Budwah/CH/Model H/EGDM/SYOD/SBEQ/Pitch Black Tuner/Ce2/DD5 (dotted 8ths)/DL4 (quarter note and auto swell)/Carbon Copy
Songs played were 2 by Hillsong United (primarily delayed U2 style songs), 1 dance beat David Crowder Band track, and a hymn that I just did ambient volume swells on.
Cliff Hanger- I opened up the set using the Cliff Hanger on a more aggressive tune with super staccato U2 style dotted 8th delay. I normally use my MP MRD on this track, and I appreciated the way the Cliff seemed more grainy and toothy as opposed to the extremely compressed "leather pants" gain structure of the MRD. The Cliff seemed a bit more open to me despite the gain level. All that adds up to a more aggressive staccato tone that seemed way "crisper" than my MRD. I also appreciated the treble content into my dark as molasses Budda Superdrive, but wondered if it might be too much treble for a brighter or normal amp. Also, I didn't have any objections to lack of bass, but my amp is dark, and I was using it for riffing fairly high the whole set. No power chords for me this morning.
EGDM- The second track needed a darker delayed and warmer tone. My normal go to would have been my HBOD, but since I left it at home, I dialed the EGDM for medium gain with the nature rolled back a bit and rolled back my tone control some on my ASAT. Not perfect, but I got me ballpark what I was looking for in terms of compression. As the song climaxed I stacked the SYOD behind it for a nice singing brighter lead tone- I like the way the added grit of the SYOD complemented the compression of the EGDM- I will have to try stacking the SYOD into it as well. I like the EGDM's tone overall, but I need to experiment more with it to get it to the sweet spot or figure out what exactly tone I would use it for if I got one.
SYOD- I am gas-ing for one of these really bad
sounds awesome into my notably darker amps- I used it set 9/2/10:30 in terms of settings. Those would be bright for most other rigs, but for me its a slightly bright but fairly balanced tone. I used it on our third song- a dance beat with a bunch of poppy hooks and delayed guitar parts that gave it more of a syncopated feel. Sounds gorgeous. Great tones. A little bright with my wah in toe down position, but thats to be expected. I also tried it with the gain cranked for the first song (aggressive U2 feel...) and I could totally have used it that way happily. I went with the Cliff for the sake of a bit more gain and to try to use everything I brought.Model H- I used it a bit on the last track, but mostly I still found it to feel kinda bland with my dark dark amp and eminence custom speakers. I need to try the Model H with a different amp. I did enjoy its smooth sustain again, but I didn't have any breakthroughs with this one. Have other's experienced this providing crunch? I was expecting a much brighter crunchier tone- perhaps its just the single coil/dark amp combo.
CAF & SWF didn't go on this gig cause I knew the songs wouldn't work with fuzz this time around. They'll both be with me at my more experimental practice tonight.
This was a more hands on review talking about how I tried to use the pedals in a practical performance situation. When I play at Church its kinda like doing a session gig, I come in listen to what the Church Music Director (Worship Pastor) wants, have two run throughs of each song, and have to have my tones down and riffs written/ready to go. I was really happy with the SYOD and EGDM in this context- between the two of them and my guitar controls I had a fairly wide variety of tones available.
Where to go from here? I want to try SYOD stacked into EVERYTHING and break out my SG to see what higher output pickups do all the pedals. Also, I need to break out my Orange AD30 & Vintage 30s (which is dark in a different way), and see how these pedals work with my other rig. I have a feeling that the CAF and Model H NEED higher output pickups to get the tone I've been hearing rave reviews about previous to getting this tour box. My current stack that I am excited to try is the SYOD->SWF, that might be a perfect angry lead tone. Interesting stack for sure.
Enjoy. Next review likely tomorrow afternoon.
