What's your signal path - simplified or complex in your Electric guitar rig?

[Dru Edwards]

Hey guys/gals ... so, how many of you use a "simplified" signal path from your electric guitar to your amp? I'll let you determine what you consider "simplified" but I think it's a signal path that doesn't have to go through a ton of pedals.

So, what's your signal path / electric guitar rig?

[RockerDuck]

Its always been a simple path for me. Guitar, pedals, amp. I've never had a big pedal board either. usually 4 pedals and a tuner. A complicated path would be separate loops with a switch to turn each loop on, but that's the same as a patch on multieffects pedals.

[zabdart]

A long time ago Jeff Beck said the best way to do things was to plug your guitar straight into your amp -- no pedals, no stomp boxes, no compressors or limiters, or anything. And that's what I do. My guitars go straight into my amp.
I like clean tones and "brown" tones. The rest is for other people to do.

[s2y]

For me, it's usually just a few various flavored overdrive pedals. My amp has reverb and tremolo.

[Bob Womack]

I'm a pragmatist. My basic sound is guitar into the right amp, with a little reverb and echo added as needed. I really emphasize guitar-to-amp interaction. My main modulation is rotary speaker and I run that post-amp with my real rotary cab and/or post-preamp (loop) with my emulator.

BUT, when I record I am a total pragmatist. I'll put anything anywhere that gives me the sound I'm looking for.

Bob

Don't play electric much anymore. However, before I had put it down I wearied of all the gizmos and doo-dads on the floor in front of me, their care, maintenance, transport and set up. I went to a Line 6 POD Pro and controlled it with an FCB 1010 MIDI controller, the only thing on the floor in front of me. Sometimes I sent it to an amp, other times DI to the board and took it back in the monitors.

[Rodger]

Cable straight into a Mesa 5:25 Express or Albion 50 watt head. Lexican MPX500 in the effects loop for a little digital delay.

[Steve DeRosa]

Guitar-cable-amp with the Super Reverb; Cool Cat trem with the Bugera V22, Ibanez TB50, and Frontman 212R...

Pedals - we don't need no stinkin' pedals...

[pitner]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I'm a pragmatist. My basic sound is guitar into the right amp, with a little reverb and echo added as needed. I really emphasize guitar-to-amp interaction. My main modulation is rotary speaker and I run that post-amp with my real rotary cab and/or post-preamp (loop) with my emulator.

BUT, when I record I am a total pragmatist. I'll put anything anywhere that gives me the sound I'm looking for.

Bob

I also have a Leslie cabinet for my electric rig. My electric rig is medium complicated. Guitar to HBE compressor to tuner to Janglebox JB2 to CB30 to Exotic AC Plus to Exotic BB Plus to Fuchs Plush Drive to Fulltone Fuzz to Fultone Tremelo to Waterbox Chorus to Spring reverb to amp. Most of the time I play with just compression ad reverb but the other effects help for overdrive and some modulation stuff. Today I played acoustic for the whole set (church) and had a blast. I am very happy with just a good amp and a cord but ...........................................

[sweiss]

Guitar....Boss CS3 compressor....Danelectro distortion pedal....Boss looper....amp(s).

The compressor is a must have for me. It fattens my tone nicely. The compression and attack controls are set at about half....volume and tone vary depending on the guitar.

The distortion pedal is set with the distortion at its lowest setting. This adds just a touch of dirt, and serves to fatten the tone a little more.

The looper is mainly for practice, but also serves to split the signal so I can can play into two different amps.

[Grenade]

Guitar>TU-3 tuner>BD-2>GE-7>amp switcher> #1 & #2 Bassman 70's into 4x10 cabs.

[Malty]

As simple as you can get: a Traveler EG-1 with built-in preamp straight into headphones ;-)

Otherwise the electrics go directly into solid state modeling amps, currently Fender Mustang or Roland Cube.

[Tony Done]

The guitar doesn't count for much, but it has taken me a long time to find an amp and pickups that I like. The most used pedal by far is a true-bypass switch I made myself, it can be used as an on-off switch, a loop switch, a 2-into-1 or a 1-into-2. I had a brief flirtation with digital multiFX, but the main FX I use are reverb - the Accutronics tank in the amp or a T Rex - and compression. I have a collection of compressors, and the one I'm using atm is the Boss LMB-3 as it is the most logical, having compression ratio and threshold controls. I occasionally mess about with OD and fuzz, but I never really connect with them.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by s2y

For me, it's usually just a few various flavored overdrive pedals. My amp has reverb and tremolo.

Cool. What are some of the various ODs you've had?

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I'm a pragmatist. My basic sound is guitar into the right amp, with a little reverb and echo added as needed. I really emphasize guitar-to-amp interaction. My main modulation is rotary speaker and I run that post-amp with my real rotary cab and/or post-preamp (loop) with my emulator.

BUT, when I record I am a total pragmatist. I'll put anything anywhere that gives me the sound I'm looking for.

Bob

Hey Bob, agreed that different situations require different components. Those little experiments can yield great results.


I use a Nova Repeater (delay) and an MXR Micro Amp (for volume boost) in my FX Loop and a TU-2, Tubescreamer, and perhaps another OD in front of the amp. It would change every couple of months when I was playing in a band based on what I thought sounded better.

[muscmp]

i use whatever the song i'm creating calls for. it may be guitar to amp directly, or, it may any and all of the strymon pedals- -timeline, mobius, or big sky, as well as a fulltone full drive 3. sometimes i even use the pedals as an insert. again, it just depends. ha!

play music!