Question:
I'm playing with a Taylor 414ce and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for pedals/whatever that I could use on stage to just improve sound or aid me during worship. I already have an Ernie Ball volume pedal and a Boss chromatic tuner that I run tuner out.
Any suggestions or anything would be rockin'
Dios le bendiga!
-wes
Answer:
a nice transparent compressor might help
check out the t rex comp nova
Answer:
you might look into a compression/sustainer type pedal...and a chorus. generally i've always wanted the acoustic to sound like an acoustic...but a light chorus can give you a 12-string effect...
delays are always fun too.
Answer:
Compressor
Chorus
Delay
all good recommendations
perhaps some OD or preamp to warm up ur tone
Answer:
I also play a Taylor in a worship team and have found that simplicity is key in good acoustic tone. That's not to say that effects are bad in the slightest - just use them wisely/sparingly.
I've tried many different effects with my Taylor and have found just like most everybody else has said, that chorus, some slight delays, and lastly: compression are about the only truly "useful" effects that don't compromise an acoustic's tone that much.
Effects units I've tried for chorus:
Line 6 MM4. It's a great unit with tons of flexibility, but does have a volume drop when you turn it on. The effects themselves aren't bad by any means, but aren't "great" in that respect either. The Boss CE-5 is the best chorus pedal I've used so far, although I hear absolutely glowing reports about the Analogman Clone Chorus.
Delay: Danelectro Dan-Echo. It's a very VERY nice delay pedal that's very warm and "analog" sounding. There's a toggle switch to switch between short and long repeats, and several different controls for adjusting the repeats themselves. Very nice unit. Ugly color, but nice and affordable. The Line 6 DL4 is what I play through now. The addition of tap-tempo is simply a God-send and I'd have it no other way now. It's a pricy pedal, but worth the money to me.
Compression: Here's where it gets kind of tricky. You can get by on budget chorus pedals and budget delays, but you really can't get by on budget compressors. They either rock or suck. Few rock. The Boss CS-3 really REALLY kills your tone and I found it very hard to dial in even a useable compression in it. The Marshall ED-1 is true-bypass (big bonus for using with an acoustic), but I could NEVER dial in the attack on it without still leaving this bad delay before the effect kicked in - and kicked in far too noticeably. No smooth transition in the effect. I didn't care for it. If you've checked out effects by Robert Keeley ever (www.robertkeeley.com), don't even THINK of considering his compressor for an acoustic. It chops off lots of treble, has FAR FAR FAR too much compression even at the bare minimum of settings, and is very pricey. For an electric, it's probably amazing, but for an acoustic, it's worse than the Marshall in my opinion. The T-Rex CompNova is a great unit, but is pretty pricey. My personal favorite is the Barber Tone-Press (I'm currently trying to find a used one to RE-purchase right now). It keeps the original tone very very untouched, has a blend knob with which you can blend the original signal with the effected signal, and is cheaper than other botique compressors.
Some people such as worship leader Charlie Hall use a phaser (MXR Phase 100) but stuff like that REALLY needs to be used sparingly. Chorus is generally pretty subtle, but phase is pretty noticeable.
After that, maybe a preamp or something like the L.R. Baggs ParaDI, something by Pre-Sonus, etc., could be helpful for giving you more "warmth" or something like that.
Again though in the midst of all these suggestions, only purchase and use the effects if you can use them wisely.
As for the suggestion of adding some overdrive, I've never heard an acoustic with overdrive before and can't imagine it sounding all that great. Acoustic tone is meant to be crisp and clean. Adding grit/fuzz into the mix could in theory have some useful practical applications, but I can't imagine something like that being anything that would actually get much serious use in a worship band application at all...
Answer:
What an awesome Post Ryan very helpful
Originally Posted by ryanspeer As for the suggestion of adding some overdrive, I've never heard an acoustic with overdrive before and can't imagine it sounding all that great. Acoustic tone is meant to be crisp and clean. Adding grit/fuzz into the mix could in theory have some useful practical applications, but I can't imagine something like that being anything that would actually get much serious use in a worship band application at all...
as for the OD thing, at times i have found the beauty of my acoustic guitar not coming out of the PA or amp that i was playing through, for various reasons, using my GT5 on either a custom OD or a natural OD setting, i was able to alter my tone to where i was happy, or if there was a case i was happy to make it even better.
There have been some times in worship, particularly when things go in the open worship, playing in the spirit or prophetic times, that a grittier edge to the acoustic with OD was exactly was needed at the time. Generally however i would never seek to dirty up my acoustic sound, thats what electrics are for.
Answer:
Get an Avalon U5 preamp. Shane & Shane both use those. They also use a looper/phrase sampler like the Boomerang in some really creative ways.
Answer:
has anyone tried the Aphex Acoustic XCITER? Would this be a good pedal for acoustics?
I saw it advertised in the expensive acoustic room at Guitar Center.
Answer:
Originally Posted by SqshdPanda has anyone tried the Aphex Acoustic XCITER? Would this be a good pedal for acoustics?
I saw it advertised in the expensive acoustic room at Guitar Center.
Someone I know has that pedal. Its kind of hard to explain what it does. It increases the "acoustic" tone, giving your guitar a "sparkle." Really hard to explain. Its not really necessary, but if you have one, use it.
Answer:
A boss dd3?
Answer:
The set-up I would like to use one day for acoustic would basically involve a Korg DTR-1000, Line 6 DL-4 (for looping), and a Pendulum acoustic pre-amp. David Crowder and a bunch of other people use that pre-amp and they have a very good live tone.