Pedals for the Jazz Guitarist?

[Longways to Go]

I built up a pedal board a few years ago. Real McCoy, Fulltone, Waza craft Boss, Boutique fuzz, etc. It was all great fun for a while -- lots of internet research & buying & fiddling with knobs etc. Made for a fun hobby for a while, sort of like trying out different strings!
But I grew tired of all the fiddling around and one day I unplugged my pedalboard and put it in a corner. A year later, I realized the pedalboard had been gathering dust, so I took it all to GC and sold it. The dudes working at GC were droolin' . . .

No regrets. I did keep a reverb pedal though. Everything else, I can do without.

[Ray175]

After 50+ years of playing I believe (I hope) I have arrived at the end of my pedal collection, which is quite wide to reflect my eclectic tastes :

• Keeley compressor plus - indespensable for some styles (reggae for instance)
• Rams Head Big Muff Pi - soaring sustained Santana style leads
• Wampler Tumnus distortion - dynamically very responsive crunch/edge of break-up for lower volumes than I can get out of my ToneMaster Deluxe late at night - even on the 0.2w setting
• Morley Optical Volume/Wah - on the fly volume changes and 1970s wah sounds
• MXR M234 Chorus for 1980s covers
• MXR Mini Phase 95 - 4 variations of phase from 10CC to Pink Floyd
• Boss TR-2 Tremolo - surf and Richard Thompson slow solos (the ToneMaster Deluxe's slowest speed is way too fast for some of the things I play)
• T-Rex Duck-Tail Echo/Delay when reverb is not enough (often blues)
• MXR 6 band EQ - mostly live jazz application to get the right sound for each venue
• Electro-Harmonix C9 Organ Machine - pure fun, but forcing me to rethink my soloing around organ sounds
• JamMan Solo XT looper - essentially for practice and often use to feed the final pedal.....
• Digitech Trio Plus Band Creator - for practice, and far quicker to set up a new song than Band in a Box on my pc....

I'm not hung up about the number of pedals because they all get used - and that's what counts

[rpjazzguitar]

I have been very happy with the ME50, ME70 and, now, ME80.

So, it makes no sense that I've been thinking about going to a board with individual pedals.

The urge was prompted by another player whose tone my wife prefers to mine. And, she's right.

[Jehu]

I posted this pic on that other thread, but here is my small but quite versatile board:



In order from right to left:
- Codtone Bunyip - Mike Moreno's signature overdrive, by a one-man pedal maker in Australia. Light overdrive/edge of crunch sounds; somewhere between a Timmy and a Klon.
- Codtone Rakali - A custom Whiteface Rat, and my most versatile pedal. In addition to the usual RAT controls, it has a "Bite" knob which takes it from a warmer, milder overdrive all the way to full-on Whiteface glory. It also has a clean blend knob, which is very useful for maintaining some clarity as the gain goes up -- ideal for those into the older Rosenwinkel sound.
- Catalinbread Belle Epoch tape echo
- Mr. Black Deluxe Plus spring reverb + tremolo
- Ditto looper

No affiliation, but I can't say enough good things about dealing with Codtone. I was after a decent quality replacement for my cheapo Rat clone, and I went through a bunch of the higher end options (pro tip: steer clear of the Walrus Audio Iron Horse). Finally I got in touch with Ben, and he was able to build me the perfect Rat exactly to my specs, in a very reasonable timeframe and for a very reasonable price. I've had it for a while now, and it's easily my favourite pedal. (And it looks badass: The graphic is acid-etched, and both of the eyes light up red when it's engaged.)

[guavajelly]

Hey,

My view on pedals and sound are changing from time to time. In the past i used much delay (also stereo with two Amps), some octaver effects, little distortion, Chorus (Urghh...)- this was in the beginning of my jazz studies.

In the last years, i use only a few pedals which i really like.

My basic stuff is a Compressor Pedal (Boss C3)(soft setting) and an MXR 10 Band EQ and Spring Reverb from my Fender Deluxe. I also get away from using delay in my jazz playing.
The reason is, that i really come to the point to enjoy my Archtop and the amp. I really want to hear the Pickup and the guitar. No effect should defamiliarize my sound of the guitar and the amp.

The Only things i like is compressor and Reverb. So i really think about to spend more money in a good compressor and a good reverb (i would like to test a Hall or Plate Reverb instead of the spring Reverb from the amp).

There are a Reverb Pedal everybody tell that it is the greatest Reverb pedal ever made - Strymon Blue Sky - Anybody tested ?

I never tried different Compressor Pedal. The only one i ever tested was the Boss C3. There are any recommendation for Compressor Pedals which maybe sound better?

Which kind of pedals do you love for playing jazz ?

I like none because like you I enjoy the tone of my guitars and every pedal would cover it.

• Compressor – amps (especially tube / valve amps) have enough natural compression. And why limit your dynamic expression anyway?
• EQ – my amp has an EQ built in
• Reverb – try to switch it off. It will take like 3 minutes of playing until you stop missing it. You're mostly playing in a room that already has some ambience. It's more a habit than a necessity IMHO.

[sgosnell]

For some situations, a compressor helps. I rarely, if ever, use one, though.

A 7-band EQ gives much more control over the tone, if you need it. But I mostly set my amp completely flat, and adjust the guitar tone control slightly if necessary, but mostly I just run it wide open. I like the sound of my guitar and amp as they naturally are, but I'm not everyone. I do use an EQ pedal sometimes, as a boost pedal for soloing. I can play rhythm with it off, and engage it for more volume on solos. It's mostly flat, though sometimes I might tweak some frequencies. I have it on hand, so I use it now and then.

I don't like any amp reverb much, so it's almost always off on the amps that have it. I sometimes use the reverb pedal I have with an ambience patch, which fattens the tone slightly, but I'm ambivalent about it, and usually have the reverb pedal off even if it's connected.

I can understand why some players use pedals, but I seldom bother, because the sound I like is what I already get direct to the amp. But I don't play styles that require effects, like many people do. If you're a professional musician, you have to provide the sound the person paying your salary wants. I'm not, so I can sound the way I want.

[Tal_175]

I have reverb, EQ, looper and OD pedals. I use OD pedals mainly to add different mid range characteristics (with some hair) to my Deluxe Reverb.
I have the bass and treble around mid way depending on the guitar and pickup. I use pedals to switch between scooped or "with some mids" tone. They cut the bass and treble nicely. Of course EQ pedal does the same too, but doesn't add grit.

[P.J.]

I have actually been getting rid of pedals lately. I think my wife's constant Marie Kondo'ing has gotten to me.

I like and use pedals all the time. I am 52 and grew up listening to all sorts of music. I think pedals are great as extra colors but understand the need for stylistic appropriateness.

If I am playing country music I am not going to break out my bit-crusher or do lots of looping. (Though it might be awesome to hear bit-crushed pedal-steel bends!)

[Woody Sound]

Attachment 67837

1. Is the MXR any improvement over a plain one spot? How?
2. How do you like the Straight 6? I was considering one of the higher gain models.
3. What kind of tuner is that?
4. Do you have any vids of your band up? Would love to see them.

[Joeontheguitar]

1. Is the MXR any improvement over a plain one spot? How?
2. How do you like the Straight 6? I was considering one of the higher gain models.
3. What kind of tuner is that?
4. Do you have any vids of your band up? Would love to see them.

1) what do you mean with 'plain one spot'?
2) yes, I like it. I think this one already has quite a bit of gain. It's a big pedal though. There's also a brightness switch on it, would you need it.
3) That is a Korg Pitch-black Custom. The display is nice and big, which I need from a tuner that's on the floor. You can also choose from a number of tuning options. Last, it's accurate and responsive.
4) We'll be shooting a promo in a couple of weeks. I can drop you a message when it's online if you want?

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I'm a late-comer to pedals and I like fooling around with them. I typically use pedals "lightly" so you only notice when you switch one off. For example, I use an octave pedal to add an octave below the note, but mix the lower note well down so that it only fattens the sound.

I also know there are a lot of chorus haters (hey man, the '80s called and they want their pedal back), but again, I use it low and slow, with the tone on the wet signal turned down so that it's not sparkly.

[ccroft]

So I cut my finger & need to rest for quick healing.... nothin' serious. Thought I'd follow-up something I posted recently : Pedal use

Here's where I'm at now:


Quick run-down and comments R to L.

Tuner: (obviously) I started on fret-less instruments as a child and have always gone by ear. My previous was a tuning fork. This is very convenient and quick. I no longer worry about how good the intonation is on my wood saddles. Much better than I thought. Octaves never sounded better! I'd call this a problem solver.

Parametric EQ: another problem solver. I've found that the 'hoooo' lives at 165 on all my archtops, at least where I play them. It's real easy to find the excitable frequency: just set for notched Q, boost the gain and sweep. If I play loud that setting works very well. I bought this second hand for cheap a while back. I did not like the tone stack on a couple amps. Set them flat, put this in the loop and you're in total control of that. Place the adjustment nodes wherever you need them.

Blue Note: adds a little warmth & distortion if wanted. Think Wes on something like Mellow Mood or some earlier KBurrell. Nice to have total clean and then hit that when wanted. Seems lots of folks use 'em to thicken and warm their SS amps. Not using it for that currently.

Tremelo & Reverb : for fun and what the hell... got room for it. It's a nice tremelo. I'm not an expert, but it's the one that creates a tiny bit of chorus when it's slow.

Looper : fun and cheap. I haven't learned how to use it properly.

So the biggest take-away for me is that I actually really do like my Quilter TB202 in BlockDock 12. Most of the time I don't have the board hooked in, and I'm very happy with my sound. Sometimes I fiddle about with settings so low you hardly know they're on. I'm considering replacing the Ditto with some sort of EchoPlexy thing and turning that down so you hardly know it's there too :)

Will I keep it? For sure. One day I may need that problem solving. Maybe I have to plug into something I don't like that much. In the meantime I'm ready to blow on some Spaghetti Western sound-track gigs, though I prolly need a Bigsby for that.

[wzpgsr]

Saw a bass player do this: put the looper before the EQ so you can loop the sound of your guitar while comfortably doing your frequency sweeps.

[ccroft]

Smart bass player! Maybe I'll keep that thing. Thanks for the tip. I've heard it's a great way to see what's getting projected out to the audience. Never know... might have one someday.

[unfunfionn]

I'm glad I found this thread. It's been quite an interesting read. In the past 2 years I've gone from a ~15 pedal board down to a Nano+, which has made me much more creative by removing excuses. One thing I'm missing, and I've never found, is something weird but musical to add some surprise to soloing. I've tried a lot of things, like a HOG2, and Nano POG, a Gamechanger Plus, plenty of gain pedals, chorus, vibrato, lo-fi... but it always sounded either gimmicky or it required too much attention of its own. Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist.

[citizenk74]

I'm glad I found this thread. It's been quite an interesting read. In the past 2 years I've gone from a ~15 pedal board down to a Nano+, which has made me much more creative by removing excuses. One thing I'm missing, and I've never found, is something weird but musical to add some surprise to soloing. I've tried a lot of things, like a HOG2, and Nano POG, a Gamechanger Plus, plenty of gain pedals, chorus, vibrato, lo-fi... but it always sounded either gimmicky or it required too much attention of its own. Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist.

You might try a ring modulator. It will open your ears, and mind, to new possibilities.

[unfunfionn]

You might try a ring modulator. It will open your ears, and mind, to new possibilities.

Thanks for the tip! That's something I forgot to add to my list as well. I actually had a Syntax Error for a few months but didn't like it. But then I also start to realise that this year it's especially hard to judge a pedal, being so separated from a band setting...

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I'm glad I found this thread. It's been quite an interesting read. In the past 2 years I've gone from a ~15 pedal board down to a Nano+, which has made me much more creative by removing excuses. One thing I'm missing, and I've never found, is something weird but musical to add some surprise to soloing. I've tried a lot of things, like a HOG2, and Nano POG, a Gamechanger Plus, plenty of gain pedals, chorus, vibrato, lo-fi... but it always sounded either gimmicky or it required too much attention of its own. Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist.

Leslie simulator?

[sws626]

I have a bunch of pedals on my electric cello board, but have pared this down considerably for playing jazz guitar, where I’m just after a bit of additional sustain a some subtle overdrive:

ES-335, neck pickup, tone rolled way down

Boss TU-3w tuner with buffer on

Empress Para EQ

JHS Double Barrel (with just the Morning Glory overdrive side engaged very subtly; gain button is nice for some solo work)

MXR M87 bass compressor with very light compression (more control over parameters than typical guitar compressor pedals)

MXR M135 noise gate (helps with cello; haven’t experimented with removing it)

Boss RE-20 echo delay (short subtle delay at very low volume)

Empress Reverb (light room reverb)

Fender ‘59 Bassman LTD (bass and treble down, midrange up for roughly flat response)

[guavajelly]

I like a lot of players that use pedals for jazz, but if I use them, it feels like someone else is playing, so usually for jazz it's just guitar and amp. Plus I really enjoy the simplicity, less things viable to break

Same here. Anyway during the pandemics the only rehearsals we do is the organ player and me in his house and he recently asked me if we could use headphones. So I'm using my Tech 21 Fly Rig for amp simulation and a little reverb. Since my organ player loves Wah, I use my Cry Baby I got since the 90s and sometimes combine that with the delay in the fly rig for the generic Wah Wah Watson effects. Not a big thing and it makes him happy.
I make sure I stay away from that or any other effect when playing melody and improvising – I wanna be myself when I take a solo. And honestly: I like the tone of my guitar straight into a tube amp best. The fly rig does a good job simulating something like a twin reverb, so it's perfect if I have to go headphone or in ear.
At home I use a simple looper (TC Ditto) to quickly lay out a chorus to improvise over. It became invaluable for me since the shutdown.
In our funk band it's a different story. I use all the effects in the fly rig (delay, rotary, distortion and even fuzz!) and a telecaster to approximate the original recordings of the songs we play – I'm not myself then. That said our last rehearsal was last summer. I'm thinking about taking the Ibanez GB for the next rehearsal and try how it works to play clean, jazzy solos instead of the distorted solos of the original recordings of the songs we play. I wonder if the leader would be open to that – I guess he would be.

[Woody Sound]

I like a subtle bit of delay with verb.

[steve burchfield]

I like a subtle bit of delay with verb.

I would agree with that.

[ronjazz]

I'm a guy from 50 years ago, grew up listening LIVE to Wes, Jim, Kenny, Barney, Herb, Charlie Byrd, then Abercrombie, McLaughlin, Frisell, Stern, then Metheny and his offshoots. I really enjoy a Multi-effects single pedal for ease of use and variety of tones. Even a Digitech RP-55 gets me all I need for a commercial gig, an RP 360 EX is being dialed in now, the expression pedal is very cool, the sounds need careful tweaking, but are very usable once you've settled in. On the nylons it's a Zoom A3, very well-engineered for acoustic amplification, beautiful high-quality reverbs and delays, nice subtle chorus, plenty of EQ setting.

All sent through a Bose L1 Compact or a Bose L1S.

[citizenk74]

I have a bunch of pedals on my electric cello board, but have pared this down considerably for playing jazz guitar, where I’m just after a bit of additional sustain a some subtle overdrive:

ES-335, neck pickup, tone rolled way down

Boss TU-3w tuner with buffer on

Empress Para EQ

JHS Double Barrel (with just the Morning Glory overdrive side engaged very subtly; gain button is nice for some solo work)

MXR M87 bass compressor with very light compression (more control over parameters than typical guitar compressor pedals)

MXR M135 noise gate (helps with cello; haven’t experimented with removing it)

Boss RE-20 echo delay (short subtle delay at very low volume)

Empress Reverb (light room reverb)

Fender ‘59 Bassman LTD (bass and treble down, midrange up for roughly flat response)

Love the rug. And its contents!

[steve burchfield]

I bought the line 6 HX EFX which is the EFX section of the Helix. For OD I like analog much better. I bought a used XTS off Reverb for about 400$ thats pretty good,its 3 pedals in one,clean preamp and Dtype OD and Marshall type OD. I like the Plexi Marshall sound for OD and the closest I ever came was a Bogner EL34 I think Ecstasy Head with the Blue channel I liked for lead. I lost that head a few years ago and bought the larger blue channel Bogner pedal into my blackface Fender amps for a good,to me,OD. I have a couple drum machines Boss and Alesiss for home jamming. If I play out solo I woundnt use any EFX amp has verb. If I was playing a fusion gig I guess I would take HX and Bogner pedal.My amps are 1967 Fender Super Reverb and a Deluxe Reverb reissue I am getting ready to have blackfaced at Hime Amplifacation in Nashville. Guitars would be Gibson335 with Lindy Fralins Glaser Plek set-up,Nash tele with Lawler HB, Luke3 by MM for Wang Bar Madness!