Acoustic FX Pedals

[Music Magic]

Hi everyone,

I've recently purchased a Taylor GS Mini e-Koa Plus that I intend to use for gigging. I'm a live looping artist and have been using an electric guitar with an amplifier to access my FX for years.

I'm looking for some advice to purchase some new gear, and find the best way of setting things up. I'd like to keep things fairly minimal but I'd like to know what others would recommend in terms of acoustic preamps, DI's, reverbs etc, to achieve a decent sound before the loop pedal.

If you can help, it would be great to hear from you.

Many thanks.

[Eastbound]

Try any effects that you have. I like a little reverb and delay to add the ambiance in from the guitar

[AlfredFelix]

Experimentation is your best friend. You can seek the perfect "unplugged" tone, but that monster is elusive and usually unattainable. I'd say a good EQ is all that you need, if anything at all, to get a good tone. Something with gain, like the Baggs Align EQ has done well to shape my tone in various situations. It is more or less acting as a preamp and eq in my usage.

Beyond that, the sky is the limit. Delay, reverb, pitch shifting, whammy, chorus, flange, phase, trem, and even distortion. I mean, it is all fun flavoring.

[YamahaGuy]

LR Baggs Voiceprint DI
A volume pedal
A tuner
Your favorite reverb
A delay pedal
[Those plus a chorus pedal and looper are on my acoustic pedalboard]

[Turp]

I agree with the other comments^^

I have been through a few rigs and have found:
A quality PreAmp EQ is the anchor and center of great plugged in tone.

The effects that give me good ambient sound: Reverb, Delay, and looper.

The two different boards I use have the same fundamental presence and sound exceptional.

Rig one -Fishman ToneDeq Preamp which has compression, delay and some other effects, Boss DD8 Delay, Boss TU3 tuner

Rig two- Fishman Platinum Pro DI/EQ , Boss Octave Pedal, TC Electronics Hall of Fame Reverb, Keely Workstation Delay/Reverb. Pigtronix Infinity Looper.

Other than quality effect, I listen for clean and accurate tone where the pedals don’t color or muddy up the tone of the pickup.

[mjh42]

Well that didn't work out so well--no image.




Lots of directions one can go. Starting with a solid Preamp/EQ/DI is important to me.

I use a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ

[dnf777]

Well, for the sake of simplicity, the Fishman Tone DEQ is a single box with all your mentioned attributes, plus boost, chorus, and delay. I totally understand stand-alone pedals give more options, but for basic effects and pre, the DEQ does a pretty good job. Plus, it has Fishman’s acoustic circuitry in the eq, so theres that also.

[Turp]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Well, for the sake of simplicity, the Fishman Tone DEQ is a single box with all your mentioned attributes, plus boost, chorus, and delay. I totally understand stand-alone pedals give more options, but for basic effects and pre, the DEQ does a pretty good job. Plus, it has Fishman’s acoustic circuitry in the eq, so theres that also.

The ToneDeq was a game changer for me achieving better tone. It is a great preamp/multi-effects unit and maybe as clean and transparent as any out there with its analog signal path.

If the Reverb and Delay were separate and could be used simultaneously, it’s be the “McUltimate”.

The ToneDeq is good enough to start with and add desired effects to it.

[BlueStarfish]

You’re definitely going to have to experiment to see what you like.

The last few weeks, I have been playing around at home with a “micro-board” consisting of a Zoom MS-50G, into an LR Baggs Session DI. I wanted something much simpler, smaller footprint, and that would run on just batteries for a reasonable amount of time. So far, in home use, I’m really liking this two-pedal setup. I’ll get a chance to try it playing out next week.

I’m not using the Zoom pedal to do a lot (just a noise gate block, and then an EQ block for a volume boost when needed). But it can do quite a bit more, it has a huge selection of reverbs, delays, chorus, flangers, and other assorted effects. It would be a great place to start for your own experimentation because it does so many different effects so convincingly, and it’s pretty darn affordable. The Zoom G1 Four or A1 Four give a similar selection of FX to try out, with a slightly different button configuration but a plastic instead of a metal housing.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Turp

If the Reverb and Delay were separate and could be used simultaneously, it’s be the “McUltimate”.

The ToneDeq is good enough to start with and add desired effects to it.

Ive mulled that over for a while. There was even a thread about rever/delay being “either-or” in most cases.

But if there is an effect that I would want separated out for more control it would be delay. To my untrained ear, about 350 of the 400 reverbs on my BigSky sound the same to me.

[Turp]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Ive mulled that over for a while. There was even a thread about rever/delay being “either-or” in most cases.

But if there is an effect that I would want separated out for more control it would be delay. To my untrained ear, about 350 of the 400 reverbs on my BigSky sound the same to me.

I agree. A good quality sounding reverb really works and most listeners don’t hear the differences we scrutinize over. And, our perception of it changes to.

I do find modulated and flanged reverbs are a nice departure when sparingly used for leads. I usually layer them over or alternate between another reverb when I do.

Tap Tempo for Delay was been one of the most notable details I was educated and made aware of. Delay effects benefit and are more impactful when synced with the tempo on the music or rhythm.