Gigging FXless

Almost Enough · 09-11-2009, 01:54 PM

Anybody try it?

One of the pedals in my chain took a dive last night at practice and I couldn't figure out which one it was, so I proceeded to use only delay for the rest of the night. I used the amp as a single channel, with quite a bit of overdrive and I worked the volume knob.

It was very liberating. For serious. I love having a whole palette of tones to choose from with the tap of a foot, but it just makes you feel like a real guitarist when you rely less and less on the stompboxes.

(That said, I still am GASing for some new EHX fx that came out. Being broke is the cure, though.)

Does anybody else do this on occasion?

**akaukal** · 09-11-2009, 02:05 PM

My OneSpot died on me one at one of my band's shows. It totally sucked because I use a lot of delay and compression live. So I plugged straight into my YCV40, used the footswitch between the two channels, worked the volume knob for some parts. In really delay heavy songs, I just jacked the reverb and it sounded quite good.

**Rainer.** · 09-11-2009, 02:17 PM

If I have a delay, then I'm good to go.

RubberChipmunk · 09-11-2009, 03:05 PM

I've run straight up guitar into amp for years. its only recently that I started branching out into effects, and even still, I'm more comfortable with them the less I use.

Micahb · 09-11-2009, 03:27 PM

All the time! I've got a pretty big pedal board to play with and record but I don't bring it out.
Just my Diamond J-Drive, and sometimes the compressor. but I wouldn't count that as and effect.

metropolis4 · 09-11-2009, 03:40 PM

I love doing this when I can. When I was doing classic rock and country gigs I would often not use any pedals, and a one channel amp. I know what you mean about it being liberating as a guitarist.

it sort of reminds me of this: back in high school I had a friend who was taking a photography class. One of his assignments was to sit in his bathroom with the door closed and take a whole roll of film. The idea was to focus on composition and what was around you. I think thats what limiting our gear helps us do as guitarists. Sure, it's not something we do every time. But if we do it once in a while it forces us to stop thinking about the effects and our tone and put more thought into composition and note choices. I think it's a great thing to do to grow as a player.

**bread man** · 09-11-2009, 06:54 PM

It's definitely good to do this. I always do it when I play in morning services, rehearsals and children's services at my church. Pedals are fun too though!

Griffin · 09-13-2009, 12:38 AM

Back in the first band I was in, my power supply on my board stopped working right in the middle of a song and panic set in. After the panic died down a little I grabbed my cable and stuck it in my amp. I was freaked out to be without my effects for a few songs. It took a little while to get used to.

Almost Enough · 09-13-2009, 02:46 PM

Well, I just got done doing my first set of church services with just a single channel and a delay pedal. I got more compliments on my tone from musicians than I had in a long time. It actually made me more creative and less stressed on tweaking. I'm considering doing this for a few more weeks...

**thesteve** · 09-13-2009, 03:27 PM

I haven't done this in a long time, but I definitely do recall what you guys are talking about. I get the same feeling playing acoustic sometimes.

S.B.Nichols · 09-13-2009, 03:37 PM

My acoustic board is actually bigger than my electric board. If I can, I go fx-less. If I take one pedal with me, its a boost. If I take two, it's a boost and a delay. My acoustic board has an EQ, BBE preamp, chorus, and delay.

danielcrowe86 · 09-13-2009, 11:49 PM

Pedals = security blanket in front of me :-P

That said....I'm trying to decrease my pedal usage although I'm a pretty heavy delays user...

Almost Enough · 09-14-2009, 12:34 AM

Delays a tough one to ditch in a church scene if you're playing contemporary worship music, though. There's a lot of syncopated u2 type stuff that's hard to replace with a non delay setup.

I wish my acoustic board could be that big...normally it just consists of a tuner and an eq, since I have no on board eq system on my guitar.

I don't know if I'd call my pedals a security blanket as much as I would have called it versatility. You've got to realize, though, that sometimes black and white photos are better than color... Just the same with effects.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 09-14-2009, 03:28 PM

How are pedals a crutch/security blanket?

Unless you are really murking up the sound to the point of uninteligibility, I really seem to find they tend to make mistakes more apparent for me...

Seriously, I typically use a delay and maybe an overdrive or 2, and boosts to taste...

(Not using anything for like a month though, busted finger.)

Gibson SG · 09-16-2009, 01:11 AM

I have a reasonably large effect setup, but a lot of my tone is guitar - amp. I have a compressor on quite a bit, but us an old single channel amp, so i have OD pedals to change things up a little. Barely use the chorus, occasionally use delay, almost never use wah. I have a gig this weekend where I'm thinking about breaking the board down and going with just a tuner, Tube Screamer and compressor, but it's gonna depend on our final set list.