Help with my FX signal chain....

[mhuxtable]

So here's the background. I'm running my guitar thru BOSS TU-2 tuner > MXR Super Comp > EHX Holy Stain > EHX Small Clone (older big box version) > Line6 Echopark > 65 Twin Reverb reissue.

 

So I'm sure you can tell I like a really clean sound with saturation and other colorings and textures. But when I added in that MXR stuff went a little wrong.

 

So my amp with all my FX is SUPER clean (no noise at all). When I added the super comp into the chain all of a sudden I got all this noise! (Everything has its own AC power supply except the Line6 which I daisy chain from the TU-2).

 

I use the MXR to drive out my amp and get a somewhat natural distortion (attack and sensitivity all the way up, output up until it's even with the other volumes). When it's in the chain I can hear the Line6's delay time as little blips (even when the Line6 isn't on) and theres a ton of white noise. When I take the MXR out of the chain, all is well.

 

So are MXR super comps (or all their pedals) noisey by nature or is it just my signal chain or what? Perhaps something in the wiring? (I want the compressor or whatever drive I use early in the chain.) Any true bypass pedals that will just break up my tube sound as opposed to coloring and adding "distortion" (I have a fuzz on the holy stain for that situation.)

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

[LeftyBlues]

I'd try just that pedal by itself first off, if it's noisy then it could be a fault in the pedal itself. I'm not familiar with that pedal myself but no doubt others will chime in. If the pedal by itself is ok then try it in different parts of the chain. good luck.

[Billster]

Turn down the sensitivity on the compressor. That's taking everything from the input and boosting it. Even first in line, every little noise from the pickups or your cable is getting boosted. Work with the pedal to find the right input sensitivity to get the sound you are after. If you just want to drive the amp input, try a true boost pedal instead of a compressor. Even something like a Tube Screamer with the "drive" turned down and "level" turned up.

[Caevan O’Shite]

EDIT: Bill's post wasn't there yet when I started typing mine- didn't mean to repeat some of what he said there! His advice concerning using a booster or overdrive of some kind is very good, as well. (If it's the fuzz on the Holy Stain that you're wanting to push harder, then use one for that.)

 

Try putting the MXR Super Comp last, after all the other pedals and right before the Twin. You're overdriving all of the pedals with it and the added noise makes it worse. You'll find the fuzz on the Holy Stain to be more dynamic with the compressor coming after it, as well.

 

A compressor or booster will amplify what goes into it- signal AND noise. The extreme settings that you're using will exaggerate the noise and smear your dynamics. The added noise is then made even worse by the rest of the pedals downstream.

 

Bring the Comp's Attack and Sensitivity controls down, and experiment to get a compression and boost that you like without having the Att. and Sens. all the way up. I would guess that a lot of the noise and weird symptoms is due to having those controls dimed like that.

 

Set the Comp's Volume to be louder when you engage it- you want it to overdrive the Twin and boost leads, right?

 

If not, if you want it simply to smooth things out and add a little subtle compression and sustain to what's going into the other pedals, then by all means keep it where you've got it, just dial-in some less extreme settings. Compressors often sound best when you wouldn't notice that they're working until you turn them off.

 

Either way, you'll very likely still get a little extra noise, but it should be considerably less than you've been getting.

[picker]

Try putting the MXR Super Comp last, after all the other pedals and right before the Twin. You're overdriving all of the pedals with it and the added noise makes it worse. You'll find the fuzz on the Holy Stain to be more dynamic with the compressor coming after it, as well.

 

It's never a good idea to put a compressor after an echo unit. It raises the volume of the fading repeats, so they don't "fade out" . First in line is where they belong.

 

Compressors can be noisy little suckers, as can eq pedals. I've seen one compressor be pretty quiet on one amp, and noisy as a scratchy old record on another. Sometimes you kinda have to experiment with all sorts of pedals, compressors, choruses, flangers, trems, you name it, to find some that work well with your particular amp. It's possible that your Twin doesn't like the signal from the Super Comp for some reason.

 

The only other thing I can think of is that one of your other pedals is amplifying the noise off the compressor. Even nowadays, some pedals aren't true bypass or buffered, which means you signal could still partying with the guts of some of your pedals. Also, there is no standard impedance for pedals, and using products from different companies can cause impedance mismatches, which in turn create more noise. I'd put the compressor first in line and start pulling pedals out one at a time to see if it makes any difference. If you're using the fuzz in the Holy Stain, I'd be suspicious of it.

 

If none of that works, chuck all that wimpoid pedal junk, go totally guitar-macho, and crank that sucker up till everyone's ears bleed!!! YEAH!!! If anyone complains, just shake your head and point to your ears and the amp, mouthing the words "SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!", even if the amp is off. If you do it right, they'll think they're deaf, at least for a while...

[RobRose]

That particular compressor can be noisy anyway. I, like some of the posters, use compression as the first in the chain, and this one may just not be the model for you.

 

The trick is to find a compressor that's quiet. I use a black box Oxygen pedal. It has a great compression circuit but also a gate function built in, not to mention so other cool knobs that control limiting, release, gain and "dirt" -- kind of like a tape saturation coloration to your tone.

[Terrell]

I like the T-REX and the Blackfinger... Not enough control on the MXR...

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeeeah, I know, Picker- I just figured, it was the lesser of the two evil symptoms, if he had to use it for a booste/overdrive-inducer, and had to use just these same pedals that he's already got. Just something to try, to see if it works for him.

 

Now, I want one of those Black Box Oxygen compressor-pedals that Rob has been touting, myself! They look to be very interesting and useful!

 

I myself haven't run across an MXR comp that I liked (and that wasn't prone to hissiness).

 

And many compressors don't have quite enough output to be good at booster/overdriver duties. (Although many will do nicely to kick another overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal up a notch, if overzealous compression-&-limiting doesn't cancel any dynamic response in said pedal).

 

If you want a moderate compression that smooths things out without sucking the dynamic life out of it, putting a compressor first in line with a less extreme setting dialed-in will do very nicely.

[mhuxtable]

Thanks all so much for the help!!!! Yeah I'm not using this for subtle compression I'm using it to drive my tubes. I don't use distortion or fuzz hardly EVER--ONLY has an effect--which is why the fuzz is good for the fuzz sound. But I also wanted a sound of the natural breakup of my tubes...

 

So if a compressor is not the best choice for this (which i totally understand, I just happened to have that Super Comp and said what the hell let's try it), what are some good drive pedals that DO NOT COLOR my amp sound, only push the tubes past the breaking point for that dirty sound.

 

Thanks again everyone.

[picker]

Try an Electro Harmonix LPB-1. That will be the least expensive alternative. But there are a bunch of 'em out there right now. The Hermida Sex Drive, The BBE Busta Grande, The Xotic RC booster, and a whole bunch of others

[Caevan O’Shite]

Picker's right; he names some with great reputations, and there're lots of 'em out there.

 

http://www.noiseon.com/resources%5Cimages%5Ccatalinbread%5Cpicoso.jpghttp://www.proguitarshop.com/images/products/269_01.jpg

 

I've got a Catalinbread 'Super Chili Picoso' that was a gift (mine looks like the one on the left, an earlier version minus the "Fat/Clean" switch), a "clean-boost" that can overdrive the input of a tube-amp with up to 35db of boost. It'll get a little "hair" of its own in the higher part of its range, but that will probably just blend in to the overdrive sound of the tube-amp in most cases. It can be a little hissy and crisp, but not unacceptably so. Deceptively simple- read up on its features and uses...

 

There's the ever popular Tube Screamer and its many clones and deviations; I never cared for a TS for myself, but SRV liked 'em and sure sounded great with 'em, so who am I to argue?

 

But I swear that the best overall "clean-boost" that I've tried for overdriving a tube-amp is actually the built-in preamp in my T.C. Electronics Stereo Chorus/Flanger pedal; the boost works whether the chorus/modulation effects are on or off, and it ranges from 0db/unity-gain on up to 15db of very clean boost. (For comparison, the volume difference between a 50 watt tube-amp and an otherwise identical 100 watt amp will be about 6db, IIRC.) That is, there is NO discernible distortion in the signal coming out of the pedal- but cranked-up, it will clobber the input of a tube-amp and DEFINITELY overdrive it.

 

The Klon Centaur has been gushed and raved about by a number of forum members here in the past, it's supposed to be a phenomenal overdrive for tube-amps. But, it's pricey, and there's a waiting list last I heard.

 

But before you buy another pedal, though:

 

Just to find out if this approach might work for you, try that MXR Comp last in line, right in front of the amp- with its Volume cranked-up and its Sensitivity and Attack turned down.

 

What have you got to lose? Just try it. If it doesn't work, use it in front again, but for a more subtle compression and enhanced sustain.

 

If it will work for you to overdrive that Twin at all, it will be more from its volume output, not so much from its squeezing down the dynamic response.