Pedal Madness

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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on March 13, 2010 at 3:07pm

Sorry, did I miss something?
I'm not anti-pedal or anything. I was just making some factual observations.

I think many post-Hendrix players think the Jimi got his tone from a pedal when it's more like the other way around. Jimi's style was the reason many pedals were created. The wailing guitar solo was new ground in 1967.

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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on March 13, 2010 at 3:37pm

I guess what I'm getting at is that most of my favorite living guitarists simply aren't lead guitar oriented in the way that blues has come to be known. Many are too poor to buy much equipment. Pedals are a nuissance when the roof is leaking.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Lee Wilson on March 13, 2010 at 5:40pm

Chad ya I totally agree, right now if it wasn't for family myself and my daughter would be homeless so I do know on the money thing. the first thing anyone should do is learn to play first and foremost and hell I suggest to most people pick up a guitar from a pawn shop the cheapest decent one you can, I always love them I still won't pay over 300 for a guitar (I can't afford to) and only own one can't play 2 at a time why do I need 2, the pedals have there place as creative agents not as substitutes for talent and the just plain desire to learn the craft, just like you I played nothing but a straight guitar to amp for years, and I respect everyone one for what they do and there sound that's all the diversity of it, and I totally agree most younger players do grow up with the (gear crutch) as I call it, I never suggest to anyone to use them unless the sound calls for it but in practice I never use anything to this day it's the only way to truly hear the notes, and I hope I didn't come across as offended at all not the case believe me, I just wanted to point out I guess and this is really pointed more to the younger players and the ones just starting out, not to be afraid of the pedals and to try and understand them to better there art as they feel it and hear it, I guess I know to many who have fallen into the I don't like tweaking them so I won't even try them. and to me that's a shame it's like if we were meant to fly we would be birds type concept I guess, that's what airplanes do for us. and with the effects believe me a little goes a long way usually, actually I use to run a lot of them years ago and got so frustrated with the cords and set up and crap I went back to just the straight amp setup and it took a long time for me to go back to using them, but for me the sound in my own head just wasn't complete without a little color to it that's why I went back and now with the line 6 floorboard I use, it's so easy even the array of amps I have at my fingers is so amazing (like 42 or something) I get tired of one sound I use another or I need a certain amp for a certain sound I use it, I use to remember going into studios and you would see walls of different amps I have those exact models now in one lil box. I don't have to worry about coming up with a bazzillion dollars for something that I'll never have enough money to buy in my life anyway you know. when I run it straight. the 6 cancels out my marshall and it becomes just a power head so I get that exact amp from the marshall it's self. it's really pretty cool and for the money cause it took me a longtime to buy and I researched the hell out of it man. I bought it online and was able to make small payments even. that is the only way I was able to even think of getting it, not to push that one particular item sorry about that I just really love it it has been a god send for me sorry, but anyway I really do dig the discussion and I really find it fasinating ya know. it's one thing especially blues and acoustic players alike have strong opinions on I guess I know I do but it's for my own sound and not for anyone else also. well anyway thanks for letting me rant and rave man and still love discussing it all the time do it with everyone they probably get sick of it ya'll. anyway hope everyone has a great weekend and keep playin dem ol' blues ya'll

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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on March 14, 2010 at 2:04am

Richard, I hear ya man. I do have a small collection of different pedals but I also have about 15 different guitars. I pretty much change strings on all of them when I get in the mood and then just use them in rotation until the strings are all spent. Variety is a good thing. I've spent 20 years acquiring them all and most of the are cheap.

Just speaking to the technical aspect of the original question in this post, my "trick of the trade" is to skip the pedal and even the amp tone and learn to adapt and improvise without that stuff.

Earlier this evening I played a 3 hour solo acoustic set with no break. I plugged my $165 Johnson guitar into the house P/A and just went for it. Beale Street in Memphis probably has the highest concentration of blues bands in one place on a regular basis. There are full bands in every other club downtown. I'm probably the only solo performer around on a Saturday. So I ask myself, why would people stick around for 2 or 3 hours to listen to me? It's DEFINITELY NOT because I'm a better performer. I think it is because I take a different approach. How many rabbits can this dude pull out of one hat? Let's stick around and find out. For 40 years, blues has been defined by the blazing guitar solo. In general, I'm finding that people these days react to the absence of that kind of lead work.

I don't mean any disrespect to the art or the artists. This is not to imply that no one should play a guitar solo (heck, take a couple for me, lol). I'm just saying that when sooooo many people have been bending sustained high notes for soooooo long that it's probably healthy to look backwards and understand how someone like Charley Patton could play the same song for hours on end in a juke joint and become a profound influence and a legend among blues musicians.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Lee Wilson on March 14, 2010 at 1:59pm

couldn't agree more Chad if I'm correct BB King said it's not what you put in a song but rather what you leave out, it's not the amount of notes per measure but what you say with the notes used, I got the pleasure of checking out "live hard and floor it " last night on pbs for the umpteenth time and I was once again reminded why "SRV" was "SRV" and knowone on earth will be him again, granted his tones are impecable but his phrasing and just pure passion for the blues came thru in every dreantched note. pedals and this is what this discussion thread is on they are there to enhance but not to over power, and when it is so real and pure ya I guess it probably could be done on even the worst instrument you could think of, because ya that is pretty much how I also learned one has to learn those tricks and how to pull them out by ones self before attempting to throw other colors in it I will be the first to agree, but hey in the end the damn things are just so fun to play with hehe big smile to ya Chad, props to ya brutha and damnit I would love to sit and have a beer and play some serious blues with ya sometimes oh ya.

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Permalink Reply by Nikki O'Neill on March 15, 2010 at 9:20am

I've got an unusual set-up that still has lead me to having better tone than ever: I got a Daisy Rock retro-H guitar with a Bigsby and two mini-humbuckers, and it's running through one of the newer Kustom tube combo amps (36 Coupe 112).
To add extra crunch for leads, I use a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic pedal.

You can hear the results on a brand-new tune with my band called "Say What You Think" on our site: www.nikkioneillband.com (free download until 4/10!) Because the tune has a funky soul-rock feel, the solo also features your plain ol' Dunlop wah and Big Muff fuzz, but I got a very rich and warm tone in the leads.

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