Early days No Effects....

[Strategery]

Hey Eric...you're right. That is a damn good pedal.

I've played it before and it was an upper end of the RP3 I used to have.

 

I'd hang on to it.

Enjoy!

 

Randy

 

http://www.harmony-central.com/Events/WNAMM96/DigiTech/RP-6.gif

[Mudcat]

My first pedal was an EH Deluxe Electric Mistress Flanger. I actually used it more as a chorus effect and the thing sounded amazing. Unfortunately it had a bad solder joint that I could never get permanently repaired.

 

Next on the list was a DOD analog delay pedal (can't remember the model number, but it was the big blue one that only ran on AC plugged directly into an outlet). Wish I still had it. THe thing sounded great.

 

My first distortion/overdrive pedal was an MXR Distortion+ like the one Neil has pictured above. The thing made my Gretsch sound like a jar full of mosquitos. I kept it for about three months then traded a friend of mine for a DOD 505 Distortion pedal.

 

Things go blurry after that although I still have a sack-full of Boss overdrive, chorus and EQ pedals as well as an MXR Commando series chorus. I almost never use any of them as a usually play plugged directly into my amp or through my Digitech RP100 into a pair of Roland desktop monitor speakers.

 

EDIT: I just remembered the oddist effect I ever owned. It was a Gretsch Expandafuzz. It was your basic fuzz-tone, however in addition to the distortion & volume knobs and footswitch it also had bass, mid and treble tone knobs and each tone knob had its own corresponding on-off footswitch!

 

The basic sound was pretty good but I never got used to the fact that the fuzz sounded like it was layered on top of the original clean signal. I only used the fuzz-tone when we covered "Over, Under, Sideways Down". I tried to use the tone boosts but never came up with a good application for them. I wish I still had this one because of the weird factor. I also assume it would be worth a few bucks as an odd-ball rarity.

 

I found a photo of one:

 

http://filters.muziq.be/files/thumbs/gretsch_expandafuzz_001.jpg

[Chad Thorne]

Hey Eric...you're right. That is a damn good pedal.

I've played it before and it was an upper end of the RP3 I used to have.

 

I'd hang on to it.

Enjoy!

 

Randy

 

http://www.harmony-central.com/Events/WNAMM96/DigiTech/RP-6.gif

 

The other night I got together with a guitar player and drummer I was considering playing with. (My bassist buddy David was there, too.) Guitarist had an RP7 and would not leave the frickin' thing alone. Just about the time I'd play a lick he didn't know, or show him some chords to a song he didn't know, he'd kick on some new 'n improved beer-commercial-approved tone or other. Not to say that everybody who uses a multieffects processor uses it this way, but IME many do. I owned one once and could never get it to make a sound that didn't sound just like everybody and his guitar-playin' dog.

 

Let's just say that multieffects processors are not my cup of tea. I prefer tap-dancing over my various pedals.

[fantasticsound]

My first amp was something called a Little Devil - I can't remember who made it but for a tiny thing it had some kick to it. I followed that with a Peavey Decade and then a Peavey Backstage - yes, I was taking baby steps here...

 

...Randy - I still have my Digitech RP6 that I use frequently. It actually had some poor online reveiws but I always liked it. Has never let me down...

 

Eric

 

I still own a Peavey Decade I bought used in the mid 1980's for $70. It had an intermittent crackling and cut-out of signal. My brother and I opened it up to find a loose wire attached to one of the tone pots. A few minutes with a soldering gun and it was as good as new. (For what that's worth! ) In 1987 I visited my cousins in California and went to Guitar Center for the first time. They had the dual-9v clip for the decade. $10 and my decade was battery power capable! (Still have that too. ) Believe it or not, it works pretty well as a power amp for my multi-effect boxes. I have a Korg Pandora that, before I bought the Fender G-DEC, made for a nice little modeling amp setup with the Decade.

 

As for Digitech multi-effects... I still have my RP-1. Sounds pretty good, but I should've waited until the successive RP stuff. The RP-1 had no treadle capability, either for volume only or programmable. (I'd been jones'n for that capability since playing the Roland GP-8, then the GP-16 a few years earlier. )

 

I also still own the Boss DM-2 analog delay my bro bought in the early 1980's, too. Looks like this pic I found online:

 

http://www.chrisguitars.com/boss-dm2-070315.jpg

 

I also have his MXR Omni. The Omni was a precursor to digital multi-effect rackmount processors. It was really expensive and was obsolete just a few years after its introduction. It never sounded that good, either, but back then we enjoyed it.

 

It needs a lot of work. Probably isn't even worth repairing. Anyone with a penchant for electronic challenges interested in giving it a shot? PM Me.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

I have an RP-6 and when I reprogrammed it to my liking, it was cool for what I needed it to do. Between the four buttons and the bypass, that was all I needed. I agree that most all of the pre-programed effects are over the top, but that is why you have slots to program your own... so that you can put in something that makes alittle more sense. At least, that is what I did. I have a clean sound, a boost with a little more growl, a chorusy rhythm thing, and a wah. Never touch the bank change buttons.

 

Bill

[Mudcat]

... I have a clean sound, a boost with a little more growl, a chorusy rhythm thing, and a wah. Never touch the bank change buttons.

 

Bill

 

This is the same way I use my RP100. I have a different clean tone dialed in for each of my three electrics, a crunchy tone for each of the two 6-string electrics and a couple of variations with echo, tremolo and/or reverb as applicable. Since I only use it to record, I don't need to worry about its limited patch changing capabilities.

 

IMHO Bill's approach is the best way to use a multi-effector. There are usually very few factory presets that are very useful. It's best to set up your own and simplify.

[fantasticsound]

I have an RP-6 and when I reprogrammed it to my liking, it was cool for what I needed it to do. Between the four buttons and the bypass, that was all I needed... ...I have a clean sound, a boost with a little more growl, a chorusy rhythm thing, and a wah. Never touch the bank change buttons.

 

Bill

 

Yeah.. I wish Fender had thought to provide for an included or optional foot pedal for the G-DEC allowing access to the first four user presets. That way you could save your most used sounds to those four locations and have a practice amp that could be mic'd and used for the basic sounds most of us use for most songs in a set.

[Strategery]

Oh yeah, for sure.

 

Even using my ME-50...and all other ALL IN ONE units I've had in the past...I've NEVER used a pre-programmed selection.

 

I like to set up around 7 or 8 USER patches that I would use on a regular basis and then have the ability to turn on or off each individual effect at will.

 

Having Slash or any other guitarist selecting the content of my effect patches just isn't an appealing concept. :grin:

 

Randy

[Mudcat]

Hey Neil - You need to hang out to that Boss DM-2. I know they sell in the $150-$200 price range on Ebay. I really miss the analog delay pedals that Boss & DOD put out in the early 80s.

 

http://www.chrisguitars.com/boss-dm2-070315.jpg

 

 

[fantasticsound]

You've got to be kidding, 'Cat! $150-200! That's more than my antiquated digital delay is worth. Hell, that's more than the RP-1 is worth! I have to sell it right away.

[LPCustom]

My first effect pedal was a Maestro Fuzz pedal, IIRC. That was in 1978, I think. My second pedal (these may be backwards), I got a few weeks after the first one and it was a wah pedal. I think it was a Dunlop but I'm not sure. I just sold that fuzz pedal earlier this year. I ended up giving the wah pedal(s -- I had three of them -- only one still worked) away.

 

I didn't own an overdrive pedal until Ibanez came out with the Tube Screamer. I didn't think I needed one until I heard one of those.

 

[splitting hare]

I also have his MXR Omni. The Omni was a precursor to digital multi-effect rackmount processors. It was really expensive and was obsolete just a few years after its introduction. It never sounded that good, either, but back then we enjoyed it.

 

Someone else has an MXR Omni?!? Here is mine (not the best pic in the world but you get the idea):

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/CHEAPDRUMKAT/DSC02749.jpg

 

It actually still works and is just as noisy as ever! And it sounds like crap, too.

 

Also still functioning is my very first delay:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/CHEAPDRUMKAT/DSC02750.jpg

 

Please ignore the inscription on the side that somebody painted on - that's another story for another day. The band I was in acquired a few items from a local music store and this was one of them. Rumor has it that this delay was owned by Jeff Cook from the band Alabama. But who knows?

 

I still own a Peavey Decade I bought used in the mid 1980's for $70.

 

I don't recall what happened to my Decade. I think I sold it with one of my early guitars. Having a soft spot for smaller amps like this I bought a Peavey Blazer 158 some years ago to replace it with. I don't have that one any more either as I loaned it to a friend who lived in an apartment above a guy who, unbeknownst to either of us, was downstairs cooking meth. One night the building went up in flames and thus, there was the end of the amp, and a lot of other belongings of the residents. So sad. Fortunately no one was hurt and the offender was hauled off to jail - hopefully he is still there.

 

My friend replaced my amp (he really didn't have to - it wasn't his fault) with a little Johnson RepTone 15.

 

Eric

 

 

[splitting hare]

I didn't own an overdrive pedal until Ibanez came out with the Tube Screamer. I didn't think I needed one until I heard one of those.

 

I used to use an Ibanez Sonic Distortion that belonged to another band member years ago. I loved the tone of that thing. Does anyone know how it compares to a Tube Screamer?

[fantasticsound]

My first effect pedal was a Maestro Fuzz pedal, IIRC. That was in 1978, I think...

 

...I didn't own an overdrive pedal until Ibanez came out with the Tube Screamer. I didn't think I needed one until I heard one of those.

 

FYI - The Tube screamer was released in the late 1970's. The original designation, like my Phase Tone, was a (two letter) - (3 digit number) in those early years. (PT-909 for the phase tone, TS-808 for the Tube Screamer.) In the early 1980's they changed the design and the designation to TS10. Was yours a TS10 in the funky, rugged looking metal box/plastic pedal package or the all metal box sold in the late 70's, early 80's with the small, rectangular metal button??

 

Here's a pic from Analogman's site showing a host of TS-808's and some TS-10's in the upper left corner, plus a few other oddities. Check his site for more info.

 

http://www.analogman.com/graphics/ts808family.jpg

 

When they reissued the TS-808 circuit some years ago the designation became TS9.

 

 

[fantasticsound]

I also have his MXR Omni. The Omni was a precursor to digital multi-effect rackmount processors. It was really expensive and was obsolete just a few years after its introduction. It never sounded that good, either, but back then we enjoyed it.

 

Someone else has an MXR Omni?!? Here is mine (not the best pic in the world but you get the idea):

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/CHEAPDRUMKAT/DSC02749.jpg

 

It actually still works and is just as noisy as ever! And it sounds like crap, too...

 

That's hilarious! I wish my brother's was working (Noise and all, no doubt!) or at least as pretty as yours is. You have to bring that up the next time you trek to Nashville.. pretty please??

 

I still own a Peavey Decade I bought used in the mid 1980's for $70.

 

I don't recall what happened to my Decade. I think I sold it with one of my early guitars...

 

Eric

 

 

I just loaned mine to my bro-inlaw for his guitar player to practice with at his apartment. I held onto the battery adapter. Too easy to be lost.

[picker]

My first effect pedal was a fuzz that I bought as a kit from a Lafayette Electronics catalog. It was a wedge shaped thing with a really cheap on-off switch, and the output was a hard-wired cable. I put it together myself, and it worked pretty good with Heathkit amp my dad and I put together from a kit, at least till the switch broke and had to be replaced..

[Mudcat]

...Also still functioning is my very first delay:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/CHEAPDRUMKAT/DSC02750.jpg

 

Hey - that's a Keith Richards' Special! I believe he used that delay on "She's So Cold" and a bunch of other Stone's tunes in the late 70s-early 80s. I specifically remember a GP article where talked about his green MXR delay.

 

Do you have any problems with it spazzing out when it gets hot? I've heard that was a common problem with the MXR. I know the DOD delay of similar vintage I once had did some strange things when it got hot.

[Mudcat]

You've got to be kidding, 'Cat! $150-200! That's more than my antiquated digital delay is worth. Hell, that's more than the RP-1 is worth! I have to sell it right away.

 

Make sure you set your reserve high enough. I wouldn't sell it for less than $150.

[fantasticsound]

I'll do that. It's been sitting, unused for years. And my Ibanez HD-1500 does a great job of imitating an analog delay. It was one of the first consumer grade, rackmount digital delays. Provides up to 126ms of delay at full frequency bandwidth but you can get up to 252ms or 504ms by engaging a 2x or 4x multiplier. The mulitplier circuit reduces the frequency range to where it sounds analog.

[TonyS]

I started with one of those Fuzz Tones, I think it was an Ace Tone Product. After that died I had a "Little Muff" for a while as well. Someplace in the basement from Hades is my original 1973 vintage Cry Baby wah.

 

Tony

[GuitarPlayerFL]

How many of you remember playing gigs axe and amp? What was the 1st effect pedal you had to have? How any do you have to have now?

 

Peace

 

When I did Jazz gigs, it was hollowbody and Polytone only.

 

1st - Crybaby Wah (sold it later. 10 years ago bought a new one)

2nd - Electro Harmonix LPB-1 Power Booster - plugged into my guitar.

 

Made my amp 10Xs louder!!!!

 

 

NOT!!!

 

3rd - Electro Harmonix Big Muff Deluxe - Sounded like crap....returned it pronto.

 

It wasn't until '82 when I started buying the good Roland pedals like the Chorus CE-2, Analog Delay, and Distortion DS-1 that I started really using pedals.

[splitting hare]

...Also still functioning is my very first delay:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/CHEAPDRUMKAT/DSC02750.jpg

 

Hey - that's a Keith Richards' Special! I believe he used that delay on "She's So Cold" and a bunch of other Stone's tunes in the late 70s-early 80s. I specifically remember a GP article where talked about his green MXR delay.

 

Do you have any problems with it spazzing out when it gets hot? I've heard that was a common problem with the MXR. I know the DOD delay of similar vintage I once had did some strange things when it got hot.

Cool! I'll have to plug it in and try playing "She's So Cold" and see if I can duplicate it.

 

I really don't use it anymore. In fact, when I plugged it in last night, it was probably the first time I have used it in 7 years! I do recall that it used to get warm but it never spazzed out on me. Maybe it is all that duct tape and electrical tape holding it together!

 

Eric

[splitting hare]

Hey Eric...you're right. That is a damn good pedal.

I've played it before and it was an upper end of the RP3 I used to have.

 

I'd hang on to it.

Enjoy!

 

Randy

 

http://www.harmony-central.com/Events/WNAMM96/DigiTech/RP-6.gif

 

The other night I got together with a guitar player and drummer I was considering playing with. (My bassist buddy David was there, too.) Guitarist had an RP7 and would not leave the frickin' thing alone. Just about the time I'd play a lick he didn't know, or show him some chords to a song he didn't know, he'd kick on some new 'n improved beer-commercial-approved tone or other. Not to say that everybody who uses a multieffects processor uses it this way, but IME many do. I owned one once and could never get it to make a sound that didn't sound just like everybody and his guitar-playin' dog.

 

Let's just say that multieffects processors are not my cup of tea. I prefer tap-dancing over my various pedals.

 

Yeah, that can be one of the downsides to multi effect units. I generally have about half a dozen different settings that I programmed and leave it at that. The other downside is that if the thing goes bad you have lost ALL of your pedals in one shot !

 

Eric

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

... The other downside is that if the thing goes bad you have lost ALL of your pedals in one shot !

 

Eric

 

Ever HAD one go down? The RP 6 is built like a tank. And besides, that is when you seperate the men from the boys.

 

Bill

[LPCustom]

My first effect pedal was a Maestro Fuzz pedal, IIRC. That was in 1978, I think...

 

...I didn't own an overdrive pedal until Ibanez came out with the Tube Screamer. I didn't think I needed one until I heard one of those.

 

FYI - The Tube screamer was released in the late 1970's. The original designation, like my Phase Tone, was a (two letter) - (3 digit number) in those early years. (PT-909 for the phase tone, TS-808 for the Tube Screamer.) In the early 1980's they changed the design and the designation to TS10. Was yours a TS10 in the funky, rugged looking metal box/plastic pedal package or the all metal box sold in the late 70's, early 80's with the small, rectangular metal button??

 

Here's a pic from Analogman's site showing a host of TS-808's and some TS-10's in the upper left corner, plus a few other oddities. Check his site for more info.

 

http://www.analogman.com/graphics/ts808family.jpg

 

When they reissued the TS-808 circuit some years ago the designation became TS9.

 

 

Mine was a TS-808 and looked like the one on the top right corner. I got it at Ben Portman's Music on Broughton St in Savannah on October 17th of 1979 (I found the receipt for it). There's also an Epiphone 12 string acoustic, five sets of strings, a double pack of batteries, twenty five Gibson picks and a 20 foot patch cable on the invoice.

 

I bought the tube screamer about two weeks after first hearing one. Ben Portman's ordered it for me.

 

[splitting hare]

... The other downside is that if the thing goes bad you have lost ALL of your pedals in one shot !

 

Eric

 

Ever HAD one go down? The RP 6 is built like a tank. And besides, that is when you seperate the men from the boys.

 

Bill

 

It has been rock solid for me but one time during a little get together at the house here with the band and a few other folks it hiccupped. It got stuck on one setting and no matter what I did it remained at that setting and volume. I called tech support the following day and they suggested I try to reinitialize it before sending it in. Well, that did the trick but resetored all the factory settings. FORTUNATELY I had written down my user settings so I was able to reprogram it in a short time.

 

So...my initial post in which I mentioned the RP6 has never let me down was not entirely correct. But I still agree that it is built like a tank.

 

Eric

[rickygclef]

http://www.theibanezstore.com/product_info.php?products_id=51&osCsid=1049380f3a1a2b88a99c3ff2217f1efc

 

Don't see this Tube Screamer TS7 listed. I know it is cheap (made in China-hey what's new), but it does sound pretty good and has the added "Hot" switch.

I think I paid $39.00 new a couple of years ago

[fantasticsound]

Your link brought me to the DS7, but I just noticed there is a TS7 Tubescreamer listed.

 

I'm sure it's a nice pedal, but the TS-808 was so loved by players who subsequently refused to like the TS8, TS7 etc. that Ibanez finally got smart and reissued the original in an attempt to do with effects pedals what Gibson did in the 1970's, 80's & 90's by devoting a lot of R&D towards an accurate reissue of the TS-808. Now there's a cottage industry of pedal builders who specialize in cloning (and often improving on) the TS-808 Tube Screamer.

[fantasticsound]

My first effect pedal was a Maestro Fuzz pedal, IIRC. That was in 1978, I think...

 

...I didn't own an overdrive pedal until Ibanez came out with the Tube Screamer. I didn't think I needed one until I heard one of those.

 

FYI - The Tube screamer was released in the late 1970's. The original designation, like my Phase Tone, was a (two letter) - (3 digit number) in those early years. (PT-909 for the phase tone, TS-808 for the Tube Screamer.)...

 

Mine was a TS-808 and looked like the one on the top right corner...

 

You do realize those pedals are worth a relative mint today, right.

 

I don't suppose you still have it?

[Chunk]

this may not be the thread for this question and perhaps it has been asked before, but, is there a volume/wah combo pedal and if so what is a good 1?