for a master.

 

[Longneck Tenon]

In hindsight, I was probably thinking more general than specific. Some ideas to start.

Too many parameters to factor in (guitars amps, pedal types/order, specific sound desired). But I can tell you what is working for me (FWIW). I have around 10 pedals on my board, but lately I am using just clean to very light overdrive sounds. What is almost always on is an EQ pedal, a compressor set up more as a boost, and a Timmy set to a very light overdrive. I run them into a dual mono rig consisting of a Fender Vibrolux Reverb and Supro Keeley Custom 12 amps. I set the amp volumes low and adjust pedal volumes instead. I have found that a lot of drive pedals sound like crap unless you can get some volume out of them. So if it comes to having to either turn down amps or pedals that’s an easy choice for me.