effects chain

[jaberwock]

Can anyone help, after being asked to turn down by the soundman at virtually every venue we play ( I only use a twenty watt Working Dog combo which I run at the half power setting !!) I tried a whole bunch of overdrive pedals and settled on the BB + preamp, and it really does deliver a very natural transparent overdrive; the problem is when I run my wah pedal ( area 51 ) into it the wah sounds brittle, and harsh, where as running the wah straight into the amp gives a very sweet vocal sweep, is this some kind of impeadance mismatching? would another pedal between them help matters ; these are the only two pedals I own at the present and whilst I love them individually they don't work well together.

Thanks Jaberwock

[Ethan]

What else have you got going on? Maybe putting a buffer before or after the wah would help. I don't know much about those Area 51 wahs. If you've got a Boss TU2 or something like that, that is a buffered pedal. Or maybe try this: http://area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/Merchant...;Category_Code=

[murkat]

some wahs do not handle gain types in front of them to be pushed.

My crybaby classic is the same way, I have to gain behind it for certain pedals, but my diamond comp/ whammy//honeybee do just fine before it...

[jaberwock]

What else have you got going on? Maybe putting a buffer before or after the wah would help. I don't know much about those Area 51 wahs. If you've got a Boss TU2 or something like that, that is a buffered pedal. Or maybe try this: http://area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/Merchant...;Category_Code=

The Area 51 wah is unbuffered, I checked it out on their website; is there a pedal I could use between the 51 and the BB that wouldn't colour my sound; I'm pretty minimal when it comes to effects but I could be tempted by a nice analog, delay, pedal.

Jaberwock

What else have you got going on? Maybe putting a buffer before or after the wah would help. I don't know much about those Area 51 wahs. If you've got a Boss TU2 or something like that, that is a buffered pedal. Or maybe try this: http://area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/Merchant...;Category_Code=

Thanks , time to get out my soldering iron.

Jaberwock

[jaberwock]

Final question, would a buffered pedal ( ie tuner or delay ) still be working as a buffer if it has true bypass, assuming the idea of true bypass was that it went through no internal electronics.

Thanks Jaberwock

[Ethan]

No, a buffered pedal is one that usually is not true bypassed. Having a true bypass on a buffered pedal would defeat the purpose of having a buffer in the first place, as it would be taken out of the signal chain when the true bypass pedal it is in is turned off. A buffer in a pedal is supposed to make up for all the extra cable length that comes along with running pedals, when you include a cable to the board, all the patch cables, and then out to the amp. All of the Boss pedals are buffered, I don't know that I'd recommend putting a delay before an overdrive necessarily but you could give it a shot if you like it. I think the Area 51 buffer mod would be your best and cheapest bet, especially if you're a minimalist. Or shoot Area 51 an email to see what they say!

Edited to add, I've seen certain pedals out there that are JUST buffers, in that case it would be a leave on all the time type deal. This might be worth looking into also. Here is one that comes to mind for me:

http://www.tonefreak.com/BuffPuff.html

[jaberwock]

No, a buffered pedal is one that usually is not true bypassed. Having a true bypass on a buffered pedal would defeat the purpose of having a buffer in the first place, as it would be taken out of the signal chain when the true bypass pedal it is in is turned off. A buffer in a pedal is supposed to make up for all the extra cable length that comes along with running pedals, when you include a cable to the board, all the patch cables, and then out to the amp. All of the Boss pedals are buffered, I don't know that I'd recommend putting a delay before an overdrive necessarily but you could give it a shot if you like it. I think the Area 51 buffer mod would be your best and cheapest bet, especially if you're a minimalist. Or shoot Area 51 an email to see what they say!

Edited to add, I've seen certain pedals out there that are JUST buffers, in that case it would be a leave on all the time type deal. This might be worth looking into also. Here is one that comes to mind for me:

http://www.tonefreak.com/BuffPuff.html

Many Thanks, I'll send off for the area 51 buffer circuit, it's only thirty odd dollars.

I'm intrigued, should a delay pedal go after an overdrive pedal ?

Some of my friends have some large, and very expensive, effects boards, and I whilst I admire the variety of sounds they can get, I've always felt their fundamental signal must be compromised by the sheer amount of connections it had to pass through; for the money they spent they could have bought a good used Matchless.

Jaberwock

[Ethan]

Try the delay before and after and see what you like. I've never tried it but for years I ran my delay pedals into a distorted amps so I imagine the results are kind of the same...basically what you get are distorted, kind of exaggerated repeats, where as if you run it after a distortion pedal (or in the effects loop of a dirty amp) the repeats are cleaner. Having it before the dist. can be a cool effect but a lot of guys don't like it. Check this out, this might give you an idea of what it would sound like to run your delay before your gain (Boss DD20 and Line 6 DL4 into dirty Marshall/Mesa):

[jaberwock]

Try the delay before and after and see what you like. I've never tried it but for years I ran my delay pedals into a distorted amps so I imagine the results are kind of the same...basically what you get are distorted, kind of exaggerated repeats, where as if you run it after a distortion pedal (or in the effects loop of a dirty amp) the repeats are cleaner. Having it before the dist. can be a cool effect but a lot of guys don't like it. Check this out, this might give you an idea of what it would sound like to run your delay before your gain (Boss DD20 and Line 6 DL4 into dirty Marshall/Mesa):

Many thanks, I don't have a delay pedal to try as of now, but I will try that out when I get one. A friend, who's judgment I usually trust, is pushing me to try the TC electronic Nova system;I'm aware that it's partially digital, but it does seem to get some excellent reviews, and at 350 bucks on ebay is only a hundred dollars more than a decent delay pedal.

I must confess my minimalism is partly down to lazziness, I like to get set up on stage as fast as possible.

Jaberwock

[HSB0531]

Can anyone help, after being asked to turn down by the soundman at virtually every venue we play ( I only use a twenty watt Working Dog combo which I run at the half power setting !!) I tried a whole bunch of overdrive pedals and settled on the BB + preamp, and it really does deliver a very natural transparent overdrive; the problem is when I run my wah pedal ( area 51 ) into it the wah sounds brittle, and harsh, where as running the wah straight into the amp gives a very sweet vocal sweep, is this some kind of impeadance mismatching? would another pedal between them help matters ; these are the only two pedals I own at the present and whilst I love them individually they don't work well together.

Thanks Jaberwock

A different approach:

If all the sound guys are complaining about the levels, you could sit your amp up front and aim it towards the band.

I'm assuming the soundman has you mic'd and your stage level is competing with the front of House mix?

[jaberwock]

Can anyone help, after being asked to turn down by the soundman at virtually every venue we play ( I only use a twenty watt Working Dog combo which I run at the half power setting !!) I tried a whole bunch of overdrive pedals and settled on the BB + preamp, and it really does deliver a very natural transparent overdrive; the problem is when I run my wah pedal ( area 51 ) into it the wah sounds brittle, and harsh, where as running the wah straight into the amp gives a very sweet vocal sweep, is this some kind of impeadance mismatching? would another pedal between them help matters ; these are the only two pedals I own at the present and whilst I love them individually they don't work well together.

Thanks Jaberwock

A different approach:

If all the sound guys are complaining about the levels, you could sit your amp up front and aim it towards the band.

I'm assuming the soundman has you mic'd and your stage level is competing with the front of House mix?

[jaberwock]

Can anyone help, after being asked to turn down by the soundman at virtually every venue we play ( I only use a twenty watt Working Dog combo which I run at the half power setting !!) I tried a whole bunch of overdrive pedals and settled on the BB + preamp, and it really does deliver a very natural transparent overdrive; the problem is when I run my wah pedal ( area 51 ) into it the wah sounds brittle, and harsh, where as running the wah straight into the amp gives a very sweet vocal sweep, is this some kind of impeadance mismatching? would another pedal between them help matters ; these are the only two pedals I own at the present and whilst I love them individually they don't work well together.

Thanks Jaberwock

A different approach:

If all the sound guys are complaining about the levels, you could sit your amp up front and aim it towards the band.

I'm assuming the soundman has you mic'd and your stage level is competing with the front of House mix?

I've noticed a big reduction in on stage volumes in the last decade, which whilst making it easier for the soundman to get a good front of house sound, certainly dampens my on stage enthusiasm a tad; I deliberatley use a low wattage combo to keep things ear drum friendly, but I need the sound of a pair of 6V6's being pushed just past their comfort level to get my adrenalin pumping, and the master volume amps Ive tried sound thin, and buzzy to my ears.

I will try your suggestion, although I'm used to having my amp behind me; how could a twenty watt amp compete with a 1600 watt PA ?

Jaberwock