Hello, Forum -
I am new to the concept of using a pedal switching system and decided to pick up the PX8+ as my first choice. I am looking for some input on pedal order and recommended best practices, overall.
I am running 15 pedals on a PedalTrain board - the signal chain is currently as follows - Guitar into:
Digitech Drop pedal, into
Morley Mini-Wah, into
TC Electronics Polytune,
All of the above run into the IN of the PX8+
Loop 1: Wampler Ego Compressor
Loop 2: Keeley D&M Drive
Loop 3: Vertex TDrive
Loop 4: Fulltone DejaVibe
Loop 5: Friedman BE-OD
Loop 6: Electro-Harmonix Mel 9
Loop INSERT: TC Electronics Quintessence Harmonizer
Loop 7: Dunlop EchoPlex (w/MXR tap pedal), into Fender Mirror Image Digital Delay, into TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb, into Morley Mini-Volume to the Loop 7 return. I did this to maintain the "tails" on the delays and reverb.
Loop 8: Empty (I had the HoF Reverb in this until I decided I wanted "tails" on the verb, too)
OUT goes to a TC Electronics Ditto Looper pedal, and then onto the front end of a 30-watt Marshall head.
This was my first pass, and I am sure there can be some improvements.
Some questions:
1) The Loop INSERT can be used for the Volume Pedal? Will I be able to maintain "tails" on the delays and reverbs? And I will likely move the Harmony pedal to a different loop.
2) It has been recommended to me to move the Mel 9 out of a loop and BEFORE the IN of the PX8+ (and before the drive pedals). If I do this will I be able to fade it out from the Volume pedal (along with the delays and reverb)?
3) The instructions for the Drop pedal indicated that the guitar should go into it before anything else, so that is why it, along with the Wah and the Tuner, are in series and not in individual loops.
4) I was told today that I should include ALL drive pedals in one loop? I know that the TDrive and the BE-OD do not play nice with each other, and I am concerned about noise! The D&M and the TDrive are really quiet, but the BE-OD is pretty noisy when I set it for the metal stuff it is used for. The D of the D&M is used for modern rock and hard rock, and the M side of the D&M is being used as a boost for all solos, no matter what pedal is engaged. The TDrive is for classic rock and bluesier numbers. Recommendations on how to blend these folks into a happy family would be great!
Again, I am not too familiar with pedal switching systems, so I am looking for some good advice.
I have not considered the use of MIDI at this time.
Thanks again, and I hope to hear from some of you!
D
New to pedal switching and order of pedals on PX8+
Re: New to pedal switching and order of pedals on PX8+
Wow, quite the setup there!
Jumping right in...
1. Any time you run a volume pedal in front of any active delay or reverb it will allow the tails to still come thru when the volume is dropped. In your setup as described if the volume pedal wa sin the Insert, this would require loop 7 to be active so the delay and reverb were active.
2. Either way, if the volume pedal is in the PX-8 Plus Insert, the Mel9 will be in front of the volume pedal. Feel free to place the Mel9 wherever it sounds best for the way you like to use it but I would also assume it works better without drive pedals in front of it.
3. It totally makes sense to have these pedals in front of the PX-8 Plus. However, I would go ahead and run the tuner in front of everything. The Polytune is true bypass, so when it is Off your Drop is still getting a raw guitar signal... also, have you ever tried to tune a guitar that is running thru a harmonizer first? (Never do this to an auto-tune guitar!)
4. Including multiple pedals in a loop certainly works, as you see with your delays, but it does take you right back to the "tap-dance" that the switcher is trying to prevent. So the preference is totally yours... do you want to be able to program presets that recall just the pedals you want knowing they will always be in a ready state? Or, do you want to set the combination of pedals you want using their foootswitches, then bring them in using a single loop? The problem with individual loops here is that you have a lot more pedals than available loops, but the problem with combining them is that you always have to check first that the correct combination of pedals are active before you engage the loop.
I hope that helps!
Jumping right in...
1. Any time you run a volume pedal in front of any active delay or reverb it will allow the tails to still come thru when the volume is dropped. In your setup as described if the volume pedal wa sin the Insert, this would require loop 7 to be active so the delay and reverb were active.
2. Either way, if the volume pedal is in the PX-8 Plus Insert, the Mel9 will be in front of the volume pedal. Feel free to place the Mel9 wherever it sounds best for the way you like to use it but I would also assume it works better without drive pedals in front of it.
3. It totally makes sense to have these pedals in front of the PX-8 Plus. However, I would go ahead and run the tuner in front of everything. The Polytune is true bypass, so when it is Off your Drop is still getting a raw guitar signal... also, have you ever tried to tune a guitar that is running thru a harmonizer first? (Never do this to an auto-tune guitar!)
4. Including multiple pedals in a loop certainly works, as you see with your delays, but it does take you right back to the "tap-dance" that the switcher is trying to prevent. So the preference is totally yours... do you want to be able to program presets that recall just the pedals you want knowing they will always be in a ready state? Or, do you want to set the combination of pedals you want using their foootswitches, then bring them in using a single loop? The problem with individual loops here is that you have a lot more pedals than available loops, but the problem with combining them is that you always have to check first that the correct combination of pedals are active before you engage the loop.
I hope that helps!
------------------====Cheers!====------------------
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------
Re: New to pedal switching and order of pedals on PX8+
Your response is super helpful.
Thank you!
Thank you!