Which effects rout to go?

SOTC1987 · 05-07-2009, 11:10 AM

Hey there, complete effects newbie here. I just got an amp that has some effects built in. I'm wondering if I should get the footswitch for it and use the effects on the amp or go with individual pedals. I would assume pedals will be a little more versatile (and higher quality) than amp presets (but then again I know next to nothing about this stuff... yet). At this point it'll be a little while before I purchase anything, but I'd appreciate some direction from you seasoned players.

I'm using this for worship team and my rig is: Godin Freeway > Korg PB > VOX VT30 (mic'd) > PA.

- Nate

**thesteve** · 05-07-2009, 11:30 AM

I'd probably use a combination of both. Use what effects on the amp you think will work for your needs, and go with pedals for everything else. When I had a Vox AD50vt, I used the amp itself for overdrive/distortion and I used the reverb in the effects section. I would have used singles for everything else had I needed them.

pooleman0 · 05-07-2009, 06:48 PM

For now I would just use the effects in your amp. Try them all and see what you really like. You should also take YOUR guitar and YOUR amp to your local music store and try out different pedals. Always use your own stuff when trying out accessories. I prefer strictly analog pedals and not many of them. The best sound will come from skilled playing, not effects. So practice, practice, practice. I personally use all my effects in front of the amp, nothing in the effects loop. And have recently removed many pedals from my board. My effects chain is

STRAT>OVERDRIVE>OVERDRIVE>CHORUS/FLANGER>REVERB>DELAY>BOOST

The boost pedal I leave tucked behind the amp and have an A/B switch I made right before the overdrive so I can cut the signal and send it to my tuner. I removed my Wah, a few fuzzes, a distortion because I didn't really use them in worship enough to warrant lugging them around on my board all the time. Keeping it simple is best in worship on Sunday morning IMHO.

God Bless

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 05-07-2009, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooleman0

For now I would just use the effects in your amp. Try them all and see what you really like. You should also take YOUR guitar and YOUR amp to your local music store and try out different pedals. Always use your own stuff when trying out accessories. I prefer strictly analog pedals and not many of them. The best sound will come from skilled playing, not effects. So practice, practice, practice. I personally use all my effects in front of the amp, nothing in the effects loop. And have recently removed many pedals from my board. My effects chain is

STRAT>OVERDRIVE>OVERDRIVE>CHORUS/FLANGER>REVERB>DELAY>BOOST

The boost pedal I leave tucked behind the amp and have an A/B switch I made right before the overdrive so I can cut the signal and send it to my tuner. I removed my Wah, a few fuzzes, a distortion because I didn't really use them in worship enough to warrant lugging them around on my board all the time. Keeping it simple is best in worship on Sunday morning IMHO.

God Bless

Boost last seems really strange to me. I am curious as to why you do it that way?

**thesteve** · 05-07-2009, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billgamesh

Boost last seems really strange to me. I am curious as to why you do it that way?

I actually run my boost at the very end as well. That way I can take my signal chain and boost the volume of it before it hits the amp. I do this because sometimes I want to take my rhythm distortion sound and give it an extra volume kick for leads. If I keep the boost before the dirt pedals, all I end up with is a hotter signal hitting the front of the dirt box and getting compressed in the gain stages.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 05-07-2009, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

I actually run my boost at the very end as well. That way I can take my signal chain and boost the volume of it before it hits the amp. I do this because sometimes I want to take my rhythm distortion sound and give it an extra volume kick for leads. If I keep the boost before the dirt pedals, all I end up with is a hotter signal hitting the front of the dirt box and getting compressed in the gain stages.

odd, I use it either alone or to goose a low gain OD pedal. My guess is I do it that way because my first boost was a germanium rangemaster which quite dislikes being second to anything in the chain.

Interesting.

pooleman0 · 05-08-2009, 12:20 PM

I run my boost last because I seem to suffer some tone loss after my pedal board. Some of the brighter chimeyness is lost. So I place my boost in the amp cavity and leave it on all the time. It runs on 18V and gives my strat it's original tone back plus a little extra "body". With out the boost the long cable robs me of tone. But with the boost last in the signal path all of my Strat's bright creamy deliciousness is restored.

SOTC1987 · 05-12-2009, 08:37 AM

Thanks guys, I'm gonna keep noodling with the amps settings and see what I like. Definitely going to be getting a distortion or overdrive pedal though since the amp doesn't have either of those options for the clean amp models I like.