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Thread: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

  1. #1
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    So, what pedals/tricks do you use to give your solos sustain and volume?

    Just a clean booster pedal or do you add delay/chorus/compression?

    I am thinking classic rock/progressive soloing, I mean like from Grateful Dead stuff to Another Brick in the Wall II.

  2. #2
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    I have three choices on my board- an AMZ Mini Booster, a Fulltone '69 Pedal and either and Analogman Prince of Tone or a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MkIII.

    I'm usually playing a Tele clone through a 5E3 clone and the Mini Booster pushes it dirtier than it would a more modern amp.

    The '69 Pedal has the fuzz cranked all the way up and the level of dirt is controlled from the guitar. It can get completely clean with the guitar turned down low enough. For years this was the only dirt on my board.

    The Prince of Tone is great all by itself for overdriven sounds. I recently replaced that with the DLS MkIII because, not only is it a good sounding Marshall flavored overdrive/distortion pedal, it makes the '69 Pedal work with a Fender amp. Still, I prefer the Prince of Tone for general overdrive use.

    I recently bought a Blackstone Appliances Mosfet Overdrive and it's very cool, but I think I prefer the PoT. The PoT really hits the spot for me.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    I like to use either my Digitech Delay clean or my Rat or both together.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    I hit the tape saturation side of my Strymon Deco.

  5. #5

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    13 various pedals in my chain currently. I like a lot of modulation at times but for soloing I'm almost always using one or more of the following: TC Electronics Mojo Mojo, Boss BD2, and Boss CS3.

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    I turn on fantasy mode in my mind, attempting to fool myself that a) my solos actually sound good, and b) that my solos sound different and interesting.

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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Volume knob.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    Volume knob.
    This, for me, if it's a classic rock song. I'll already be using my OCD for the rhythm part with the guitar volume backed down, so just dial it up for the lead.

    For 80s covers, then it's usually ultra-clean rhythm and kick on the OCD and Carbon Copy for the solo.

    For our cover of "25 or 6 to 4," gotta kick in that wah halfway through. Lol.

  9. #9
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Just depends, but usually a booster of some sort. SHO, DOD BiFet, or one of my RAT's set for volume boost. I'm not a knob fiddler, so I use my various OD's like channel switchers or to change the tone more than to add distortion.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    Volume knob.
    "Volume knob?!? Pfft. Luxury. Why, when we were growing up playing we were lucky if we had strings, or fingers. And we were grateful."

  11. #11

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by chuckocaster View Post
    I'm not a knob fiddler, so I use my various OD's like channel switchers or to change the tone more than to add distortion.
    Exactly the same for me... and I do switch a lot. I run 3 OD's and if you think that's bad, I use TWO different flavors of flange lol!

    EDIT> Meant phase... not flange.
    Last edited by HighPlainsDrifter; 07-02-2017 at 09:10 AM.

  12. #12
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by HighPlainsDrifter View Post
    Exactly the same for me... and I do switch a lot. I run 3 OD's and if you think that's bad, I use TWO different flavors of flange lol!
    I usually run 2 OD's and a boost, been using 2 delays also even though I'm not really a delay guy. I setup my amps (all are single channel) so my "clean" tone is "on the edge". 1st OD is set pretty light, 2nd is medium, stack them for heavy, and the booster is after so I get an actual volume boost of whatever sound I'm using. First delay is setup to be "barely there", more of a psychoacoustic reverby sound. The 2nd delay you can actually tell it's on. None of mine are tapable or set up to sync exactly with the tempo. Guess I'm stuck on the old school way of just turning on the delay for some space. I'd do it different if I was playing rhythmic stuff like The Edge or something, but I don't, so therefore I don't. LOL
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  13. #13
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    Volume knob.
    If I'm playing a cleaner solo or using my '69 Pedal I'll often just use my guitar's volume knob. Most of the time, if a song calls for the '69 Pedal, I leave it on the whole song and turn the guitar up or down for dirty and clean, louder and softer. You can see Hendrix do this with his Fuzz Face in videos. It's my favorite way to play, but I find more consistency by just stepping on an OD or distortion pedal.

  14. #14

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by chuckocaster View Post
    I usually run 2 OD's and a boost, been using 2 delays also even though I'm not really a delay guy. I setup my amps (all are single channel) so my "clean" tone is "on the edge". 1st OD is set pretty light, 2nd is medium, stack them for heavy, and the booster is after so I get an actual volume boost of whatever sound I'm using. First delay is setup to be "barely there", more of a psychoacoustic reverby sound. The 2nd delay you can actually tell it's on. None of mine are tapable or set up to sync exactly with the tempo. Guess I'm stuck on the old school way of just turning on the delay for some space. I'd do it different if I was playing rhythmic stuff like The Edge or something, but I don't, so therefore I don't. LOL
    I'm the same way with my OD's more or less... running my Blues Driver with very little gain, then into my Mojo Mojo for more crunch. The two work so well together. If I need more nastiness than that, then I will run either the BD2 or Mojo along with my Full Bore MXR but I don't use that pedal much. The way that I keep my BD2 settings, I'm able to use it for a relatively clean boost... which when combined with some echo, delay, tremolo, and polyphonic reverb... can get into some sincerely lush and celestial territory.

    For what it's worth... I've got a RAT and an EHX Cock Fight but neither of those are currently in my chain.

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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Hmmm, I never really understood using the pedals to boost volume thing. What do you do on a slow song? Use the same volume as on a driver?

    I have three basic sounds I use: Clean, Overdrive & Distortion

    I pick one of those as required then I have Delay and Chorus available as "modifiers". For clean I'll sometimes use compression for a country sound. I almost never use compression with OD or Distortion since compression removes dynamics.

    A good OD will act similar to the amp - clean up a you dial the volume down. A distortion generally won't.

    Unless your playing death metal dropped-D, I like rhythm parts to be clean or only slightly crunchy. Using too much OD on rhythm leads to the "wall of sound" syndrome where ALL the space is taken up and there's no place for the vocals or solos. (IMHO, YMMV). To bust through the soloist jacks up and then next thing you know the dance floor is emptied out, the bartenders can't hear the drink orders and the band looses another venue.

    So I use my volume and tone knobs to take the above and dial in what I need.

    The Tone knobs are your friend. If you want to mute the guitar and still have creamy OD dial back the tone. If you need some cut at a lower volume open it up.


    My chain is very simple: Boss Tuner - Boss Compressor - Boss OD1 - RAT - Boss Delay - Boss Chorus - DRRI. Works great, all the pedals work well together and it's made a lot of money and paid for itself many times over.

    That being said, using the correct guitar makes all the difference. I generally use a Les Paul since it's a more versatile instrument for me. My LP has coil splitters, and I can generally hack the Strat/Tele sounds I need to an acceptable level, but no Strat or Tele is EVER going to sound like a Les Paul.

    At a big venue I'll use my Tele or Strat on some songs, but for local bars and pig roasts I just can't push the volume up to where a Strat wants to be to really sing. When it's a really tiny venue, I'll grab the hollow body with PAFs. That said, I still use the same system.

    Unless I grab the rack with the Fractal.

    Chuck
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    ...and?? You're going to leave us hanging, Chuck?

    what happens when you grab the rack with the fractual? Enquiring minds want to know

  17. #17
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    ...and?? You're going to leave us hanging, Chuck?

    what happens when you grab the rack with the fractual? Enquiring minds want to know

    https://soundcloud.com/chuck-smith-3/diezombiedie

    Not my best work or the best recording in the world but this is my white Strat going nuclear into the Fractal.

    With a digital rig I have patches for each song. The amp/cab and effects are chosen as required for the song.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  18. #18
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    I pick harder or softer, and usually swap to the neck pickup. I have my guitars setup where the neck pup is a little quieter than the bridge. I don't like the way my tone changes when I change the volume knob on the guitar.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  19. #19
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    https://soundcloud.com/chuck-smith-3/diezombiedie

    Not my best work or the best recording in the world but this is my white Strat going nuclear into the Fractal.

    With a digital rig I have patches for each song. The amp/cab and effects are chosen as required for the song.
    was that you playing in the band at a concert?

  20. #20
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    Volume knob.
    Looking for LIKE button
    Kenny Belmont
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    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by pc View Post
    This, for me, if it's a classic rock song. I'll already be using my OCD for the rhythm part with the guitar volume backed down, so just dial it up for the lead.

    For 80s covers, then it's usually ultra-clean rhythm and kick on the OCD and Carbon Copy for the solo.

    For our cover of "25 or 6 to 4," gotta kick in that wah halfway through. Lol.
    Hit it Ray Fuller style!
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  22. #22
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Using pedals, while necessary, always gives me a bit of anxiety. Ha ha, I have terrible body balance, and sometimes when I go to press a pedal switch, I almost fall. I need a roadie like Dave Gilmour's who does his pedals for him. At least I've read somewhere that he does that.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  23. #23
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by FrankJohnson View Post
    Hit it Ray Fuller style!
    We definitely stand on the shoulders of local giants in this town. He's playing a show 7/23 I'm hoping to catch.

  24. #24

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    Using pedals, while necessary, always gives me a bit of anxiety. Ha ha, I have terrible body balance, and sometimes when I go to press a pedal switch, I almost fall. I need a roadie like Dave Gilmour's who does his pedals for him. At least I've read somewhere that he does that.
    Lol! My fiance thinks that I look awfully silly doing the stomp-box shuffle! Believe me, I wasn't blessed with dancer's appendages so it can be a bit comical with 15 pedals haha!

    Not sure how relevant it is to the topic but I've got an Earthquaker Device Afterneath reverb pedal on it's way from Sweetwater. Not sure how much I'll use it for soloing but I can't wait to try it out.

  25. #25
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by pc View Post
    We definitely stand on the shoulders of local giants in this town. He's playing a show 7/23 I'm hoping to catch.
    Tell him Kenny from Jonathans Landing (T-Bones Buddy) said Hi and give Tutu a shout for me too!
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  26. #26
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by HighPlainsDrifter View Post
    Lol! My fiance thinks that I look awfully silly doing the stomp-box shuffle! Believe me, I wasn't blessed with dancer's appendages so it can be a bit comical with 15 pedals haha!

    Not sure how relevant it is to the topic but I've got an Earthquaker Device Afterneath reverb pedal on it's way from Sweetwater. Not sure how much I'll use it for soloing but I can't wait to try it out.
    Looking forward to hearing a report on that Earthquaker.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  27. #27

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    Looking forward to hearing a report on that Earthquaker.
    It arrived today and I was able to get about an hour in with it after work. I boosted it with a Boss BDII OD set clean/ almost no gain. I ran that way for a while then gradually layered it with another reverb ( Flux Effects Liquid Ambiance Polyphonic Reverb pedal), a Behringer Echo Machine, Vintage Delay, and EQ, and eventually an MXR Phase 95.

    Super lush and cavernous but it's got a "DRAG" knob that is a little strange to get dialed in to where it's best suited. It's definitely quiet even running with the other effects that I mentioned. So far, where it shines most stunningly is with the other reverb, the echo, the EQ, and the clean-driven OD. It's certainly got a vast array of dynamic capabilities but I'm going to have to continue tweaking things. I think this one's a keeper but I'll need some more time to be sure.

  28. #28

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    I am a volume knob rider, but when I want to 'cut through" I use my Beano Boost.

    I'll add delay or autowah, but now want to add a little mild modulation to add for solos. The Orbital Modulator is at the top of the list at the moment.
    Fuzz is proof God love us and wants us to be happy. - Franklin
    http://www.frankdenigris.com

  29. #29

    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Franklin View Post
    The Orbital Modulator is at the top of the list at the moment.
    That thing is super cool from the demos I've heard. Hope you're able to get it!

  30. #30
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    The boost switch on the Origin Effects Cali76 TX-P. The only pedal I use all the time.

  31. #31
    Forum Member concert410's Avatar
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    Re: What effects do you switch on when it's solo time?

    Tubescreamer and sometimes a Wah.
    A good, screaming Strat just might be the greatest guitar sound of all..... -Slash

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