Pedalboard design

[AndrewMagrini]

Just received my Pedaltrain PT-JR board the other week to start compiling things. I've been reading up on here quite a bit and I've come up with and idea for a studio board, and I'm wondering if I can get some suggestions about it.

I currently only have my EB Volume Pedal and Demeter Compulator on there. I asked for birthday/Christmas both a EHX Knockout and Voodoo Labs PP 2+. With money and time I hope to get the following:

Radial J48 DI
Radial BigShot AB-Y switcher
Korg Tuner (not sure which yet)
EBS MultiComp
EHX Nano Small Stone
(Some sort of mild distortion/muff/OD)

...Now, my evil plan is to run the VP right into the BigShot AB-Y, splitting the signal between the effects > Amp and DI > Board. Since I have a smaller board I'm going to mount the Voodoo offset underneath the board, and velcro the J48 in the vacant space next to it.

I've not seen something like this yet by anyone on here, so I was wondering if this is a sound idea. Also, since this is my first board, if anyone has any other pedal suggestions I'm more than open! I don't really do that much crazy stuff but I'm always looking for something smooth and sweet to add on!

Cheers,
Mags

 

[thefruitfarmer]

Meh.....;-)

Can you post up a flow diagram?

That Radial Big shot will split the signal - You can have main out only or main out plus out 2, leaving you loop 1...

How were you thinking of using it?

 

[AndrewMagrini]

I'll draw something up in a little bit, but I wasn't going to use the BigShot EFX, I'm planning on using the AB-Y. It can split the signal into two just the same as the EFX (with buffers and grounding things on the B line of the signal), but it also allows you to run both signals at the same time (one straight DI-to-board, one effects into mic'd amp).

 

[AndrewMagrini]

Heres a tentative idea (the dimensions are horrible, but its to give perspective)

The red line is leading out of the A Out lead right to the Radial J48 I'll have velcro'd to the underside of the board. There is a lot of free space on the board where I have it in that image, I was thinking of adding an additional EQ pedal into that signal before it hits the DI.

The blue line is the regular signal chain leading to my amp via various pedals. Again, I just threw those on there to show they will be different.

The concept lets me use both signals when live or in the studio, and also works as a failsafe (in case something goes wrong in the effects chain, with the press of a footswitch I can go full-signal into the DI )

 

[thefruitfarmer]

That seems like a solid idea.

You're splitting the signal so one side of the split is dry and the other side is going through your effects. This is a valid recording technique so you can play "to" the effects and record that sound, then if you want to change that sound you have the clean signal recorded to re-amp and replace or mix in with the wet sound.....

I'm not sure of your pedal order. The EBS compressor may cancel out the use of that volume pedal - if you want to use the volume pedal to go louder every now and then the compressor could absorb the volume increase.

The perceived wisdom with buying pedals is to get one at a time and spend a while exploiting it to its full capacity. Too many pedals, especially if they are all new to you, can become confusing.

 

[AndrewMagrini]

Very good point on pedal purchasing...And I had a brain fart on the EBS part, I meant their MultiDrive OD pedal. Thanks for the advice!

Does anyone else have suggestions? Any sort of fuzz or delay pedals? I know a lot of people have their personal suggestions ^_^

 

[isher1992]

Okay, here's what the most basic thing is:

Put ANY Pitch Shifter (POG, Whammy) or Envelope Filter/Filter (Wahs and Synth Wahs, such as CryBaby or BaseBalls) first. if you have both, put the Pitch Shifter before everything, so you get a completely clean signal running through it and it can track properly.

In my experience, unless you want a harsh frequency range, it works best to put a distortion immediately after a wah pedal if you have one.
Also, it's good to put Chorus after a distortion, because it gives the chorus a lot of saturation. Same with Flanger and Phaser.
It's good to put Compressor's after pitch shifter, but before filter.
Always put noise supressor last. Tuner's first, after Pitch Shifter.

The reason Pitch Shifter is always first, even before compressors and tuners is that pedals, can suck your tone no matter what. But when it gets really bad is when you notice it, so you need a completely clean signal running to those pitch shifters. I'm not sure what half of your pedals do so I'm just taking a guess.

If you throw in a Tremolo, that's where things get messy. If you want a very choppy sound, in your Chorus or Flanger or Phaser, put it after your distortion and before the prior listed. But then again, you can put it after if you want all of your signal choppy. Sometimes it's pretty good to put it before too, it just depends. you really have to experiment with a Tremolo placement to fit your standards.

I hope this helps at all.