EFFECTS

With effects I search for pieces that perform well by themselves and also in a chain with others. Effects open the door for experimentation and give me more options to add flavour to certain notes or passages.

VHT Valvulator 1 In-Line Tube Buffer And Power Supply This power conditioner/ preamp is in my rig and I really feel it is a great part of its tone. It has a 12ax7 preamp tube as part of its preamp so that it acts and sounds just like an amplifier's preamp. This keeps the signal warm and musical in tone. It also has a regulated power source that I have used in the past which can power a lot of pedals cleanly but I am not using it currently since my rig now has higher milliamp needs. The big asset and benefit for my tone I believe it has is that it converts my guitar's signal from high to low impedance. This allows the signal to have very low resistance going through all my effects. Basically, my tone is the same going through my whole rig as it is straight from my guitar to my amp with a single cable.

Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone Mark II Phaser The Wombtone II Phaser sounds so voice-like. It makes me think that this might be what the sound waves of an electric guitar sound like to a baby while inside the womb, to what things sound like once born and being outside the womb. The tones are human in such a musical way. It has huge headroom for clean signals, and does not need an input pad because of the circuit's design so my clean boost (Keeley Katana) does not clip the input section. The tone does not get muddy, shrill, or distorted, and I can drive the output if I want to, as it has a great boost that is tube-like and magical in tone. I have great flexibility to shape the effect any way I want to using Joel's ModuShape controls, including making the waves rise up quick and down slow or up slow and down quick. With mini-toggle switches and totally accurate knobs for adjustment of various parameters, this pedal gives me many possibilites. The phase sounds can go from deep and swampy to frantic washes. It is midi compatable plus Joel has put little DIP switches on the side of all his pedals which allows me to further change or adjust what a knob does or how it reacts. I can also adjust or assign what parameter I want using an expression pedal. Dreamy is a word that comes to mind with this unit. Joel Korte is reshaping the effects world, and there is no better phaser in that world.

Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl Mark II Chorus/Vibrato The Warped Vinyl II is in on the same level as the Wombtone II as far as functionality, tone, and possibilities. The ModuShape controls helps create tons of musical shapes as well. The chorus can be thick and meaty, but keeps the notes from being muddy and murky. It is transparent and does not get in the way of the chime in the top end, but still adds a magical pristine sheen to the notes. It does all this in full colours. It has a lushness that I have never heard before. The warped part of it's namesake lends to the effect you can get it to reproduce, much like an old warped and scratchy record. That LoFi sound. And anything in between. The boost on this pedal is just like the Wombtone II. Again, the tone stays intact. It has an input pad which lowers the input signal so my clean boost (Keeley Katana) doesn't clip the input section of the pedal. It then bumps the signal back up on the way out to the level it was at when it went into the input section. This means basically that whatever signal I put in, will come out the other end of either pedal and keep my signal level intact. Again, no mud, distortion, or shrillness. The notes just glisten. The extra feature of having a vibrato effect as well makes this pedal a double threat. Double Trouble. It can make my notes dance beautifully. It can quiver and shimmer. It is also possible to have a combination of chorus and vibrato at the same time. SRV's "Cold Shot" is alive and living in this piece. Hendrix lives in this pedal as well. Hands down the best chorus and vibrato unit I have ever experienced. Are you experienced? Thanks again Joel!

Ibanez Tube King (Japanese Version) This is my favourite analog distortion unit. It has a 12ax7 preamp tube in it. The tube makes it act like the preamp of an amplifier so that when you drive it hard (like a cranked up amp) you get some compression and tube sag added to the distortion making it sound more natural. It has a noise suppressor that I leave on to quiet a bit of hiss (especially at hotter settings) but not turned up too much so as to not lose sustain. If turned up too much the suppressor will shorten the length of time that a note will ring for (a shorter decay of the note). With high, mid, and low controls I can shape the tone to be transparent or I can boost the frequencies that I want to cut a bit more. With level and gain controls as well, I can make it grittier on lower gain and higher level settings or smoother and more singing in quality with higher gain and lower level settings. It’s a bit like having a Marshall stack in a box. The lows can be boosted to get more bottom-end thump and air out of my amp’s speaker. This pedal is very musical tonally and that tube is the magic behind it I believe. I replace the tube once in awhile but I choose a new one carefully. I might try ten tubes before I find the right one that tonally does what I want it to do as far as breakup.

Chase Bliss Audio Gravitas Tremolo Joel Korte never ceases to amaze me. I swear there is a tube inside this pedal. When turning up the drive it gives a great warm edge to my tone that makes the pedal itself feel like a great tube amp being driven in its preamp stage. Another wonderful feature of it is the ability to keep the volume of my guitar the same as it was before I engage it. It doesn’t thin my tone at all. On any other tube amp I have ever used when you use tremolo it weakens the output. This pedal eliminates that problem. It can convert any non-trem amp into sounding like it has a vintage style tremolo built into it. Like all his products, this pedal is made from the finest parts available and has all the features of his others as far as the ability to store many presets via midi. It plays well with any of my effects and that is another great feature of Joel’s products. I find his products are always compatible with any other product. From Duane Eddy’s Rebel Rouser to Steve Earle’s Guitar Town this pedal has it all. Thanks Joel. You rock buddy!

Dunlop 95 Q Cry Baby Wah Wah With a volume pot to adjust the level and a boost kick switch in it, I can boost the output of this effect so it is at the same level either on or off. The boost does add a bit of dirt to the signal but in a musical way. I usually boost and turn the output level up. This keeps the tone as fat as possible. There is also a Q stem pot that adjusts how wide or narrow of a frequency range I want to alter. This helps me shape the effect to be more vocal sounding. The wider the range, the more vocal-sounding (dramatic) it is. The shorter the range, the less vocal-sounding. I usually set it for a wider, more vocal range. I also really like the fact that it is switchless. There are no clicks or pops when I turn it on or off, and it can enter or leave my signal chain smoothly and instantaneously. Not only do I use this pedal for soloing and making notes speak in a human voice-like way, but I use it for doing funky rhythms also. I use it as a mood setter by adding a lot of choppy rhythm to the beat of a tune. I find that a wah can add some real zest and personality to my playing.

Chase Bliss Brothers Endless Combinations. These are 2 words that come to mind with this killer overdrive/ boost/ fuzz pedal. It has 2 individual, tonally different overdrives in it that can create an array of endless settings. It can be used as a transparent boost set clean or with a bit more edge. It has a killer fuzz section. That is just the start. I can cascade overdrive A into overdrive B or vice versa. I can combine one of the overdrives with a fuzz or a boost or cascade one into the other in whichever order I want. Same with combining the boost and the fuzz. Another cool feature is that you can blend one into the other in either order. Brothers. Chase Bliss. A company Joel Korte created and named in honour of his brother Chase whom he lost. Joel and his team have created a pedal for all brothers (and sisters) whom have joined the Chase Bliss family. Love you Brother Joel!

Chase Bliss Faves The Faves mini MIDI controller can be used with any Chase Bliss effects pedal to store up to 6 presets at a time. Having a very small footprint makes it very valuable on a pedalboard as it takes up very little real estate space. I use it for my Brothers pedal. I didn’t want to go full blown MIDI as I’m always playing different set lists or tunes but wanted to be able to store more than 2 overdrive/ boost/ fuzz settings so this was the perfect answer. Without using the Faves I would need to have 6 different individual pedals or 3 dual pedals to cover the territory this little gem allows me to do. Having 6 preset settings is like having 6 individual pedals combined into one. What a great pedalboard asset Joel and his team have come up with here.

Chase Bliss Spectre From an airplane taking off to the Doobie Brothers "Listen to the music" this unit can create endless flanging ideas and covers ground never broken before. What I like about it is that I can create moods and textures and use it to add flavour to bridges, intros, extros, and anything in between. In short I can use it as a space filler or create an airy, lofty atmosphere. It will make you think different about playing guitar and can inspire you to come up with very original and identifiable parts of a song. It can inspire you to write a whole tune based around what the pedal itself can create! I think there are a lot of hidden guitar hooks yet to be discovered inside this little monster! Thanks Brother Joel!

Xotic RC Booster Version 2 This is a super transparent pedal and it doesn't change my tone at all. I usually leave it on all the time. It is simply a boost pedal that if ramped up, will slam the front end (preamp section) of my amp. I use it to help get a fatter tone at lower volumes so I don't have to run my amp as hot and to reduce stage volume. It has a second footswitch that when engaged will send an even hotter signal to my amp so it will distort quicker. This comes in handy for solos. I try to find a happy medium where I am just starting to cause the amp to break up so I can get as hot as signal as I can without distorting the preamp too much. Fat and fairly clean are my starting points for settings. The folks at Xotic have some killer stuff and this sure helps my rig sound right by making my notes and tone punch through.

Empress Echosystem Delay I upgraded to this from the Empress Vintage Modifed Super Delay. Steve Bragg and Empress are a world-class Canadian effects company who know their stuff and I believe in their products. This delay is the most advanced delay that I know of and covers any delay needs I will probably ever need. The coolest part is that Empress puts out online updates that you can download straight to the unit. Their latest upgrade is the Echorec which is just phenomenal. The closest analog sounding delay I know of that is actually digital and with continuous refinements ongoing makes this a weapon that any guitar slinger can succeed with.

Way Huge Aqua Puss Analog Delay Many players use this delay and for good reason. It does short delays and slapback delays better than most any delay within its price point. I use it as a thickener. I learned this trick from Danny Gatton. He used to have a delay pedal set to @ 38-45 milliseconds. You barely hear it because the repeat is so fast but if set right it will make your guitar thicker in a very subtle but very effective way. Here's to the ultimate "Humbler", Danny Gatton!

Origin Effects Cali 76 Compact Deluxe Compressor I really believe my lifelong search for the ultimate pedal-sized transparent compressor ended when I bought this. It replaced my Wampler Ego compressor which up until this unit came along had been my favourite and for its price point I still believe is a great value. Modelled after the Urei 1176 studio compressor, this unit is the best compressor I have ever used. By being able to blend the natural signal with the compressed signal in any way I want it allows my natural tone to be altered as little or much as I want. The lows are never lost, and when using a tele, keeping that natural string snap alive is worth every penny. I set it so that it isn't squishy, retains my natural string attack, and is in some ways set more as a limiter than a compressor while still compressing just enough to control any peaks from uneven string volume. This thing is built like a tank with military-grade components. It's a pricey admission to the compressor show but worth the ticket price plus tax. Thank you Origin Effects.

True Tone 1 Spot Pro CS12 Pro Power Supply This unit can run up to 18 Volts. It powers all my pedals very efficiently, safely, and optimally by providing a regulated power source. This cuts down on multiple adapters being all over the place and cluttering my pedalboard. With isolated outputs I have no ground loop hum either.

Hilton Pro Guitar Volume Pedal Keith Hilton makes the finest volume pedals for guitarists and steel guitarists in the world. Period. This pedal is built like a brick school house. The quality and parts are second to none. Besides being a volume pedal, it can be used as a clean boost that is totally transparent. The tuner out does not split the signal in half like other makers. Just google this man and his fantastic products. Besides being an industry leading maker of volume pedals, Keith is a marvelous steel guitar player and is well known in that circle of players worldwide. Thanks again Keith!

Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner A great tuner is a must for me. The display is easier for me to see than a needle. I stumbled upon this pedal after searching for a better tuner to use in direct sunlight or really dark stages. It has a function on it that makes the display extra bright which is perfect for outdoor stages in direct sunlight. It is accurate and easy to use. Not only is it good for tuning but it serves as a good guide when setting my intonation. It’s fully automatic and I can do open tunings as well. Cabling I use all George L’s cables. Their patch wiring kit is easy to use for wiring a pedal board. All you need is a sharp utility knife. They are so easy to fix for the same reason. I use their instrument cabling to my amp and guitars also. I find they help retain the top and low-end integrity of my signal better than any other cable I have used. The fact that they are reliable and I have never had one fail me on a job is reason enough to be loyal to them. I enjoy wiring my own pedal board so that I know how to trouble-shoot it should I ever have to. I have everything mounted on a Pedaltrain PT-Pro 32 pedalboard. By having everything organized, properly wired and housed in a flight case, I have a rig that I can count on gig after gig.

Music is a constantly evolving art. In honour of this, I continue to search for that next inspiring piece that will help me create something that is timeless.

It's all part of my musical journey.