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A Tale of Two Boards

Jared Lash

Jared Lash

Born under punches
Aug 21, 2006
15,588
5,157
Denver, CO
#1
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I'm not sure if I'm Charles Darnay or Syndey Carton (and even trying to pin that down is stretching a bad analogy way too far), but the time has come for me to set up two boards.

I didn't want to derail the Post Your Pedalboard thread too much so I figured I'd start a new thread.

I've thought about it, but I've never seriously considered setting up two separate pedalboards. It always seemed a bit wasteful, especially if I could cover all my bases with one board. And for a while I did. Here's my last "finished" board:

pedalboard1.gif


But then I tried to start an electronica themed project that required specific pedals. An OC-2, a gated fuzz and the Moog LPF were musts. Since I also used them in my dub band, it wasn't a big deal. But with that project falling apart I was left with a fun pedalboard but one which wasn't really practical for any of my gigs:

pitchfactor.gif


Even after some changes it didn't really work for me:
PT2.gif


The stuff I use for dub and the stuff I use for my other gigs just doesn't overlap. And the cool electronica sounds I could make were really just for bedroom playing as I don't really get to use them live. So what to do?
 
#2
Part II

So I'm building two boards. One solely for dub stuff and one "general purpose" board.

Here are the pedals I currently have:

Boss OC-2 (?)
Korg Pitchblack (2)
Barge VB-jr (1)
Moog Low Pass Filter (1)
Chunk Brown Dog (2)
Chunk 00Funk (2)
Catalinbread Heliotrope (?)
Maxon PH-350 (2)
EBS TremoLo (for sale but may keep it) (2)
EHX XO Bass Micro Synth (1)
Akai Deep Impact (1)
Akai Headrush E2 (2)
DOD FX25 (1)
Roland EV-5 expression pedal (?)

The ones marked with a (1) are slated for my dub board. The ones with a (2) are on the general board. But both need an octave. I'd really love a Mu-Tron Octave Divider for dub but don't want to shell out for one. I think I'll end up buying a second OC-2 but I'm loathe to do it. I've also got a compressor and Holy Fire incoming for the dub board.

Some questions I still have to answer:

Is there any modulation that works well with sub bass? Trem, reverb and delay maybe, but chorus, phaser and flanger seem to disappear. So what should I add to the dub board?

I was thinking a delay like a Carbon Copy, but I'm not sure it has the headroom. Whatever it is will have to be small.

Should I keep both the BMS and Deep Impact?

Any thoughts?
 
#3
depending on the gig, put what you need on your one board. it might get annoying after a while, but, if you do it for a while youll see wich pedals need to stay and wich need to go. or, youll see weather or not you need two boards, if you see yourself using two distinct setups, rather than just picking a few pedals for the night.

on another note, do you still have all 3 chunk pedals? how does 00funk+brown dog compare to synth sounds on octavius?
 
#4
groooooove said:
depending on the gig, put what you need on your one board. it might get annoying after a while, but, if you do it for a while youll see wich pedals need to stay and wich need to go. or, youll see weather or not you need two boards, if you see yourself using two distinct setups, rather than just picking a few pedals for the night.

on another note, do you still have all 3 chunk pedals? how does 00funk+brown dog compare to synth sounds on octavius?
Click to expand...

You're kind of hitting on what I've been doing lately and want to get away from. If you notice, my last "board" isn't even wired up. Lately I've just been throwing a couple pedals in a gig bag and going. Each of my gigs (two regular and a few semi-regular to occasional) only require a few pedals each. But I do think with a dedicated "dub" board I could put all the other pedals I use on one "utility" board and have it work fine.

But I'm definitely tired of grabbing pedals individually for practice or gigs.

As for the Chunk pedals my OS is now on the other side of the Atlantic. But yes, if you add an octaver you can get the same synth sounds as the Squeezer out of the Brown Dog and 00Funk. What you lose (besides things like the metronome, tuner, presets etc) are the little extras like portamento, ASDR control, beat locked effects, different waveforms etc. But just in term of basic synth sounds - yeah, you get the same thing.
 
#5
Wrong book, but you could be Percy Blakeney and go back to the island of misfit pedals and smuggle them out and onto your main board, unnoticed, while pretending you are ignorant of the whole proceeding. :smug:

On topic: I'm not precisely educated as to how the Octave Divider is different from the OC-2, or any other similar synthy soloed octave pedals, though I don't doubt that you are well aware of how you would implement it versus how you currently employ the OC-2.

As for the delay, you've played with the MD3 previously, yeah? Do you specifically require the analog warmth/modulation that the Carbon Copy provides?

I feel like a peasant instructing the Seraphim choir on singing. :D
 
#6
FreaqyFrequency said:
On topic: I'm not precisely educated as to how the Octave Divider is different from the OC-2, or any other similar synthy soloed octave pedals, though I don't doubt that you are well aware of how you would implement it versus how you currently employ the OC-2.
Click to expand...

The Mu-Tron is much more organic and has this big, fat, rubbery sound that I just dig. The soloed octave is better for dub IMO, though the OC-2 is my second favorite. Plus the Mu-Tron has the Green Ringer circuit for adding that gritty but not too overbearing octave up/dirty ring mod sound. It's just a great octave pedal. But the OC-2 is tremendous for funk, fretless and electronica with the 1oct soloed.

FreaqyFrequency said:
As for the delay, you've played with the MD3 previously, yeah? Do you specifically require the analog warmth/modulation that the Carbon Copy provides?

I feel like a peasant instructing the Seraphim choir on singing. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've tried the MD3 and the MDm5
guyatone.gif


I like analog delays, but with the sub bass sounds I just worry that they'll be way too muddy. So maybe digital is the way to go. But whatever modulation I use (delay or otherwise) is going to have to be pretty small to fit. And the big concern for me is headroom. I'm going to be slamming it pretty hard with deep lows and don't want a bunch of artifacts. Not to mention, most modulation is just unnoticeable with lowpassed bass. I love phaser, but so far they've all been barely audible in this context. Using it in a band mix with this board would be pointless.

This whole thread is mostly just me thinking aloud, but I really appreciate having people to bounce ideas off so thanks.
 
#7
You've tried a Psilocybe before, right? That pedal always cut through for me, and with Switch 1 set to... one side or the other (who knows which, after 3 years I still can't remember) it does that deep warble thing, maybe that could work.
 
#8
TheBigO said:
Should I keep both the BMS and Deep Impact?

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Sell me the BMS - you can can sent it with AF-9 - then you'll have one less pedalboard conundrum ;)


I'm going a similar way i.e. two boards: a small, portable board with my most commonly used pedals; and a large, electronica-style board with fun, synthy pedals.

I don't want to have to drag a big board around and, like you, I would just pull a couple of pedals off on my way out the door. I'm diggin' the PT Jr but a mini would be too small.

The big board won't be ready for another few weeks but I'll post the pics here, provided I remember. The the trick is going to be getting both boards to play nicely. I think I'll put the big board in a loop off the small board with certain pedals on the big board isolated using another looper.
 
#10
BigO- I'd recommend keeping an eye out for a DOD Octoplus, if you haven't tried one out. I just picked one up recently for $25 and it sounds great. Somewhere between a BMS and an OC-2.. i guess. It tracks very well, and its a bit more substantial in the lowest register- a little bassier than the OC-2. It sounds great under the LPF, and it beats buying anotherOC-2 :p

What are you using the Deep Impact for in the dub project- what kinds of sounds? How are you liking it so far?
 
#11
nad said:
You've tried a Psilocybe before, right? That pedal always cut through for me, and with Switch 1 set to... one side or the other (who knows which, after 3 years I still can't remember) it does that deep warble thing, maybe that could work.
Click to expand...

Maybe. I was really hoping to use a phaser to help get a tone like Dennis Brown's "Promised Land". But with the bass heavy tone I'll be using, the Maxon PH-350 isn't cutting it - which I suspected would be the case. It sounds great, but it's on the subtler side. I can only hear it with the depth cranked and the rate and resonance up high. But then it just sounds like a weak trem or vibe. Chorus (via the PS-3) doesn't fare much better. Maybe a super deep phaser like the Maestro stage would work. Don't know about the HBE.

whoatherechunk said:
with lots of pedals perhaps a boss ls-2 would make for interesting combos. i'm in the same boat i just need more cash for cables and another pedalboard :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, no doubt I'm going to lose cool combos. But it's not practical to have a giant board where I only use a few pedals for each gig just so I can have a more fun board to play around with at home. :(

fightthepower said:
BigO- I'd recommend keeping an eye out for a DOD Octoplus, if you haven't tried one out. I just picked one up recently for $25 and it sounds great. Somewhere between a BMS and an OC-2.. i guess. It tracks very well, and its a bit more substantial in the lowest register- a little bassier than the OC-2. It sounds great under the LPF, and it beats buying anotherOC-2 :p

What are you using the Deep Impact for in the dub project- what kinds of sounds? How are you liking it so far?
Click to expand...

I want the Deep Impact for keyboard sounding synth parts, like in classic dub records. I can't tell you how I'm liking it so far because I've missed the UPS guy twice. I'll have a report soon.

I've actually never tried the Octoplus. How is it blended with the dry and with the 1oct soloed? I love the Mu-Tron for that funky, rubbery tone but I don't want to shell out for one.
 
#12
Lindsay said:
I'm going a similar way i.e. two boards: a small, portable board with my most commonly used pedals; and a large, electronica-style board with fun, synthy pedals.

I don't want to have to drag a big board around and, like you, I would just pull a couple of pedals off on my way out the door. I'm diggin' the PT Jr but a mini would be too small.

The big board won't be ready for another few weeks but I'll post the pics here, provided I remember. The the trick is going to be getting both boards to play nicely. I think I'll put the big board in a loop off the small board with certain pedals on the big board isolated using another looper.
Click to expand...

I dig your small board. A great funk board with all the essentials covered. I did find that the PH-3 cut lows and it has a very digital/plastic sound to it but that works well for funk and synthy combos.

The thing for me is that if I go this route it won't be a little board that connects to another to form a giant board when needed. They'd be completely separate and used for different things all together.

Side question for you (or any other Deep Impact owners): How is the octave down on the AKAI. My dub board is going to be pretty tight with some big pedals and I'm wondering if I can get away with it being my octaver on that board. Then I could move the OC-2 over to my "utility" board and not have to worry about buying a second octaver.
 
#13
I returned mine because it was defective (noise issues) but does anyone know what kind of headroom the Carbon Copy has?

I really dug it's tone but I worry that hitting it with big sub lows will (1) clip it out/produce artifacts and (2) give echos that are just too muddy.

Anybody that detunes or uses a low pass filter with a delay have any suggestions for a compact unit?
 
#15
I was just thinking about making two boards. I only use 3-4 pedals with my band, I'm eying a couple more pedals but I don't want to carry a big board to practice etc. I've only got 6 right now but I think I might be wanting more soon.
 
#16
joeinsprings said:
It gets muddy from what I remember.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you're right. I love analog delay playing on my own (or if I've got a very bright tone) but flats through a LPF into an analog delay is probably just going to be a mess.

I was playing around last night with sub bass into the PS-3 setup as a delay and it sounded great. The Boss is very digital and cold (I remember someone here saying it was the "harshest" delay they'd used) but with those big fat lows it sounds plenty warm to me. So I think I have to go digital.

But the PS-3 itself won't work. First it would seem a waste to use it just as a delay, and secondly I absolutely love it as a chorus when playing fretless. So it's going on the second board.
 
#17
Well, it's a start.

Utility board:

utilityboard.gif


Some extra room. So either I can add another couple pedals, or go with a smaller Pedaltrain. I'm not sure what I would add if I got more pedals. An overdrive maybe?

Dub Board:

dubboard.gif


All but one of the pieces of paper represent pedals I've already bought (or own - one is getting repaired) but the question mark is an open spot. I'd like to add some kind of modulation. Probably delay, but as I said it will probably have to be digital.

And the OC-2 is currently in both pictures so that needs to be resolved.

Thoughts?
 
#18
TheBigO said:
I returned mine because it was defective (noise issues) but does anyone know what kind of headroom the Carbon Copy has?

I really dug it's tone but I worry that hitting it with big sub lows will (1) clip it out/produce artifacts and (2) give echos that are just too muddy.

Anybody that detunes or uses a low pass filter with a delay have any suggestions for a compact unit?
Click to expand...
When I had my CC, I noticed that it didn't like hot signals or super sub bass (LPF goodness) as it would sound muddy or be pushed into clipping or feedback. I have a Malekko Echo 600B now and will have to see how it fares. I'll report back with my findings. ;)
 

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