Question about distortion pedals

Wahwahcello · #1 03-17-2007, 01:46 AM

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and I have a question about distortion pedals and cellos... I know, cellos aren't basses of course, but the cello forums that I usually use don't really deal with this sort of thing, they mostly deal in classical music. I hope I'm posting in the right forum - my apologies if I am not!

I want to know if it is possible to use a Danelectro Fab Distortion pedal on a cello? (and to have it sound good?) As far as I can tell Danelectro doesn't make pedals specifically for bass (my cello will be hooked up to a bass guitar amp) but I read on another thread that sometimes ordinary guitar pedals don't work as well with bass instruments, so I was just wondering.

Thanks!
Emma

Trevorus · #2 03-17-2007, 01:48 AM

It's very hard to do this with much success because your cello will pick up amplified signals and feedback very easily. Distortion will amplify this in a very big way. Sometimes to be completely unusable.

Wahwahcello · #3 03-17-2007, 02:02 AM

I forgot to mention that the cello is acoustic, if that makes any difference.

Rasputina, who play on cellos, use this distortion pedal with success, I was just wondering if there was any special pedal I was unaware of. However they use double bass amps - does that make a difference?

Trevorus · #4 03-17-2007, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahwahcello

I forgot to mention that the cello is acoustic, if that makes any difference.

Rasputina, who play on cellos, use this distortion pedal with success, I was just wondering if there was any special pedal I was unaware of. However they use double bass amps - does that make a difference?

Well, it depends a lot on the instrument, pickup placement on the instrument, and amp setup. It is sometimes possible to reverse the phase of the amplified signal in order to cut down on feedback, but that would require a box to do such things, such as an acoustic instrument preamp.

I'd give it a shot, for sure. I played an electric/acoustic mandolin through a Marshall full stack one time. ed back like crazy, but sounded cool when played!

Wahwahcello · #5 03-17-2007, 02:13 AM

I'm very new to all this equipment, I'm trying to get by with second hand stuff if I can, and it's also sort of difficult because the music stores where I am don't typically amp/distort acoustic cellos.

For the pickup I was thinking of this http://cgi.ebay.com/ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-...QQcmdZViewItem however another piezo is added. They're squeezed into the slots of the cello bridge. Then I was thinking of the Danelectro pedal and possibly a Boss Mt-2, and for the amp I was thinking of using a Drive CD300b bass amp. I'm not sure how good that amp is, I've never used amps, but I can get it second hand which is why I am considering it...

Trevorus · #6 03-17-2007, 02:16 AM

I would look for less distortion of you are looking at such an arrangement. I see nothing but loud feedback in your future.

Wahwahcello · #7 03-17-2007, 02:17 AM

How could I reduce the feedback?

Trevorus · #8 03-17-2007, 02:25 AM

I edited my previous post. I mis-stated. Reversing the polarity of the signal from your cello can help. Also, facing the amp away from you will also help some, but lower notes tend to be less directional, so they may feedback on your cello no matter what.

Wahwahcello · #9 03-17-2007, 02:30 AM

What is/how do I reverse the polarity of the signal from my cello?

Johnny L · #10 03-17-2007, 09:09 AM

I got to hear a cellist (Howard something? Henderson? can't remember the name) perform The Star Spangled Banner a la Jimi Hendrix. It was all acoustic, but it was a surprisingly faithful rendition of Hendrix's version at Woodstock.

With the bow, there's a little grind already in the sound. Depending on what you're doing with the bow (i.e., weight, speed, placement), you can get a little more or a little less grind.

Personally, I'd experiment with that and not worry so much about a distortion pedal (I play around with other pedals though)...unless your kicking it in when you're doing pizz. In that case, don't forget to dampen the adjacent strings because they're gonna vibrate sympathetically and give you an illusion of feedback and other unwanted noises...and with the bow, it's even more difficult to resolve! You could try a cloth or something perhaps stuck near the nut?

Few, if any, rock guitarists using distortion effects let adjacent strings vibrate freely except to make divebomb noises and such. Their palms rest on the unplucked strings, and sometimes they also rest on the plucked string to dampen it and get a little more percussive effect.

Wahwahcello · #11 03-17-2007, 11:34 PM

That is interesting about the vibrating strings, I didn't think about that. There is so much equipment and so much to think about for guitarists!

I'd still like to experiment with distortion.. I know it can be done, I've seen it, I just don't know the exact pick ups or amps used. I'd like to go for some heavy distortion, and I don't want to have to grind my bow into the strings to do it - I don't want to damage either and I can't afford to keep having my bow rehaired or replacing the strings... it's too expensive to do on a regular basis. It seems like it will probably be a matter of experimentation.. I have asked a few different people about this and nothing really conclusive has turned up........... but everything helps! So if there are any more suggestions I'd love to hear them..

ntula · #12 02-02-2011, 02:15 AM

hmm, for the most part, you want to start with a good bridge transducer. if you use a cheap body mount one, you will probably get feedback.

then get a bass amp, a good one.

to get a sound like raputina, start with a good tube amp. melora used to use an swr red.

next you can try to overdrive the tubes. the best sound you will get will be using a second tube device like a distortion/overdrive pedal or channel strip in front of or on a side chain.

the tube distortion will work well with the cello.

now if you really want to cut through on parts, you want a "metal" type one that has some sort of EQ capacity. the boss metal zone pedal is a good pick here.

Plays_For_Dog · #13 02-02-2011, 02:45 AM

Check this out-

http://www.youtube.com/user/meytalll...31/t5C3FM0TR6M

The youtube page belongs to the drummer (she's soooooo hot!!!!!) but she also has a Facebook account. Maybe you could add her and ask her to get you the info on what the strings in her band use. Good luck!

iiipopes · #14 02-02-2011, 06:51 AM

What kind of a fuzz or distortion tone are you looking for? Marshall overdrive? Arbiter fuzz-face style grind? Complete Electro-harmonix washout? The bottom line is you can use anything, but all will have limitations. Starting with a bridge transducer and buffered preamp is a good start. You might even take your rig down to a local Guitar Center store and try out the different pedals. They might even get a kick out of your bringing in something besides the guitar-of-the-day. The two most common makers of stompboxes are Boss and DOD, and most larger stores will have a display so you can try them out. And there are some dedicated bass pedals that do a fairly good job. But be careful -- once you start down the stompbox road, then it's not just distortion, but then it's flavors of fuzz, phasing, flanging, chorus pedals so you sound like a whole section instead of just one instrument, multi-pedals, delay/echo/slapback, wah, and... Good luck!

Here's the irony of your situation: for a lot of guitar players, they play the preamp saturation/compression game in order to get more of a "violin" or "string" tone to their overdriven lead tone!

JT Bass · #15 02-03-2011, 03:39 PM

Thread is pretty old, but since it's here, who played cello with Les Claypool last year? Great sound - mainly like a synth but cooler. Lots of effects on the cello.

I saw this show:

http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=3267

Edit, by the way, that's a great site there for some live music. Listen to Les cover Spirit of the Radio. And you can download a bunch of stuff.

I'm not affiliated in any way, just came across it when searching for the name of the cello player.

BassBrass · #16 02-03-2011, 03:52 PM

I've seen electrified cello players use a Fishman parametric EQ to take out freq that don't sound right (usually upper mids) or cause feedback.
I opened for Rasputina a couple of times and was really impressed...huge rep., they could play all night...they had matching amps in matching flight cases. They did not "hang out" backstage and waste energy...showing the maturity of a long time road band.

A band around Boston a few years back was Flutter Effect; they had a cello instead of bass (and elec midi marimba for keyboard). Someone who does what you want to do will know...