Least-loved guitar effects?

**Doctor Jeff** · 01-20-2017, 01:35 PM

If you could wave a magic wand, which effect would you wish away? Could come from a pedal, a rack or production console. My votes:

Phase shifter--the scourge of the mid-to-late 70's. I was listening to ELO today wishing I could make it stop.

Rapid pan from side to side--used to be fun when people listened to groovy tunes on the headphones but now so uncool.

Autowah--if this went, the entire jam band industry would implode. Too many offenders to name, but it seemed to start with the Grateful Dead's Shakedown Street.

**GNAPPI** · 01-20-2017, 01:41 PM

DISTORTION... GAIN... whatever they want to call it. I see players in stores making all kinds of mistakes with that stuff on, and if they accidentally turn it off or the amp starts with it off you see what crap they play.

This one thing makes more bad players than anything else.

**Lobomov** · 01-20-2017, 01:52 PM

80s Chorus stuff!

**feral guitar** · 01-20-2017, 02:04 PM

anything jim hall used!
FWIW i think Kurt and Gilad are using too many effects lately for my taste

**feet** · 01-20-2017, 02:04 PM

chorus was the first thing that comes to mind.

and the second.

it isn't the most offensive of effects, but you have to take its ubiquity into account, i guess. another thing that is noteworthy about it is that it sucks in many different ways- clean, dirty, heavy, light, acoustic, electric... chorus is responsible for so much evil in the world. i have literally never heard something before and said "thank god they used chorus on that" or, "man, i wish this had some (or more) chorus on it", "you know what this needs? some chorus".

sad thing is that it can be used interestingly. it just isn't.

**blille** · 01-20-2017, 02:10 PM

I actually love them all. At least all the ones mentioned here so far.

As far as I'm concerned it's all about how you use them. If the effect helps or if it takes over. For example, we can make fun of chorus but we've either used it or applauded many players that used a JC120 with some chorus on

**jorgemg1984** · 01-20-2017, 02:29 PM

Chorus

**goldenwave77** · 01-20-2017, 03:06 PM

The hokey talk box thing Peter Frampton used on one of his songs.

Don't even know what it was called. Have tried to forget it.

**Jx30510** · 01-20-2017, 03:25 PM

The only jazz guitar player whom which I love his use of effects is John Scofield..what a brilliant sound. I also crave on Hendrix every time I listen to him. Not so much the effect but how it's used in my opinion

**blille** · 01-20-2017, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by Jx30510

The only jazz guitar player whom which I love his use of effects is John Scofield..what a brilliant sound. I also crave on Hendrix every time I listen to him. Not so much the effect but how it's used in my opinion

How about Metheny or Stern?

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**Woody Sound** · 01-20-2017, 03:45 PM

I must be contrarian. I like most of these things. I had the talk box in the 70s

Had the Mutron auto-wah back then too. Eventually sold both. I love chorus used sparingly. But always clean, never with high gain. It's GREAT with a piezo acoustic for pit orchestra parts that call for 12-string.

A couple that I DON'T like:

That hard-ringing plate reverb. Useless. And I used to use a flanger once in a great while only because covering a pop tune called for it, but I usually hated it. Same thing with a phaser. Don't like the predictable repetitive cycle that.

**GNAPPI** · 01-20-2017, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by goldenwave77

The hokey talk box thing Peter Frampton used on one of his songs.

Don't even know what it was called. Have tried to forget it.

Wasn't it the "Magic Bag" ???

**blille** · 01-20-2017, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by GNAPPI

Wasn't it the "Magic Bag" ???

It's literally a talk box

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**Doctor Jeff** · 01-20-2017, 04:20 PM

There's an interesting history of the Talk Box, one version of which was called The Bag. I have also read a story about Joe Walsh getting one from Les Paul, who either invented one himself or had one he was using at one time but kept in the basement or something.

Talk box - Wikipedia

I agree it was usually not a great idea, but some guitarists who did use it for great effect were the guy for Rufus and Johnny Guitar Watson.

I second chorus except as stated it can be interesting used sparingly. As we all know, Pat Metheny DOES NOT use chorus per se.

**Takemitsu** · 01-20-2017, 04:28 PM

ECM reverb. They are spoiling so many great albums with this.

**Frank67** · 01-20-2017, 04:28 PM

I hate tremolo

... Mike Stern's chorus is a close second

**mr. beaumont** · 01-20-2017, 04:34 PM

I don't have any that I hate "all the time." It's easy to pick on chorus, but I like chorus a lot in some instances, too.

If we're getting at jazz guitar tones in general, the only ones I truly dislike are some of the 70's "plug the guitar straight into the board" tones. YUCK. So I guess, my least favorite effect is none? weird.

**Skip Ellis** · 01-20-2017, 04:51 PM

Anything that makes a guitar not sound like a guitar - especially distortion boxes of all types. You spend multiple thousands of dollars for a wonderful guitar, then plug it into a $29 box that makes it sound like crap. If you want that sound, get crappy speakers, turn the amp up, or cut slits in the ones you've got. Too many people 'playing' electronics instead of guitar these days. Just my $0.02...

**Woody Sound** · 01-20-2017, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

I hate tremolo

I'm with you on that one. Funny thing is, there are so many chorus haters. On amps that have reverb and trem, I wish they had chorus instead of trem. Fishman's acoustic control layout is great.

**Longways to Go** · 01-20-2017, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

I hate tremolo

... Mike Stern's chorus is a close second

I didn't know I liked tremolo until I got a Princeton reverb. set low & slow

**Longways to Go** · 01-20-2017, 05:11 PM

This is a timely thread for me, as I've been getting into my small pedalboard lately.
I think any effect can be used tastefully, or get out of hand really fast.

I'm sitting on a Musician's Friend 20% off coupon and have been contemplating a Wah Wah pedal.
Real McCoy RMC3fl or RMC4 most likely . . .

Good or bad idea? yeah or nay?

**christianm77** · 01-20-2017, 05:14 PM

I find Mike Stern's tone a bit squelchy and wish he'd dial the squelch back a bit. I'm not sure what effect does that, exactly. Still it's his sound.

Other than that - ambience on jazz guitar is very much a post Kurt cliche. Thing is it does a lot to fill out the sound of the guitar in an ensemble and is pretty addictive. But there's part of me that feels that using it all the time is a bit like playing piano with the sustain pedal down all the time.

I mean, I have to say a bit of delay comes in great for nice clangy chords, but it can be overused.

I don't want to diss anyone, but performance this is the sort of thing I think could be improved by using less or more carefully calibrated delay and reverb. While a lovely sound for chords, listen how the delay trail messes up the onset of the notes when they are played more staccatto. For me this is an issue with an otherwise stellar performance when he plays more muted notes. This is the sort of thing I want to avoid in my live sound.

OTOH Bill Frisell, Mr. Ambience himself, creates much of the spacey effect of his playing through his left hand fingering. If you listen he doesn't always use that much reverb.

It's a funny one though - in practice I find a small amount of reverb very useful live, but no so much as to be heard. I also need more reverb live than in when practicing. At home 2 or 3 on my PRRI sounds like loads, but on stage that barely sounds like any reverb at all, which is interesting.

**GNAPPI** · 01-20-2017, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

I hate tremolo

... Mike Stern's chorus is a close second

WHAT??? PLEASE don't tell me you don't like "Crimson and Clover" Over and over, and over :-)

Gads I CANNOT STAND that "song" It's "almost" worse than rap.