Scott Henderson Discussion

[Chickentonight]

Just wondering what's your (and everybody elses) take on this matter. Why mod pedals and amps while the same effect could be done with creative use of eq? For example a little bit more bass is desired to a pedal, why not just use eq before or after it?

Of course if dynamics is the biggest concern then simple equalizing won't do, but if the thing is just altering desired frequencies then why modify anything? And if it is just convenience, woulnd't it be risky to modify gear and potentially decrease it's resale value?

[Scott Henderson]

It all depends on the gear and the situation, whether it's for live or studio. I definitely wouldn't mod a vintage guitar because the resale value would go way down, but modding a $200 pedal is no big deal if the mod gives you what you need. I've had several pedals modded to be true-bypass, and it greatly improved my pedalboard. Modding an amp or pedal to produce better frequencies also makes sense, especially live, since only really expensive hardware EQ's sound good. A cheap pedal EQ would make things sound much worse.

In the studio, EQ is more at home because you can change the sound of an amp or pedal with a good EQ plug-in. No need to mod an amp or pedal to change the tone for a specific part within a song. The same amp can be EQ'd to sound many different ways, and the amp settings can also be changed to fit what the part needs. I use the Waves VEQ and API EQ's - they sound great and aren't that expensive.

[Chickentonight]

Thanks for answering. Good points. Equalizing back and forth isn't going to do good for tone. Some minor tweaks especially on pedals seem though quite unnecessary, like this video demonstrates (many thought the stock one was better).

By modding sould food pedal you can have it fatter, but also lose some clarity. Wouldn't it be better to have clarity first and then decrease it, than trying to add some afterwards? Bass frequencies seem to be less destructive to add later, at least to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npbVUyx-TNg

by the way, which one do you prefer, modded or not?

[Scott Henderson]

I hope you won't be offended but I don't like that pedal. There are a lot of distortion and boost pedals which, for reasons I don't know, cause the notes to sound woofy when the gain is turned up. I'd even say that most of them do that, causing the string to loose it's voice and character. In that video, the guitar sounds thin with low gain, and as I described with high gain.

Some boost pedals which sound better:

Xotic RC Booster
Lovepedal COT 50
LA Sound Design Boost
AnalogMan King of Tone
Maxon OD-9 Tube Screamer
MXR Micro Amp
Roger Mayer Voodoo 1

[Chickentonight]

I have your signature RC booster (the copper one) and it is great. Maybe I should try to make distortion sound working with the second channel engaged and for more gain with sd-9 after it.

[Scott Henderson]

That's what I do, except I combine channel 1 of the RC with the SD-9. Usually the SD-9 is enough, but playing legato smoothly often depends on the sound of the room. If it's a really dry room and I need more gain, I add the RC. Adding channel 2 to the SD-9 gives me over the top gain, which is great for feedback and general noise.

[countandduke]

I’ll quickly add that one of the things I’ve learned from Scott, is to use your ears. The SD-9 is a great example. The tone knob needs to be at like 1 or 2. 8 or 9 o’clock. Otherwise it can sound harsh/brittle. I’ve found certain amps to be that way too. I had a Bogner XTC that I LOVED, but some of the more extreme settings were the more useable ones.

The lesson I learned was don’t be afraid to turn a knob ALL THE WAY UP/DOWN if that gives you the tone you are looking for.

Best,
Chris

[Chickentonight]

Why do they make knobs whose only usable ranges are in the most extreme settings? What's the point in that? Who would use a sd-9 with tone past noon? Special effects can't be the only reason for that knob's strange behaviour. It must have been a conscious choice though. ?

[dizzy]

Good topic.

Have you checked out Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd’s rig?
He has a loop switcher and in every loop he has an od with its own Boss EQ

One thing I have found is that if I buy a pedal by someone who has done lots of RnD with excellent players, the pedal is usually voiced right for live playing.

For example I love the Love Pedal Cot. When I first played it by myself I thought “god, there is way too much high end and it sounds harsh. Then I tried it with a band and fell in love.

The sd9 is interesting because it sounds amazing but then if you turn the tone control up it sounds horrible.
I don’t know if you guys have tried this but the Way Huge Geisha drive gets close to the sd9 but the tone control has a huge sweep.
George Tripp’s designed it for Landau and Landau still uses his sd9 so that says something:). But I think it sounds great.

Scott, have you tried the Geisha drive?

[Scott Henderson]

No I haven't, along with a million other distortion pedals. I have 3 or 4 favorites which have been with me for many years and after realizing that I'm very unlikely to hear anything I like more, I've pretty much given up the search, unless I get a call from someone I know who says "go check this out!" (he has to be really excited about it)

To answer Chickentonight (great name BTW), no idea why amp and pedal makers don't design their stuff to sound the best with the tone knobs at 12 o'clock. The SD-9 is the perfect example of a pedal which has to be set wrong to sound right. Marshall seemed to get it pretty right, except for the bass knob which most people turn way down.