BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

Hey guys,

I'm noticing that except for my volume knobs, all of my bjfe pedals have thier knobs near noon- between 11-1. The only exception is my sbeq.

This is fortunate because there is plenty of space on either side of the pots to take to extremes. I'm not sure if this was Bjorns intent but it's something I've noticed in isolation while dialing in each pedal.

Anyone else run things close to noon?

For me:
HBOD : drive any higher and I get too much feedback stacking a higher gain pedal into it. Nature at noon just sounds the smoothest to me.

DRD: drive less than noon isn't enough. Any more than that and I lose the ability to clean up to my liking. EQ is perfect at noon.

EGDM : I spent a LOT of time playing with this, and noon on drive is the perfect amount of gain without oversaturating. The voice knob is more like 11, any lower or higher and I hear the highs rolled off - that's what I like about this pedal. This is the most interesting behavior for a third knob. It's sweet spot is so dependant the drive level...

PGC : comp at 11, body at 1. Perfect sweetening for leads to add sustain.

i love that!

i always start my pedal demos with the knobs at noon. if it don't sound good with the knobs at noon, it ain't gonna sound good

Petty much Bill and Bobby,

I like the HB bw 11 and noon- depending as Bill says on what I'm running into it.
My DRD has more gain than an ordinary DRD- and that's a pedal where for me- less is sometimes more
to give more of an amp OD than a pedal distortion (bad explanation, but you know what I mean).
There are some days where I can use the DRD gain just on and get closer to BBOD type sounds.
EGDM- For me is more Beatles and Tom Petty than Brian May.
At the risk of being flamed, I never go past 9 o'clock and it's usualy bw/ 8-9.
I the EGDM as my Scott Evil Distortion-


the diet coke of distortion-
not quite distortion enough....Scott.
Perhaps I should stop
using it as a "frikkin' time machine" to try and go back to the 60's
and or I'll never be an evil pedal doctor in the future.......

DRD and EGDM between 11 - 1, I am discovering my HBOD, and SHOD can be great 10 - max and the MH anywhere! No sweet spots on bjorn's designs "It's ALL good!"

thesjkexperience wrote:DRD and EGDM between 11 - 1, I am discovering my HBOD, and SHOD can be great 10 - max and the MH anywhere! No sweet spots on bjorn's designs "It's ALL good!"

S2W: You might check your trim pot. I run mine between noon and 1 and have plenty of Distortion with my Stratocasters. Put a SBEQ in front or a HBOD after and it can get insane. My whole set up is geared for anything to stack into anything else, but it seems my SHOD doesn't like to stack with anything but the SWAW and the HBOD.

The new, but temporary, set up is listed below. The SWAW and SHOD (set clean with drive at 10) are off the board in front. I am in a Grateful Dead mood and the SWAW into the SHOD with the middle pickup of the Strat gets pretty close to Jerry.

I quoted instead of edit

Just to clarify,
that's my setting preference-
I know the EGDM can give way more gain....
No limitation of the pedal
as I've got it to Brian May and even shades of EVH at times. (true!)
I just prefer the Vox- Beatles-Petty chime settings- on the EGDM.
if I want more distortion I'll use the DRD or Model H.
I've played with the trim pot but I might start giving it the gain settings you guys are loving for a change.

strings2wood wrote:Just to clarify,
that's my setting preference-
I know the EGDM can give way more gain....
No limitation of the pedal
as I've got it to Brian May and even shades of EVH at times. (true!)
I just prefer the Vox- Beatles-Petty chime settings- on the EGDM.
if I want more distortion I'll use the DRD or Model H.
I've played with the trim pot but I might start giving it the gain settings you guys are loving for a change.

Yes, the lower gain settings are VERY happening...I just demoed the darker side of the EGDM go ahead Simon...nudge that knob...go ahead...do it!!

Every knob on my HBOD is at noon.

I think most of us have pretty responsive rigs and one of the stand out feature of BJFs IS the dynamics in the feel......
The more you turn up the Drive the more compression you have - so by default the higher you turn the distortion knobs the less dynamic the overall sound becomes and there is usually an EQ change, usually a bit of treble roll off ....

so most of us Im guessing try and get by with the least amount of distortion to maintain that live real feel in the overall rig sound - just enough compression and the right EQ so it sounds correctly distorted ....

and also why usually a correctly balanced stack will sound/feel better than a single pedal

a bit of a paradox that the most loved pedals are the ones that take you the least distance from your core desired sound

Donner wrote:I think most of us have pretty responsive rigs and one of the stand out feature of BJFs IS the dynamics in the feel......
The more you turn up the Drive the more compression you have - so by default the higher you turn the distortion knobs the less dynamic the overall sound becomes and there is usually an EQ change, usually a bit of treble roll off ....

so most of us Im guessing try and get by with the least amount of distortion to maintain that live real feel in the overall rig sound - just enough compression and the right EQ so it sounds correctly distorted ....

and also why usually a correctly balanced stack will sound/feel better than a single pedal

a bit of a paradox that the most loved pedals are the ones that take you the least distance from your core desired sound

It's a very informed and interesting perspective Donner,

It was bigbadpj who first showed me some Audley Freed clips. I think I've always preferred the distortion sound that still alllows the amp to breathe or as you put it "sound correctly distorted" or being "the least distance from your core sound." I wouldn't have articulated it as well as this but like the way you explained it. I also did nudge the EDGM knob trying it a la Marty and Bill, and will continue to explore with your insights about treble roll off, compression etc.

Kindest Regards to all.

Simon.