Uncommon uses for common effects...

[mexicanyella]

In my guitar past I used a Rat 2, always on, gain low/output high (so I could go from almost-clean to pretty crunchy with changes in picking/plucking intensity. Or by selecting neck single coil vs bridge humbucker.

I didn’t like the high-end fizz component of the Rat signal. One day it occurred to me to try this BBE DI-10 active DI between the Rat and amp.

The DI-10 was designed to accept a line input as normal or to go between head and speaker cab to capture power tube distortion. It had a speaker emulation filter you could switch on (rolling off below 100Hz and above 4 kHz, I think).

Plugging the Rat’s output through the speaker-emulated BBE was super rad. Fizz was gone, replaced by a smooth and grindy top end. I don’t recall noticing a difference in low end; I think the Rat itself attenuated that. But it was a great combination. It even sounded kind of cool recording direct with Rat/BBE.

I’ve used my old DOD FX65 stereo chorus to suggest a Leslie tone before.

 

[Bass4Brkfast]

Hello TB'ers!
Long-time lurker, first-time poster here.
Some of my uses:
Overdrive pedal as a preamp (currently a fulltone fat boost).
EQ pedal with a reversed smile curve to simulate a 'lo-fi' or 'telephone' effect during an intro.
Compressor as boost (Ibanez bp10) stacked into OD for more gain...can get noisy.

Cheers!!

 

[Tommygun_ted]

My band does a cover of metallica's for whom the bell tolls, and my guitarist was always whining that I played the intro too quietly, so now I just hold my wah full out while I play that to add a bit of a boost.

 

[Wito]

I like to use my Broughton Azure Drive (BBO-style OD) with 0 gain as a tone shaper when I'm soloing the bridge pickup. The way it accentuates the midrange and rolls of the high just works for me. It's the only way I can use the bridge pickups now!

It's also cool to use envelope filters as dub-makers. Just adjust the sensitivity to the minimum, so that the filter never opens, and bum! Instant low-end machine!

 

[zontar]

EQ: Sometimes to mimic a light overdrive by enhancing certain frequencies... also to enhance other effects... sometimes, to soften (or enhance) the sound of my fingers (naturally, this can help with pick players, as well)… EQ 'might' be one of THE most powerful 'effects' a musician could employ.

I remember when I was in high school hearing another guitar player get some great overdrive from an EQ on a guitar--part of the reason I wanted one--and use one (Especially since I got a used Dano Fish n Chips for almost nothing)
It works with bass as well.
I can also get overdrive from my autowah.

And using an echo with a stereo output, & placing an overdrive or distortion pedal after one output & not the other, you can have a clean sound with a distorted echo or distorted tone with a clean echo--both of which sound cool.

 

[Dreig]

I use octaver instead of drop tuning because I hate how drop tuned strings feel

Does that count?

 

[WasabiChicken]

I use mi boss CS-2 as boost

Similar story here. I found that my Darkglass pedal responds really well to a boosted input, so I use my Boss BC-1X as a boost when I want a little extra.

With all knobs at max, it produces a heavily clipped synth-like sound reminiscent of tones from Muse. I think it's a neat little trick.

 

[BassBrass]

Using a Behringer ultra vibrato I made a vocal sound (for the vocalist) like the Dialeks from Dr Who. I hate the bypass on those things but some pedals are just chosen to lead.

 

[Tricaptain]

My band does a cover of metallica's for whom the bell tolls, and my guitarist was always whining that I played the intro too quietly, so now I just hold my wah full out while I play that to add a bit of a boost.

(Dude, TOTALLY! That's kindasorta where EQ plays a serious role in how well an instrument can be heard in a mix... awesome!)

 

[Tricaptain]

I like to use my Broughton Azure Drive (BBO-style OD) with 0 gain as a tone shaper when I'm soloing the bridge pickup. The way it accentuates the midrange and rolls of the high just works for me. It's the only way I can use the bridge pickups now!

It's also cool to use envelope filters as dub-makers. Just adjust the sensitivity to the minimum, so that the filter never opens, and bum! Instant low-end machine!

YA, man! Overdrive is AWESOME for bringing out certain harmonics... and you totally use the envelope filters the same way I do sometimes... make the envelope super-slow so that it doesn't really get a chance to 'open up', and the mega-lows come right through... rock 'n' roll!

 

[Tricaptain]

I use octaver instead of drop tuning because I hate how drop tuned strings feel

Does that count?

That ABSOLUTELY counts! While I have a couple of 5-strings, I really, REALLY just like playing my 4-strings, and do the exact same thing for those few passages that might require something lower than wherever my 'E' string is tuned...

Octave is ALSO really cool for faking a sub-dub, thick low-end sound! The difference between open 'E' with the tone rolled all the way 'off' and 12-fret 'E' with octave down (and VERY little, or no dry signal) is pretty huge, depending on your setup! SUPER, super cool...

 

[40Hz]

Something slightly unusual.

I have a Supro 1310 Tremolo. It’s a superb trem. Especially on the harmonic setting.


Even gives my Catalinbread Pareidolia Harmonic Mesmerizer (how’s that for a pedal name?) a run for its money.

But I didn’t buy it to use as a tremolo. I bought it to get the sound of an overdriven Supro amp.

Per Supro’s description:

“The Supro Tremolo pedal features pre-amp and power amp sections, with an actual output transformer deployed to recreate the magnetic saturation and coloration of the original vacuum tube based effects found in these historic amps. Along with the standard modulation controls for speed and depth, the Supro Tremolo also features a gain circuit that allows the musician to overdrive the output stage, right where the modulation effects are created. The GAIN control sets the amount of “preamp” gain in the pedal. As you turn the gain up, the “power amp” circuit will gradually be pushed into overdrive. This control gives you a wide range of sounds from clean to grind, with magnetic saturation occurring as the power section is pushed into overdrive. As you crank up the gain, the overall output level of the Supro Tremolo is automatically compensated in order to maintain consistent signal level. This allows the musician to use the GAIN control to alter the texture of the modulation effects without an overwhelming increase in audio output level.”
​

Not unlike using an old Echoplex purely for the unique tone of its preamp - which is something I used to do back in my prog rock years when I owned one.

Note: I’ll confess I’m not super big on effects despite (or maybe because) I own a boatload of them. But I am a preamp junkie. And these days I mostly buy preamps or things that can be used as one, along with what I call ‘signal shapers’ such as: EQs, compressors, filters, etc.

There's a Russian company that has a line of really cool tube preamps (the AMT Brick series) that has recently caught my eye and is well worth checking out. Why settle for tge signature sound of one amplifier when you can have a dozen for the price of $200 each for a different preamp? Think modular!

​

 

[brianrost]

Truth is stranger than fiction:

Using a Big Muff as a doorstop.

Using a Fuzz Face to daisy chain two 1/4" cables.

 

[Max Bogosity]

In one of the “Scott’s Bass Lessons” videos he mentions that he’s resting his right foot on an Aguilar pedal, still in its cardboard box, just to elevate his leg and keep the bass from falling out of his lap. So, technically that is a use of an effect, though for a non-sonic purpose.

I’ve occasionally had a pedal velcroed to my board but not plugged in, just to block the cable from accidentally pulling out of the pedal next to it.

 

[zombywoof5050]

For the song "Echoes" by Pink Floyd, David Gilmour hooked up a Wah pedal backwards to get the 'seagull' sounds out of his guitar. There are tutorials online that show how to do it.

 

[mexicanyella]

I let a guy borrow my DOD FX65 stereo chorus once so he could use it to split his guitar signal to two amps (a fizzy thrashtastic SS Crate halfstack and a Fender Musicmaster Bass tube amp). Weird combination but the cranked, middy Fender sound inserted into the scooped death fuzz Crate sound (separate mics and board faders) sounded huge and badass.

The chorus effect wasn’t even switched on.