Ideal mini pedalboard "challenge"!

[Al Krow]

A BC'er very recently twisted my arm and persuaded me to upgrade my Boss WL-20 wireless to a Shure DLXD6 wireless.

 

In terms of pedals for gigging (we play standard pop/rock covers) I've been happily just using my Zoom B1-4 as a 'standalone' micro pedal board since the end of lockdown. But the Shure is a much heftier beast than the WL-20 and it made sense to set it up on a small 'gigging' board with the Zoom B1-4 and a few other pedals and keep the rest on the larger 'creative home use' board.

 

With a bit of pedalboard tetris, I can fit 4 other pedals onto my smaller board together with the B1-4 and the Shure. (Alas, sadly not quite enough space for a Thumpinator hpf underneath, so that will need to remain on the larger board and I'll make do with an hpf effect on the B1-4). But it got me thinking - which of my pedals would I really want/like to use for gigging? Proved to be quite an interesting and useful exercise!

 

My starting point is these two boards and a recently acquired Tech 21 YYZ:

 

 

For a bit of fun if you fancy it(!), have a guess which 4 pedals I decided to "save from the fire" besides my Zoom B1-4? Bonus points for working out the signal chain I've used.

 

Please also feel free to share which 5 pedals you would have gone for (no prizes for that - lol!), what order you would put them and why. I'll limit any comments to your personal choices so as not to give the game away!

 

Assuming mods are ok with this - £10 prize (PayPal f&f) for whoever is closest. Closing date : Sunday 12th.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Al Krow

[Reggaebass]

I don’t really know much about pedals Al, great fun challenge 👍

[bassfan]

I’ll play, but I don’t want your money…. 😃

 

oc5, proton, vt Di, and FI… 

 

that's the signal chain b1-4 at the end

 

I will however, relieve you of the Proton if that’s not made the cull!! 👍🏻

Edited September 1, 2021 by bassfan
Al Krow can’t count

[Al Krow]

11 minutes ago, bassfan said:

I’ll play, but I don’t want your money…. 😃

👍🏻

 I really don't recall you saying that, last time we were in the pub? 😁

[SumOne]

I reckon you've gone OC5>Proton>Future Impact>Octava>VT going into the Zoom at the end. 

 

Or at least that's the sort of thing I'd probably go for with VT adding some tone shaping and overdrive to the previous pedals then the Zoom to add modulation and delay at the end. 

[Al Krow]

6 minutes ago, SumOne said:

I reckon you've gone OC5>Proton>Future Impact>Octava>VT going into the Zoom at the end. 

 

Or at least that's the sort of thing I'd probably go for with VT adding some tone shaping and overdrive to the previous pedals then the Zoom to add modulation and delay at the end. 

 

Well you and @bassfan currently definitely have the two best guesses 😁and you're ahead as you've had a very decent stab at a sensible signal chain.

 

My bad - I originally incorrectly posted it was 5 pedals plus the B1-4. It's actually 5 including the B1-4. So which pedal are you going to lose from your selection? 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Al Krow

[SumOne]

As the FI is a big brick of a thing I'll guess that didn't fit:

 

OC5>Proton>Octava>VT> Zoom. 

 

[Al Krow]

40 minutes ago, SumOne said:

As the FI is a big brick of a thing I'll guess that didn't fit:

 

OC5>Proton>Octava>VT> Zoom. 

 

No denying it's a big brick of a thing! I can't (at this stage) confirm or deny whether it makes the cut though...😄 

[GisserD]

ill play.

 

SY1 > OC5 > Proton > ZOOM > VT at the end

 

*Drops mic - walks off stage*

[lee650]

I'd say theres some corking guesses. Tried this last night and it all went wrong 😜

For me I think you'll be going this way

 

OC5-SY1-Tech21 YYZ-Proton-Zoom

Octave and synth at the beginning for best tracking. YYZ as a drive to add a bit of dirt to drive the Proton (very Rage agsinst the Machine), using all three will rule. The Zoom for modulation/delay/tuner.

 

My little 5 would be this

OC5-Mastatron- Proton-FI -VTDI

 

Not for you as this setup is quite synth heavy and you're a rocker 😂

Edited September 2, 2021 by lee650

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, lee650 said:

I'd say theres some corking guesses. Tried this last night and it all went wrong 😜

For me I think you'll be going this way

 

OC5-SY1-Tech21 YYZ-Proton-Zoom

Octave and synth at the beginning for best tracking. YYZ as a drive to add a bit of dirt to drive the Proton (very Rage agsinst the Machine), using all three will rule. The Zoom for modulation/delay/tuner.

 

My little 5 would be this

OC5-Mastatron- Proton-FI -VTDI

 

Not for you as this setup is quite synth heavy and you're a rocker 😂

 

Although I make that one pedal too many in your list for my little gigging board, at least you didn't drop your mic 😁

(And nice post btw!)

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Al Krow

[lee650]

8 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Although I make that one pedal too many in your list for my little gigging board, 

 

 

There's 5 pedals on my list 😉

[Al Krow]

You're absolutely right (about the number of pedals at least 😁) - I was reading 'Tech 21' and 'YYZ' as being two separate pedals (as I've got a VTDI which is also a T21). I think it was the great bassplayer @bassfanwho said "Al Krow can't count". Probably exactly why I should be hanging up my work shoes and focussing on something more creative?

 

I've just spent a few hours rewiring the larger board tonight as it felt a bit like a bomb-site after I'd filched key pedals off it to put onto the gigging board. Re-doing pedal boards is a strangely satisfying activity, lol! Weird thing is I'm now feeling very much happier with both boards than I was with either before this little rejig. Maybe 'cos they both have a clear purpose in my head now.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Al Krow

[bassfan]

7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 I think it was the great bassplayer @bassfan

Wooooa. Stop with that kind of misinformation!! Mediocre at best….🙂

[Happy Jack]

On 01/09/2021 at 20:54, Al Krow said:

 

 

 

 

Combine that number of pedals with that many knobs and that close together, blend in my bloody great clod-hoppers, and I'd be tap-dancing through a minefield at a gig ...

 

[Al Krow]

20 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

 

Combine that number of pedals with that many knobs and that close together, blend in my bloody great clod-hoppers, and I'd be tap-dancing through a minefield at a gig ...

 

Haha, yes I know what you mean! Which is partly why I've only been taking just a Zoom B1-4 as a standalone micro board to gigs recently. 

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, bassfan said:

Wooooa. Stop with that kind of misinformation!! Mediocre at best….🙂

Now you're just fishing for compliments! 😁

[bassfan]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Now you're just fishing for compliments! 😁

I absolutely am not! 😊

[Al Krow]

One week to go, and the excellent suggestions in so far are (in no particular order of merit!):

 

1. bassfan:   OC5 > Proton > VT DI > FI > Zoom B1-4

2. sumone:  OC5 > Proton > Octava > VTDI > Zoom B1-4

3. gisserD:   SY1 > OC5 > Proton > Zoom B1-4 > VTDI

4. lee650:    OC5 > SY1 > YYZ > Proton > Zoom B1-4

 

...there's definitely a bit of a consensus building up here  

 

[ordep]

OC5-SY1-FI-Mothership-B1-4

 

you said hardcore techno-trance pub band right? 😁😁😁

[Al Krow]

23 minutes ago, ordep said:

OC5-SY1-FI-Mothership-B1-4

 

you said hardcore techno-trance pub band right? 😁😁😁

Haha love it! Actually your suggestion has 3 out of the 5 pedals already on my former smaller 'psycho synth' board (in the OP). So I'm probably not giving anything away by hinting that you're unlikely to edge it over the other suggestions, but defo brought a smile to my face 😁

Edited September 9, 2021 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

This is what I went for: 

- micro board = Zoom B1-4

- gigging mini board = FI-->OC5-->Octava-->Proton-->B1-4

- 'creative' larger home board 

 

In terms of signal chain, I'd have been fine swapping the synth and octave pedals around at the start - but PB tetris dictated the final order on that one. The remainder were my preferred choice signal chain order. 

 

So we just now need to work out who was closest out of you good chaps who played, in terms of (i) exact pedal selection or at least (ii) the correct pedal 'genre' (e.g. synth, dirt) and (iii) tie-breaker of signal chain order. 

[krispn]

As someone who’s just been recruited to play in an 80’s band I’d be keen to know which tracks which pedals are getting used on with the pub band especially any synth heavy stuff. I’ve been playing around with a C4 synth pedal too so it might inspire some tweaks and ideas for my current set of tunes. Mostly it’s just octave and drive for pseudo synth stuff but the C4 will

lwr me expand upon this where needed. Previously I’ve been using a combination of drive, fuzz, octave and some modulation in the HX stomp which has served reasonably well for my needs but the C4 is quite a step up. 

[Al Krow]

Just one track so far with synth - I use the Z synth patch on the B1-4 for "Moves like Jagger" which helps fill out our sound out (we don't have keys). It's surprisingly effective with a touch of slap thrown in. 

 

I suspect it will be a while before I'm up to speed with the FI and what it can do. Usual cost / benefit of getting to grips with another PC editor vs spending time on other stuff. 

 

Yup I'm sure the C4 will be a step up - Helix doesn't excel at filter and synth, as is well known, and no doubt you'll be getting some inspiration from the C4 crowd for that. Personally I'm avoiding the SA pedals until they improve their on-pedal UI and don't need you to buy other kit to properly make use of them, but that's just me. 

[krispn]

I’d maybe have went VTDI and zoom and cut back on what looks to be a bit synth heavy- sounds like the zoom is already doing the heavy lifting in that front so much of the filter and synth is a tad superfluous in the gigging context. Maybe better suited to the home board which looks a bit ‘drive’ heavy. Maybe a balance of both drive and filter synth between each board would be more rounded i.e. if your not planning on doing anything with the FI for a while it’s pointless taking up gigging board real estate. I know where’s the fun but I know you don’t like to take out stuff you won’t need/gig light kinda thing. 

 

I’m not entirely sure I’ll need much synth myself beyond what I’ve said above - touch of octave and drive  but the C4 will be fun and if I can load 3-6 individual sounds which compliment the keys I’d be happy. I only have the pedal on loan but I might be tempted if I actually need what it has to offer and it works in the larger context of the band. Looking forward to finding out. Covid has cause the first few rehearsals to be cancelled so far!

 

Remind me what pedal is the Z synth emulating?

Edited September 13, 2021 by krispn